Nitrux 1.0.15 Released, Speck Code to Be Dropped from 4.19 Kernel, Wireshark Security Vulnerabilities, Fedora 29 Test Week and GUADEC Videos Now Available

News briefs for September 4, 2018.

Nitrux 1.0.15 is now available. The new version provides software updates, bug fixes and performance improvements, as well as patches for security vulnerabilities. This version includes kernel version 4.18.5; Plasma 5 (5.13.4); KDE Apps (18.08); KF5 (5.50.0) and Qt 5 (5.11.1); Mesa (18.1.5) drivers for Vulkan, VDPAU and support for VP-API; and much more. You can download it from here, and see also the September 2018 issue of Linux Journal (which will be out today) for a FOSS Project Spotlight on this distribution.

The Speck encryption code will be dropped from the Linux 4.19 kernel. Phoronix reports that Google (who initially introduced Speck to the kernel for filesystem encryption for low-end Android devices) is instead working on a new HPolyC algorithm for those devices, "due to concerns over Speck potentially being back-doored by the US National Security Agency".

Wireshark discovered a number of security vulnerabilities that could be used to cause a system crash and denial-of-service (DOS) state. See ZDNet for details on the security flaws, and if you use Wireshark, update your software builds to versions 2.6.3, 2.4.9, 2.2.17 or later.

Fedora 29 developers are working on major improvements to Internationalization (i18n) support, including better font support, and improvements to the iBus input method. The team is holding a test week this week and invites the community to try out these new features. Visit the wiki page for more information on how to help out and test.

All the videos from GNOME's GUADEC Conference 2018—which brought together free software enthusiasts from around the world and was held in Almería Spain this past July—are now available at http://videos.guadec.org/2018.

Jill Franklin is an editorial professional with more than 17 years experience in technical and scientific publishing, both print and digital. As Executive Editor of Linux Journal, she wrangles writers, develops content, manages projects, meets deadlines and makes sentences sparkle. She also was Managing Editor for TUX and Embedded Linux Journal, and the book Linux in the Workplace. Before entering the Linux and open-source realm, she was Managing Editor of several scientific and scholarly journals, including Veterinary Pathology, The Journal of Mammalogy, Toxicologic Pathology and The Journal of Scientific Exploration. In a previous life, she taught English literature and composition, managed a bookstore and tended bar. When she’s not bugging writers about deadlines or editing copy, she throws pots, gardens and reads.

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