End of Apple, maddog Recovering, PCLOS Drops 32-bit
Top new today in the Linux world is the recovery of Jon "maddog" Hall. Hall, a staunch supporter of Linux and Open Source, recently suffered a heart attack and is now recovering comfortably at home. PCLinuxOS announced the end of the 32-bit versions and Dimstar blogged the latest in Tumbleweed. Elsewhere, Paul Venezia said Apple is on the ropes and Neil Rickert said Microsoft clearly doesn't even care about security.
Jon "maddog" Hall has been an advocate for and a supporter of Open Source software since Linux' early years. He cut his teeth on Unix at Bell Laboratories, and even has Unix as his vanity license plate. He chairs the Board of The Linux Professional Institute and founded a local Linux users' group in his home state. Hall blogs at Linux-magazine.com and Sunday wrote that he had suffered a heart attack May 8. Two blockages were shunted open and Hall returned home May 13 on a strict diet but feeling better than he has in a long while. Travel is off Hall's agenda for now and he is presently fixing up his home office. Hall's work will continue, as he put it, "much to Microsoft's and Apple's chagrin."
Speaking of Apple, Paul Venezia speculated today that the end may be near for Apple saying, "We seem to be heading toward a post-Microsoft, post-Apple world." Apple has been king of the hill for many moons now, but recent numbers indicate that may be about to end. Venezia noted that iPhone sales are slipping as is Apple's stock price. He mentioned the disappearing Apples at Linux conferences as further evidence of their shrinking influence. Venezia said he's seen these early warning signs before and this looks like the beginning of the end for Apple. ...maybe.
The PCLinuxOS developers have dropped supportfor 32-bit hardware. They've been warning users of its demise for at least six months, telling them to fresh install the 64-bit version. Some users are quite disappointed. One particularly angry user said he's been sending donations for years, but will no more. Nevertheless, a spokesman tweeting said, "PCLOS 32bit is dead dead dead!" Sounds pretty final to me.
In other news:
* Tumbleweed: Plasma 5.6.3, Linux 4.5.3
* Single sign-on improvements in Fedora 24