Phoronix reports that after more than two years of work, a patch series has been posted for a “fully functional” ffmpeg multi-threaded command-line application with multi-threaded transcoding pipelines being wired up. This is great news for the multimedia industry as FFmpeg is widely used. The run-time overhead of threading is said to be negligible in typical cases. The announcement on the mailing list notes that users can expect better CPU utilization and speedup on multicore systems whenever transcoding isn’t dominated by a single component and the components aren’t already multithreaded.

Source: Phoronix.

The Geniatech XPI-3566-Zero is a new Raspberry Pi Zero clone that offers improved specifications and features. While most Raspberry Pi clones mimic the larger Raspberry Pi Model B, the XPI-3566-Zero takes inspiration from the smaller Raspberry Pi Zero.

The Geniatech XPI-3566-Zero has a similar form factor to the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, measuring 65 x 30mm. However, it boasts a faster processor, enhanced wireless connectivity, built-in eMMC storage, and support for more RAM.

In terms of processing power, the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W is equipped with a 1 GHz Broadcom BCM2710A1 quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor with VideoCore IV graphics. In contrast, the XPI-3566-Zero features a more powerful 1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A55 processor and Mali-G52 2EE graphics. The chip also includes a neural processing unit with up to 1 TOPS of AI performance.

Like the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, the Geniatech XPI-3566-Zero includes a mini HDMI port for video output, a MIPI-CSI camera connector, and a 40-pin GPIO header. However, it deviates from the Raspberry Pi design with two USB-C ports instead of micro USB ports.

The XPI-3566-Zero supports WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, offering improved wireless connectivity compared to the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W’s WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2. The entry-level model of the Geniatech board comes with 512MB of LPDDR4 memory and 8GB of eMMC flash storage, but it can be configured with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

One notable difference is that the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W has a microSD card reader, which the Geniatech XPI-3566-Zero lacks.

Overall, the Geniatech XPI-3566-Zero offers an attractive alternative to the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, with a more powerful processor, improved wireless capabilities, and expanded memory and storage options.

Source: Liliputing.

Element announced that they will be forking Synapse and Dendrite, two long-standing projects in the Matrix community. This news has raised questions and concerns, but the Foundation is committed to addressing them and finding a way forward together.

Synapse and Dendrite have been around since 2014 and 2017, predating both the Foundation and Element. Element, the creators of Matrix, invested in the development of these projects and transferred them to the Foundation when it was formed. While individual contributors retained their copyright, Element assigned the projects to the Foundation. Both projects are licensed under the permissive ALv2 license, but Element’s forks will now use the reciprocal AGPLv3 license with a Contributor License Agreement (CLA).

Since 2019, the Foundation has been responsible for holding the assets and providing infrastructure for Synapse and Dendrite. While the adoption and use of Matrix and these projects have grown significantly, the contributor ecosystem for Synapse and Dendrite has not seen the same level of growth. Most of the maintenance and development work has been done by individuals working at Element.

Moving forward, the Foundation does not plan to actively fund the development of the current Synapse and Dendrite projects due to limited resources. Instead, the Foundation will focus on funding research and development for the Matrix ecosystem, addressing gaps, and providing community infrastructure. The Foundation does not wish to compete with actively maintained open source projects.

It is expected that the forks of Synapse and Dendrite will be widely adopted, and the Foundation wishes them success. However, there are still many unanswered questions, and the Matrix community will need to navigate this new territory together. Matrix is more than just these two projects - it is an open protocol and a whole ecosystem.

For most users, including the 115 million plus Matrix users on the open federation, there will be no significant changes. Those who run a Synapse or Dendrite server should continue to receive upstream releases from Element’s repositories.

Source: Matrix.

GEEKOM has released the A5, a mini PC powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor, with 32GB RAM and a 512GB SSD.

The GEEKOM A5 mini PC boasts impressive features, including support for up to four 4K displays through two HDMI 2.0 outputs and two USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2) ports. It also offers 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6 networking capabilities. The mini PC is equipped with three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, one USB 2.0 port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Here are the detailed specifications of the GEEKOM A5 mini PC:

• SoC – AMD Ryzen 7 5800H 8-core/16-thread processor up to 3.2 GHz / 4.4 GHz (Turbo) with 16MB cache, AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics; TDP: 35W
• System Memory – 32GB RAM via dual-channel DDR4-3200 SODIMM
• Storage:
  • 512GB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3×4 NVMe SSD, upgradable to 2TB NVMe or SATA SSD
  • 2.5-inch SATA HDD slot (7mm thick max) up to 2TB
  • Full-size SD card slot
• Video Output:
  • 2 x HDMI 2.0 ports up to 4Kp60Hz
  • 2x DisplayPort via USB Type-C ports up to 8Kp30
• Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, digital audio via HDMI and USB-C
• Networking:
  • 2.5GbE RJ45 port
  • WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2
• USB:
  • 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports
  • 1x USB 2.0 Type-A port
  • 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports with DisplayPort alt mode
• Misc – Power button, Kensington Lock slot
• Power Supply – 19V/6.32A (120W Power Adapter) via DC jack
• Dimensions – 117 x 112 x 49.2 mm
• Weight – 652 grams

The GEEKOM A5 mini PC comes with an activated version of Windows 11 Pro and several accessories, including a user guide, a VESA mount, an HDMI cable, and a 120W power adapter. We had the opportunity to review a sample unit of the A5, and we can confirm that it utilizes a 512GB Lexar NVMe (PCIe Gen 3 x4) SSD, as shown in the teardown photos.

Overall, the GEEKOM A5 mini PC offers good specifications and features at an affordable price point. It seems like a good option for those interested in a low power server.

The Flash-Friendly File-System (F2FS) has received further enhancements in the mainline Linux kernel with the ongoing v6.7 merge window. One notable improvement is the support for a larger page size by changing the internal block size alignment to the page size. This means that F2FS can now support cases where the block size is the page size for both 4K and 16K block sizes. It is worth noting that other sizes should also work, as mentioned in the related patches. However, at present, the code does not support 4K block size file-systems if the page size is 16K.

In addition to the larger page size support, F2FS for Linux 6.7 also introduces further improvements around zoned block device support and various other fixes and low-level code enhancements. These changes aim to enhance the overall performance and reliability of the file system.

For more details on the specific changes made to F2FS for Linux 6.7, you can refer to the Git merge for comprehensive information.

Overall, these enhancements to F2FS in Linux 6.7 contribute to a more robust and efficient flash-friendly file system, which will benefit users who rely on Linux servers, DevOps, and home labs.

Source: Phoronix.

In this week’s issue of README Highlight (#44, 2023), we are taking a look at the project Gitea. Gitea is a self-hosted Git service that aims to provide an easy, fast, and painless way to set up a Git server.

One of the notable features of Gitea is that it is written in Go, making it compatible with all platforms and architectures supported by Go, including Linux, macOS, and Windows on x86, amd64, ARM, and PowerPC architectures. It also provides an online demo for users to try out.

To build Gitea, you can run the command TAGS="bindata" make build from the root of the source tree. If SQLite support is required, you can use TAGS="bindata sqlite sqlite_unlock_notify" make build. The build process consists of two sub-targets: make backend which requires Go Stable, and make frontend which requires Node.js LTS or greater.

To use Gitea, you can simply run ./gitea web command. If you are interested in using the APIs, there is experimental support with documentation available.

Contributing to Gitea follows the workflow of Fork -> Patch -> Push -> Pull Request. It is important to read the Contributors Guide before starting to work on a pull request. For security vulnerabilities, it is recommended to contact the project privately at security@gitea.io.

Translations of Gitea are done through Crowdin, and new languages can be added by requesting it through the Crowdin project or by creating an issue. Further information and instructions about installing Gitea can be found in the documentation. Questions that are not covered by the documentation can be addressed on the Discord server or the discourse forum.

Gitea has a list of related projects called awesome-gitea, and the official Gitea CLI is developed at gitea/tea.

The project is licensed under the MIT License. For screenshots and an overview of the interface, you can visit the provided links.

Overall, Gitea is a versatile and user-friendly self-hosted Git service that provides a seamless experience for setting up a Git server. With its compatibility across platforms and architectures, it offers flexibility and convenience for users in the server, Linux, DevOps, and home lab communities.

Source: Gitea README.