08.07.08
Links 07/08/2008: Maplin Starts Stocking GNU/Linux Laptops
GNU/Linux
- Maplin flogs mystery minibook
It’s a cheap as chips netbook running an unspecified flavour of Linux and you can get it for a penny shy of £170 including delivery (the price goes up to £220 in a couple of months).
- What if Linux Took a Vista ‘Mojave’ Test?
- Reiser4 Update
Oracle
- Oracle: Gimme an L. Gimme an I. Gimme an N-U-X
- Oracle releases VM virtualization templates, boasts Linux momentum
LinuxWorld
Embedded
- RipCode builds video transcoding device on Linux base
By leveraging MontaVista Software’s Linux technology, RipCode was able to bring RipCode V4 — designed to process the highest volume of Internet-based video formats available in a single rack-unit chassis — to market much sooner than it otherwise would have been able to.
- Analysis: Linux versus RTOS
- Linux-based ATCA and AMC boards adopt Octeons
Mobile
- Open phone hardware vendor frees schematics
OpenMoko has promised to publish schematic diagrams for its latest hardware design, the Neo FreeRunner. Schematics should enable community developers to create alternative firmware for the device, in order to better adapt it to entirely new purposes.
- At last — native apps for Motorola Linux phones
Motorola yesterday made the first-ever release of native development tools for its Linux-based mobile phones. MotoDev Studio for Linux 0.3 is a freely downloadable, Eclipse-based toolsuite aimed at helping third-party and community Linux developers create, test, and certify apps for the newest Motorola phone models.
Ubuntu
- Ubuntu on a partnering spree
Canonical, commercial sponsor of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, has expanded its partner program with an the aim of expanding into the enterprise market. An announcement with IBM will have Canonical distributing IBM’s collaboration software through the Ubuntu “partner” repositories, but IBM isn’t the only new partner.
- Ubuntu Goes Enterprise
- Ubuntu 8.04 LTS – whole load of apps going on
When we released Ubuntu 8.04 LTS we announced that we would soon have more enterprise ready applications that solve real business problems. This year’s Linuxworld Expo will see us working with our partners to demonstrate exactly why Ubuntu is now firmly in the sights of IT Managers and architects in many businesses.
KDE/Qt
- KDE Commit Digest Issue 118: 6th July 2008: by Danny Allen
- Interview: MarkMail Indexes KDE Mailinglist Archives
- Opendocument format
Longer term I expect to see email applications to send ODF as well as html in their emails. Just so they can use the much broader ODF set of features. Interestingly, a text exchange format gets more useful when more applications support it.
LXDE
F/OSS
- Creating wealth with free software
- autonom.us aims to be think-tank on network service software licensing issues
Windows/Microsoft
- SQL Server released, 5 months after ‘launch’
- McAfee slaps Trojan warning on MS Office Live
- Massive faux-CNN spam blitz uses legit sites to deliver fake Flash
Le said,
August 7, 2008 at 10:43 am
India Patent Draft meeting summary below…
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=22704397&postID=2789103135646761098
In favour of patents at the meeting
1. Microsoft
2. Symantec
3. Infosys
4. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) were representing the above.
Roy Schestowitz said,
August 7, 2008 at 11:46 am
Thanks for this! I’ll bring that up later.
twitter said,
August 7, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Beware of M$ designed tests, they tend to disqualify free software the same way an Olympic sprinter might be disqualified from a wheelchair race. Datamation’s Matt Hartley knows a few things but he still sees the world through a Window user’s eyes and has strange demands. I’ll go through a few of them.
Backup dominates the minds of people who are used to software that fails them constantly. In the nine years I’ve used GNU/Linux, I’ve never lost a file to software or hardware failure. Backup tasks are also much easier, because you only have to worry about well segregated data and settings. K3B and grsync are all the average user needs to guard important files. Good networking and redundancy built into file systems and formats has protected me better than any automated utility on flimsy systems ever did.
He should try out KPPPOE and Kdialup before complaining about missing options for services few people need anymore. Most people connect through routers that deliver dhcp which almost all GNU/Linux distributions handle more intuitively than Windows. His points about wireless chipsets are on the mark, but careful selection or a $40 card fixes that problem.
He should be careful when he says that Vista supports more printers than Cups or does so better because you get a CD in the box. Non free printer support is only good when you buy a whole new system but quickly fails while free software support gets better. Once again, all in one devices are primarily a Windows user concern because Windows does not provide tools for a paperless office. GNU/Linux, thanks to long standing network and pdf print output is much further down that road. Scanners and faxes, like Windows itself, are moribund but a camera or kooka, kfax and print to fax will save the day when you need to do business with Windows users.
When you step back and look objectively, you see that Windows itself fails most of the tests that Windows users demand from GNU/Linux and that GNU/Linux is a clear winner. It is amazing that anyone would think GNU/Linux has install problems when most distributions ship on a Live CD that shows the user exactly how their hardware performs and comes with a complete software stack that installs in 15 minutes. Windows installs are laughably more difficult and pot luck. Complaining about a few missing “extras” M$ has thrown into Vista only makes sense to those willing to part with hundreds of dollars for a text editor. Then there’s system security, durability and the whole upgrade cycle. You will have to buy a new computer to get Vista and it may not be as Capable as advertised. GNU/Linux runs well on old hardware and better on new. Vendors like Asus, Dell, IBM and Lenovo have done well selling GNU/Linux but have big support headaches for Vista.
Finally, there’s Vista’s DRM. OEM divers are useless when your OS intentionally degrades the quality of your music and videos, forces you to watch commercials and prevents you from recording programs you like. Contrary to the M$ party line, these things don’t improve user security or even prevent “Piracy”, they simply annoy th user. M$ can rebrand Vista and show people beautiful advertisements but users will still overwhelmingly reject software that so limits them. No amount of “perception management” will sell Vista. The proof is in satisfaction studdies. GNU/Linux and Mac users overwhelmingly love their systems. Windows users loath their computers.
Linux said,
August 7, 2008 at 11:56 pm
http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/pipermail/linuxers/Week-of-Mon-20080804/064347.html
and while we were asleep three patents have been granted to Microsoft
by the indian patent office.
Just reading the initial brief tells me it this a journalled fs
coupled with some seek n sort.
http://210.210.88.164/patentgrantedSearch/displayApplication.asp?application_number=0743/DEL/2000
This one looks like DRM but could be SSH
http://210.210.88.164/patentgrantedSearch/displayApplication.asp?application_number=IN/PCT/2002/01056/DEL
And this one hashes of loaded modules in mem to check that there is no
trojan module. DRM? AV?
http://210.210.88.164/patentgrantedSearch/displayApplication.asp?application_number=IN/PCT/2002/01297/DEL
Roy Schestowitz said,
August 8, 2008 at 12:34 am
Thanks for that. I accumulate some more information about swpats and I will post something about it later today.