Table of Contents

Welcome From The Chief Editor

Exploring LXQt: A Basic Guide, Part 3

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese

Expanded Choices: AppImage & Flatpak Packages

Game Zone: Dave Gnukem

Inkscape Tutorial: Line Art Designs

Repo Review: Buttercup Password Manager

ICYMI: LastPass Data Breach Post Mortem

Good Words, Good Deeds, Good News

Repo Review: Calcurse 1.0

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Tuna Casserole

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Screenshot Showcase

From The Chief Editor's Desk...

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

That has to be my favorite line of all time. No matter how you read it, just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean that you necessarily should do it. It promotes restraint and careful deliberation before going off half-cocked and doing something merely because you can, and without fully understanding/appreciating/discovering the ramifications and consequences of your actions.

Father-Daughter dance, March 2023

This is how I feel about the emergence of the AI chatbots. And, it's not because I'm against the emergence of AI chatbots. That part is inevitable. For me, it comes down to timing. These chatbots couldn't have possibly emerged at a worse time. Let me explain.

We, as a people, are more divided now than probably at any time in human history. We are divided along social, economic, racial, religious, political, and ideological lines (and virtually every other dividing line you can imagine) more greatly now than ever.

As such, disinformation and misinformation campaigns tend to rule the flow of information. That flow is torrential, as each "side" in the ongoing disputes tries to get "their message" across to the greatest number of people. Much of the time, the "winner" in these battles tend to be those who make the most noise, without regard for the truth. All sides in these battles are at fault, so I'm not pointing fingers at any "side." This makes it difficult for individuals who are seeking the truth to be able to discern what of the information, disinformation and misinformation flow is truth and which is just static falsehoods.

NOW, we get AI chatbots who can write plays, movies, research papers, dissertations, poetry, novels, etc., etc., etc. With the line of truth already so obliterated and/or blurred, this isn't the best time for the emergence of chatbots.

Personally, I've avoided the new AI chatbots like the dog tries to avoid fleas. AI chatbots are definitely in their infancy, and should only improve as time goes on. But we also need some controls on these chabots. In more extreme views, I sometimes have visions of an AI monstrosity like Skynet in the Terminator movies. Unless their use is restricted and their abilities rolled out more slowly to give people a chance to get use to their capabilities, the line of truth could very easily be more easily blurred and/or obliterated.

We are already losing our ability to "think for ourselves" as mob mentality grips the various factions of division and those that subscribe to the ideas pushed by those factions. It would only complicate resolution of those differences to the nth degree if/when AI chatbots make the truth even harder to obtain.

I'm not against the use of AI (as you'll see). Like I mentioned earlier, its use and steady improvement over time is inevitable. But, I do think its rollout should proceed at a slower pace, one which will give us time to implement some much needed safeguards.

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This month's cover was created by an AI image creator, called DALL-E. The website allows you to type in a plain text description of what you are wanting a picture of, and then generates that picture. My "generation" text was "Cartoonish Linux mascot Tux dressed as the Easter Bunny, in a large green meadow with mounds of Easter candy and Easter eggs strewn all about." The site is literally getting hammered, as people give it a try. It took probably about 10 or so times of me hitting the "Generate" button to finally get results. All of the other times, I kept getting messages that the server-load was high, and to try again later. However, once the server was able to complete my request, DALL-E gave me four results to choose from. This image is one of those four, and the ONLY one that actually had the Linux mascot Tux in it. The other three images were of a cartoonish Easter Bunny. These four images were produced in a manner of seconds. Yes, I said seconds.

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Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity, prosperity, and continued good health!

Exploring LXQt: A Basic Guide, Part 3

by David Pardue (kalwisti)

In this part 3 of the series, I'll illustrate how to add a keyboard layout, use the "Custom Command" plugin, edit images and customize your panel.

Add a Keyboard Layout

If you are bilingual -- or just learning a new language for fun -- and need to switch back and forth between languages, you will likely have to change your keyboard layout.

I should clarify that changing to a foreign-language keyboard layout will not automatically change the language of the operating system. For example, if you change to a Spanish keyboard layout, the menus and system messages will still be in English [assuming that your current locale is set to American English]. In case you want to add a fully non-English locale to your PCLinuxOS system, you may use Pinoc's clever "addlocale" script. In LXQt, you can access it under the System Tools menu > Software Center > Localization Manager. Complete instructions for using the addlocale script are posted in the "Tips and Tricks" section of the PCLinuxOS Forums.

These instructions cover how to add a foreign-language keyboard layout in LXQt ver. 1.2.0. As you will see, the procedure is straightforward.

Right-click on the top panel > then choose Manage Widgets:

In the "Configure Panel" pop-up dialog that appears, click on the " + " [plus] button:

Third, an "Add Plugins" pop-up window appears. Scroll down the list and choose the "Keyboard State Indicator (kbindicator)" widget. Then, click on the "Add Widget" button to add it to your top panel:

The Keyboard widget should appear at the far-right end of the panel / taskbar:

(Those three letters ("C N S") are called "Lock Indicators"; their configuration will be discussed at the end of this section).

To move the Keyboard widget to a different location on the panel, right-click on the widget and choose "Manage Widgets":

Highlight / choose the kbindicator widget by clicking on it, then use the " ^ " [up] button to incrementally move the Keyboard widget to your desired location on the panel:

In the example below, I moved the Keyboard widget to the left of the Volume widget:

Click on the "Close" button to close the "Configure Panel" pop-up window.

To add a new, foreign-language keyboard layout, begin by right-clicking on the Keyboard widget and choosing the option "Configure 'Keyboard State Indicator':

A "Keyboard state settings" pop-up dialog appears. We will first click on the "Configure layouts" button to add another language's keyboard layout:

(Note: For the moment, we will not deactivate / de-select the three "Lock Indicators" options in the top section of the dialog. Those options cause the letters "C N S" to be displayed beside the two-letter abbreviation of the active keyboard layout).

Now a "Keyboard Layout" pop-up window will appear. To add a new language keyboard layout, click on the "Add" button:

When you select the "Add" button, a new pop-up window will present an alphabetical list of keyboard layout options to choose from.

In this example, I will choose a dedicated Esperanto keyboard by highlighting it, then clicking on the "OK" button:

The Esperanto layout will be added to the list of installed keyboard layouts. If you wish, you may also choose a key combination that allows you to quickly switch between your installed layouts. That key combination is selected from a drop-down menu labeled "Keys to change layout":

Clicking on that drop-down menu will display available key combinations:

I decided on the "Win Key + Space" combination. Click on the "Apply" button to finalize your choice:

Note: You are not required to select a layout-switching key combination. If you prefer to leave it set as "None", you can switch between installed layouts by just clicking on the Keyboard widget in the top panel.

Another area of personal preference involves the three Lock Indicators ("C[aps Lock] N[um Lock] S[croll Lock]") in the kbindicator widget. To use your taskbar space more efficiently, you can toggle off the Lock Indicators by unchecking (de-selecting) them in the "Keyboard state settings" pop-up dialog:

If you toggle off the Lock Indicators display, the kbindicator widget will look like this:

LXQt offers basic support for displaying country flags instead of the two-letter language codes. If you want to enable that option, right-click on the Keyboard widget in the panel > then select "Configure 'Keyboard State Indicator'."

In the pop-up dialog that appears, look for the "Flags path pattern" field and type the following path into it: /usr/share/iso-flag-png/%1.png (that's the number one after the percentage sign).

(The relevant country flags are located in the /usr/share/iso-flag-png directory and the "%1" will be replaced by the two-letter ISO country code).

Click on the Close button. You should now see the keyboard layout display with a flag (as shown in the examples below with the US and Spanish flags):

In case the flag file does not exist, or is an image not easily shown, the Keyboard indicator will fall back to the alphabetic ISO code (as shown below with Esperanto):

If you prefer not to use flag icons, simply leave the Flags path pattern field empty and the alphabetic ISO code will be displayed.

Try the "Custom Command" Panel Plugin

As of version 1.0.0 (released in November 2021), LXQt Panel has a new plugin, "Custom Command" (customcommand), which displays the output of a CLI command in your panel. If you would like an idea of how to use this feature, several bash command examples have been collected on the "Discussions" section of LXQt's GitHub page:

This plugin can be installed in the usual way. First, right-click on the panel. Next, choose the "Manage Widgets" option. Then in the "Configuration Panel" pop-up dialog, click on the " + " [plus] button. The "Add Plugins" pop-up window will appear. Scroll down to the "Custom Command" widget and select it:

Now, click on the "Add Widget" button, then on the "Close" button. The Custom Command plugin will be added to the right-side edge of your panel. To move the plugin to a different location on your panel, right-click on the widget, then select "Manage Widgets." Move the plugin to your desired location by clicking incrementally on the "^" [up] button in the "Configure Panel" pop-up window.

When you have placed the plugin where you want it, you can configure the plugin by right-clicking on it and choosing "Configure 'Custom Command'." Look for the "Command" box and delete the placeholder text (circled below in green):

Copy and paste one of the bash command examples previously linked to on LXQt's GitHub page. In the screenshot below, I have used the command which shows the amount of free disk space in my root partition:

(Note: Although my root partition is on /dev/sda2, I discovered through trial and error that "sda2|awk [...]" did not produce any output. In order for the command to work correctly, I had to replace "sda2|awk [...]" with "root|awk [...]").

Click on the "Close" button when you are finished. The custom command above produced the following result:

I also tried the bash command to monitor my desktop PC's temperature ( cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp |cut -c1,2 ) which yielded the ouptut below:

Similar Applets for Monitoring Your System

To be thorough, I will also mention four of LXQt's native applets / panel plugins which can provide helpful system information:

CPU Monitor (cpuload): Displays the current CPU load (as a graph).

Network Monitor (networkmonitor): Displays network status and activity.

Sensors (sensors): Displays the output from hardware sensors (as a simple graph). The screenshot below shows the output from my desktop PC's temperature sensors. (Hovering your cursor over the widget will cause it to display a tooltip text):

System Statistics (sysstat): Displays a graph for network or CPU activity, or memory use. In the illustration below, you can see how much memory is being utilized. (Hovering your cursor over the widget will cause it to display a tooltip text):

Edit Images with LXImage-Qt

I recently discovered two interesting features of LXImage-Qt, the DE's native image viewer. The application allows you to do bare-bones image editing. Although its capabilities are more limited than Shutter's edit mode, it can add these simple annotations: arrow, rectangle, circle and incrementing numbers.

Open an image file with LXImage-Qt, then go to the View menu > and choose Annotations Toolbar. The Annotations tools will appear at the right edge of the toolbar:

LXImage-Qt lacks an Undo feature, so if you make a mistake, you have to click on the Reload File button (which will erase all your edits / changes):

I experimented with the Annotations tools on a photo (.jpg) and saved the results to give you a demonstration of its editing capabilities. (The only color option is red):

Another convenient feature of LXImage-Qt is its ability to upload the currently open image to an online service: Imgur, ImgBB or ImageShack. This function works without requiring you to log in to your personal account.

From the File menu > choose Upload. An "Upload" pop-up dialog will appear. Select your desired image hosting service from the drop-down menu:

Click on the Start button. When the upload finishes, the created URL will display in the box. Click on the Copy button to share the link with someone.

Customize Your Panel

In this final section, I will limit myself to an overview because I do not usually spend much time on customizing the appearance of my DE. As with the topic of theming (discussed in my previous article), this area is highly subjective and "There are as many opinions as there are people" -- as the Roman playwright Terence said. (Terence [Publius Terentius Afer, 185 - 159 B.C.] is credited with this observation in his play Phormio (2.4). The original Latin quotation is "Quot homines tot sententiae; suus cuique mos" -- 'There are as many opinions as there are people: each has his own view').

The LXQt Panel can be customized quite a bit, to suit your taste. To change your panel settings, First right-click on an empty area of the panel > then select Pane and Configure Panel.

A "Configure Panel" pop-up window will appear.

Click on the "Placement" option in the left margin of the pop-up window.

From here, you can change a variety of settings, such as the size of the panel (Size), its length (Length) and the icon size (Icon size).

In addition, you can change the panel's alignment (Alignment) and its position on your desktop (Position), i.e., whether you want it at the top of your desktop, the bottom or on the left. One characteristic of the Alignment setting should be noted. Changing the alignment will not have any effect if your panel occupies the entire screen (i.e., if the Size > Length value equals 100%).

If you wish, you can also enable the panel's Auto-hide feature. (We will cover that in the next subsection).

I should mention that there is no "correct" answer to these configuration settings. Finding the optimal setup depends on a combination of factors in your workstation environment, e.g., the height of your chair, the height of your desk and the height of your monitor(s). Linux is highly customizable, so customize your DE such that it is comfortable for you.

Daniel opted to have the default panel position be "Top of desktop" for the LXQt 2022.11 .iso as well as for the 2023.01 .iso. This is a reasonable decision which has the following advantages:

A well-placed monitor will cause you to look at the top of its screen when you are looking straight ahead. So your eyes will focus on the upper part of the screen most of the time.

Most applications have title bars and controls (Maximize, Minimize, Close) at the top of their window. Thus mouse movement primarily occurs in the top third of the screen.

In Western societies, we scan (read) from top left to bottom right, in a Z-pattern. The most valuable spot on your screen is arguably the top left corner.

While searching Linux forums for surveys and/or opinions about panel placement, I found that some users dislike a top panel because they believe it increases the chance of misclicks, i.e., clicking on the wrong browser tab, mistakenly clicking on a panel widget instead of accessing the Close or Minimize button, etc.

Link to full-resolution screenshot: http://pcloscloud.com/index.php/s/psHDwxyr2xEjbjW

If you prefer to have the panel located at the bottom of your screen, choose Position: Bottom of desktop.

Link to full-resolution screenshot: http://pcloscloud.com/index.php/s/YgrKBgd2NfGFRBf

A bottom panel is a sound choice; that layout has proven to be an efficient and functional UI which feels natural to people who "grew up with Microsoft Windows" and/or are new converts to Linux. A desktop should be unobtrusive -- and it is most unobtrusive when it is familiar. I also read comments pointing out that when you use a laptop, the screen is usually below eye level. Having a bottom panel means that it is out of way and occupies less prime screen space.

Another option for panel placement which is less commonly used is to have a vertical panel on the left. You can accomplish this by selecting the option Placement: Left of desktop.

Link to full-resolution screenshot: http://pcloscloud.com/index.php/s/7Weq6Cc6Gia5pAw

I have tried this layout infrequently; however, it is the default configuration of MX Linux's Xfce Edition. It is also somewhat reminiscent of Ubuntu's Unity environment (which I experimented with in 2012).

The principal argument in favor of a left-side panel is that it maximizes vertical space for widescreen displays / monitors. The most common option today for computer monitors -- as well as TVs -- is the widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9. The "16" represents the top and bottom of the screen while the "9" represents the sides. So, the top and bottom are almost as twice as long as the sides; a widescreen monitor looks more like a rectangle than the square shape of an "old-school" standard monitor (with a 4:3 aspect ratio).

With a widescreen display, therefore, vertical space is more scarce than horizontal space. Placing a vertical panel on the left edge will sacrifice only a small amount of the screen's abundant width, but none of the screen's limited height.

Auto-Hiding the Panel

If you are hesitant to switch to a left-panel arrangement but would like to make better use of your widescreen monitor's vertical space, a compromise solution is to auto-hide the bottom (or top) panel. This will allow you to keep all your vertical space.

Checking (ticking) the Auto-hide box will allow you to select from among its various options:

The Animation duration field changes how long the animation takes to show (or hide) the panel.

Yhe "Show with delay" field: Shows how long (in milliseconds) your panel will appear when it comes back after being hidden.

The Visible thin margin for hidden panel setting, when checked (ticked), will keep a little bit of the panel visible when it is auto-hidden (as shown below):

The Hide only on overlapping a window setting only hides the panel when it overlaps a window.

The Reserve space on display setting configures the panel space so that it cannot be used for anything else. It is recommended to keep this option selected (active).

In conclusion, I hope these tips helped reduce the learning curve and made you more comfortable with LXQt, if you recently installed it -- or just took it for a spin with a Live USB or VirtualBox session. LXQt is underrated; it is one of the lightest mainstream DEs and it boasts a classic desktop design updated with modern features. Although the core development team is small, they have demonstrated a commitment to provide a solid desktop environment for LXQt's growing user base.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese

Caramelized Onion Grilled Cheese
Turn this simple, comfort food, into an elevated, and delicious meal.

Yields: 4 Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:

2 yellow onions, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 pinches Black Garlic Salt*
8 slices brioche bread, buttered
16 slices Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Take a medium sized pan with a lid, on a medium heat, add butter. Once butter has melted, add the sliced onions, stirring to coat with butter. Cover with a lid. Let onions steam for about 5-8 minutes with lid on, stirring occasionally. Once onions are translucent remove the lid and add Black Garlic Salt. Keep cooking onions on medium-low heat until caramelized to desired color. If the onions get a bit burnt it's OK to add a splash of water to stop the burning - make sure to stir often.

Remove the onions from the heat and begin assembling the grilled cheese. Using a cast iron pan over medium low heat add slices of bread, buttered side down, followed by two slices of cheddar cheese. Over the cheese spread an even layer of caramelized onions, and finish building the grilled cheese by topping with the next slice of bread, buttered side up. Let brown on each side, about 3-5 minutes, until golden brown and delicious.

* Where to buy Black Garlic Salt

https://jacobsensalt.com/collections/infused-sea-salt/products/infused-black-garlic-salt

https://www.amazon.com/Trader-Joes-Ground-Fermented-Garlic/dp/B08VW1MVHF/ref=sr_1_16?crid=YSF6L04WFF81&keywords=black+garlic+salt&qid=1672718165&sprefix=black+garlic+salt%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-16

TIPS:

Dip your sandwich in mustard for an extra little kick. Enjoy!

NUTRITION:

Calories: 323        Carbs: 35.5g        Fiber: 1g        Sodium: 174mg         Protein: 14.6g

Expanded Choices: AppImage & Flatpak Packages

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

Most of the time, the sage advice around the PCLinuxOS forum is to NOT install software from outside of the official PCLinuxOS repository. It's a trivial task to run into what is dis-affectionately called "dependency hell." You also lack a full listing of changes made to your system, so installing even one "unofficial" piece of software could break 10 other working programs, or even render your installation unusable (or even unbootable).

If things do "go South" for your installation, good luck trying to figure out exactly what went wrong, since you have no idea what changes were made to your system. Plus, unless you install software from a trusted source, you could unknowingly install malware, spyware, viruses, ransomware, cryptomining software, credential stealing software, etc. Sometimes, it can be difficult to know exactly who to trust.

BUT … most of that advice formulated years ago, before the introduction of self-contained, sandboxed, ready-to-run software packages that don't make those potentially disastrous system-wide changes to your computer.

Today, these self-contained, sandboxed, ready-to-run software packages are typically just fine to install and use on your PCLinuxOS installation, with only a few minor, but vital, caveats. Keep your guard up for these caveats, and the use of these outside packages shouldn't pose much of an issue for you. As with most things, it's usually when we let our guard down that disaster strikes.

There are three such software package formats available for Linux users. One of them, snaps, won't be covered here. Snaps require the use of systemd, and PCLinuxOS is proud to be systemd-free. So, that makes snap packages an immediate "no go" for PCLinuxOS users. Snap packages, which can be easily distinguished by their .snap file extensions, originated with the *buntus, which do use systemd. Introduced in 2016 by Ubuntu, snap packages are available from Canonical's Snap Store. There are other outlets for snaps, but users should be cautious and vet the source of those snaps to be sure they can be trusted. Today, most Linux distributions that support systemd also support snaps.

The other two self-contained software packages for Linux users are AppImage and Flatpak. These two formats CAN be used by PCLinuxOS users, provided you heed the caveats and exercise caution. We'll cover each one of these package formats separately, so that we can do each justice.

Interestingly, while writing this article, I found several mentions of a "movement" to move away from snap to Flapak among *buntu users. Only time will tell if their efforts pay off, or if those efforts are in vain.

Wait! Here Are The Caveats!

So, as with just about anything these days, there are some things that you need to be on the lookout for when installing software from outside the official PCLinuxOS repository.

First, be sure you can trust the source of the package. Don't revert to being a "Windows user" and just install things willy-nilly. Vet the source of the package, to help ensure that it isn't going to harm you, your data, or your computer. There are monitored and vetted online repositories for both AppImage and Flatpak packages. Items used from these sources should be able to be trusted.

Second, research the program you are wanting to install. You will want to be sure that the program you are wanting to install will do what you want it to. You will also want to be sure it isn't going to harm your computer or your data. Be suspicious of AppImage and Flatpak packages that aren't in one of the "official" (defacto?) online repositories.

Third, if you're an "advanced" user, you can examine the program's source code for anything suspicious. That isn't always practical, however, depending on the size of the source code. A self-contained package for GIMP or AbiWord is going to contain thousands of lines of code, separated into a bajillion different modules. I don't know about you, but I've forgotten a LOT of my C coding knowledge (use it or lose it), and I'm totally lost when it comes to C++ (that stuff never made sense to me). And even then, a skilled programmer can find ways to camouflage malicious code to all but the most skilled of programmers.

Fourth, don't expect every AppImage or Flatpak you find to run on PCLinuxOS. It's not going to happen. Some programs are going to require systemd to communicate with subsystems on your computer, and since PCLinuxOS is systemd-free, those subsystems will most likely fail. To expect every AppImage or Flatpak to run perfectly and successfully manage communications with those subsystems is too high of a bar to set. You may occasionally find an AppImage or Flatpak that works perfectly, but that would be the exception, and not the rule. You need to be prepared to find workarounds to the things that don't necessarily work well. In some cases, there may not be a workaround. The thing you'll need to figure out is if the program performs most of the task you need it to perform. Then, that makes the workarounds easier to deal with. I'll talk more about this (as in providing specific examples) when we talk about each package format.

When it comes down to it, if the program you want is already in the PCLinuxOS repository, your best bet is to use the package from the official PCLinuxOS repository. Those packages can be trusted 100%, and sometimes, our packagers tweak those programs with the latest patches and other enhancements. And, while the official repository contains a LOT of programs to install on your computer running PCLinuxOS, there may occasionally be an instance where you need to run a program that hasn't already been packaged by our dedicated PCLinuxOS packaging crew. For those times, your second best bet is to use either an AppImage or a Flatpak of that program.

AppImage

Back on November 20, 2022, PCLinuxOS forum moderator Archie started a post in the forum about using AppImage to add programs to your computer. Included in that forum thread, Archie also compiled a list of AppImages that have been reported to run on PCLinuxOS. (Parts of this section of the article are excerpted from his post.)

Here's how Wikipedia "defines" AppImages:

AppImage aims to be an application deployment system for Linux with the following objectives: simplicity, binary compatibility, distro agnosticism, no installation, no root permission, being portable, and keeping the underlying operating system untouched.

You can read the full Wikipedia entry for AppImages here.

Below is the list that Archie compiled. Items in bold text are already in the official PCLinuxOS repository, and the list is current as of the writing of this article (the middle of March, 2023). Refer back to the original forum thread for periodic updates of the list.

The following are AppImages that work on PCLinuxOS (at least on my (Archie's) install and other contributors). Bold indicates the apps are also in our repo and installable (but not as AppImage).

Disclaimer: Use at your own risk. The AppImages are not supported in the forum, except the ones created by our packagers.

audacity-linux-3.2.1-x64.AppImage (43.1 MiB) - software that enables the users to both record and edit audio clips.

BilibiliVideoDownload-3.3.3.AppImage (113.2MiB) - a free tool to help you download high quality Bilibili video URLs in MP4, M4A and MP3 formats.

Buttercup-linux-x86_64.AppImage (85 MB) - a free, open-source and cross-platform password manager, built on NodeJS with Typescript.

Colon-1.4.4-x86_64.AppImage (53.7 MB) - a flexible text editor, built on Electron, and based on everything we love about our favorite editors.

Ferdi-5.8.1.AppImage (135 MB) - a desktop app that helps you organize how you use your favorite apps by combining them into one application.

FreeCAD_0.20-1-2022-08-20-conda-Linux-x86_64-py310.AppImage (911 MiB) - an open-source parametric 3D modeler made primarily to design real-life objects of any size.

GoldenDict-3aaaf15-x86_64.50AppImage (55.16 MiB) - a feature-rich dictionary lookup program.

Inkscape-9c6d41e-x86_64.AppImage (121.6 MiB) - a free and open source vector graphics editor.

Knowte-2.0.9.AppImage (102 MB) - a note taking application that allows you to quickly and easily organize and find your notes.

LibreCAD-2.2.0-rc4-23-ge3fae3dc-x86_64.AppImage (46.5 MB)- a 2D CAD drawing tool based on the community edition of QCAD.

LibreOffice - a portable version of LibreOffice for Linux that can be run from any location (e.g. local drive, USB, CD, network share) on all popular Linux distributions, including live CDs. LibreOffice AppImage is available in three versions - Basic (264.2 MiB), Standard (310 MB), and Full (421 MB) - which support a different set of languages.

Mapton.AppImage (v2.2.1) (173 MB) - a map application.

Motrix-1.6.11.AppImage (84.4 MB) - a full-featured download manager that supports downloading HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent, Magnet, etc.

MKVToolNix_GUI-72.0.0-x86_64.AppImage (49.9 MiB) - a GUI for mkvmerge.

Nextcloud-3.3.6-x86_64.AppImage (101.6 MiB) - a file-sharing and collaboration app for organizing personal cloud storage.

OpenTodoList-3.42.0-x86_64.AppImage (52.2 MB) - a todo list and note taking application. Organize todo lists, notes and images in libraries, which can be stored either completely local on the device you are working on (and hence ensure no information leaks out to untrusted third parties) or use the built in synchronization features which allows you to synchronize your libraries across devices using your self-hosted NextCloud or ownCloud server (or other WebDAV servers).

Passky-7.1.0.AppImage (86.4 MB) - a simple, modern, lightweight, open source and secure password manager.

PeaZip-v8.9.0-x86_64.AppImage (12.5 MB) - a free file archiver utility, based on Open Source technologies.

Photopea_1.2.1_x86_64.AppImage (73.3 MB) - This is a simple AppImage for Photopea. It was made in Electron and then built as an AppImage. It works exactly like the browser version does.

PhotoQt-2.9.1.AppImage (48.8 MiB) - a simple open source image viewer.

PyCharm_Community_Edition.2022.2.2-x86_64.AppImage (451 MB) - designed by (JetBrains) programmers, for programmers, to provide all the tools you need for productive Python development. Great app for learning Python!

qBittorrent-Enhanced-Edition-x86_64.AppImage (22.7 MiB) - a free and open source BitTorrent client.

qpdfview-0.4.18-x86_64.AppImage (37.8 MiB) - darealshinji's personal Github mirror of the qpdfview source code.

shotcut-linux-x86_64-221025.AppImage (116.6 MiB) - a free, open source, cross-platform video editor.

subtitlecomposer-latest-x86_64.AppImage (57.2 MiB) - an open source text-based subtitle editor.

Tencent-QQMusic-v1.1.4-x86_64.AppImage (81.8 MiB) - one of three Chinese freemium streaming services owned by Tencent Music.

Tencent-WemeetApp-v3.9.0.1-x86_64.AppImage (215.4 MiB) - a cloud-based HD conferencing product leveraging Tencent's 20+ years of experience in audiovisual communications.

webamp-desktop-0.3.0-x86_64.AppImage (50.1 MB) - Unofficial app. A cross-platform (Win, Mac, Linux) desktop version of Winamp 2.9 reimplementation.

Zoom-5.12.6.173.glibc2.17-x86_64.AppImage (177.3 MiB) - AppImage for the Zoom desktop application (until Zoom provides an official one).

From Codalunga:

Bitwarden-2022.10.1-x86_64.AppImage (87.21 MB) - The best password manager around according to privacytools.io.

xournalpp-1.1.2-x86_64.AppImage (31.3 MB) - A note-taking and handwriting software with PDF annotation support.

Upscayl-1.5.5.AppImage (164 MiB) - AI image upscaler built with Linux-first philosophy.

From daniel:

QMPlay2-22.10.23-1-x86_64.AppImage (28.5 MB) - a video and audio player. It can play all formats supported by FFmpeg, libmodplug (including J2B and SFX). It also supports Audio CD, raw files, Rayman 2 music and chiptunes. It contains YouTube and MyFreeMP3 browser.

From kalwisti:

Eqonomize-1.5.3 (27.6 MiB) - a cross-platform personal accounting software, with focus on efficiency and ease of use for small households.

From reelcat

DownZemAll_v2.5.8_x86_64_no_launcher.AppImage (25MB) - a standalone download manager and rewrite of the legacy software DownThemAll! which was an extension for Mozilla Firefox, but whose development stopped around 2016, when Mozilla Firefox migrated to WebExtensions.

linux_czkawka_gui.AppImage (5.15 MB) - (tch•kav•ka (IPA: [ʈ͡ʂkafka]), "hiccup" in Polish) is a simple, fast and free app to remove unnecessary files from your computer.

From RPsx94:

tutanota-desktop-linux.AppImage (95.5 MB) - the world's most secure email service, easy to use and private by design.

From Stingray:

friture-0.49-20220316.AppImage (88.7 MB) - an application to visualize and analyze live audio data in real-time (live spectrum analyzer).

SonicVisualiser-4.5.1-x86_64.AppImage (39.3 MB) - a program for viewing and analyzing the contents of music audio files (spectrum analyzer for audio files).

And a few more untested AppImage that I believe are current versions. If anyone can help test them, I could bump them up to AppImages that works on PCLOS and delete them from this section list.

AnyDesk-6.1.0-1-x86_64.AppImage (10.3 MB) - (Note: our repo version is 6.2.1) an easy-to-use remote desktop software that includes all basic features that are free for personal use.

bforartists-v3.3.1-x86_64.AppImage (366 MB) - a fork of the popular open source 3D software Blender. It is a complete, free and open source 3D suite to create CG content.

Database.Dossier.v1.0.0.AppImage (307 MB) - a free database user interface program, you can use it for browsing and querying your databases. At present it can be used for accessing MariaDB and MySql database servers.

SuperTuxKart-1.4-x86_64.AppImage (633 MB) - Unofficial AppImage of SuperTuxKart built from the official release.

Telegram_Desktop-x86_64.AppImage (49.5 MB) - a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed.

YTDownloader.AppImage (128 MB) - modern GUI video and audio downloader supporting hundreds of sites.

Viper_Browser-1-x86_64.AppImage (129 MB) - a powerful yet lightweight web browser built with the Qt framework.

Installing AppImage files is as easy as making them executable ($ chmod a+x appname.AppImage). Or, if you prefer a graphical approach, right click on the AppImage file in your graphical file manager, select "Properties" from the context menu, click on the "Permissions" tab, and check the box labeled "Allow this file to run as a program" (or some such similar wording). There is nothing extra or special that you have to install from Synaptic to be able to install and use AppImage packages.

You can "install" AppImage files anywhere on your system, even in your own /home directory. If you want the AppImage available to all users of your computer, move the AppImage file to your /usr/bin directory (you will have to do this as the root user). Otherwise, if you "install" the AppImage from a location in your /home directory (I have a subdirectory under my Downloads directory, called AppImages, naturally), it will only be available to you (or the owner of that particular /home directory).

If you think you …want to "uninstall" the package, it is as simple as deleting the AppImage file. Some AppImages will actually create their own .desktop file, but most rely on the user to create the .desktop file so they can appear in the menu.

Now that you know what to do with the AppImage files, it's time to learn where to obtain them. There are a few decent AppImage "repositories" available that you should be able to trust. The first one is AppImage Hub, and it has 1,232 AppImage files for you to browse. Next, there is Area of Dev's collection on GitHub. There is an even larger collection of AppImage files on GitHub, and it contains 1,368 AppImages, sorted alphabetically. Finally, Awesome Open Source has a collection of AppImages.

I'm sure you can find other sources for AppImage files. Just be certain to keep your guard up, and to vet your source to be certain that you are not unwittingly or unknowingly installing some malware.

Flatpak

Flatpak packages are the "other" self-contained software distribution and installation file format. According to Wikipedia, Flatpak "is a utility for software deployment and package management for Linux. It is advertised as offering a sandbox environment in which users can run application software in isolation from the rest of the system."

While the end result is virtually the same – installing programs to run on your computer – Flatpaks work a little differently. To install and use Flatpaks on PCLinuxOS, you will need to first install the flatpak utility via Synaptic and the PCLinux50OS official repository. AppImages can be downloaded and left in any directory of your choosing, and be run from that location. Flatpaks, on the other hand, have to be installed via the flatpak command line utility, and they are installed system-wide, for all users.

While this sounds a little more complicated, the flatpak command line utility makes it very, very easy to manage the Flatpaks installed on your computer. If you're a GUI user who typically shies away from using the command line, don't. You could be missing out on quite a lucrative and rich resource.

To start using Flatpaks on your computer, head on over to Flathub.org. It has become the defacto (albeit unofficial) go-to repository for Flatpak files. At the time of this article's writing (mid-March 2023), there are 2,027 Flatpak files available for you to choose from on Flathub.org. If you search for them, you can also find quite a few Flatpak files available on GitHub. If you download from GitHub, exercise caution and keep the caveats I mentioned previously in mind. From my brief visit to GitHub to see what was offered there in the way of Flatpak files, most of what I found also already existed on Flathub.org. You may also find some Flatpak files on BitBucket.

I'll use the Dave Gnukem game Flatpak to illustrate what you need to do on the flathub.org website. At the top of the screen, you will see the "Install" button. Click it, and the com.djoffe.gnukem.flatpakref file will be offered up for download to your computer. Save this file in a directory where you want to keep your Flatpak files. I keep those files in my Downloads/flatpak directory of my /home directory.

At the bottom of the flathub.org page for Dave Gnukem (you'll have to scroll down), you'll find "Command line instructions" for the Flatpak you are wanting to install. Click on the "Copy" icon (red arrow) to copy the command to your clipboard. For what it's worth, I've **never** had to use the second command. In every instance where I installed a Flatpak, the program was properly added to my PC "start" menu, in the proper category. I suppose that the "Run" command might come in handy if I wanted to start the program from the command line, or if I wanted to create a launcher on my desktop or on my panel.

For the rest of the images showing how to install a Flatpak file, I've switched to a screen capture of two actual Flatpaks that I've installed. In this case, it's A Photo Tool (Libre) and PDF Edit. I'm not much of a gamer (I don't have time for it), so Dave Gnukem is going to have to yield to this graphics tool and PDF utility that will have much more use for me.

Installing A Photo Tool (Libre)

Installing PDF Edit

Now, open a terminal session, and as a normal user, cd to the directory where you stored the flatpakref file you downloaded from flathub.org. Now, paste the command you copied to your clipboard in on the awaiting command line prompt. Hit enter, and follow the prompts. When asked to do so, enter your root password in the dialog box that's presented. Don't worry. You should recognize it easily. It's the same dialog box that you see when you run updates on your computer using Synaptic (or any other time you are asked for your root password).

Now, sit back and wait for the components of the Flatpak file to be downloaded and installed on your computer. It won't take long, depending on the size of the program you're installing and the speed of your internet connection. You *might* have time to go get a cold soda pop or a glass of water.

If everything went well, then you should now see your new program that was installed from the Flatpak file now appears in your PC "start" menu, as indicated above for A Photo Tool (Libre). Despite only having installed three Flatpak files myself, I have yet to find an instance where the program I install doesn't appear in my PC menu. And, that is the reason I have yet to use the "Run" command listed on the flathub.org website. Instead, I just go to my PC menu, and select the program's entry there to run it.

If you want to see all of the Flatpak packages installed on your system, all you have to do is type flatpak list at the command line.

Flatpak files also "uninstall" a bit differently from AppImage files. Whereas all you have to do with AppImage files is simply delete them, Flatpak files require you to use the flatpak command line tool to uninstall. The format is simple. Type flatpak uninstall [name-of-flatpak-file] at a command line prompt, and the program will be uninstalled from your computer. Replace "[name-of-flatpak-file]" with the name of the Flatpak file you downloaded from flathub.org, minus the "flatpakref" file extension.

Summary

We all know, love and appreciate how responsive Texstar and his merry band of packagers are at getting the things we need or want into the official PCLinuxOS repository. But, there's a limit to what this small band of excellent packagers can do. AppImage and Flatpak files give you another option, besides relying on just the offerings in the official PCLinuxOS repository.

As long as you keep the "caveats" listed towards the beginning of this article in mind, you can expand your Linux software horizons considerably … and safely. Meanwhile, if you find an AppImage or Flatpak that runs well on PCLinuxOS, send Archie a PM on the forum with the information, or add it to the forum thread. I'm sure that there are other PCLinuxOS users who might like to know.

Game Zone: Dave Gnukem 1.0

by Alessandro Ebersol (Agent Smith)

Duke Nukem, the father of Dave Gnukem

Who doesn't remember the classic 1991 Apogee Software game that brought the hero Duke Nukem to the world? Yes, Duke Nukem started out as a 2D platform game.

Duke Nukem 1 was a famous original 16-color 320x200 'classic' game released by Apogee Software in 1991 that launched the Duke Nukem series. The original Duke Nukem 1 was created by Todd Replogle (co-creator of the Duke Nukem series), John Carmack (of id Software), Scott Miller (founder of 3D Realms), Allen H. Blum III, George Broussard, and Jim Norwood.

The game is set in 1997. Dr. Proton, a mad scientist, determined to take over the world with his army of Techbots.

Duke Nukem must then go through various stages, always looking for items to be able to unlock the exit of the stages, and go to the next stage.

In addition to points, some collectibles include health powerups, weapon powerups, and some inventory items with special abilities. The final level of each episode has no exit, and instead is completed by discovering and defeating Dr. Proton.

In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the game 39th on its list of the 100 best videogames: "Without a doubt, the best platform game for the pc ever created.”

Enter Dave Gnukem!

Since Duke Nukem was such a beloved title by fans, there was a cooperative effort to bring it back to life.

The project was originally created and maintained by David Joffe (~1994 to 2004, and, from October 2016 to the present). It was maintained by EMH (Evil Mr Henry from 2004 to 2008. Additional contributions came from T.O.G., Vytautas Shaltenis, Kent Mein, Steve Merrifield, Felix Richter, Kevin Joffe. Matteo Bini and Craig Langman.

As of October 8, 2016, this project is again in active development, and on April 3, 2018, version 1.0 was released.

Game Plot

The year is $CURRENTYEAR+8. An evil genius, Dr. Proetton, has been hired by the CIA to infect the world's computers with a virus called SystemD, paralyzing them. Only you can stop him. You must find the diskette with Devuan Antivirus on it, and install it on the main computer, which is hidden in Vault7.

Any resemblance to real persons or entities is purely coincidental.

Actually Dave Gnukem could also be equipped with PCLinuxOS ISO's, which are also effective against SystemD infection.

Review

The game is a clone/remake/homage to the original Duke Nukem, and is very close to the original.

In fact, the nostalgia is strong with Dave Gnukem, to the point of having video modes, which mimic the original EGA and CGA video.

Commands

Default keys:

Left/Right:   Move left/right

Ctrl:   Jump

Alt:   Shoot

Up arrow:   Action key (e.g. open doors, use teleporters or elevators, activate exit, etc.)

Escape:   In-game menu

7/6:   Increase/decrease volume

Insert:   Turn sounds on/off

Shift+F6/F7:   Speed +/- (framerate)

Shift+F8/F9:   Turn on/off map and sprite auto-shadows respectively

F10   Save screenshot

To open doors, find the correct colored key and press the action key on the ''lock'' next to the door(s).

Power boots allow you to jump higher. The special molecule collection gives you full health.

Gameplay

Well, to write this article, I installed and played it, and it was very good. The game is spot-on in nostalgia, and brings the old Duke Nukem to the present day and to today's hardware.

One down side was the lack of joystick support, but it can be circumvented with Antimicro (joy-to-key emulator).

Other than that, it is an excellent game and a great pastime.

How To Install

To install, you must first have Flatpak installed.

Then open a terminal and type:

Then flatpak will work and download all the game dependencies.

To play, in a terminal type: flatpak run com.djoffe.gnukem

I am not a big fan of flatpak packages. In this case, a simple game like this, that in the worst case would take 22 MB of disk space. However, with all flatpak dependencies installed, it took 557 MB's of disk space, which for a simple game, is too high.

But, it is a fun game and a good time killer.

I hope you enjoyed it (I enjoyed trying Dave Gnukem), a big hug and see you in the next article.

Inkscape Tutorial: Line Art Designs

by Meemaw

Again, watching YouTube for graphics tips, I came across a video on the channel Logos by Nick where he shows us how to make a simple line art logo using some of the Path tools. His was a mountain, trees and water with the sun behind it, and it was really good!

I decided to go a different direction, so I used a trace I made of tuxlink's awesome Dobie from the wallpaper he gave us recently, and made something sort of similar. When you set up your page, make sure the setting "Scale Stroke Width" is turned off. That way, when you make your stroke width 5 pixels, and then resize something, the pixel width will stay 5, making things uniform. It's much easier than going to Fill & Stroke and changing it with every line. Also, remember to use the command Path > Object to path on the objects that you draw, since we're using path commands.

I started with the tracing of Dobie and drew a circle around it. I set my pixel width at 5 as well.

In my design I added lines so it sorta looks like there's a bit of floor under him. I made them a little long, so I'm going to fix that soon. The first thing I'm going to do is space the lines the same distance apart. Select them all, then using Align & Distribute, choose the vertical distribution.

Since you have your lines chosen, go to Path > Combine (<CTRL> + K) and combine them together. That way, when you move them, they'll all move together and not slip out of alignment while you are moving them. I had already drawn mine over the circle, so they were where I wanted them. I also planned the top and bottom lines to be in a certain spot, and drew the other two in between, then aligned and combined.

Also remember that while you are dragging a duplicate, and need another, you can just hit your spacebar.

Now I have this:

I've decided I want my lines ONLY inside the circle. I could mess with them, trying to get them reduced in size, but there is an easy method, since they need to end up all different lengths. I'm going to duplicate the circle, choose the lines, then the new circle, and then go to Path > Cut path (<CTRL> + <ALT> + /). This cuts the lines where the circle intersects, and I can move the lines and delete them.

I plan to put some text at the top of my circle (PCLinuxOS), but I'm going to cut part of the circle out to emphasize the text. I'll use the same method that I used on the lines. I drew an object over the top of the circle, selected it and the circle, and did a Path > Cut path (<CTRL> + <ALT> + /).

I deleted that section.

Now for the text. I had always planned to have another circle inside the first, so I drew it the same distance from the outer circle as the lines are apart. I edited my text, changing the font and size to my liking. (I did have to change the font so it had black fill and no stroke.) Choosing the text and the circle, I chose Text > Put on path.

Well, that's strange… that's not at all where I wanted that text! However, instead of trying to move the text, select the circle and rotate it until the text is in the right spot. Then I de-selected everything and re-selected the text, and moved it away from the inner circle.

You might add to this if it was yours, but I think I'm finished. This is a pretty simple line art design that might look good on a t-shirt or something like that. Hope you have some fun!

Repo Review: Buttercup Password Manager

by CgBoy

Buttercup Password Manager is a modern and feature-rich open source password manager that was recently added to the PCLinuxOS repositories. Featuring 256 bit AES encrypted vaults, Buttercup provides a high level of security for your passwords and other sensitive information. In addition to the desktop program, mobile versions are available for iOS and Android, along with browser extensions for Firefox and Google Chrome.

The user interface has a polished, well designed look to it, making Buttercup Password Manager very easy to navigate and use. Each vault opens up in a separate tab, allowing you to easily switch between them. Creating a new vault is as simple as clicking on the + button in the upper toolbar.

When you create a new vault, you are first given the choice of where you want it to be located. You can store vaults locally on your computer, or use one of the cloud storage services offered (Dropbox, Google Drive, or WebDAV). Then you need to provide a master password to be used for accessing the vault, and simply hit Add Vault. Buttercup also has the ability to import data from other popular password managers, including Bitwarden, KeePass, Lastpass, and 1Password. Buttercup automatically locks the vaults whenever you quit the program, keeping your information safe from any prying eyes.

On the left side panel, you can choose and create new groups to help you organize your documents better. From the middle of the screen, you can select and sort the documents (password entries) in the vault, and then view them from the right side panel. Go ahead and click on New Entry to start adding passwords into the program. Buttercup gives you several template options for creating new documents, such as for normal login details, bank card information, SSH keys, and even just plain notes.

Buttercup includes a built-in password generator with many different options, which can be accessed by clicking the button next to the password fields. You can also add your own custom text fields to documents if you need to do so, and even attach files to be encrypted along with the document.

Buttercup has in-development support for fingerprint reader unlocking, but unfortunately at the moment this feature is grayed-out as it currently only works in macOS. From the preferences, you can set Buttercup to clear the clipboard contents, or lock all vaults after a certain set time period for extra security. Buttercup also provides a handy icon down in the taskbar for quick access when the program is minimized.

Summary

I was very impressed with Buttercup Password Manager during my testing, and it compares well to other options, such as Bitwarden. You can tell, though, that some features are still being developed, and there is not a whole lot of documentation available yet. But on the whole, I'd say that Buttercup is one of the best free and open source password managers that I've used, and thankfully requires no account or anything to set up.

ICYMI: LastPass Data Breach Post Mortem

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

Have you noticed that the picture quality has been diminishing at your local movie theater? Well, you're not alone. An article on Vulture points to how bad projection is ruining the movie theater experience, and multiplexes are failing at their most basic function: delivering a bright, sharp image

Might medical researchers have discovered the proverbial fountain of youth? The National Geographic website takes a look at senolytics in their article about the groundbreaking promise of 'cellular housekeeping.' What if, as you aged, you could make your heart as good as new? Your brain? Every other part of your body that ages? That's the promise of what lies ahead with one of the major players in the quest for longevity: senolytic.

LastPass attacks began with a hacked employee's home computer. The investigation now reveals the password manager company's data vault was compromised, according to an article on TechRepublic. The password manager's company has released two security bulletins, one for LastPass users and another one for business administrators. Hopefully, most of you reading this were like me, and ditched LastPass altogether after they severely limited the "free accounts," which included deleting all of my data from LastPass and porting everything over to BitWarden. We covered the move from LastPass to BitWarden, as well as the whole LastPass money-grab, in the April 2021 issue of The PCLinuxOS Magazine.

The discovery of giant superclusters of galaxies, known as the Giant Arc, are challenging our very understanding of the Universe, according to an article on BBC Future.

Get your telescopes tuned up (don't worry … you have time)! Make a note of the newly discovered comet with the lengthy name of C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) as it gets closer to the Sun and our planet, it could shine brighter in Earth's night sky than many stars, according to an article on ScienceAlert. The comet's nearest approach to the Sun, or perihelion, won't be until September 28, 2024, before hitting its closest point to Earth a few weeks later on October 13, so you've got plenty of time to get your blanket and telescopes organized. Though estimates are extremely tentative, astronomers are predicting a brightness of magnitude 0.7 at the comet's perihelion. At its closest point to Earth, the comet's magnitude could reach an even more dazzling -0.2, which would make it one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Add in the effects of forward scattering, where the dust and ice of the comet reflects the light from the Sun, and we might even reach a -5 magnitude.

I love just about any topic dealing with WWII. There's a fascinating story about members of the German Wehrmacht (the German "regular" army), some American G.I.'s, and some French POW's fighting side-by-side against a 150 man force of the German Waffen-SS (the infamous "death squads") in the Battle of Castle Itter in Tyrol, Austria during the last days of WWII (just two days before Germany signed the articles of unconditional surrender) on the EL PAÍS website.

Ba-da-boomp-boomp-boomp … another Google service bites the dust. As if right on cue, the Google service known as Grasshopper is scheduled to be eliminated by year's end, according to an article on Android Police. Grasshopper was Google's app to help teach users how to write programming code. It was started in 2018 to help teach structured programming (using JAVA) to interested users. If you're interested, you can view the ongoing tally of services axed by Google here (yes, it's a whole website devoted to the Google body count).

A new malware dubbed HiatusRAT infects routers to spy on its targets, mostly in Europe and in the U.S., according to an article on TechRepublic. Lumen's Black Lotus Labs has exposed new malware targeting routers in a campaign named Hiatus by the researchers. The Hiatus campaign primarily targets DrayTek Vigor router models 2960 and 3900, which run an i386 architecture. These routers are mostly used by medium-size companies, as the router capabilities support a few hundred of employees' VPN connections.

By exploiting webcams and other IoT devices, hackers can spy on private and professional conversations, potentially giving them access to sensitive information, according to an article on TechRepublic. In a new report about insecure IoT devices, BitSight discovered that one in 12 organizations with internet-facing webcams or similar devices failed to properly secure them, leaving them vulnerable to video or audio compromise.

Mandiant, working in partnership with SonicWall Product Security and Incident Response Team (PSIRT), has identified a suspected Chinese campaign that involves maintaining long term persistence by running malware on an unpatched SonicWall Secure Mobile Access (SMA) appliance, according to a blog post by Mandiant. The malware has functionality to steal user credentials, provide shell access, and persist through firmwBitSightare upgrades.

Might researchers have finally started to narrow in on things that cause age-related decline? Supplementing the amino acid D-serine helped to mitigate some of the age-related changes associated with a decline of the hypothalamic hormone Menin in mouse models, according to an article on Neuroscience News.

A higher density of food stores carrying less healthy options is associated with a higher prevalence of obesity, according to a report (PDF downlaod) from the Urban Institute and featured in an article on MedPage Today. "We find that areas of higher obesity prevalence are more likely to have greater exposure to the types of food stores likely to offer less healthy options, even when controlling for differences across counties," Elaine Waxman, MPP, PhD, senior fellow at the institute's income and benefits policy center, and colleagues wrote in the study. "The association between obesity and unhealthy food establishments holds true in both rural and non-rural areas."

One of the most popular VPN services, NordVPN, open-sourced its Linux client, according to an article on It's FOSS News.

Enable this setting to squeeze extra juice out of your smartphone's battery, according to an article on Lifehacker. Your new device might be too fast for its battery to keep up.

A quartet of mathematicians from Yorkshire University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Waterloo and the University of Arkansas has discovered a 2D geometric shape that does not repeat itself when tiled, according to an article on the phys.org website.

Researchers have developed a new molecule that limits magnesium transport in mitochondria. The drug prevents weight gain and liver damage in mice who were fed a high-sugar, Western-style diet since birth. After exposure to the molecule, overweight mice started to lose weight, according to an article on Neuroscience News.com.

Scientists warn of a spike in "flesh-eating" infections in parts of the U.S. due to climate change, according to an article from SciTechNews. Continued warming of the climate would see a rise in the number and spread of potentially fatal infections caused by bacteria found along parts of the coast of the United States.

DNA from Beethoven's hair unlocks medical and family secrets, according to an article in the New York Times, and widely reported on in many media outlets. By analyzing seven samples of hair said to have come from Ludwig van Beethoven, researchers debunked myths about the revered composer while raising new questions about his life and death.

Two organic compounds essential for living organisms have been found in samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu, buttressing the notion that some ingredients crucial for the advent of life arrived on Earth aboard rocks from space billions of years ago, according to an article on Geo News.

Toyota's electric cars will have wireless charging, thanks to Israeli tech. A new deal between Toyota and Electreon will yield built-in wireless charging for future Toyota EVs, as well as an easy-to-install kit, according to an article from Jerusalem News.

NASA and Axiom Space revealed a new spacesuit for the Artemis moon missions, according to an article on Business Insider. The spacesuit is black, but astronauts have to wear white when they're on the lunar surface. Axiom put a black cover on the spacesuit to conceal its "proprietary design."

AI ChatBots are all the rage right now. In an article on The Verge, the web is full of chattering bots, but which is the most useful and for what? They compare Bard, Bing, and ChatGPT. A similar article appeared on the PC Mag website.

A prominent Harvard physicist is planning a Pacific expedition to find what he thinks might be an alien artifact that smashed into the ocean, according to an article from The Guardian. Avi Loeb announced that he is organizing a $1.5m ocean expedition to Papua New Guinea to look for fragments of an object that crashed off the coast of its Manus Island in 2014.

50 years later, the creator of ethernet, Bob Metcalfe, wins computing's top prize, according to an article on CNET. The network technology first linked the computers of schools and offices. Now it connects us all to the internet. He won the 2022 Turing Award.

In 1965, in what became known as Moore's Law, Gordon E. Moore predicted that the number of transistors that could be placed on a silicon chip would double at regular intervals for the foreseeable future, thus increasing the data-processing power of computers exponentially. Moore, a co-founder and former CEO of Intel, died March 24, 2023, at his home in Hawaii at the age of 94, according to an article in the New York Times.

Good Words, Good Deeds, Good News

compiled by Meemaw

World's Oldest Dog

Bobi was born in Leiria, Portugal with four other litter-mates. His owner, Leonel, was a child when he was born, and said he was almost put down because his family couldn't take care of any more animals. However, Bobi survived and is 30 years and 266 days old as of February 1, 2023. His breed is Rafeiro do Alentejo, a breed which has a lifespan of 12 to 14 years..

"The Rafeiro do Alentejo is an excellent farm and estate watchdog," according to the American Kennel Club.

Teen Returns Wallet

In Forest City, Arkansas, college student Delivonte walked up to use the ATM at Walmart and found a wallet belonging to a grandmother named Dee sitting in a shopping cart. He immediately set out to return the wallet to her.

Finding her name on her drivers license, and working through an intermediary he found on Facebook, he drove to the town where she lived and returned her wallet.

She told a local news station, "God watched over me. He brought this angel into my life."

Woman Returns Money

Dianne was walking home one night, and stopped in a convenience store to get warm. She found nearly $15,000 worth of cash outside a gas station. In hopes of finding the owners and returning the money, she called the police. The money turned out to belong to a newly married couple. When members of her community found out that she has been walking 2.5 miles to and from work, not having owned a car for five years, they helped organize a generous gift to reward her for her honesty. A GoFundMe page has been set up for her in order to help her get a car.

Dog Finds Cocaine During Traffic Stop

An Indiana State Trooper made a traffic stop, but noticed some things that weren't quite right, so he called for a K-9 officer. K-9 Cole and his handler came and Cole alerted the officer to the scent of narcotics in the semi. The vehicle search turned up 154 pounds of suspected cocaine inside the truck's sleeper berth. Testing proved it to be cocaine.

Nurse Sells Study Notes

Nurse Stephanie was studying for her nursing board exams alone in 2020. Once she graduated from nursing school, she got the idea to post her study notes online, and got a big response.

"I would teach myself to the wall and I would record it. And then I posted that onto social media and people loved it," she recalled, adding viewers then wanted to purchase her study notes, so she created an online store. She now sells her notes on Etsy for $2 per page, with special prices for page bundles. She sells study sheets with short concise information. She also shares some of her pages on Instagram.

In a recent Instagram post, Beggs shared an "EKG Rhythms Cheat Sheet" that covers atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and premature ventricular contractions.

Bay City Teen Saves Coworker's Life

Lillian was working at the Double Tree Motel when she saw her coworker Rusty slumped over his desk. When she realized he was unresponsive, she took action, getting him on the floor and giving him CPR, which she had learned to do in high school.

Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is described as a "lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating. Immediate CPR can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest," the American Heart Association's website read.

When others found out what she did, she was recognized by the city and others for saving Rusty's life. Rusty said, "I owe my life to Lillian. If it weren't for her and her quick reaction, and her just jumping in … she saved my life."

She said she was amazed that the training came back to her even though it had been several years since she took the course.

Repo Review: Calcurse

by David Pardue (kalwisti)

Calcurse is a text-based calendar and scheduling application for the command line. It helps keep track of events, appointments and daily tasks. It has lots of functionality, is lightweight, fast, reliable and portable (due to being text-file based). The PCLinuxOS repositories have ver. 4.6.0 (released in March 2020).

Calcurse's name is a combination of 'calendar' and 'curses' (the name of the library used to build the user interface). Calcurse is multi-platform. It is available on Linux, three BSD distributions and macOS (via the Homebrew project).

The original author of calcurse is Frédéric Coulot, a programmer and astrophysicist who developed the application in his spare time and first distributed it in 2004. Since 2011, the project has been maintained by Lukas Fleischer (Germany), a computer scientist and software engineer. Many of calcurse's core features since 2017 were designed and implemented by Lars Henriksen (Denmark).

Calcurse has support for internationalization (UTF-8) and has been fully translated into six languages besides English: French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), German, Dutch and Russian.

You run calcurse by typing calcurse from the Terminal. The screenshot below shows its default layout.

Calcurse divides the screen into three panels: Appointments, Calendar and ToDo. At the bottom of the screen, there is a Notification bar and a Status bar (sometimes referred to as a Menu panel). You cycle through the panels using the Tab key.

Looking at the Status bar, Vim users might notice that calcurse's basic "motion" keys – Left, Down, Up, Right – are identical to Vim's (i.e., h, j, k, l). People who have worked with the Nano text editor will find the layout of calcurse's Status bar familiar.

Calcurse has a minimal learning curve. If you can spare thirty minutes to watch the tutorials listed in the "Additional Resources" section, you can learn the program's basics.

How to Make a Repeating Event

This stumped me until I found an explanation in the program's Help file (which you access by typing " : [colon] help <feature name> ", e.g., " : help repeat " in the Status bar / Menu panel). This is not covered in the video tutorials below, so I hope it will save you some frustration.

Create your appointment (birthday or bill reminder) in the Appointments panel, as usual.

Stay inside the Appointments panel and select the item to be repeated.

Press " r " for 'repeat.'

Repetition Type: Choose between daily, weekly, monthly or yearly repetition by pressing d, w, m or y.

Repetition Frequency: Indicates how often the item will be repeated.

For a birthday, anniversary, etc. press "1" which means it will be repeated every year.

Other examples: If you go to dine at a restaurant every two days, choose daily repetition ("d") with a frequency of "2".

For a quarterly bill, choose monthly repetition ("m") with a frequency of "3".

When I first began using calcurse, I could not set appointments/events to repeat because I mistakenly tried to enter the repetition type (e.g., m or y) again, instead of the numerical value (e.g., 1) that calcurse expects. If you enter a letter here, calcurse generates an "Invalid frequency" error message:

End Date: Specifies when to stop repeating the selected event or appointment.

To indicate endless repetition, press "0" and the item will be repeated forever.

Repeating items are marked with an "*" [asterisk] inside the Appointments panel to distinguish them from non-repeated items.

How to Delete One Occurrence of a Repeating Event

This is helpful if you use calcurse as a "bill minder" like I do. Once I pay a monthly bill, I delete it from the Appointments panel so that only pending/unpaid bills are listed there.

From inside the Appointments panel, select the (single) item to be deleted. In this example, I will delete my monthly electricity bill for March 2023.

Press " d " for 'delete' item.

Do you really want to delete this item? Answer "y".

This item is recurrent. Delete all or just one? Type " o " (for 'one').

The item will disappear.

To confirm that calcurse deleted only the March bill, I went to the calendar for April 1st and looked at the Appointments panel. "Electricity (Reliant)" is still there for the upcoming month:

If you look in ~/.local/share/calcurse and look at the "apts" file, you can see that the single day (Mar. 1, 2023) of the deleted occurrence has been added to the "recipe" as an exception day on which this item is not displayed.

If you want to completely remove the entry from the data file, select the option "Delete all occurrences."

Usage in Non-interactive Mode

Calcurse's "non-interactive" mode refers to its use on the command line (rather than its three-panel ncurses interface). The non-interactive mode is mainly used for searching; you invoke calcurse with the appropriate options/flags, the application searches its database, outputs the requested data and then returns you to the Terminal prompt.

Here are a few examples:

$ calcurse -a
      This will show all your appointments for today.

$ calcurse -t
      This will show your to-do list for today.

$ calcurse -d 3       ( or, $ calcurse -r3 )
      This will show your appointments for the next three days.

The fact that calcurse stores your data in a plain text file makes it easy to find things (e.g., via grep), fix entry mistakes or just review your past activities. In the example below, I wanted to find my in-laws' birthdays, so I used grep to search for their surname ("Jones") in the apts file. Grep returned results very quickly:

Other Features

Calcurse has other features which I did not experiment with. Calcurse can import calendars in iCalendar format (.ics) and export your data in either iCalendar or PCAL format. (PCAL allows you to generate a printable PostScript version of your calendar).

If you need to synchronize calcurse with your mobile devices, with Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, there is experimental CalDAV support via a script called calcurse-caldav. In order to configure this, you must be running the most recent version of calcurse (4.8.0, released in April 2022) and follow the detailed documentation here. (Users are cautioned that the script is alpha software and might still have bugs).

Many of calcurse's settings can be configured from the Configuration menu (accessed by pressing "C" in the Status bar). For example, once you are in the interactive configure mode, you can select "l" (for "Layout") and choose between eight different panel layouts. Pressing "c" (for "Color") allows you to select different color schemes. All of the program's key bindings are user-definable, by pressing "k" (for "Keys").

Additional Resources

The most succinct YouTube video tutorials I found were created by Brian Schell, Brodie Robertson and Derek Taylor from Distrotube:

Schell, Brian. "Scheduling in the Terminal with Calcurse for Appointments and Todos." YouTube, 23 Mar. 2019. (15 min., 26 sec.)

Robertson, Brodie. "I Wanted a Calendar and Calcurse Is Exactly What I Need!" YouTube, 24 Mar. 2020. (13 min., 37 sec.)

Taylor, Derek. "Calcurse: Organizer and Scheduling App." YouTube, 22 Oct. 2017. (8 min., 44 sec.)

The program's manual is available in HTML or as a PDF file.

Summary

Calcurse is fast, reliable and incorporates many features into a small package. It does not require a steep learning curve; if you have previously worked with Vim or Nano, you should feel right at home with Calcurse's status bar (aka Menu panel). After using calcurse for two weeks, I have found it as convenient as Google Calendar.

If you would like to lessen your dependence on Google Calendar, efficiently manage your schedule and task list while working in a TUI (Text User Interface) environment, calcurse is an excellent option. I encourage you to try it.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Tuna Casserole

Tuna Casserole

Servers: 4-6

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups egg noodles
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion diced
2 stalks celery diced
2/3 cup frozen peas defrosted
2 can Albacore tuna 5-6 ounces, drained
10 1/2 ounces condensed mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon parsley

Crumb topping

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter melted
1/2 cup cheddar
1 tablespoon parsley

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 425F. Combine topping ingredients and set aside.

Boil noodles al dente according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Cook onion and celery in butter until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

In a large bowl combine noodles, onion mixture, peas, soup, milk, cheese, tuna and parsley. Mix well.

Spread into a 2qt casserole dish and top with crumb topping.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until bubbly.

TIPS:

Serve with a fresh green salad

Nutrition:

Calories: 323         Carbs: 25g         Fiber: 2g         Sodium: 689mg         Protein: 19g

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Sudoku

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

Scrappler

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Crossword

Download Puzzle Solutions Here!

WordFind

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Mixed Up meme Scrambler

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