KDE 5 is Here, LibreSSL Unsafe, and Debian 7.6 Released
It looks like the big news today is the release of KDE Plasma 5. Arstechnica.com is reporting that 'OpenSSL fork LibreSSL is declared "unsafe for Linux."' Debian 7.6 was released over the weekend and a new developmental version of Opera for Linux was announced. And finally today, Amanda Dyar reports that Vanish, horror puzzle/adventure game, is available for Linux.
KDE 5 is here. With the memories of the months following the KDE 4 initial announcement still quite vivid, the news of Plasma 5 brings mixed emotions. Today's announcement read:
KDE proudly announces the immediate availability of Plasma 5.0, providing a visually updated core desktop experience that is easy to use and familiar to the user. Plasma 5.0 introduces a new major version of KDE's workspace offering. The new Breeze artwork concept introduces cleaner visuals and improved readability. Central work-flows have been streamlined, while well-known overarching interaction patterns are left intact.
Many of the major news outlets have picked up on the story, but Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols makes about as much sense out of all the confusion as anyone could and even test drove it already. He said, "I found this new KDE Plasma 5 to be a good, solid desktop. Unlike GNOME 3, KDE users will be pleased with this new model KDE." I hope so. Perhaps Jonathan Riddell cleared it up some when he wrote, "Plasma is KDE's desktop."
Arstechnica.com was reporting that LibreSSL was unsafe for Linux users because a "catastrophic failure" in the pseudo random number generator. An expert in these things found under the right conditions it produced identical number sequences two or more times. In an update, Arstechnica quotes Theo de Raadt saying those right conditions "will never happen in real code." But see their full story for all the details.
Debian 7.6 was quietly released over the weekend - I almost missed it! For folks keeping up with the updates, no action is required; but new images are available for new users or fresh installs. There were no new features, just important bug and security fixes. See the full announcement for more.
In other news:
* Step Into Your Very Own Nightmares With Vanish On PC, Mac and Linux
* Opera Developer 24: Important fixes for H.264, tab previews and HiDPI