12.07.08

Links 07/12/2008: GNU/Linux Takes Over University, British ISPs Shoot Down Wikipedia

Posted in News Roundup at 1:01 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

7 Best Free/Open-source Image Viewers for Linux
Stable kernel 2.6.27.8
Cycles and Simplicities
Learn and Use a Good, Free OS: Linux
VMGL brings 3-D effects to VMs
LB – Episode 32 – Python Extravaganza by Linux Basement
Desktop Environments
- Combined KDE and Gnome developers meeting
- Fancy Up Your KDE or GNOME With Eye Candy [Linux]
- Alternate Linux desktops (Window Manager)
- KDE
  - Loving KDE 4.2
    
    Now that KDE 4.2 beta1 packages are finally done we can start using KDE 4.2! I think the changes are absolutely great. Nothing too radical, but the KDE team packed in a lot of features everywhere and it really adds up!
  - KDE 4.2: A few points
  - KDE 4.2 beta 1 on Gentoo
  - An Overview Of Recent KDE 4 Development
  - KRunner
IBM
- IBM discounts Power servers (again)
- Imagine a Microsoft-Free Life
Audio
- From the Post 2.0.0 Git Vaults, Amarok Urls and Bookmarks
  
  Amarok 2.0.0 has been tagged! Short of any really bad bugs showing up the release will be upon us shortly, just as soon as the packagers from the different distros have had a chance to do their thing! This release has been nearly 2 years in the making, and all of us developers have shed blood, sweat and tears trying to make Amarok 2 live up to the vision that has driven us all along. Overall, I am very pleased with the result.
- Songbird 1.0
Sub-notebooks
- Amid Cannibalization Woes, Netbooks Eat Into Microsoft Sales
  
  But most netbooks have less processing power than their full-featured cousins and can’t run high-spec versions of Microsoft’s Windows, the world’s most-widely used operating system. Instead, the Redmond, Wash.-based software company is selling netbook makers lighter versions of its operating system at a cheaper price. Worse, some manufacturers are choosing to cut Microsoft out altogether by using Linux, an open-source OS.
- Good OS founder: ‘Cloud’ on netbooks to be shown at CES
- gOS Cloud instant-on OS shown on video
- OLPC
  - Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Optimized for XO Laptop
  - Interviews with teachers about OLPC benefits
Education
- gcompris: educational suite for children
- Fedora Classroom: KDE4 for KDE3 users
Distributions
- Fedora
  - Fedora 11 release schedule set
    
    At today’s FESCo meeting, the final schedule for Fedora 11 was approved. Now it’s time for some reminders about the feature process for Fedora 11. We’re changing a few things this time around to hopefully make the whole process run smoother than ever!
    
    First., FESCo will be making decisions regarding dropping incomplete features at the meeting *2 weeks before* the freeze date, in order to give rel-eng and QA time to implement whatever contingency plans might be required prior to the freeze. For Fedora 11, these dates are:
    
    Alpha freeze: 1/20 – FESCo meeting – 1/8
    Beta Freeze: 3/10 – FESCo meeting – 2/25
    Final Freeze: 4/14 – FESCo meeting – 4/1
  - Installing Fedora 10
  - The Perfect Desktop – Fedora 10 (GNOME)
  - The ups and downs of Fedora 10
- PCLinuxOS
  - PCLinuxOS 2009 Beta 2 – Review, Thoughts and Screenshots
  - The Status of PCLinuxOS 2008/2009
- Mandriva
  - Happy metrics on community growth
    
    The blue line is users, and the purple line is posts. In December 2005, there were 26,771 registered users. During the year 2006, there were around 87,000 posts to the forums. In January 2007, there were 39,596 registered users, a rise of around 13,000. I believe this is partly because the forums were opened up to all users during this time – previously, some areas were restricted to Club members only.
- Puppy
  - Puppy Linux – A pocket-size atom bomb
    
    Puppy Linux proves that even simplicity has the power to get all the things done. The basic interface may require sometime from you to get you accustomed to it, but you’ll like it afterwards.
    
    It doesn’t matter whether you are a Linux newbie or a seasoned Linux user, you will like Puppy as much as I did. This has to be one of the best Linux distros around. And it certainly deserves more attention than it is getting right now. Puppy is a tiny atom bomb – loaded with plethora software and utilities – that you can carry in your pocket – in your pen drive, CD, etc. Puppy has so much to offer in so little a size!
- Ubuntu
  - A Mac Devotee Looks at Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid Ibex”
    
    If Apple came out with a netbook, I’d be tempted to choose it over a Linux-based netbook for a variety of reasons. One of them is that it would slot into our Mac-centric home network (mostly in terms of syncing and existing software) more easily. Another is that I’ve been more blown away by the iPod Touch than I ever thought I could be, and an Apple netbook might have the same effect. Today, however, that choice doesn’t exist and won’t for the forseeable future, and as my shoulders and back start to ache and cramp
    from the time spent in front of a desktop writing overlong blog posts, an Ubuntu netbook continues to be an increasingly attractive option.
  - Reasons to Switch from OS X or Windows to Ubuntu
    
    Ubuntu and GNU/Linux offer you total freedom. You can choose the graphical interface of your OS and are not stuck with what the denizens Redmond or Cupertino chose for you. With Ubuntu, you can choose the default look and feel of Gnome, KDE or Xfce. If the default style is not to your liking can customize your desktop.
  - Another Win For Ubuntu
    
    So I was talking to my lecturer about Ubuntu in general (he’s a fellow user) and I found out that hopefully, by the start of the next academic year at the University (Sept/Oct 09) the entire University should be in a dual boot situation with Windows, and all linked up to the network.
- Debian
  - Debian Project News 2008/16
Embedded/Devices
- Vyatta expanding Linux networking appliances
- 5 Regal Microcontrollers meet His Majesty Linux
- The “Roboat”: Solar and Linux-Powered Sailboat
  
  The Roboat is actually an adapted 3.75m Laerling beginner’s sailing vessel that is tricked out with a Linux operating system and a control software suite that uses Java and C++.
- RP firm unveils interactive device
  
  The Ilumina’s basic component is its 32-inch LCD TV panel. Inside it are computer parts that run a scaled-down version of Ubuntu Linux operating system.
Video
- Netflix comes to Linux desktop
- Why Boxee Might (One Day) Make Me a MythTV Ex-Pat

F/OSS

Copyleft

Leftovers

British ISPs restrict access to Wikipedia amid child pornography allegations

Wikinews has learned that at least six of the United Kingdom’s main Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have implemented monitoring and filtering mechanisms that are causing major problems for UK contributors on websites operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, amongst up to 1200 other websites.
British ISPs filtering Wikipedia
Virgin Killer^W Media

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