Issue 31: Encryption – Protect All Your Data

The title of this issue's Editorial section is a shameless rip-off of a section that used to run in Omni, the influential and very cool 80s magazine of "Science Fiction, Fact, and Fantasy." The section in Omni talked about advances in science and technology and where they would lead us. The title played on the actual verbal tense – the word "will" was used a lot in the articles, and the fact that, well, it was about the future.

This month, on our double-sided disk, we have the newest version of Ubuntu, 16.10 "Yakkety Yak." It comes with important and exciting changes you won't want to miss.

You don't have to be paranoid to realise that there is a war on privacy. Unless you protect yourself you have a lot to lose. Ubuntu and the stories in the Features section of this issue can help you beef up your defences.

Home users who are looking to secure relatively small amounts of data quickly and conveniently can combine EncFS with the two front-ends Cryptkeeper and Gnome Encfs Manager.

SiriKali, formerly known as cryfs-gui, delivers a graphical interface for four file encryption tools that the user would otherwise have to operate from the command line.

ZuluCrypt is an easy-to-operate graphical front end that is suitable for encrypting files, partitions, and drives with LUKS, TrueCrypt, VeraCrypt, and dm-crypt. ZuluCrypt cannot handle a complete encryption of the entire system, but it is able to scramble system partitions.

The Googler command-line tools let a user set numerous parameters for executing a target-oriented search in the terminal.

Technologies like Flatpak and Snap make it look like the concepts behind earlier package management systems were a thing of the past. The current status of software administration in Linux shows that this impression is wrong.

The maps provided by the open source OpenStreetMap project are compatible with Garmin navigational systems. Importing these maps is straightforward so long as you bring some basic knowledge, patience, and also experience to the task.

Pandoc lets you convert Markdown documents to DOCX and work conveniently with the editor of your choice. It is even possible to keep track of changes made by various authors.

… rsync, integrit, aide – all these tools monitor the system's directory tree and issue an alarm as soon as they detect unauthorized changes.

lsof give you a comprehensive list of all open files, be it a regular file, a library, a network file, or a data stream. We show you how to use lsof and how to make things easy with a simple graphical interface.

The PDF format has established itself as the standard for document exchange. There are many programs under Linux that you can use to take advantage of all of the possibilities PDFs offer.

The Krita graphics editor is gradually turning into a digital painting tool for painters and illustrators. Krita 3.0 now expands its palette of functions with an animation tool.

Most of the large web browsers focus on speed. Vivaldi puts its energy into lots of nifty features and an elegant interface. The program offers things like gestures and keyboard control, tab tiling, and saving notes.

With its awesome look and feel and bundled point-and-click apps, Ultimate Edition 5.0 is as easy to use for newbies and gamers as it is for hardened developers.

Linux users have been struggling with a love-hate relationship with the likes of Skype since it was taken over by Microsoft. Now there are many other apps to choose from for your audio, video, and text chatting needs, and each of them has a niche where it excels.

Ubuntu 16.10 offers almost no changes to the installation process. But, in case you are new to Ubuntu, we'll walk you through upgrading or installing the latest release.

With NetworkManager, you can access the Internet during the Ubuntu installation process. The first step is to download updates to make your system more secure.

The new Ubuntu Software app lets you install just about anything, including free software, purchased apps, and games.

You can watch movies, play music and place calls over the Internet with ease with Ubuntu. You just have to load the right software packages onto your computer. We present some of our favorite multimedia apps.