01.10.09

Links 10/01/2009: GNU/Linux on Disney Desktops, Btrfs Enters Linux

Posted in News Roundup at 10:13 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

• Linux, PhotoShop, And Disney.

  At around the same time as my trip to Walt Disney World (give or take a few years), the Disney animation studio was adopting Linux. The animators wanted Photoshop running on Linux. Since Adobe wasn’t providing this, Disney decided to fund a project to port the Windows version of Photosop to run on Linux under Wine. And that’s why, thanks to Disney, Photoshop runs on Linux.

  [...]

  And that’s the main point of today’s blog post. Photoshop runs on Linux! Some folks out there may not want to make the move to Linux because they think they wouldn’t be able to use Photoshop. Not so. Photoshop runs on Linux!

• Giving up on Microsoft

  Despite the fact that I’ve been running, on and off, Linux on the desktop for the last fifteen years or so, my primary work machine at Podomatic ran Windows XP.

  It made me feel a bit like a traitor, honestly. I owe my career and a large part of my outlook on the world to Linux, GNU, and the free (as in speech) community. All that aside, I couldn’t justify the time it would take to install Linux on my (pre-installed with Windows) PC and then get everything working to my expectations.

  [...]

  A few minutes later, I whipped out my trusty Gentoo 2008.0 amd64 CD (left over from some server installs) and converted the machine to Gentoo Linux. This would be about my 20th time installing Gentoo, so it went smoothly. 100% of my hardware works perfectly, and I was running Firefox in wm2 (provisionally until kde compiled) by 3. I’m not looking back. TTYN, Windows!

• 10 Questions about linux asked by windows users.

  1) What is linux ?

  My Answer : Linux is an Open Source operating system, a large piece of software that manages a computer.The accurate name is GNU/Linux but “Linux” is used more often.

• 2008 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards [Annual Linux Awards: Voting Starts]

• Amarok 2.0

  Finally, Amarok 2 has been released. The 1.x series were the champions on music management (on BSD and Linux) and playing during KDE 3.x time. Actually, it was preferred on all desktop environments, shells or plain windows managers.

• Break the reboot cycle. Use Linux.

  You may have noticed that I have been quiet for the last couple of days. The reason is I have been working on a windows computer, trying to fix it. Reformatting and reloading was an option but the pain and time taken to reconfigure the thing was prohibitive. Besides I knew what the problem was and I could fix it.

• Kernel Space

  • Linux Developers Create Open Broadcom WiFi Firmware

    An increasing number of hardware vendors are adopting practices that benefit the open-source and Linux communities from AMD releasing documentation and code to Creative Labs open-sourcing their X-Fi sound driver. One of the companies holding back on better embracing Linux has been Broadcom with their WiFi adapters being ill supported. However, open-source developers have stepped up to the plate and have improved the situation on their own.

  • Open source firmware for Broadcom wireless adapters

    we have been involved in the past few months in testing modifications to the standard 802.11 MAC for research purposes. During this time we did some tests with Broadcom 802.11b/g boards and we wrote down a simple 802.11 compliant firmware that we used as a starting point for the modified MAC algorithms.

  • Linux 2.6.28′s five best features

    While you were likely to be opening up Christmas presents, Linus Torvalds was giving Linux users around the world a special present: the release of the next major Linux kernel: Linux 2.6.28.

  • Btrfs Merged Into Mainline Linux Kernel

    Btrfs, the next-generation Linux file-system conceived by Oracle and designed to compete with some of the features found in Sun’s ZFS file-system, has just been merged for the Linux 2.6.29 kernel.

• Audio/Video

  • LB – Episode 34 – Interview With Robert by Linux Basement

  • Linux Void – Episode 17 – Trippy Line

  • Special Source 4 Released

• Distributions

  • Artistic Representation of Linux Distributions

    If you sometimes wish that your favorite Linux distro should have a mascot, then you may like what I’m about to show you. But before that, let me give you a short intro.

  • Red Hat

    • First time on Fedora Live CD

      Live CDs are commonly used by end users who only requires a web browser, instant messenger or an Office suite. It may be nice if the Fedora community takes steps to include OpenOffice in the Live CDs so that it can gain more popularity among end users.

    • Red Hat: JBoss Business Is Booming

      At Red Hat, Linux is old news. Sure, Red Hat Enterprise Linux sales continue to accelerate. But consider this: The company’s JBoss middleware business is growing twice as fast as Red Hat’s Linux infrastructure business, according to a company spokeswoman. For solutions providers there are some important lessons here.

    • There’s No Such Thing As A Private Cloud

      Here’s how it works. You take the ParaScale software and load it onto a bunch of servers running Red Hat Linux. The ParaScale software makes all these servers look like a single IP address and single storage address to whatever systems you connect to it.

  • Ubuntu

    • How I started Using Linux

      The one thing that we can count on is that Linux will run on ALL of these systems, even if some soldering may be required. Furthermore, for much of the world, complete dependence on Microsoft is an undesirable thing (of course it’s undesirable here in the States too, many people just don’t realize it yet). I think there is a certain inevitability for a general purpose hardware-agnostic operating system that can be easily customized for local needs. Microsoft can’t or at least won’t provide that any time soon. Maybe one day the company will “grow up”. I’ve stopped holding my breath waiting for that though.

    • Interview with Ubuntu Developer Jordan Mantha

      I’ve been working on Ubuntu since just before Breezy Badger was released (around September of 2005). I got involved with Edubuntu later on around May of 2006.

    • A Software Populist Who Doesn’t Do Windows

  • New Releases

    • pfSense 1.2.2 released!

      1.2.2 is now making its way to the mirrors. Only five changes from 1.2.1, but we did want to get these issues fixed and an updated version out there.

    • MythDora 10.21

      MythDora 10.21 has arrived. That’s right we’ve jumped ahead a few versions to catch us up with our Fedora baseline. The intent is that going forward we’ll release versions in-line with current Fedora versions.

    • gnuLinEx 0.5-2

    • SystemRescueCd 1.1.4

• Devices/Embedded

  • LCA2009: geeking your ride

    Known for his software work – he runs a web development company called Internet Vision Technologies and is a developer for the free Debian GNU/Linux project – back in 1990, Oxer was very much into auto electronics.

    Mainly working with rotary-powered vehicles at the time, one of the more successful products he developed was a turbo timer that kept cars fitted with aftermarket turbochargers running for a few minutes after the ignition was turned off.

  • Phones

    • China Mobile to launch 3G phone on android platform-source

      China Mobile (0941.HK), the world’s largest wireless carrier, plans to launch a 3G handset built on the Android platform in the first quarter, a source with direct knowledge of the issue said on Friday.

      The handset, named “OPhone”, will be the first phone in China that features Google’s (GOOG.O) Android operating system and will use China’s homegrown third-generation mobile network, the source said.

    • Opening 2009 with the Openmoko Neo Freerunner

      After posting those Linux-powered cellphone articles late last year, I told myself: One of the topics that are going to dominate my posts in 2009 should be the Openmoko project. This project gives open source developers an oportunity to develop a phone that they can truly call their own. While there are other Linux-based cellphone OS’s out there, IMHO, this is the one that allows you to really “free your phone”. So, before I do any serious writing, allow me to open 2009 with a series of Neo Freerunner (the cellphone) unboxing videos. I hope you enjoy them.

  • Palm

    • Objects Of Desire #1 – Palm Pre smartphone

      There, I’ve confessed, and I’m feeling better already. And the current object of my unfathomable desire? The Palm Pre smartphone, unveiled last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

    • 2009: Year of the Linux Handheld?

      A common inside joke on Slashdot is the “Year of the Linux Desktop”, a revelation about each upcoming year being the mythical time when Linux will obtain wide-scale adoption on desktop PCs. Although the number of PCs running Linux has increased each year, a new emergent trend is that Linux is becoming a popular on more consumer handheld devices.

    • [Video]

  • Sub-notebooks

    • 1.5-pound mini-laptop boots Linux fast

      Sony announced a mini-laptop that weighs 1.4 pounds and is just 4.7 inches deep. Shipped with Vista and a fast-booting Linux Xross environment, the “Vaio P” (VGN-P) includes a 1.33GHz Atom processor, eight-inch, 2GB of RAM, GPS, a cellular modem, and 8-inch 1600 x 768 screen.

    • CES photo gallery: Netbooks, netbooks, everywhere netbooks

      Especially in the remote booths where Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers are offering a rainbow of netbooks. Bestlink of Shenzhen City, China, is offering these at wholesale prices starting around $140 for Linux systems and $150 for those with Windows CE. Systems with Windows XP are wholesaling for around $200…

F/OSS

• Open Source In Obama’s Tech Agenda

  Much noise has been made in the past week or so about President-elect Barack Obama’s creation of a governmental chief tech officer position. My question is: What will be their stance on open source? Will they lean towards it, mandate it, forbid it … or ignore it entirely? I looked into it, and came away feeling we had much bigger problems looming.

• Installation Festival in JUST

  Festival Represents a Significant Milestone in Jordan’s FOSS Awareness

  JUST Open Source Group started the new year with a brilliant and exciting installation festival, which clearly reflected the enthusiasm and determination of group members to inform people about Linux and free software.

  Students of different faculties expressed their interest in Open Source / Free software culture and philosophy. Most of them appreciated the idea of trying an alternative to commercial closed-source operating systems, a relevant number brought their laptops awaiting for Linux to be installed.

• FreeSWITCH 1.0.2 with New Codecs and Fax for VoIP

  Free VoIP platform software FreeSWITCH is now in version 1.0.2. Enhancements include a fax module and new codecs for higher sampling rates.

  Thanks to a cooperative effort with Polycom, FreeSWITCH can use Polycom’s Siren codecs for wideband and super-wideband audio. The software also adds a free open source codec using Constrained Energy Lapped Transform (CELT) technology that should provide sample rates of 44.1 to 48 KHz with minimal latency, especially suited for speech and music.

• Open Source as a “Last Resort”?

  Please note the assertion – as I read it – is not the failure of a company that started off being based on Open Source; but rather the assertion is that failing companies adopt some sort of Open Source-based strategy to no avail.

  I’m honestly not sure what to make of Mr. Blankenhorn’s thoughts here, so I’m just looking for some facts to support — or refute — his assertion.

• Content Management

  • Healthcare IT News takes open-source approach

    Pop the hood on our new Web site and you’ll find one very powerful engine. It’s called Drupal, a free, open-source platform that powers all of our content entry. As many healthcare IT workers know, the value of open-source solutions isn’t just the (lack of) price tag: it’s the fact that the products are user-developed, community-tested and constantly improved.

  • Alfresco ECM is 96% cheaper than legacy ECM vendors?

    If you are evaluating ECM solutions, particularly if you are interested in cost, you need to take a look at Alfresco’s TCO Whitepaper. In it, Alfresco uses licensing numbers they snagged from the United States government to compare the first year costs of their solution with EMC/Documentum, OpenText, and Sharepoint.

• Sun

  • Solaris Distro Review – OpenSolaris 2008.11

    The free software world is in great evolution, and among the new projects and new versions of old projects, there is always something new that appears on the horizon. OpenSolaris is one of them news, even if it is not really a news. The Solaris operating system, from Sun Microsystems is not new, indeed, but the project was on its bases, and i’m honoured to write a review. OpenSolaris is a novelty that is part of the vast landscape of alternative operating systems, with many promises, great enthusiasm, and features that i’ll illustrate in this review.

  • MySQL 5.1 downloaded a million times

    MySQL 5.1 has already passed its million downloads milestone according to Zack Urlocker, Vice President of Marketing for the open source database.

• Boxee

  • Boxee does better

    So, credit where it is due – it at least looks like Boxee is trying to both recognize and comply with the GPL.

  • Boxee plugs into Joost, MTV Music

    In addition, Boxee will be totally opening up its Mac, Linux, and Apple TV alphas to anyone who wants to sign up. The Windows version, however, will not be entering an open alpha, but rather an invite-only alpha while it scales.

Free Culture

• 27-29 March: 4th Oekonux Conference: Free Software and Beyond The World of Peer Production

  During the past decade the phenomenon of Free Software has become successful and well-known. It is still amazing how in the realm of software the creativity of so many volunteers leads to products which are useful for the whole mankind. In 1999 the Oekonux Project started with analyzing this phenomenon and trying to understand the special features of Free Software as a social and political enterprise.

• Ask Apple to Support Ogg on iPod/iTunes

  Please ask Apple to support Ogg on their iPods, iPhones, and iTunes! It wouldn’t hurt to also sign this petition (and maybe this one), though I don’t know how strongly they’d influence Apple. Here’s why, as good news and bad news.

• Ebook DRM provider goes dark, the books you paid for disappear

  Hudson sez, “Fictionwise used Overdrive to provide DRM encrypted ebooks to their customers and Overdrive has informed them that they will be shutdown on 30 January with no reason given. Since Fictionwise doesn’t have the decryption keys, they are not able to provide new versions of the books to all customers.”

Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day

Digital Tipping Point: IP attorney Julian Summers 01 (2005)

Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.

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