Boston Linux & UNIX

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Boston Linux VIRTUAL Meeting Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - The Role of Code-Breaking in World War II

When: May 20, 2026 7:00PM EDT (6:30PM for Q&A) Topic: The Role of Code-Breaking in World War II Presenters: Chuck Pross Location: Online: https://meet.jit.si/blu.org Meeting will be recorded, but not live streamed. Recordings will be posted: https://blu.org/video/ Summary: A historical retrospective of NSA code-breaking during World War II Abstract: It should be no surprise that your luck at poker will significantly increase if you peek at your opponents cards. What's true in poker is also true in war.s Chuck Pross presents a short, non-technical talk on how cryptanalysis (code-breaking) helped shorten World War II by as much as two years, and in doing so, saved millions of lives. Much of code-breaking during World War II was classified until well into the 1980's, long after most of the history of that war was written, so much of it's role is not well known. Chuck will share a brief history of the roles of codes and code-breaking, then discuss the significant events of World War II where cryptanalysis played a pivotal role in the allies final victory. The discussion will end with a short discussion of how today codes play a vital role in our modern society. Bio Chuck graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute as an Electrical Engineer and did graduate work at Northeastern University. He worked at IBM's Advanced Development Laboratories, General Electric's Ordnance Division, and at NASA's Electronic Research Center in Cambridge, MA, before being recruited by the NSA to do several years of classified development work. He returned to NASA, where he served as Technical Director for the Earth Orbiting Satellite Data Information System and retired in 2001. For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site: http://www.blu.org Our meeting recordings are found on the Video tab: http://blu.org/video/ -- Jerry Feldman<gaf.linux@gmail.com> Boston Linux and Unixhttp://www.blu.org PGP key id: 6F6BB6E7 PGP Key fingerprint: 0EDC 2FF5 53A6 8EED 84D1 3050 5715 B88D 6F6B B6E7 _______________________________________________ Announce mailing list Announce@lists.blu.org https://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Boston Linux VIRTUAL Meeting reminder, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - What is and Isn't Linux

When: April 15,, 2026 7:00PM EDT (6:30PM for Q&A) Topic: What is and Isn't Linux Presenters: Chris Allen Location: Online: https://meet.jit.si/blu.org Meeting will be recorded, but not live streamed. Recordings will be posted: https://blu.org/video/ Summary: A discussion of what is and what isn't Linux Abstract: Linux Desktop environments are often compared to MacOS and MS Windows environments, but in reality Linux is just the Kernel. The desktop environments, developer toolchains, and application software are separate from the kernel, and many of them also run on a variety of other UNIX platforms. Chris reviews various hardware architectures, the history of C and UNIX, the GNU toolchain, the Linux kernel, and the low-level components that make the kernel usable. For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site: http://www.blu.org Our meeting recordings are found on the Video tab: http://blu.org/video/ -- Jerry Feldman<gaf.linux@gmail.com> Boston Linux and Unixhttp://www.blu.org PGP key id: 6F6BB6E7 PGP Key fingerprint: 0EDC 2FF5 53A6 8EED 84D1 3050 5715 B88D 6F6B B6E7 _______________________________________________ Announce mailing list Announce@lists.blu.org https://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Boston Linux VIRTUAL Meeting Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - What is and Isn't Linux Correction

Boston Linux VIRTUAL Meeting Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - Open Source Business Crash Course

When: April 15,, 2026 7:00PM EST (6:30PM for Q&A) Topic: What is and Isn't Linux Presenters: Chris Allen Location: Online: https://meet.jit.si/blu.org Meeting will be recorded, but not live streamed. Recordings will be posted: https://blu.org/video/ Summary: A discussion of what is and what isn't Linux Abstract: Linux Desktop environments are often compared to MacOS and MS Windows environments, but in reality Linux is just the Kernel. The desktop environments, developer toolchains, and application software are separate from the kernel, and many of them also run on a variety of other UNIX platforms. Chris reviews various hardware architectures, the history of C and UNIX, the GNU toolchain, the Linux kernel, and the low-level components that make the kernel usable. For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site: http://www.blu.org Our meeting recordings are found on the Video tab: http://blu.org/video/ -- Jerry Feldman<gaf.linux@gmail.com> Boston Linux and Unixhttp://www.blu.org PGP key id: 6F6BB6E7 PGP Key fingerprint: 0EDC 2FF5 53A6 8EED 84D1 3050 5715 B88D 6F6B B6E7 _______________________________________________ Announce mailing list Announce@lists.blu.org https://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Boston Linux VIRTUAL Meeting reminder,, tomorroew, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - Exploring the A.I. Chip Landscape

When: March18, 2026 7:00PM EDT (6:30PM for Q&A)

Topic: Exploring the A.I. Chip Landscape

Presenter: Shankar Viswanathan

Location: Online: https://meet.jit.si/blu.org

Meeting will be recorded, but not live streamed. Recordings will be
posted: https://blu.org/video/

Summary:

A roundup of the various AI chips on the market and under development

Abstract:

"The talk will be a "literature survey" of different AI hardware: both
chips used in the datacenter as well as on user devices."

Bio

Shankar Viswanathan is the lead performance architect for AMD's
Strategic Silicon products. He has worked on the design and
verification of several generations of AMD processors. Most
recently, he was on the design team for the SoCs that power game
consoles such as the PlayStation5 and the Steam Deck. His
general interests like at the intersection of performance and
security in hardware platforms.

*Attachments:

*https://www.nextsilicon.com/insights/elads-blog-heterogeneous-harmony

For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site:

http://www.blu.org

Our meeting recordings are found on the Video tab: http://blu.org/video/

--
Jerry Feldman<gaf.linux@gmail.com>
Boston Linux and Unixhttp://www.blu.org
PGP key id: 6F6BB6E7
PGP Key fingerprint: 0EDC 2FF5 53A6 8EED 84D1 3050 5715 B88D 6F6B B6E7
_______________________________________________
Announce mailing list
Announce@lists.blu.org
https://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Boston Linux VIRTUAL Meeting Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - Exploring the A.I. Chip Landscape

When: March18, 2026 7:00PM EDT (6:30PM for Q&A)

Topic: Exploring the A.I. Chip Landscape

Presenter: Shankar Viswanathan

Location: Online: https://meet.jit.si/blu.org

Meeting will be recorded, but not live streamed. Recordings will be
posted: https://blu.org/video/

Summary:

A roundup of the various AI chips on the market and under development

Abstract:

Details to follow

Bio

*Attachments:

*https://www.nextsilicon.com/insights/elads-blog-heterogeneous-harmony

For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site:

http://www.blu.org

Our meeting recordings are found on the Video tab: http://blu.org/video/

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Boston Linux VIRTUAL Meeting reminder, tomorrow Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - Open Source Business Crash Course

When: February 18, 2026 7:00PM EST (6:30PM for Q&A)

Topic: Open Source Business Crash Course

Presenters: Federico Lucifredi, Kurt Keville

Location: Online: https://meet.jit.si/blu.org

Meeting will be recorded, but not live streamed. Recordings will be
posted: https://blu.org/video/

Summary:

Open Source business models, trade-offs, and pitfalls

Abstract:

We review Open Source business models, trade-offs, and pitfalls for
entrepreneurs new to its promise and challenges.

Of course, you know Open Source and Free Software are a development
model, not a business model. Or maybe you don't, in which case this is
definitely the session for you!

Graduate from :Open Source -> Giant Ecosystem -> Profit" naive thinking
to understanding how product and project ecosystems work, and what's in
it for the business and its customers – as well as what tradeoffs come
in the bargain.

As VCs no longer accept open-ended business plans starting with Open
Source code, building an ecosystem, and unexplained profit as the third
step, a more nuanced view is needed for the next generation of
entrepreneurs. We review the fundamental structure of Open Source
business, illustrate the known mistakes that others have made before you
so you can actually avoid them, and dissect the fundamental strategies
to monetizing Open Source.

The aim is to chart a path for your business to grow harmoniously
alongside its project and Community, not in tension degenerating into
rivalry with it. Let us show you what is well understood, so you can
make new, exciting mistakes instead of repeating the old ones.

Bio

Federico Lucifredi is The Ceph Storage Product Management Director
at Red Hat, formerly the Ubuntu Server PM at Canonical, and the
Linux "Systems Management Czar" at SUSE.

For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site:

http://www.blu.org

Our meeting recordings are found on the Video tab: http://blu.org/video/