Linux Format

The #1 open source mag Future Publishing Limited,

MEET THE TEAM

We’re learning to code this issue, so we asked our writers what was one of their first experiences with coding?

Reading, writing and coding

Eight-year-old me used to stay behind after school,

Microsoft Pluton causes concern

What exactly is Microsoft Pluton, and should we be worried?

Epic releases Linux binaries for Unreal Engine 5

Joy for Linux game designers, but Epic could do more.

Lightning Framework malware discovered

A “Swiss Army Knife” malware targets Linux systems.

MAKE THE BEST OF IT

Les Pounder is associate editor at Tom’s Hardware

HELP THE HELP DESK

Keith Edmunds is MD of Tiger Computing Ltd,

RISC-V hits milestone

The architecture now powers over 10 billion cores.

No patches for 32-bit distros

Older distros remain open to Retbleed attacks.

Distro watch

What’s down the side of the free software sofa?

LICENCE TO INFLUENCE

Matt Yonkovit is the head of open source strategy at Percona

GO ASAHI!

Jon Masters is a kernel hacker who’s been

Kernel Watch

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

Answers

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

Mailserver

WRITE TO US Do you have a burning

Helpdex

shane_collinge@yahoo.com

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AmOs 22.08.02

Mayank Sharma always falls for beautiful-looking Arch distros, but he wonders if this one does enough to appeal to others…

Condres OS 1.0

Mayank Sharma isn’t usually so easily fooled, but the fear of missing deadlines made him drink old, odourless wine from a new bottle.

Regata OS 22.0.3

Mayank Sharma has no qualms about testing gaming distros, but he doesn’t like the ones that work well… they make him miss deadlines.

Porteus 5.0

Mayank Sharma has a soft spot for portable distros, and wonders if the latest Porteus can wean him away from his all-time favourite, Slax.

Total War: Warhammer 3

Management thought the Realm of Chaos was its hot-desking floor, but Fraser Brown knows better and is perma-working from home…

3D printers

WE COMPARE TONS OF STUFF SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO!

Setup and getting started

Kits are rare, but there’s still a little assembly required before printing.

Connectivity and software

From inserting a USB key to Wi-Fi, there’s plenty of connection choices.

Smart printing features

There’s nothing worse than a failed print…

Auto bed levelling and bed options

The first layer sets the tone for the rest of the print

Advanced features

Upgrades, cross-grades and stick-ons can boost a 3D printer’s functionality.

User interface

It’s important to easily print, maintain and adjust settings.

Potential for upgrades

How can these 3D printers be made future-proof?

The verdict

3D printers

GET INTO CODING!

Code monkey Jonni Bidwell’s firmware has glitched out, so he must teach himself to code again. He hopes you’ll join him for the adventure…

Initial conditions

There are any number of best places to start coding, which in practice is no help at all.

The body syntonic

Get started with Python and a famous part of the venerable Logo language – Turtle Graphics.

The great and the git

Using version control will help you manage your code and keep it archived for posterity or just let you duplicated existing projects…

Invaders, possibly from space

We’ve resurrected a classic shoot-em-up project from a long lost Linux magazine. All you need to do is save the world.

School coding classes get a helping hand

The Raspberry Pi Foundation provides resources aimed at teachers teaching five- to 11-year olds.

W5100S-EVB-Pico

Les Pounder wants to add another device to the Internet of Things. “Just a ‘pico’-sized project from WIZnet,” he promises…

Flirc Pi 4 Case

Les Pounder settles down to watch a film, blast some aliens and does a spot of low-power computing while his Raspberry Pi 4 stays cool.

Get to grips with analog electronic control

Les Pounder “cranks that dial” to relive his youth of soldering irons and 1980s electronics, when a ‘bit’ was a relatively unknown concept.

Host your own pro-quality CCTV

Hosting CCTV at home can remove the reliance on expensive and often restrictive subscription services. Find out how with Matt Holder.

FEATHER-LIGHT WEATHER MONITOR

Jonni Bidwell doesn’t fake it till he makes it. Makes a Pi-powered environment monitor, that is…

That is PROLOGICAL!

Thanks to the artificial intelligence revolution, a 50-year-old language is enjoying a resurgence in popularity

Run a modern, focused, alternative to Vim

While Shashank Sharma is quite fond of the text editor Vim, he realises that it can overwhelm new users. Thankfully, a simplified variant is on offer…

Organise your fonts and create new ones

Nick Peers reveals how to manage your font collection as well as design new typefaces from scratch using a collection of open source tools.

Relive the days of BeOS

Michael Reed wonders if he’s met the 90s-style desktop of his dreams with Haiku, an open source re-creation of the BeOS operating system.

How to become a screencasting pro

Screencasts are excellent for creating application tutorials. Michael Reed shows you how to make one with end-to-end open source software.

Get virtual cloud hosting for zero cost

Darius Wiles explains how to use Oracle’s cloud to host a public virtual machine for free (as in beer) just as long as you don’t use it too much…

Managing your virtual private server

David Rutland wipes away a tear as he bids farewell to the semi-unofficial Linux Format VPS. He’s not sad about it, though – he suffers from hayfever.

Develop TCP/IP servers and clients

Get a better grip on network programming as the indispensable Mihalis Tsoukalos explains how to develop TCP/IP software in Rust.

Build a club on the next-gen web

Follow along with Mats Tage Axelsson as you assemble your first Web 3.0 application using Solidity and JavaScript!