07.26.08
Gemini version available ♊︎
Posted in News Roundup at 8:50 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
GNU/Linux
- Invasion of the Netbooks: New systems from Asus, Acer, and Sylvania
Sylvania g netbook: It’s superlight and weighs less than 2 pounds. It’s a lot like the original Eee PC, in that it’s $399, and it has a 7-inch screen, plus a custom Linux operating system. It has a 30GB standard hard drive (good) and, like the HP 2133 Mini-Note, a 1.2GHz VIA C7 CPU, instead of Intel’s Atom or even Celeron M (not so good).
- Move Over Netbooks, It’s Time for a Nettop
Mandriva — the Parisian Linux outfit behind, of all things, Mandriva Linux — has decided that the days of netbook exclusivity must come to an end, and to that end have partnered up with Precedent Technologies — as far as we can tell an unknown, but up-and-coming, hardware manufacturer — to produce what we hereby dub the nettop.
- Broken Fractal Ventures brings iTunes music to Linux
- An Advocacy Story: Cloning Bootable USB Sticks for the Audience
I strongly believe that spreading GNU/Linux on usb sticks is a highly effective advocacy strategy. For example, it renders the debate about which OS to pre-install pointless if hardware vendors can be persuaded to sell diskless computers.
- Ultamatix: The New Automatix
Today we are pleased to announce the Automatix replacement: Ultamatix! It is actually based on Automatix, therefore it looks and acts exactly the same. The good news is that Ultamatix is designed to work with Ubuntu Ultimate Editon 1.8, Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) and the unstable branch of Debian Linux.
- Christmas Comes In July For An Open ATI
Many Linux users will be celebrating the Christmas holiday in five months, but it seems there’s a holiday worth celebrating today for open-source ATI Linux users.
- AMD Releases New AtomBIOS Parser
- NimbleX 2008 Mini-Review
Ubuntu
- Compromising to Ubuntu
It’s been nearly a year now since I have worked with my students. I will begin a open source project with a couple of my bright students. Without a doubt, we will use Ubuntu for our servers (though I may opt to switch them to Debian for more stability). It is a compromise I am making on my part. I will install Ubuntu 8.04.1 on my Thinkpad T60. I will keep Arch Linux on my desktop, possibly evening replacing it wil Debian Lenny Beta.
Ubuntu is what they want. I will give it to them.
- Are Gnome and Ubuntu ruining the Linux Desktop?
Why am I asking if Gnome and Ubuntu are ruining the Linux Desktop? Because they are. There are two trends that we are seeing in both Ubuntu and Gnome development, that we also see in other areas (like The Gimp).
- Customize Compiz Fusion effects In Ubuntu
- Ubuntu works great, easy to install
- Full Circle Magazine: Issue 15
Kernel
Desktops/Applications
- Testdriving Zimbra Desktop Mail for Linux
- Give KDE and Gnome a unified look
Yes, I have a lot of applications open and it’s a bit hard to see where one application stops and where another begins, but that’s the point. From left to right you can see Amarok (KDE), Transmission (Gnome), K3b (KDE) and Abiword (Gnome). As you can see, there’s no difference in the appearance of the menu bars. At the bottom, there are two file dialogs. They’re not exactly the same, but the buttons are. That’s all QTcurve.
As for the icons, they look the same too, apart from some minor differences and the lack of a “Desktop” icon in the KDE file dialog. I think it looks okay.
- KDE 4.1: What to Expect
KDE 4.1 is going to be a very exciting release. I personally opted not to use KDE 4 when it was first released, since it was way too buggy and was missing far too many features. This could change in a few days.
- Linux Secret Lovers
Some Windows users secretly love Linux. They want to use Linux but are too chicken to install it on their hard drive. So, they use a program like Windows Blinds to radically alter the graphical user interface of their Windows desktop and make it look like that of Linux. To prove it, here are some screenshots of Linux secret lovers’ desktop.
F/OSS
Leftover
Share in other sites/networks:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Permalink 
Send this to a friend
ᶃ Gemini Space
Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.
This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).
✐ Cross-references
Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.
▢ Respond and Discuss
If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.
What Else is New
Links 1/12/2021: NixOS 21.11 Released
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, November 30, 2021
IRC logs for Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Links 1/12/2021: Tux Paint 0.9.27 and WordPress 5.9 Beta
Links for the day
[Meme] EPO Administrative Council Believing EPO-Bribed 'Media' (IAM Still Shilling and Lying for Cash)
IAM continues to do what brings money from EPO management and Team UPC, never mind if it is being disputed by the patent examiners themselves
The EPO's Mythical “Gap” Has Been Found and It's Bonuses for People Who Use Pure Fiction to Steal From Patent Examiners
The phony president who has the audacity to claim there's a budget gap is issuing millions of euros for his enablers to enjoy; weeks ahead of the next meeting of national delegates the Central Staff Committee (CSC) tells them: "Events show that the delegations’ concerns about functional allowances have materialised. The lack of transparency and inflation of the budget envelope gives rise to the suspicion that high management is pursuing a policy of self-service at the expense of EPO staff, which is difficult to reconcile with the Office’s claimed cost-saving policy, and to the detriment of the whole Organisation."
Video: Making the Internet a Better Place for People, Not Megacorporations
Following that earlier list of suggested improvements for a freedom-respecting Internet, here's a video and outline
Links 30/11/2021: KDE Plasma 5.23.4, 4MLinux 38.0, Long GitHub Downtime, and Microsoft's CEO Selling Away Shares
Links for the day
A Concise Manifesto For Freedom-Respecting Internet
An informal list of considerations to make when reshaping the Internet to better serve people, not a few corporations that are mostly military contractors subsidised by the American taxpayers
Freenode.net Becomes a 'Reddit Clone' and Freenode IRC is Back to Old Configurations After Flushing Down Decades' Worth of User/Channel Data and Locking/Shutting Out Longtime Users
Freenode is having another go; after “chits” and “jobs” (among many other ideas) have clearly failed, and following the change of daemon (resulting in massive loss of data and even security issues associated with impersonation) as well as pointless rebrand as “Joseon”, the domain Freenode.net becomes something completely different and the IRC network reopens to all
Jack Dorsey's Decision is a Wake-up Call: Social Control Media is Just a Toxic Bubble
The state of the World Wide Web (reliability, preservation, accessibility, compatibility etc.) was worsened a lot more than a decade ago; with social control media that’s nowadays just a pile of JavaScript programs we’re basically seeing the Web gradually turning into another Adobe Flash (but this time they tell us it’s a “standard”), exacerbating an already-oversized ‘bubble economy’ where companies operate at a loss while claiming to be worth hundreds of billions (USD) and generally serve imperialistic objectives by means of manipulation like surveillance, selective curation, and censorship
IRC Proceedings: Monday, November 29, 2021
IRC logs for Monday, November 29, 2021
Links 29/11/2021: NuTyX 21.10.5 and CrossOver 21.1.0
Links for the day
This Apt Has Super Dumbass Powers. Linus Sebastian and Pop_OS!
Guest post by Ryan, reprinted with permission
[Meme] Trying to Appease Provocateurs and Borderline Trolls
GNU/Linux isn’t just a clone of Microsoft Windows and it oughtn’t be a clone of Microsoft Windows, either; some people set themselves up for failure, maybe by intention
Centralised Git Hosting Has a Business Model Which is Hostile Towards Developers' Interests (in Microsoft's Case, It's an Attack on Reciprocal Licensing and Persistent Manipulation)
Spying, censoring, and abusing projects/developers/users are among the perks Microsoft found in GitHub; the E.E.E.-styled takeover is being misused for perception manipulation and even racism, so projects really need to take control of their hosting (outsourcing is risky and very expensive in the long run)
Links 29/11/2021: FWUPD's 'Best Known Configuration' and Glimpse at OpenZFS 3.0
Links for the day
President Biden Wants to Put Microsofter in Charge of the Patent Office, Soon to Penalise Patent Applicants Who Don't Use Microsoft's Proprietary Formats
The tradition of GAFAM or GIAFAM inside the USPTO carries on (e.g. Kappos and Lee; Kappos lobbies for Microsoft and IBM, whereas Lee now works for Amazon/Bezos after a career at Google); it's hard to believe anymore that the USPTO exists to serve innovators rather than aggressive monopolists, shielding their territory by patent threats (lawsuits or worse aggression) and cross-licensing that's akin to a cartel
Microsoft GitHub Exposé — Part VIII — Mr. Graveley's Long Career Serving Microsoft's Agenda (Before Hiring by Microsoft to Work on GitHub's GPL Violations Machine)
Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley was promoting .NET (or Mono) since his young days; his current job at Microsoft is consistent with past harms to GNU/Linux, basically pushing undesirable (except to Microsoft) things to GNU/Linux users; Tomboy used to be the main reason for distro ISOs to include Mono
Dr. Andy Farnell on Teaching Cybersecurity in an Age of 'Fake Security'
By Dr. Andy Farnell
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 28, 2021
IRC logs for Sunday, November 28, 2021
Links 29/11/2021: Linux 5.16 RC3 and Lots of Patent Catch-up
Links for the day
By 2022 0% of 'News' Coverage About Patents Will Be Actual Journalism (Patent Litigation Sector Has Hijacked the World Wide Web to Disseminate Self-Promotional Misinformation)
Finding news about the EPO is almost impossible because today’s so-called ‘news’ sites are in the pockets of Benoît Battistelli, António Campinos, and their cohorts who turned the EPO into a hub of litigation, not science; this is part of an international (worldwide) problem because financial resources for journalism have run out, and so the vacuum is filled/replaced almost entirely by Public Relations (PR) and marketing
Trying to Appease Those Who Never Liked Free Software or Those Who Blindly Loved All Patent Monopolies to Begin With
It’s crystal clear that trying to appease everyone, all the time, is impossible; in the case of the EPO, for example, we hope that exposing Team Battistelli/Campinos helps raise awareness of the harms of patent maximalism, and when speaking about Free software — whilst occasionally bashing the alternatives (proprietary) — we hope to convince more people to join the “Good Fight”
Links 28/11/2021: Laravel 8.73 Released, GitHub Offline for Hours
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 27, 2021
IRC logs for Saturday, November 27, 2021
Links 27/11/2021: Nvidia’s DLSS Hype and Why GNU/Linux Matters
Links for the day
[Meme] Linus Gabriel Sebastian Takes GNU/Linux for a (Tail)'Spin'
If you’re trying to prove that GNU/Linux is NOT Windows, then “haha! Well done…”
GNU/Linux is for Freedom and It'll Gain Many Users When (or Where) People Understand What Software (or Computing) Freedom Means
Software that respects people's freedom (and by extension privacy as well) is an alluring proposition; those who choose to try GNU/Linux for the wrong reasons are likely the wrong target audience for advocates
Amid Reports of Microsoft's Competition Crimes in Europe...
European companies are complaining, but they seem to overlook the principal aspect of an imperialistic system with bottomless pockets (almost 30 trillion dollars in debt already; US national debt soared again last month); Microsoft is shielded by a political system with military (“defence”) as bailout budget to help cushion international expansion for data grab and technical leverage, as we've seen in the case of EPO (this is all political, not technical, and should thus be treated as a political/corruption issue)
Is Linus Trolling the GNU/Linux Community?
This new video responds to what many sites have been provoked into amplifying
Content is available under CC-BY-SA
John c dvorak said,
July 28, 2008 at 2:23 pm
# Are Gnome and Ubuntu ruining the Linux Desktop?
Dont feed the trolls.
Not only is this a mediocre article at best but just like Linuxtoday commenters forewarned, the author admits to creating the title to get more hits?
Who the eff does he thing he is?
Me?
Dont feed the trolls who have nothing of value to give and who who purposedly lie to get more hits.