Canonical killing Unity for Ubuntu Linux, will switch to the superior GNOME

 

Unity is a fine desktop environment, but many users of Ubuntu hate it. In fact, due to how much negativity there is towards the DE, Linux Mint has experienced popularity thanks to Cinnamon and Mate. Quite frankly, maintaining Unity has been somewhat foolish for Canonical -- a waste of resources and money when there are plenty of wonderful existing environments.
 
Today, the company admits that it is throwing in the towel on Unity, as well as its vision for convergence with devices like phones and tablets. Starting with Ubuntu 18.04, the wonderful GNOME will once again become the default desktop environment!
 
"We are wrapping up an excellent quarter and an excellent year for the company, with performance in many teams and products that we can be proud of. As we head into the new fiscal year, it's appropriate to reassess each of our initiatives. I’m writing to let you know that we will end our investment in Unity8, the phone and convergence shell. We will shift our default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS," says Mark Shuttleworth, Founder of Ubuntu and Canonical.
 
He further says, "I took the view that, if convergence was the future and we could deliver it as free software, that would be widely appreciated both in the free software community and in the technology industry, where there is substantial frustration with the existing, closed, alternatives available to manufacturers. I was wrong on both counts. In the community, our efforts were seen fragmentation not innovation. And industry has not rallied to the possibility, instead taking a ‘better the devil you know’ approach to those form factors, or investing in home-grown platforms. What the Unity8 team has delivered so far is beautiful, usable and solid, but I respect that markets, and community, ultimately decide which products grow and which disappear."
 
Shuttleworth deserves kudos for admitting defeat, and wisely changing course. A business is smart to focus on its strengths, and not its weaknesses. Ubuntu was never going to succeed on phones and tablets, and Unity just fragmented an already crowded and confusing Linux community. This new focus on the desktop and IoT by Canonical is wonderful news for the community overall.
 
Are you happy for Unity's death? Tell me in the comments below.
 
Photo credit: Dan Kosmayer / Shutterstock
 
~ Brian Fagioli

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Google partners with Telenor to bring enhanced RCS messaging to Europe and Asia

 

A potential successor to SMS has received strong backing from Google as it partners with Telenor to launch RCS messaging in Europe and Asia. Rich Communications Services is more feature-rich than traditional SMS and Google's latest partnership sees the technology spreading outside of the US and Canada.
 
With support for features such as group chat, read receipts and high resolution image sharing, RCS has a lot going for it. There's just one catch. In integrating RCS support into Android, Google is providing the "upgraded SMS experience" through its own Messenger app.
 
The deal means that RCS messaging is making its way to 214 million Telenor subscribers, and a successful rollout will almost certainly mean that Google will expand the technology even further. As this is little more than a switch of protocols, RCS can be used on older devices as well as new ones -- all that's required is an upgrade to the latest version of Google Messenger, and the app will be preinstalled on new Telenor handsets.
 
Google says:

In markets where RCS is launched, Telenor subscribers who already have the Messenger app on their phone will automatically get access to RCS services through an app update. Subscribers who don't have the app can install the Messenger app from the Google Play store. In addition, as part of the partnership with Telenor, many new Android devices will come with Messenger for Android preloaded as the default SMS and RCS messaging app.

This RCS messaging implementation supports the GSMA universal profile -- a standard supported by more than 58 carriers and manufacturers collectively covering a subscriber base of 4.7 billion people globally. We’ve launched RCS messaging using the universal profile with carriers in the U.S. and Canada, and plan on launching RCS in more countries in the coming months.

Do you feel the need for RCS, or are you happy with standard SMS?
 
~ Mark Wilson

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PayPal very sneakily increases its charges and adds weird non-discouragement clause for sellers

 

Nobody likes to share bad news, and PayPal is no different. Price increases certainly fall into the category of bad news, and PayPal has decided to publish the details as "Policy Updates". But it's not just the price hike that's included in this misleadingly-titled document -- there's also something rather weird.
 
If you are a seller -- such as on eBay or other shopping sites -- you will soon be subject to a "non-discouragement clause". What does this mean? In short it means that sellers are not permitted to encourage shoppers to use another payment method instead of PayPal. Let's drill into the detail.
 
The intriguing new non-discouragement clause reads: "In representations to your customers or in public communications, you agree not to mischaracterize PayPal as a payment method. At all of your points of sale (in whatever form), you agree not to try to dissuade or inhibit your customers from using PayPal; and, if you enable your customers to pay you with PayPal, you agree to treat PayPal’s payment mark at least at par with other payment methods offered."
 
But it is the price increases that will be of interest to most people and will affect more users. The fee for currency conversion is jumping from 2.5 to 3.0 percent over PayPal's bank exchange rate. The standard transaction fee for sellers selling goods or services online to buyers outside the US increases from 3.9 to 4.4 percent, and non-US store transaction fees jump from 3.7 to 4.2 percent.
 
Other changes introduced by the Policy Updates include:

• We are removing the tier based fees we charge to nonprofits who receive payments from senders outside the U.S. and are charging a flat rate of 3.7% plus the existing fixed fee based on the currency for all such transactions.
• We are changing the micropayment fees for in store transactions received from buyers outside the U.S. from 6.0% to 6.5% plus the existing fixed fee based on the currency.
• We are clarifying that we will assess the $20.00 chargeback processing fee for sellers who win a chargeback but are not eligible for Seller Protection.
• We are adding the ability to create a negative balance in your PayPal account when we reverse a payment to cover eBay buyer protection claims that the seller loses.

PayPal Here is also in line for fee increases:

• We are changing the cross-border transactions fee for card present and PayPal transactions from 3.7% to 4.2%.
• We are changing the cross-border transaction fee for keyed and scanned transactions from 4.5% + $0.15 to 5.0% + $0.15.
• We are also adding pricing for verified charitable organizations that will match existing pricing for non-charities.

The changes take effect March 29, 2017.
 
Photo credit: www.BillionPhotos.com / Shutterstock
 
~ Mark Wilson

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WhatsApp adds two-step verification -- here's how to enable it

 
It has been a little while coming, but WhatsApp is finally rolling out support for two-step verification to its messaging app.
 
The extra layer of security means that it is now more difficult to gain unauthorized access to an account, and it is a feature that is being made available to iOS, Android and Windows users. With the feature enabled, if you -- or anyone else, for that matter -- tries to verify your phone number on WhatsApp, you -- or they -- will have to provide the 6-digit passcode you create.

 
In addition to creating a passcode to secure your account, WhatsApp also lets you provide an email address which can be used to disable two-step verification. Oddly, WhatsApp has chosen not to run email addresses through any sort of confirmation or verification process, so the FAQ helpfully suggests: "We highly recommend you provide an accurate email address so that you're not locked out of your account if you forget your passcode."
 
If you want to secure your account, it's a very simple process. Head to Settings > Account > Two-step verification and flip the setting to Enable. Job done!
 
Something else worth noting also crops up in the FAQ:

If you have two-step verification enabled, your number will not be permitted to reverify on WhatsApp within 7 days of last using WhatsApp without your passcode. Thus, if you forget your own passcode, but did not provide an email to disable two-step verification, even you will not be permitted to reverify on WhatsApp within 7 days of last using WhatsApp. After these 7 days, your number will be permitted to reverify on WhatsApp without your passcode, but you will lose all pending messages upon reverifying -- they will be deleted. If your number is reverified on WhatsApp after 30 days of last using WhatsApp, and without your passcode, your account will be deleted and a new one will be created upon successfully reverifying.

Now: go forth and secure!
 
Photo Credit: dennizn / Shutterstock.com
 
~ Mark Wilson

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Canonical launches Ubuntu Tutorials

 

Linux is arguably the most successful open source project in all of history. The success of the kernel -- and operating systems that use it -- are not due to any one man or woman. Actually, the achievements are thanks to the Linux community. In other words, it is a team effort -- developers, users, and more.

For a Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu, to continue its progress, Canonical needs developers to remain interested -- this includes getting new people involved and educated. This week, the company launched Ubuntu Tutorials -- based on Google's open source Codelab. No, it is not self-learning for new workstation users, but for programmers and developers.

"Ubuntu tutorials are a topic-specific walkthroughs, giving you a very practical experience on a particular domain. They are just like learning from pair programming except you can do it on your own! They provide a step-by-step process to doing development and devops activities on Ubuntu machines, servers or devices," says Canonical.

The Ubuntu-maintainer further says, "You can as well work offline if you desire and always take your tutorials with you! Using the snap technology, we built a tutorial snap including the same content and the same technology as the one you can find on the website."
 

 

Canonical shares the following details about the tutorials.

• A clear and detailed summary of what you will learn in this tutorial
• The content difficulty level: you will know where to start from!
• An estimated completion time for each step and the whole tutorial, so that you plan precisely depending on your availability.
• A "where to go from there" final step, guiding you to the next logical places to get more information about that particular subject, or the next tutorial you can follow now that you have learned those notions.

Just as the Linux community is a group effort, so shall be Ubuntu Tutorials. You see, Canonical is asking for assistance in creating new tutorials. If you are interested in contributing to tutorials.ubuntu.com, the company shares the rather lengthy guidelines here.

Will you participate in creating tutorials? If yes, tell me how in the comments below.

Photo credit: Julien Tromeur / Shutterstock

~ Brian Fagioli

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Microsoft waves an 'early goodbye' to Windows 7, pushes Windows 10 upgrades

 

Although Microsoft claims that Windows 10 is now more popular than Windows 7, analyst firm NetMarkShare’s monthly usage figures paint a very different picture. In December, for example, Windows 10 hit 24.36 percent globally, but it's dwarfed by Windows 7's 48.34 percent share.
 
It’s clear that Windows 7 is going to remain the number one desktop operating system for some time to come -- globally at least -- but Microsoft is desperate for those users to switch to Windows 10 and warns that Windows 7 support is coming to an end, and that the OS has outdated security and can’t keep up with today’s security needs.
 
In a post headed 'An early goodbye to Windows 7! Support ends in three years' Microsoft's German press site tells users that in three years Windows 7 extended support will run out permanently, and that from January 14, 2020 there will be "no security updates, updates and no technical support from Microsoft".
 
It describes the move as a "logical decision" as "Windows 7 can no longer keep up with the increased security requirements" and sticking with the older OS actually leads to "higher operating costs" due to "increased malware attacks and even increased support requests".
 
If that’s not enough reason to switch, the page also points out that "Windows 10 is the only version of Windows that provides the appropriate support for the latest chips from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. In addition, many programs are already being written or developed for the newer versions of Windows".
 
While Windows 7 support will run out in 2020, that’s still three years away yet, giving users and companies plenty of time to consider whether or not they want to switch, move to Linux or Mac, or just survive without extended support. There's certainly no rush to wave an early goodbye to Windows 7. Third-party security software will continue to work just fine on that OS for many years after the deadline.
 
The German post includes the usual FUD from Microsoft, and the grim picture that the software giant paints for Windows 7 isn’t entirely fair, but it does serve as a reminder that time is ticking on for the aging OS.
 
If you’re currently using Windows 7, what are your plans for the future? Will you upgrade to Windows 10, if so when, and if not, what do you intend to do once 2020 rolls around?
 
Photo credit: Vladimir Gjorgiev / Shutterstock
 
~ Wayne Williams

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