news
Canonical/Ubuntu Leftovers
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Ars Technica ☛ Ubuntu disables Intel GPU security mitigations, promises 20% performance boost
Ubuntu users could see up to a 20 percent boost in graphics performance on Intel-based systems under a change that will turn off security mitigations for blunting a class of attacks known as Spectre.
Spectre, you may recall, came to public notice in 2018. Spectre attacks are based on the observation that performance enhancements built into modern CPUs open a side channel that can leak secrets a CPU is processing. The performance enhancement, known as speculative execution, predicts future instructions a CPU might receive and then performs the corresponding tasks before they are even called. If the instructions never come, the CPU discards the work it performed. When the prediction is correct, the CPU has already completed the task.
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Canonical ☛ Build the future of *craft: announcing Starcraft Bounties!
Our commitment to building a thriving open source community is stronger than ever. We believe in empowering impactful contributions, and today, we’re excited to launch a new pilot initiative that puts this vision directly into your hands: the Starcraft Bounties Program.
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Ubuntu ☛ Cut data center energy costs with bare metal automation
Data centers don’t have to be power-hungry monsters. With smart automation using tools like MAAS, you can reduce energy waste and operational costs, and make your infrastructure greener, without sacrificing performance or flexibility.
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Ubuntu ☛ Accelerating data science with Apache Spark and GPUs
Apache Spark has always been very well known for distributing computation among multiple nodes using the assistance of partitions, and CPU cores have always performed processing within a single partition. What’s less widely known is that it is possible to accelerate Spark with GPUs.
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Canonical ☛ How is Livepatch safeguarded against bad actors?
What safeguards the Livepatch security patching solution against bad actors and malicious code masquerading as an update? Learn about Secure Boot and module signing.