Digital Issues

Issue #213: Mapping Tools – Create and edit digital maps with QGIS and QMapShack

This month's issue looks at Linux applications for viewing and customizing maps. You'll learn how to access and edit geospacial data with QGIS and QMapShack.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #212: Internet of Things – Tools for home automation

The Internet of Things revolution is tailor-made for Linux. The ultimate hacker system is certainly well suited for automating the home.

This month we report on some tools and techniques for Linux and the Internet of Things. You'll learn about ioBroker – a universal tool for managing different types of devices from a single interface. You'll also take a tour of the Eclipse IoT project, a collection of libraries and frameworks with the common goal of keeping the Internet of Things open and free.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #211: Mycroft – Can an open source personal assistant compete with Alexa?

You can't get more sci fi than a little box that listens to your instructions and talks back. Most of the leading personal assistants come in very opaque little boxes, but the open source community is hard at work finding its own solutions. Mycroft is an open source assistant that comes on a hardware device, but you also can download the software and install it on a Linux system.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #210: Free Boot! Libreboot and the liberation of firmware

This month we tune into the Libreboot project – an effort to replace the proprietary firmware in laptop computers with an open source equivalent.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #209: Is Firefox Back? We compare Mozilla's reborn browser with recent versions of Chrome

This month we take up the challenge with a head-on performance comparison of Firefox 57 with Chrome, Vivaldi, and Opera. We also offer some tips on how to clean up the user data stored with your browser and how to configure custom privacy settings.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #208: Terminal Tuning: Tips and tools for a better Bash shell

This month we present some interesting utilities for enhancing your command-line experience.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #207: Inside a Compiler

This month we take a look inside one of the most deeply complex and unfathomable tools in the programmer's toolkit: the compiler. We also compare the GCC, Clang, and MSVC compilers, with the emphasis on support for C++ standards.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #206: Safer Boot

This month we look at the Linux boot process and explore some tools and tricks for better and safer startup, including the Shim first-stage bootloader and the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.

Issue #205: Bitkey

The mysterious world of cryptocurrency is quickly becoming part of everyday life. If you've been around computers and the Internet for the past five years, chances are you're either using Bitcoin or you're curious about it. This month we look at BitKey, a Debian-based Linux designed to serve in a hyper-secure Bitcoin cold storage environment.

DVD contents are not available with the digital version of the magazine.