11.28.08

Links 28/11/2008: More Russian Schools and GNU/Linux, HPC Dominance

Posted in News Roundup at 4:10 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Vladivostok Gives Free GNU/Linux Netbooks

I’ve written before about the increasing uptake of, and innovation around, free software in Russia. Here’s another fascinating experiment, involving the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Services, which is giving students netbooks running the Mandriva distro…
The world’s fastest computers are Linux computers
Why Migration Costs. Smoothing the way for software change.
Glendix: Bringing the Beauty of Plan 9 to Linux
KDE
- Gran Canaria Desktop Summit 2009 to be Held July 3-11, 2009
- $500 KWin bounty
Devices
- NLUUG/ELCE: Embedded devices and free software
- Blockbuster box runs Linux
- New BlockBuster VOD box runs Linux
- Indamixx Studio offers Linux-based netbook configured for music
  
  If you’re a big audiophile and are in the market for a netbook, we might just have something for you that fits the bill. The Indamixx Laptop offers up a ton of pre-installed audio software on a Linux-based OS and the entire system falls under $500.
  
  The Indamixx Laptop, from Trinity Audio Group, was announced today and is the perfect choice for DJ’s, producers and remixers. It uses an Intel Atom processor and makes it easy to create and broadcast your music on the web.
Interviews
Distributions
- Available Now: Elive 1.9.18
- PC/OS 2009 OpenWorkstation Review
- CrunchBang Linux 8.10.01 released
- Fedora
  - Moving on: 64bit Linux, PulseAudio, Fedora 10 and so on
    
    The overall impression of Fedora 10 is very good. Most bugs I encountered running the Beta version are fixed – except for a strange coding problem, but I will survive that one.
    
    Also, my first move into the lands of 64bit are also far less complicated than expected. Your mileage may vary, depending on the used proprietary software, but then again kvm might be a solution to work around that problem.
  - Video: Spotlight on Network Manager
- Funtoo
  - Funtoo
  - What I’ve Been Up To – New site, etc.

Sun/Solaris/UNIX

Linux Moves From Grazing to Gorging at the Unix Buffet

UNIX is being attacked by Linux from the top and bottom ends of the market. The signs are that it is losing the battle on both fronts.

A couple of weeks back I wrote that Linux is becoming increasingly capable of doing the less-demanding tasks that UNIX has historically been asked to do, so there is less and less need for UNIX. That explains its falling share of the server market.

But what about the more demanding tasks? The kinds of tasks that are set by industrial facilities, research institutes, universities and meteorological forecasting centers. The kind of mind-bogglingly complicated tasks, in fact, that require the most powerful supercomputers in the world?
Open Solaris 2008.05 – Are you kidding me?
Third ever webserver retired…
OpenOffice.org
- OpenOffice 3.0 a fresh blow for Microsft
- New: OOo-DEV 3.0 Developer Snapshot (build DEV300_m36) available