LINUX FORMAT

The #1 open source mag Future Publishing Limited,

MEET THE TEAM

This month, we’re putting our readers through our Hacking Academy, so which old-school type of hack are you most proud of?

Hacking an education

It’s that time of the year when we

Pebble OS returns from the dead as open source

OPERATING SYSTEM

Distrowatch blocked, then allowed by Facebook

Facebook’s Linux ban sparks outrage.

GTK winter 2025 update

Upcoming changes include X11 deprecation.

20 YEARS OF ODF

OPINION

DATA POINTS

OPINION

AI censorship broken with hex

Chinese AI firm DeepSeek’s censorship has been bypassed by a researcher.

Gnome adds HDR configuration

HDR support answers long-standing requests.

Flathub adds new sections

New We Games and On The Go categories make for easier Flatpak browsing.

Distro watch

What’s behind the free software sofa?

MAKING TRACKS

OPINION

BURNT OFFERINGS

OPINION

Kernel Watch

Jon Masters summarises the latest happenings in the Linux kernel, so that you don’t have to.

ONGOING DEVELOPMENT

Updated Kexec HandOver (KHO) patches were posted that

Answers

Got a burning question about open source or the kernel? Whatever your level, email it to answers@linuxformat.com

A QUICK REFERENCE TO… SHELL WILDCARDS

Wildcards are used to match multiple files in

Mailserver

WRITE TO US Do you have a burning

Helpdex

shane_collinge@yahoo.com

YOUR DIGITAL ISSUE ACCESS

Linux Format print subscribers can now access digital back issues two ways! * Who’s a lucky bunch of readers?!

SysD Manager

Version: 1.6 Web: https://github.com/plrigaux/sysd-manager

AdGuard Home

Version: 0.107.55 Web: https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html

ExifTool

Version: 13.11 Web: https://exiftool.org

Tuptime

Version: 5.2.4 Web: https://github.com/rfmoz/tuptime

Xournal++

Version: 1.2.5 Web: https://xournalpp.github.io

Hidamari

Version: 3.6 Web: https://github.com/jeffshee/hidamari

PeaZip

Version: 10.2.0 Web: https://peazip.github.io

HeXon

Version: 20241021 Web: https://luckey.games

FeudalTactics

Version: 1.3.1 Web: https://github.com/Sesu8642/FeudalTactics

Lock

Version: 1.3.8 Web: https://konstantintutsch.com/Lock/

Double Commander

Version: 1.1.21 Web: https://doublecmd.sourceforge.io

Asus ZenWiFi BT8

Brandon Hill finally thinks this is a worthy Wi-Fi 7 router.

Pop!_OS 24.04 Alpha 5

Nate Drake picks apart System76’s pet distro, based on Ubuntu. Does Pop!_OS hit with a bang or a whimper?

Siduction 2024.1.0

Nate Drake has been hobnobbing with Siduction’s developers to inform you about all this Debian-based distro has to offer.

MakuluLinux 2025.1

Nate Drake heads to Vietnam to explore this feature-rich distro with its own Electra AI assistant. What more could you want?

Ditana 0.9.0

Nate Drake delves into the beta version of this Arch-based distro. Is it ready to roll or just played out?

Halls of Torment

Management loves the idea of a vast army hammering away at keys all day – Joshua Wolens thinks that’s his current day job.

Power-user distributions

Michael Reed tries some Linux distros that throw ease of installation out of the window in favour of customisation and a learning experience.

Installation procedure

It tends to be a learning experience with distributions like these.

Alternative distro builds

Pre-built and configured options with easy-to-use derivatives.

Following the installation guide

An important aspect of these distros.

Educational value

These distributions offer an opportunity to pick up some useful skills.

As a daily driver distro

Using it as a standard desktop distribution for average users.

Community and support

Getting started and troubleshooting problems.

Scope for customisation

Make your vision for a Linux system a reality rather than using defaults.

The verdict

Power-user distributions

Hacking Academy

Erstwhile academic Jonni Bidwell transmuted his ivory tower book smarts into l33t hacker knowledge. And he’s here to pass it on.

Hacking origins

Some musings on the hacker archetype and today’s common misconceptions about the practice. Plus an intro to BackBox.

Port scanning

Get started with port scanning and probe your systems with Nmap – the bread and butter of pentesting.

Network recon

Explore the Zenmap GUI, look at network traffic with EtherApe, and sniff packets with Wireshark.

Metasploit playground

Test your system for known vulnerabilities, try to backdoor it, and almost discover a vulnerability in BackBox. Fun!

Hacker-friendly Wi-Fi

Nate Drake guides you through choosing the right wireless device so you can hack with the best of them.

Raspberry Pi turns green

Now the Foundation is publicly listed, it’s reporting on how it’s reducing its environmental impact.

Pi 5 PCIe 3.0

Double the M.2 fun!

LoRa laughs

Meshtastic BBS.

MX Linux 23.5

Les Pounder takes his annual spin with MX Linux on the Raspberry Pi 5. Has it improved since 2024? Spoiler: yes!

OrangePi 4A

The ingredients are all there, but this Pi just doesn’t taste sweet enough for Les Pounder.

RASPBERRY PI 5 Get the most from your Raspberry Pi 5

Faster CPU, storage and RAM for your Raspberry Pi 5 has Les Pounder shouting with a raspberry yell, “More! More! More!”

Long-range wireless without pesky bills

Exchanging data over long ranges without paying carriers a fortune sounds like a dream, but Tam Hanna and LoRa technology let you do it!

WIRE SHARK to the cloud!

Linux Format talks to Gerald Combs and Loris Degioanni , about creating Wireshark, the origins of network packet analysis, and how they want their shark to fly...

Back up data with ease

Neither music nor love will solve your computing problems, but timely backups just might, feels Shashank Sharma.

Run Android apps on your Linux PC

Nick Peers discovers a fast and relatively easy way to run standard Android apps on your Linux desktop installation.

Self-host remote access with Rust Desk

Remote-control software is useful, but Tam Hanna suggests self-hosted remote control software based on open source technology is even better.

The hardware that made Linux great

To kick off our new series, Mike Bedford delves into the now largely forgotten 80386, which is where Linux first saw the light of day.

Run OnlyOffice from your Synology NAS

Enhance your private Synology cloud with OnlyOffice Docs, as Kseniya Fedoruk walks you through the installation process.

Managing your Vagrant virtual machines

Laziness is the mother of invention and Stuart Burns is a past master at getting his machines to do all his work for him…

NVME AND RASPBERRY PI: A YUMMY SANDWICH

Raspberry Pis are great but, let’s be honest,

ENEMY WITHIN!

Stuart Burns is a sysadmin for a Fortune

AI security threats

The rise of AI presents cybersecurity challenges for all. Davey Winder explores the dangers – and how to defend against them!

Coding Cosmic Invaders in BBC Basic

B2 Credit: https://github.com/tom-seddon/b2

How fast can your Rust code run?

David Bolton demonstrates running two Rust programs used to time card shuffling and generate a file full of poker cards.