7.16:
===

The upcoming patches will be mostly focused on balance tweaks in preparation for The International. There are a few more biweekly patches planned, with the primary ones scheduled around the final Major and the TI Qualifiers. After TI, we expect the first half of the new season to have longer periods between gameplay updates.

* Bounty Runes team gold reduced from 40 + 3/min to 40 + 2/min

* Reduced the following Movement Speed Talents:
– Bane Level 20: 75->65
– Beastmaster Level 10: 30 -> 25
– Bounty Hunter Level 10: 30 -> 25
– Clockwerk Level 10: 25 -> 20
– Dark Willow Level 15: 40 -> 35
– Gyrocopter Level 20: 50->45
– Legion Commander Level 20: 60->50
– Leshrac Level 15: 40->30
– Lifestealer Level 15: 35 -> 30
– Nature’s Prophet Level 10: 40 -> 35
– Nightstalker Level 20: 50 -> 45
– Oracle Level 20: 75 -> 65
– Outworld Devourer Level 15: 40 -> 35
– Sand King Level 10: 30 -> 25
– Shadow Demon Level 15: 40 -> 35
– Shadow Fiend Level 15: 35->30
– Techies Level 20: 75 -> 60
– Zeus: Level 15: 40 -> 30

* Increased Base HP regen to 1.75 for the following Agility heroes: Anti-Mage, Arc Warden, Clinkz, Drow Ranger, Meepo, Pangolier, Phantom Assassin, Templar Assassin, Troll Warlord, Vengeful Spirit

* Melee Barracks health increased from 1800 to 2000

* Roshan attack damage upgrade over time increased from 2.5/min to 4/min

* Blades of Attack: Cost increased from 420 to 430

* Bottle: Fixed Bounty Runes not being storable when the Bottle is full

* Enchanted Mango: HP regen reduced from 0.6 to 0.5

* Hand of Midas: Cooldown reduced from 100 to 95

* Moon Shard: Attack Speed increased from 130 to 140

* Nullifier: Projectile speed reduced from 900 to 750

* Rod of Atos: Recipe cost reduced from 1100 to 1000

* Sentry Ward: Duration increased from 4 to 6 minutes

* Shadow Amulet: Cost increased from 1300 to 1400

* Silver Edge: Recipe cost reduced from 700 to 600

* Skull Basher: Recipe cost reduced from 1150 to 1000

* Vladmir’s Offering: Mana regeneration increased from 0.65 to 1.0

* Alchemist: Greevil’s Greed bounty rune multiplier increased from 3 to 3.5

* Anti-Mage: Base attack rate improved from 1.45 to 1.4

* Arc Warden: Base damage increased by 2
* Arc Warden: Magnetic Field manacost reduced from 80/90/100/110 to 50/70/90/110

* Bane: Enfeeble duration reduced from 14/16/18/20 to 8/12/16/20

* Bloodseeker: Level 10 Talent increased from +4 Armor to +8 Armor
* Bloodseeker: Level 20 Talent increased from +14% Rupture Damage to +18%

* Bristleback: Level 25 Talent increased from +20 Warpath Damage Per Stack to +30

* Broodmother: Spiderlings health increased from 250 to 280

* Centaur Warrunner: Base damage increased by 4
* Centaur: Hoof Stomp manacost reduced from 130 to 115/120/125/130

* Chaos Knight: Base intelligence increased by 2

* Clinkz: Intelligence increased from 16 + 1.55 to 18 + 1.7
* Clinkz: Strafe dodge no longer has a count limit

* Clockwerk: Power Cogs manacost increased from 50/60/70/80 to 80

* Crystal Maiden: Arcane Aura self mana regeneration increased from 1.3/2.2/3.1/4.0 to 1.6/2.4/3.2/4.0
* Crystal Maiden: Base Damage increased by 2

* Dark Willow: Bedlam cooldown reduced from 40/35/30 to 30
* Dark Willow: Bedlam duration increased from 4 to 5

* Dazzle: Strength gain increased from 2.15 to 2.3
* Dazzle: Poison Touch count rescaled from 4/5/6/7 to 2/4/6/8
* Dazzle: Poison Touch cooldown reduced from 35/30/25/20 to 27/24/21/18

* Death Prophet: Base movement speed reduced from 310 to 305
* Death Prophet: Spirit Siphon manacost increased from 70/65/60/55 to 70
* Death Prophet: Level 10 Talent reduced from +50 Damage to 40

* Disruptor: Thunder Strike cooldown increased from 12/11/10/9 to 15/13/11/9

* Doom: Infernal Blade base damage reduced from 25/30/35/40 to 25
* Doom: Scorched Earth movement speed reduced from 14% to 11/12/13/14%

* Dragon Knight: Base movemend speed reduced from 285 to 280
* Dragon Knight: Elder Dragon Form bonus movement speed increased from 25 to 30
* Drow Ranger: Base Damage increased by 4

* Earthshaker: Base armor increased by 1

* Enchantress: Base strength increased by 1
* Enchantress: Nature’s Attendants manacost reduced from 140 to 110/120/130/140

* Enigma: Demonic Conversion Eidolon bounty reduced from 29 to 23

* Gyrocopter: C all Down Missile One damage reduced from 200/275/350 to 150/250/350
* Gyrocopter: Level 10 Talent reduced from +25 Damage to +20

* Huskar: Life Break increased from 34/38/42% to 34/39/44%
* Huskar: Inner Vitality manacost reduced from 170 to 140/150/160/170
* Huskar: Inner Vitality base regen increased from 10 to 12

* Invoker: Invoke manacost removed

* Io: Base movement speed reduced from 290 to 280
* Io: Level 15 Talent reduced from +90 Spirits Damage to +75
* Io: Level 20 Talent changed from Attacks Tether Ally’s Target to +20 Health Regen
* Io: Level 25 Talent changed from +50 Health Regen to Attacks Tether Ally’s Target

* Kunkka: Level 25 Talent changed from +50% Tidebringer Cleave to -1.5s Tidebringer Cooldown

* Leshrac: Base Intelligence reduced by 2 (base damage unchanged)
* Leshrac: Lightning Storm cast range reduced from 800 to 650/700/750/800

* Lich: Chain Frost damage increased from 280/370/460 to 300/400/500 (Scepter from 370/460/550 to 400/500/600)

* Lycan: Intelligence gain reduced from 1.55 to 1.4
* Lycan: Shapeshift critical strike reduced from 160/180/200% to 150/175/200%

* Magnus: Empower cleave distance increased from 460 to 625 (matching Battle Fury)
* Magnus: Empower cleave end radius increased from 240 to 330 (matching Battle Fury)

* Meepo: Earthbind projectile speed increased from 857 to 900
* Meepo: Earthbind now fully affects invisible units

* Mirana: Leap attack speed increased from 40/60/80/100 to 60/80/100/120
* Mirana: Moonlight Shadow duration increased from 15 to 18 seconds

* Monkey King: Wukong’s Command armor increased from 8/14/20 to 12/18/24

* Morphling: Morph now only dispels on initial cast, rather than on all toggles

* Necrophos: Attack Point improved from 0.53 to 0.4
* Necrophos: Base damage increased by 2
* Necrophos: Death Pulse Mana Regen per stack from 2/2.25/2.5/2.75 to 2.25/2.5/2.75/3

* Night Stalker: Void no longer applies a ministun during the day
* Night Stalker: Darkness no longer sets enemy vision to a fixed amount
* Night Stalker: Darkness now reduces enemy unit and ward vision by 25% (doesn’t affect buildings)

* Ogre Magi: Multicast 2x chance from 40/50/60 to 60/60/60%
* Ogre Magi: Multicast 3x chance from 0/20/25% to 0/30/30%
* Ogre Magi: Multicast 4x chance from 0/0/12.5% to 0/0/15%
* Ogre Magi: Level 10 Talent increased from +60 Gold/Min to +90

* Pangolier: Level 15 Talent changed from +30 Attack Speed to +2s Rolling Thunder Duration
* Pangolier: Level 20 Talent improved from +30 Swashbuckle Damage to +40
* Pangolier: Level 25 Talent improved from -16s Rolling Thunder Cooldown to -35

* Phantom Assassin: Blur now only triggers on real heroes
* Phantom Assassin: Blur now always triggers on Invisible and Spell Immune enemies

* Phantom Lancer: Doppelganger can no longer be cast while rooted

* Phoenix: Fire Spirits damage increased from 10/30/50/70 to 20/40/60/80

* Pudge: Meat Hook cooldown increased from 14/13/12/11 to 17/15/13/11
* Pudge: Meat Hook damage increased from 90/180/270/360 to 150/220/290/360

* Pugna: Nether Ward damage per mana increased from 1/1.25/1.5/1.75 to 1.25/1.5/1.75/2.0

* Queen of Pain: Level 25 Talent improved from 20s Spell Block to 15s

* Riki: Base HP regen increased from 1.5 to 3.0
* Riki: Blink Strike can now be cast on Spell Immune enemies
* Riki: Tricks of the Trade cooldown increased from 40/35/30 to 50/45/40
* Riki: Cloak and Dagger fade delay increased from 6/5/4/3 to 7.5/6/4.5/3

* Sand King: Caustic Finale slow reduced from 30% to 21/24/27/30%

* Shadow Fiend: Level 20 Talent changed from +20% Evasion to +2 Damage Per Soul
* Shadow Fiend: Level 25 Talent changed from +3 Damage Per Soul to -5 Presence Aura

* Silencer: Last Word cooldown reduced from 30/24/18/12 to 28/22/16/10
* Silencer: Arcane Curse damage increased from 14/22/30/38 to 16/24/32/40

* Slardar: Bash of the Deep damage increased from 60/80/100/120 to 80/100/120/140

* Slark: Pounce damage reduced from 40/80/120/160 to 30/60/90/120

* Sniper: Nigh t vision increased from 1100 to 1400

* Spirit Breaker: Base HP regen increased from 1 to 1.5

* Sven: Level 20 Talent increased from -5s Storm Hammer Cooldown to -6s
* Sven: Level 25 Talent increased from +0.75s Storm Hammer Stun Duration to +1.25s

* Tiny: Tree Grab building bonus damage increased from 60/80/100/120% to 90/120/150/180%
* Tiny: Tree Throw splash damage increased from 100 to 130%

* Tusk: Ice Shards cooldown increased from 21/18/15/12 to 23/20/17/14

* Treant Protector: Living Armor regen increased from 4/7/10/13 to 4/8/12/16

* Undying: Soul Rip manacost reduced from 100/110/120/130 to 80/95/110/125

* Ursa: Level 15 Talent changed from -1s Earthshock Cooldown to +25s Fury Swipes Reset Time
* Ursa: Level 20 Talent changed from +25s Fury Swipes Reset Time to +12 Fury Swipes Damage
* Ursa: Level 25 Talent changed from +14 Fury Swipes Damage to Enrage gains 80% Status Resistance

* Vengeful Spirit: Magic Missile cooldown reduced from 13/12/11/10 to 10
* Vengeful Spirit: Wave of Terror manacost reduced from 40 to 25/30/35/40

* Weaver: Shukuchi damage increased from 75/100/125/150 to 80/110/140/170

* Winter Wyvern: Splinter Blast slow increased from 25% to 30%
* Winter Wyvern: Splinter Blast manacost reduced from 120/130/140/150 to 90/110/130/150

* Wraith King: Mortal Strike no longer has a chance to kill creeps
* Wraith King: Mortal Strike now gains skeleton charges for every 2 enemy units you kill
* Wraith King: Mortal Strike skeleton count rescaled from 4/5/6/7 to 2/4/6/8
* Wraith King: Mortal Strike skeletons bounty reduced from 15/15 XP/Gold to 5/5
* Wraith King: Mortal Strike manacost reduced from 75 to 30/45/60/75

* Zeus: Base damage increased by 5
* Zeus: Strength gain reduced from 2.6 to 2.3
* Zeus: Arc Lightning damage rescaled from 85/100/115/145 to 70/95/120/145
* Zeus: Lightning Bolt cast range increased from 700 to 700/750/800/850
* Zeus: Lightning Bolt damage increased from 100/175/275/350 to 125/200/275/350

DeeJ: We’d like to invite you to catch a glimpse of what we have planned for the second year of Destiny 2. We have some big ideas for how we’re going to transform your Guardian lifestyle and reinforce your hobby as an interplanetary hero. We’ll tell you all about it, and we’ll do it live!

You’ll hear from many members of our development team, who will set some big goals for September in their own words. We’ll explore deeper into new territory with Game Director Steve Cotton and Project Lead Scott Taylor—two faces that you might recognize from previous reveals. We’ll respond to a bunch of community feedback and unveil some other things you haven’t even been looking forward to… yet. We’ll top it all off with a look at a new Roadmap with exciting new promises for everyone.

This will be the beginning of a conversation that will last all summer long. You won’t want to miss it. We hope to see your names in chat as you give us your hot takes and spam those emotes.

Friendly Rivalries

In case you missed it, we spun up the Twitch studio for another Bungie Versus stream. It was our second challenge using Private Matches in Destiny 2, and this time we invited our friends at Vicarious Visions to do battle. This happened to be their first ever Twitch stream—keep an eye on their shiny new channel! The games were great, and we enjoyed some friendly competition. When the dust cleared, Team Bungie came out on top. There’s a solid chance of a rematch in the future. We know they’ll be out for revenge. 

Thanks for playing, VV! All is fair in love and war. See you next time…

Return of the Rallies

Destiny Update 1.2.1 brought improvements to Faction Rallies for Season 3. Back in March, the Seasons team discussed their overall goals for the event. Today, we’ll revisit those goals and outline the changes that have been made to achieve them.

Pledging to a faction should be a meaningful choice.

• Players may now only pledge to one faction per account during a Faction Rallies event
• Reputation progress is retained through multiple events, and it will not be reset during the season, even if a player changes allegiance
• Each faction offers unique rewards, such as Exotic armor ornaments or Masterwork Catalysts for Exotic weapons
• We are planning to host three Faction Rallies events over the course of Season 3

• Dead Orbit will offer the Eye of Another World ornament and the Graviton Lance Catalyst
• New Monarchy will offer the Crest of Alpha Lupi ornament and the Sweet Business Catalyst
• Future War Cult will offer the Knucklehead Radar ornament and the Sunshot Catalyst

Seasonal Vendor Progression

• Each faction now features ranks, which players can reach by earning faction tokens
• Faction rank-up rewards will continue to grant Legendary armor and weapons past Rank 30

Dead Orbit:

New Monarchy:

Future War Cult:

Faction Rallies should provide a unique gameplay experience and not simply be a reward layer on top of the existing game. Additionally, these events should build interest in Lost Sectors and armor ornament objectives.

• Faction Rallies now features the “Renown” system
• • After pledging to a faction, players may earn Renown by completing a public event or patrol, or by defeating high-value targets on destinations
  • Players who loot a Lost Sector with Renown active will receive significantly more faction tokens than usual—the more stacks of Renown they have, the more faction tokens they earn
  • Renown is lost when players are defeated by enemies, so be careful when you’re attempting to loot a Lost Sector with high Renown!

• Renown increases the level of challenge in gameplay
• • Health regeneration is vastly reduced (all stack levels)
  • • Enemy kills have a chance to drop health orbs (all stack levels)
  • Player damage decreased (scales with stack, up to 5)
  • Incoming damage increased (scales with stack, up to 5)

While Renown is active on a player, others around them can see which faction the player has pledged to:

Note: Renown displays which Faction a Guardian is pledged to, but only from a third person view. This functionality applies to all players.

Faction Rallies will continue to feature a Winner’s Offering to the faction that earned the most rank packages during a given event. These rewards will then be available in the rank-up reward pool in the following event. During Seasons 1 and 2, New Monarchy dominated the charts. We’re eager to see whether Dead Orbit or Future War Cult can rack up some wins.

Faction Rallies will be available Tuesday, June 5 at 10 a.m. PDT through the following weekly reset. We’ll continue to collect feedback once Faction Rallies is live, and monitor the conversations.

Lab Work

Yesterday, Crucible Labs became available with its first featured game mode. We’ve gotten quite a few questions on how the mode works, where to leave feedback, and what to expect moving forward. PvP Design Lead Derek Carroll has some answers:

Derek: The game type we’re testing in this Crucible Lab is Showdown, a 4v4 team game that might feel a bit familiar to those of you who played Doubles. Double Doubles? Anyway, the rules are simple: Take out the enemy as many times as you can within the time limit to win each round, best 3 out of 5. If the game is tied 2–2 after four rounds, you will play a FINAL SHOWDOWN that’s pure elimination, to crown the victor.

Crucible Labs is a work in progress, and we’re learning as we go!  We expect this Lab to be available until the next weekly reset on June 5, but if something goes truly sideways, we might have to end the test earlier. We’re deliberately starting Labs off simple, not just to test Showdown, but the Labs process itself.

This time around, we’re going to ask you to sound off in the feedback forums on Bungie.net, though we’ll be watching Reddit, Twitter, and all your usual haunts. In the future, we’d like to get more scientific about the whole process, but for now, your gut reactions will be great.

We’re interested in any and all feedback you may have to offer, but the most obvious things we’d like to hear are:

Thanks in advance for checking this out, and I hope you have fun as you help us make the Crucible a better place for everyone!

Jacob/Ben: The moment this weekly update goes live, the Power levels for Escalation Protocol enemies will be lowered in waves 4–7. Waves 1–3 are unchanged and will remain at 370 Power (so still watch out for that level 2 Wizard boss).

Players who have stayed on Mars since before this update will need to return to Orbit and land on Mars again to see the following change:

Old values

New values

NOTE: To avoid matching into an area that has been running since before the change, wait a short time after this update before landing on Mars again to attempt Escalation Protocol.

How We’re Making This Change

Normally changing enemy Power levels requires a patch, but during development, we created unique server flags which can flip between two sets of Power levels for all Escalation Protocol enemies. These were created in the wake of the community summit, when we decided to make the activity even more difficult. The flags don’t require any download from you to flip, which is how we can enact this change so quickly.

Reasons for This Change

We’ve been looking at our internal data while listening to all of your feedback about Escalation Protocol since the launch of Warmind. Reading these stats, not as many players are attempting Escalation Protocol with a fireteam of three as our designs intended, mostly because of how difficult waves 6 and 7 are. Tweaking the difficulty of waves 6 and 7 very quickly through Power level changes is something we can do right away because of the server flags mentioned above, rather than waiting a number of weeks to deliver a patch.

By reducing the Power levels of the latter waves, we are intending to make Escalation Protocol more approachable for players who want to try the activity at 385 as a fireteam of three with potential help from others in the world. Getting nine players into the same space will still be possible, but for those at or close to max level, it shouldn’t feel as necessary as before. If anyone is worried that we’re nerfing this activity into the ground, rest assured that it will still be a highly difficult end-game experience. All the mechanics, timers, and enemy behaviors will remain unchanged, so you should still plan to bring your best team, gear, and strategies to succeed. 

Turn the Page

Tomorrow, Issue 2 of the Warmind digital comic will become available, written by Mark Waid (Doctor Strange) and David A. Rodriguez (Destiny 2: Warmind), and inked by Kris Anka (Runaways). This is expected to become available at 10 a.m. PDT, but stay tuned to @Bungie on Twitter for announcements of availability.

Private Investigators

Update 1.2.1 shipped fixes for various issues that impact Destiny 2 gameplay. A few more have been discovered since release. Destiny Player Support has the most up-to-date information on confirmed issues in the game and what’s being worked on.

This is their report.

Update 1.2.1 Known Issues

Since the release of Destiny Update 1.2.1, the following issues have been identified and confirmed:

• Nightfall Unique Rewards: We have identified an issue where Nightfall unique rewards from base Destiny 2 and Curse of Osiris strikes are not dropping for players. Teams are actively investigating the issue, and we will provide updates when possible.
• Xbox One Login: We are investigating reports regarding an issue impacting some players’ ability to log into or launch Destiny 2 on Xbox One. Players who can provide video footage of this issue as they are encountering it should report to the #Help forum.
• Prototype Engrams and Powerful Rewards: We are investigating an issue where players who level up and earn a prototype engram when turning in a milestone for a Powerful Engram will not actually receive the Powerful Engram. In the meantime, players can work around this issue by making sure they are not near the level-up threshold when turning in milestones.
• Finite Impactor Masterwork Enemies Defeated: Players may observe that the Finite Impactor Iron Banner Hand Cannon does not correctly track enemies defeated in its tooltip.
• BrayTech RWP Mk. II Masterwork Enemies Defeated: Players may observe that the Masterwork BrayTech RWP Mk. II does not correctly track enemies defeated in its tooltip.
• Victorious Veteran Kill Tracking: We are investigating an issue where the Victorious Veteran Crucible emblem may not be accurately tracking Crucible kills for some players.
• Mars Adventures Unavailable: We are investigating an issue where Mars non-Heroic adventures are not available for some players.

Reeling for More 

Each activity in Destiny 2 has potential for Movie-of-the-Week-style experiences. Raids, Crucible, destinations and more could lend a moment or two of unforgettable fun or ultimate testaments of teamwork to achieve a goal. Take your seats, as the show is about to begin:  

Movie of the Week: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

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Honorable Mention: Don’t Stand So Close to Me

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Another step on the roadmap has been executed, and we have much more in store through the coming months. If you want to make sure you don’t miss a beat, subscribe for updates via email on Bungie.net. When you invite us to keep in touch, it gives us a chance to send you communications that are tailored to your specific play style. You’ll also earn an Emblem that will only be displayed by the well-informed.

Steps on Email Validation can be found here – and for those of you who are already subscribed, we’ll be sending out an exclusive Emblem for your troubles. We’ll be sending this out to active subscribers periodically throughout the summer.

Enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you Tuesday!

Cheers,

Dmg04

Chances are you’ve heard about Snap packages. These universal packages were brought into the spotlight with the release of Ubuntu 16.04 and have continued to draw attention as a viable solution for installing applications on Linux. What makes Snap packages so attractive to the end user? The answer is really quite easy: Simplicity. In this article, I’ll answer some common questions that arise when learning about Snaps and show how to start using them.

Exactly what are Snap packages? And why are they needed? Considering there are already multiple ways to install software on Linux, doesn’t this complicate the issue? Not in the slightest. Snaps actually makes installing/updating/removing applications on Linux incredibly easy.

How does it accomplish this? Essentially, a Snap package is a self-contained application that bundles most of the libraries and runtimes (necessary to successfully run an application) into a single, universal package. Because of this, Snaps can be installed, updated, and reverted without affecting the rest of the host system, and without having to first install dependencies. Snap packages are also confined from the OS (via various security mechanisms), yet can still function as if it were installed by the standard means (exchanging data with the host OS and other installed applications).

Are Snaps challenging to work with? In a word, no. In fact, Snaps make short work of installing apps that might otherwise challenge your Linux admin skills. Since Snap packages are self-contained, you only need to install one package to get an app up and running.

Although Snap packages were created by Ubuntu developers, they can be installed on most modern Linux distributions. Because the necessary tool for Snap packages is installed on the latest releases of Ubuntu out of the box, I’m going to walk you through the process of installing and using Snap packages on Fedora. Once installed, using Snap is the same, regardless of distribution.

Installation

The first thing you must do is install the Snap system, aka snapd. To do this on Fedora, open up the terminal window and issue the command:

sudo dnf install snapd

The above command will catch any necessary dependencies and install the system for Snap. That’s all there is to is. You’re ready to install your first Snap package.

Installing with Snap: Command-line edition

The first thing you’ll want to do is find out what packages are available to install via Snap. Although Snap has begun to gain significant momentum, not every application can be installed via Snap. Let’s say you want to install GIMP. First you might want to find out what GIMP-relate packages are available as Snaps. Back at the terminal window, issue the command:

sudo snap find gimp

The command should report only one package available for GIMP (Figure 1).

To get a better idea as to what the find option can do for you, issue the command:

sudo snap find nextcloud

The output of that command (Figure 2) will report Snap packages related to Nextcloud.

Let’s say you want to go ahead and install GIMP via Snap. To do this, issue the command:

sudo snap install gimp

The above command will download and install the Snap package. After the command completes, you’ll find GIMP in your desktop menu, ready to use.

Updating Snap packages

Once a Snap package is installed, it will not be updated by the normal method of system updating (via apt, yum, or dnf). To update a Snap package, the refresh option is used. Say you want to update GIMP, you would issue the command:

sudo snap refresh gimp

If an updated Snap package is available, it will be downloaded and installed. Say, however, you have a number of Snap packages installed, and you want to update them all. This is done with the command:

sudo snap refresh

The snapd system will check all installed Snap packages against what’s available. If there are newer versions, the installed Snap package will be updated. One thing to note is that Snap packages are automatically updated daily, so you don’t have to manually issue the refresh command, unless you want to do this manually.

Listing installed Snap packages

What if you’re not sure which Snap packages you’ve installed? Easy. Issue the command sudo snap list and all of your installed Snap packages will be listed for you (Figure 3).

Removing Snap packages

Removing a Snap package is just as simple as installing. We’ll stick with our GIMP example. To remove GIMP, issue the command:

sudo snap remove gimp

One thing you’ll notice is that removing a Snap package takes significantly less time than uninstalling via the standard method (i.e., sudo apt remove gimp or sudo dnf remove gimp). In fact, on my test Fedora system, installing, updating, and removing GIMP was quite a bit faster than doing so with dnf.

Installing with Snap: GUI edition

You can enable Snap support in GNOME Software with a quick dnf install command. That command is:

sudo dnf install gnome-software-snap

Once the command finishes, reboot your system and open up GNOME Software. You will be prompted to enable third party repositories (Figure 4). Click Enable and Snap packages are now ready to be installed.

If you now search for GIMP, you will see two versions available. Click on one and if you see Snap Store as the source (Figure 5), you know that’s the Snap version of GIMP.

Although I cannot imagine a reason for doing so, you can install both the standard and Snap version of the package. You might find it difficult to know which is which, however. Just remember, if you use a mixture of Snap and non-Snap packages, you must update them separately (which, in the case of Snap packages, happens automatically).

Get your Snap on

Snap packages are here to stay, of that there is no doubt. No matter if you administer or use  Linux on the server or desktop, Snap packages help make that task significantly easier. Get your Snap on today and see if you don’t start defaulting to this universal package format, over the standard installation fare.

Each month on the Microsoft 365 Blog, we highlight key updates to Microsoft 365 that build on our vision for the modern workplace. This month, we introduced a number of new capabilities to help individuals produce accessible content, work together in real-time, and create a secure and compliant workplace.

Here’s a look at what we brought to Microsoft 365 in May.

Empowering creative teamwork

Create accessible content in Office 365—We enhanced the Accessibility Checker to streamline the process of creating quality content that is accessible to people with disabilities. Now, the Accessibility Checker identifies an expanded range of issues within a document, including low-contrast text that is difficult to read because the font color is too similar to the background color. The checker also includes a recommended action menu and utilizes AI to make intelligent suggestions for improvements—like suggesting a description for an image—making it easier to fix flagged issues from within your workflow.

Accessibility Checker alerts you in real-time of issues that make your content difficult for people with disabilities to access.

Work in mixed reality with SharePoint—This month, we unveiled SharePoint spaces—immersive, mixed reality experiences built on SharePoint—which enable you to interact with and explore content in new ways. Now, Microsoft 365 subscribers can work with 3D models, 360-degree videos, panoramic images, organizational charts, visualizations, and any information on your intranet to create immersive mixed reality experiences. SharePoint spaces make it easy to create virtual environments with point-and-click simplicity to help viewers digest information that might be too numerous or too complex to experience in the real world or in a two-dimensional environment.

Create immersive virtual environments in seconds with SharePoint spaces.

Find relevant content faster in SharePoint—The new Find tab in the SharePoint mobile app makes it easier to access the information you need when looking for expertise, content, apps, or resources on the go. The Find tab uses AI to automatically surface sites, files, news, and people relevant to you without having to search—including documents and sites that you were recently working on from across your devices. The Find tab also refines search results as you type, and leverages AI to provide instant answers to questions you ask based on information from across your intranet.

By learning from your existing content and organizational knowledge, AI provides instant answers, transforming search into action.

Run efficient meetings with Microsoft Teams—This month at Build, we demonstrated a range of future capabilities in Microsoft Teams that utilize AI to make meetings smarter and more intuitive over time—including real-time transcription, Cortana voice interactions for Teams-enabled devices, and automatic notetaking. Today, we’re announcing new capabilities for mobile users that make it easier to participate in meetings on the go. Now, you can quickly share your screen with others in the meeting directly from your mobile device, or upload images and video from your library. These improvements make everyone a first-class meeting participant—regardless of location or device.

Source video.

Extend meeting capabilities with Surface Hub 2—Earlier this month, we introduced Surface Hub 2, a device built from the ground up to be used by teams in any organization. Surface Hub 2 integrates Teams, Microsoft Whiteboard, Office 365, Windows 10, and the intelligent cloud into a seamless collaboration experience, which extends the capabilities of any meeting space and allows users to create—whether in the same room or separated by thousands of miles.

Creating a secure and compliant workplace

Achieve GDPR compliance with the Microsoft Cloud—This month marked a major milestone for individual privacy rights with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that took effect on May 25, 2018. Over the last few months, we introduced new capabilities across the Microsoft Cloud to help you effectively demonstrate that your organization has taken appropriate steps to protect the privacy rights of individuals. To learn more about these capabilities, read our summary of Microsoft’s investment to support GDPR and the privacy rights of individuals.

Microsoft 365 customer INAIL leverages Azure Information Protection to classify, label, and protect their most sensitive data.

Work securely with external partners in Microsoft 365—We introduced several new capabilities in Azure Active Directory Business-to-Business (B2B) collaboration that make it easier to work safely and securely with people outside of your Microsoft 365 tenant. B2B collaboration allows administrators to share access to internal resources and applications with external partners while maintaining complete control over their own corporate data. Starting this month, first-time external users are welcomed to your tenant with a modernized experience and improved consent flow, making it easier for users to accept the terms of use agreements set by your organization.

We also improved Business-to-Consumer (B2C) collaboration, making it easier to invite external partners who use consumer email accounts like Outlook and Gmail while protecting your organization’s data and improving the process of setting access policies.

Track terms of use agreements in Azure Active Directory B2B by tracking when users consent.

Other updates

As companies seek to empower people to do their best work, a cultural transformation isn’t just inevitable—it’s essential. This month, we released a white paper outlining how Microsoft is partnering with customers to foster a modern workplace that is productive, responsive, creative, and secure. To learn more, read the New Culture of Work white paper.

Check out these other updates from across Microsoft 365:

By Roger Fingas
Friday, June 01, 2018, 06:22 am PT (09:22 am ET)

Apple has turned down an invitation to speak in front of a European Parliament committee, looking to avoid any missteps that could affect its chances of appealing a previous ruling.

“It is important to ensure public commentary does not prejudice those proceedings,” said Apple’s senior director of European government affairs in a Friday letter seen by Reuters. “Since the appeal is ongoing and likely to be heard at the General Court in the near future we will not be able to participate in a public hearing on this topic as it could be detrimental to the proceedings at the Court and any potential appeals thereafter.”

The lawmaker who shared the letter, Sven Giegold, argued that Parliament should withdraw Apple’s lobby badges because of its refusal to appear.

The company just recently made its first payment into an escrow account, designed to hold money on the chance appeals by Apple and the Irish government are successful.

The European Commission originally ordered Ireland to collect back taxes in August 2016, but the country missed a January 2017 deadline has been threatened with court action for its slow progress. On Friday, the Commission reiterated its position that it’s willing to withdraw a lawsuit once money is fully collected.

The 2016 ruling, issued after a lengthy investigation, found that Ireland had extended preferential tax treatment to Apple, considered illegal state aid under European law. The company is said to have paid 1 percent on funneled international profits in 2003, and just 0.005 percent in 2014.

Apple and the Irish government have denied any wrongdoing, the former insisting multiple times that it simply follows local laws. At the time of the ruling, however, Ireland was infamous for its tax loopholes, and the government has been accused of reverse-engineering rules on the fly to keep Apple happy.

Irish finance minister Paschal Donohoe has suggested that appeals could be heard in the fall.

Boxes is the GNOME application for running virtual machines. Recently Boxes added a new feature that makes it easier to run different Linux distributions. You can now automatically install these distros in Boxes, as well as operating systems like FreeBSD and FreeDOS. The list even includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The Red Hat Developer Program includes a no-cost subscription to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. With a Red Hat Developer account, Boxes can automatically set up a RHEL virtual machine entitled to the Developer Suite subscription. Here’s how it works.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

To create a Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual machine, launch Boxes and click New. Select Download an OS from the source selection list. At the top, pick Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This opens a web form at developers.redhat.com. Sign in with an existing Red Hat Developer Account, or create a new one.

If this is a new account, Boxes requires some additional information before continuing. This step is required to enable the Developer Subscription on the account. Be sure to accept the Terms & Conditions now too. This saves a step later during registration.

Click Submit and the installation disk image starts to download. The download can take a while, depending on your Internet connection. This is a great time to go fix a cup of tea or coffee!

Once the media has downloaded (conveniently to ~/Downloads), Boxes offers to perform an Express Install. Fill in the account and password information and click Continue. Click Create after you verify the virtual machine details. The Express Install  automatically performs the entire installation! (Now is a great time to enjoy a second cup of tea or coffee, if so inclined.)

Once the installation is done, the virtual machine reboots and logs directly into the desktop. Inside the virtual machine, launch the Red Hat Subscription Manager via the Applications menu, under System Tools. Enter the root password to launch the utility.

Click the Register button and follow the steps through the registration assistant. Log in with your Red Hat Developers account when prompted.

Now you can download and install updates through any normal update method, such as yum or GNOME Software.

FreeDOS anyone?

Boxes can install a lot more than just Red Hat Enterprise Linux, too. As a front end to KVM and qemu, Boxes supports a wide variety of operating systems. Using libosinfo, Boxes can automatically download (and in some cases, install) quite a few different ones.

To install an OS from the list, select it and finish creating the new virtual machine. Some OSes, like FreeDOS, do not support an Express Install. In those cases the virtual machine boots from the installation media. You can then manually install.

Popular operating systems on Boxes

These are just a few of the popular choices available in Boxes today.

Fedora updates its osinfo-db package regularly. Be sure to check back frequently for new OS options.

Attempts to establish Linux as a gaming platform have failed time and time again, with Valve’s SteamOS being the latest high-profile casualty. Yet, Linux has emerged as a significant platform in the much smaller niche of retro gaming, especially on the Raspberry Pi. Atari has now re-emerged from the fog of gaming history with an Ubuntu-based Atari VCS gaming and media streaming console aimed at retro gamers.

In addition to games, the Atari VCS will also offer Internet access and optional voice control. With a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, the system can be used as a standard Linux computer. The catch is that the already delayed systems won’t ship until July 2019.

Indiegogo deals

Shortly after appearing on Indiegogo this week, the Atari VCS vaulted over its $100,000 funding goal to hit $1.7 million and counting. Indiegogo packages that are discounted by $50 include a basic Atari VCS Onyx model that goes for $199 or $229 with a classic joystick. These are both Early Bird deals that expire June 4.

There is also a wood-paneled Collector’s Edition version that sells for $299 with a classic joystick or $339 with a modern game controller.  Other deals, including a $319 package with both the joystick and modern controller, are available for the next month.

The Atari VCS was unveiled as the Ataribox last September. The new prototype looks the same, with a design borrowed from the circa-1977 Atari 2600, but with sleek, tapered edges.

The Ataribox was originally said to run a Linux stack on an AMD customized processor with Radeon Graphics technology. Some observers had hoped that the delay in launching the Indiegogo campaign meant that Atari would tap one of AMD’s new, gaming-friendly AMD Ryzen processors. However, it settled for one of AMD’s two-year old Bristol Ridge A1 chips with Radeon R7 graphics. This is overkill for most retro games, but, depending on the A1 model, may be too underpowered to attract developers thinking of porting more modern games.

Back in the ’70s and ’80s, Atari offered one of the largest game platforms around, combining a console with a large catalog of 2D titles. The company faded later under the onslaught of major 3D gaming consoles from Nintendo, Sony, and others, and its last console — the 1993 Jaguar — disappeared quickly. After filing for bankruptcy protection in 2013, Atari rebounded as a mobile games developer, and has licensed its name for the Blade Runner 2049 movie.

Features

Atari offers an Atari Vault library with more than 100 classic games in their original arcade and/or Atari 2600 formats. Next year, it will launch a new Atari VCS Store in partnership with “a leading industry partner to be announced shortly.”

By the launch date, Atari plans to have “new and exclusive” games for download or streaming, including “reimagined classic titles from Atari and other top developers,” as well as multi-player games. The Atari VCS Store will also offer video, music and other content. For now, Atari has listed 14 content partners.

The hardware is not open source, and the games will be protected with HDCP. However, the Ubuntu Linux stack based on Linux kernel 4.10 is open source, and includes a “customizable Linux UX.” A Linux “sandbox” will be available for developing or porting games and apps.

Developers can build games using any Linux compatible gaming engine, including Unity, Unreal Engine, and Gamemaker. Atari also says that “Linux-based games from Steam and other platforms that meet Atari VCS hardware specifications should work.” Developers must register with Atari, and the games must be pre-approved. Atari VCS Store will take an “industry-standard percentage” of the sale price.

Manufactured by Flex, the Atari VCS ships with 4GB DDR4 RAM, as well as 32GB eMMC and a microSD slot. The 14.5×5.3×1.6-inch system is further equipped with dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as HDMI 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and 4x USB 3.0 ports. A 4-mic array supports voice commands, and the system is compatible with typical Bluetooth and USB controllers in addition to Atari’s Bluetooth-connected joystick and controller.

The platform will offer live streaming using Twitch.tv and will support cross-game chat using Skype and Discord. Optional cloud storage and other Internet services will be available via subscription.

Despite its Indiegogo success, there’s no guarantee the Atari VCS won’t go the way of the Steam Machine in the larger gaming market. However, the competition is less daunting in retro gaming, and the fact that at least 6,300 backers are willing to wait over a year for their Linux gaming box is promising indeed.

Join us at Open Source Summit + Embedded Linux Conference Europe in Edinburgh, UK on October 22-24, 2018, for 100+ sessions on Linux, cloud, containers, AI, community, and more.