The H Roundup for the week ending 19 May

Welcome to The H Roundup, your rapid review of the week with the most read news on The H, the security alerts and open source releases, and the essential feature articles – all in one quick-to-scan news item.

Top News

A beta of version 9.2 of the open source PostgreSQL database arrived with scalability improvements, a sniffer tool for displaying other user's messages from the WhatsApp message service was pulled from the Google Play market, and a self-confessed botnet operator took to the Reddit social news web site to answer reader questions. The web site for the popular open source Notepad++ text editor was compromised, and version 2.0 of PulseAudio was released with an improved jack detection feature.

• PostgreSQL 9.2 beta improves scalability, adds JSON
• Sniffer tool displays other people's WhatsApp messages
• Worth Reading: Confessions of a botnet operator
• Notepad++ web site compromised
• PulseAudio 2.0 makes better use of modern hardware features
• Skype for Linux hotfix plugs security hole
• Chrome 19 released with tab syncing
• Fraunhofer Institute finds security vulnerabilities in cloud storage services
• Linux Mint 13 nears with release candidate
• Oracle changes its mind about damages in Android case

Featured Articles

This week, The H provided some tools and tips for the Linux init system, and Andrew Black took a look at the Internet of Things, a future where every device around you can send and receive data across the internet.

• Booting up: Tools and tips for systemd
• A practical Internet of Things

Open Source Releases

• Fifth Debian 6.0 "Squeeze" update released
• ActionScript gets an OAuth 2.0 library from Adobe
• Canonical refreshes Ubuntu Business Desktop Remix
• SystemRescueCd 2.7.0 gets new package management tools
• PulseAudio 2.0 makes better use of modern hardware features
• PostgreSQL 9.2 beta improves scalability, adds JSON
• Debian 7.0 "Wheezy" is starting to take shape
• Wine 1.5.4 adds OpenGL support to DIB engine
• MonoDevelop 3.0 arrives with better code completion
• NoSQL Document/Graph database OrientDB 1.0 released
• Chrome 19 released with tab syncing
• Parted Magic gets optional firewall
• Kdenlive 0.9 improves effects workflow
• Nagios fork Icinga 1.7 released
• MacPorts 2.1.0 released
• Linux Mint 13 nears with release candidate
• Security vulnerability in sudo's netmask function patched
• DoS vulnerability in Bitcoin

Security Alerts

• Skype for Linux hotfix plugs security hole
• Avira AV update hangs systems - Update
• QuickTime for Windows update plugs security holes
• Security vulnerability in sudo's netmask function patched

For everything The H has published in the last week, check out the last seven days of news. To keep up with The H, subscribe to the RSS feed, or follow honlinenews on Twitter. You can follow The H's own tweeting on Twitter as honline.

(crve)