Canonical stays focused on Linux desktop while chaos ensues in SUSE and Red Hat. Discussion on the impact of recent Linux kernel changes on proprietary modules. Trust and concerns about the future are raised. Ubuntu's steady approach amidst chaos and their investments in snaps, desktop, and gaming. Importance of product partnerships in driving advancements in Linux. Rise of value-for-value music podcasts. Concerns about dynamic ads and transition in the podcasting industry.
Canonical is doubling down on the Linux desktop, emphasizing their commitment and investment in improved hardware partnerships and experimental implementations of hardware-backed full disk encryption.
The Linux kernel has implemented a defense mechanism to prevent the NVIDIA proprietary kernel driver from using GPL-only symbols, aligning with the GPL's purpose of protecting free software and raising questions about how NVIDIA will respond in the future.
Deep dives
The AMD open source GPU kernel driver adds millions of lines of code to the Linux kernel
The AMD open source GPU kernel driver has added over five million new lines of code, bringing the total to 34.8 million lines of code in the Linux kernel. This significant addition contributes to the complexity and size of the kernel. It is worth noting that the driver includes auto-generated header files, which account for a portion of the increased code. In comparison, the new vote driver has around 201,000 lines of code, while the Intel i915 driver has 381,000 lines of code.
The Linux kernel team adds defense against NVIDIA's proprietary driver
A defense mechanism has been created in the Linux kernel to prevent the NVIDIA proprietary kernel driver from using GPL-only symbols that are intended for open-source drivers. The goal is to respect the original creators' intent and prevent circumvention of access controls. This move has legal backing and aligns with the GPL's purpose of protecting free software. It remains to be seen how NVIDIA will respond and whether Linux 6.6 will successfully thwart their kernel driver.
Canonical's Ubuntu desktop focuses on the future
Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, is emphasizing its investment in and commitment to the desktop. They have released blog posts detailing their plans for future releases, including improved hardware partnerships for accelerated video and experimental implementations of hardware-backed full disk encryption. With over six million active desktop users, Ubuntu emphasizes core values such as choice, quality, support, performance, privacy, security, and seamless integration.
The rise of value-for-value music podcasts
A new genre of podcasts has emerged that allows listeners to support artists by sending value in the form of cryptocurrency while tracks play. These podcasts utilize open-source technologies and the lightning network to send microtransactions directly to the artists. This new approach to music podcasting provides a way for independent artists to monetize their music and build an audience, offering an alternative to the mainstream music industry. Listeners can support their favorite artists by boosting their tracks, contributing to the growing value-for-value ecosystem in podcasting.
While chaos is brewing in SUSE and Red Hat land, Canonical stays the course and doubles down on the Linux desktop. Plus, our thoughts on the kernel team GPL-blocking NVIDIA.
Making life (even) harder for proprietary modules — It changes the behavior of symbol_get(), causing it to fail when asked to look up a symbol that is not marked GPL-only. This is an inversion of the usual test, which denies access to symbols that are marked GPL-only. The reasoning is that symbol_get() has always been intended for low-level cooperation deep within the kernel, where everything is expected to be GPL-only anyway.
Linux 6.6 To Better Protect Against The Illicit Behavior Of NVIDIA’s Proprietary Driver — Back in 2020 when the original defense was added, NVIDIA recommended avoiding the Linux 5.9 for the time being. They ended up having a supported driver several weeks later. It will be interesting to see this time how long Linux 6.6+ thwarts their kernel driver.
PATCH: modules: only allow symbol_get of EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL modules — Given that symbol_get was only ever inteded for tightly cooperating modules using very internal symbols it is logical to restrict it to being used on EXPORY_SYMBOL_GPL and prevent nvidia from costly DMCA circumvention of access controls law suites.
Ubuntu Desktop: Charting a course for the future — Recently, we embarked on an internal exercise to consolidate and bring structure to our values and goals for how we plan to evolve the desktop experience over the next few years. This post is designed to share the output of those discussions and give insight into the direction we’re going.
Leap Replacement Discussion — I've been looking at the results from the recent contributor survey to gauge the interest and feasibility of replacing openSUSE Leap with a new community-built offering.
