Linux, Open Source, & anti Microsoft news

The GNOME Foundation has backed efforts to create a “freedom-oriented” smartphone that protects users’ privacy and runs only open source software.  The Librem 5 promises to run privacy-centric Debian derivative PureOS by default and to support “most GNU+Linux distributions”.

Microsoft is making it easier for Windows 10 business customers to recover from security breaches.  The tool is based on technology created by Hexadite, an Israeli cybersecurity startup that Microsoft acquired for a reported $100 million this summer.

Microsoft has confirmed that some users of its email service Outlook are unable to send email or access their accounts. Hundreds from around Europe have commented on the website Downdetector that they have been affected by the problem – many since Monday morning.

Most people are happy to use Android smartphones. Others love their Apple iPhones. But there’s some folks who really want a free-software smartphone without a trace of proprietary code or firmware. For these folks, Purism and KDE are partnering to create the Purism Librem 5 smartphone.

Linux is now the dominant operating system on Amazon’s AWS cloud service and is growing rapidly on Microsoft’s Azure platform this year, according to a report on public cloud adoption trends Sumo Logic released on Tuesday.

In total Microsoft patched 82 flaws with 21 being rated critical. There is also included the public disclosure of three additional zero-day vulnerabilities that have not been exploited.

Malware developers can abuse a programming error in the Windows kernel to prevent security software from identifying if, and when, malicious modules have been loaded at runtime.

Which of Google, Apple and Microsoft think a content security bypass doesn’t warrant a browser patch? Thanks to Cisco Talos security bod Nicolai Grødum, who found the cross-site scripting bug that affects older Chrome and Safari plus current versions of Edge, we know the answer is “Microsoft”.

San Francisco has taken a tentative step toward deciding on whether it will become the first local government in the country to run its voting machines on open-source software.

Microsoft is paying the price for neglecting what any business needs to do: look after your customers. It isn’t just a mobile thing, although over the years mobile seems to have been the most readily disposable problem at Redmond.