08.09.08

Links 09/08/2008: GNU/Linux Makes Way Into More Devices, Microsoft Savings Keep Dropping

Posted in News Roundup at 7:27 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

From Lego robots to hammers and nails, Linux gets embedded

From a wirelessly controlled Lego robot to a device designed to aid information sharing in third-world countries, a number of small vendors and independent thinkers were on hand to showcase the possibilities inherent in embedded Linux.
Linux-based panel PCs target HMI

Linux Manfest Destiny: Servers to Gadgets to Desktop

Yes, you read that correctly: Servers to Gadgets to Desktop. It seems that Linux Operating System expansion will occur in that order. First, Linux was in the Data Center booting Apache to the top spot for worldwide web services. Next, Linux was found on gadgets as small as cell phones, wristwatches, and microservers. Finally, Linux will hit the Desktop.

Why is the Desktop the final destination for Linux? It is the one place that seems unconquerable.
From a pile of components to Ubuntu Linux in 25 minutes

Kudos to my son for being so darned clever, but the real credit goes to Ubuntu and Canonical for making Linux so easy to install and use.
Linux Install 101, or How I Helped Build Refurbished Linux PCs for Disadvantaged Schoolchildren at LinuxWorld 2008

Btrfs 0.16, Improved Scalability And Performance
You keep using that phrase “operating system”…

From the article: Linus Torvalds needs no introduction in operating systems or open-source circles. He’s the creator, muse and chief developer of the Linux operating system. Torvalds started Linux while he was in college in 1991.

Linus seems to be saying some pretty reasonable things lately, but the people who interview him keep crediting him with creating an “operating system” called “Linux”.
Richard Stallman in Auckland: On copyright in a networked world

I just came back from Richard Stallman’s lecture at the University of Auckland. I was surprised by the amazing interest in his talk, the lecture hall being entirely jam-packed full, people standing along the back and all the way out into the hallway. I was lucky to be there early enough to get one of the last few chairs.

Reader Report from OSCON: The Tenth Annual Open Source Conference

Benjamin Mako Hill from the MIT Center for Future Civic Media presented on the ways that errors in everyday technology can present opportunities for encouraging the right kind of thinking. He used ATM crashes as an example of how typically invisible thinking becomes visible to users, stimulating immediate public discussion. Open Source Software can be used to further decentralize control over the technology that has such a powerful role in our lives.

DRM down under

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s Federal Government-funded public broadcaster, and has responsibilities under the ABC Act 1983 to provide services to the Australian people.

The new ABC Shop has recently launched, with downloads of TV programs made available — but only to Windows users willing to install Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) software on their computers. Like the BBC iPlayer, and Channel Four’s “4OD”, ABC is using the Kontiki platform — Kontiki uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver the show to other people, so as well as locking you into its restrictions, ABC is using your computer, and your internet connection, to distribute programs.
Air Force cracks software, carpet bombs DMCA

It appears that Congress took a “do as we say, not as we need to do” approach to strengthening digital copyrights.
Controlling copies isn’t necessarily part of an artist’s livelihood, but getting them accurately attributed is

I’m reminded of the fact that the original Creative Commons license allowed creators to choose whether they wanted their works attributed to them or not, but after a year or two, it was discovered that nearly every CC user turned the attribution switch on while generating the license — everyone wanted correct attribution, even when they were giving away free copies. Copyright, Fraud and Window Taxes (No, not that Windows)

Some advice for Microsoft: Dump Windows

In light of the new Windows flaws announced yesterday, I think it’s time to reiterate a point I made a long time ago:

It’s time for Microsoft to dump Windows.
1&1 botches Microsoft Exchange update

Budget hosting provider 1&1 Internet has hit problems while updating its Microsoft email platform. Customers have been unable to access web mailboxes for more than 24 hours.
Chart: Apple cash balance rivals Microsoft

Here’s an interesting trend to watch: As Microsoft has been reducing its cash balance through stock buybacks, dividends and acquisitions in recent years, Apple has been amassing its own pile.