03.01.09

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers
• Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day

GNU/Linux

• Sun Turns Object Storage Over to OpenSolaris

  Panasas has also invested in open source Linux implementations of OSD targets and initiators, and a freestanding file system called exofs that runs over OSD. “Our goal is to foster more research and experimentation in this standard interface,” Welch said.

• Linux ISVs gain tool to uncover lost license revenue

  One traditional benefit of Linux has been that it is available free of charge and comes with a rich array of software that is also free. An argument for the adoption of Linux has always been that users can have all the software they need without having to either fork out cash or resort to piracy.

  Yet, this isn’t to say commercial software is anathema to Linux. In fact, quite the opposite. Previously I’ve covered just how people make money out of open source and how free software isn’t the same thing as freeware.

• Mandiant Appliance Accelerates Incident Response

  The MIR appliance contains 2 TB of storage; dual Gigabit Ethernet network interfaces; USB 2.0, DVD-RW, and FireWire capabilities; and dual hot-swappable power supplies. MIR’s software components include the Controller, a hardened Linux OS running an administrative Web interface for initial configuration and basic system administration; the Windows-based investigative Console; and the endpoint Agents. The Controller connects to each Agent to perform audits. Investigators use the Controller to review information gathered through audits and to request additional audits.

  Currently, Agents are available only for Windows, but Linux and Mac OS X support is on the road map. The Console also is Windows-only, but the Controller contains an easily accessible, open API.

• Microlite Rolls Out BackupEDGE for Linux with Cloud Storage

  According to the company BackupEDGE is a software that provides backup and bare metal disaster recovery capabilities across a wide variety of Linux distributions, includingRed Hat ( News – Alert) Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Novel OpenSUSE, ubuntu, Debian and uses a scalable, decentralized, fault tolerant server structure promising a 99.9 percent data availability.

• Hack your Linux satellite box and access it online

  Recently we looked at networking your Linux receiver – and described how you can stream video from it to any PC on the same network.

  Now we’ll take these networking aspirations further afield by going online. Although a few satellite receivers offer the Ethernet port that gives rise to such flexibility, only Linux-based receivers are capable of taking full advantage of such functionality.

• Welcome to LinuxLink

  For as long as Linux has existed, PC World editors have watched closely as the open source OS has grown and evolved from a student project at the University of Helsinki into a powerful operating system available in myriad distributions all around the world. And now we’re proud to launch this blog dedicated entirely to Linux and the world of open source software.

• The Podcast 2 – Knock on the Door

  This podcast was recorded at the Birmingham Ubuntu Bug Jam 2009, where local users got together to have a go at fixing and triaging bugs in the Ubuntu Linux distribution. Topics include the bug event, how to get involving in jamming bugs, computational chemistry, sixth form homework, real ale, GNOME Do, Python and many other topics.

• The little Linux desktop that could: Xfce 4.6 released

  GNOME and KDE get all the attention these days, but Linux users looking for a lightweight desktop environment would do well to consider Xfce. The project has come a long way since the days it was a clone of the hideous Common Desktop Environment (CDE), and is still going strong, and came out with the 4.6 release today with a ton of improvements. Xfce is a prime example of why duplication is sometimes a good thing in the FOSS arena.

• Law

  • Fortunately, I go the Linux decision right.

    Fortunately, I go the Linux decision right. I don’t pay for software. I use old, underpowered hardware that still works. My tech budget is $0. I don’t miss having to buy antivirus software. I don’t have to worry about whether or not I can buy practice management software. I just keep my files organized and synchronized and adapt accordingly.

  • Linux to Enter Law Office Through Netbooks?

    I have been using the open source Mozilla Firefox web browser for years now and have found it easy to learn and use, which also goes for their e-mail client, Thunderbird. Google Docs and other web-based apps are already being used by many lawyers, and even if you need an offline solution, OpoenOffice is a great alternative that is easily downloaded and installed on the netbook (at least in the Ubuntu distribution, which is what is being installed on most Linux netbooks). The learning curve is not steep at all, and the increasing usage of Linux netbooks by lawyers may well overcome the phobia to change and encourage them at least to consider using Linux on their office systems. We can only hope.

• Wine

  • The Wine development release 1.1.16 is now available.

    What’s new in this release (see below for details):
    – Improved SANE scanner support.
    – Support for digital CD audio playback.
    – Improved cookies management in Wininet.
    – Support for building stand-alone 16-bit modules.
    – Many fixes to the regression tests on Windows.
    – Various bug fixes.

  • Run Safari 4 Beta on Linux with Wine

    The latest eye-candy beta of Safari was released earlier this week for Windows and Mac, but Linux users can now (mostly) use Safari 4 using the Wine compatibility tool.

• Event

  • Open source panel at Accel Symposium

    The consensus was that these technologies are all getting the attention of CIOs and IT directors who are facing budget pressure in this economy. After all, if you have to chose between buying $50,000 server licenses or having staff to develop and deploy applications, a lot more people will be willing to try open source.

  • Linux Foundation Unveils Plans for Upcoming Summit

    The Linux Foundation — the not-for-profit that keeps Linus in keyboards, and most recently, has been looking to glam things up a bit — earlier this month provided a first glimpse into its plans for the 2009 Collaboration Summit, to be held April 8-10 in San Francisco.

  • LinuxCertified Announces its Linux System and Network Administration BootCamp.

  • CeBIT Open Source: Live Stream of Forum Talks for Free

    In March (3-8, 2009), CeBIT will once again be opening its gates in Hannover, Germany. The world’s largest and most renowned trade fair for the world of IT and telecommunications will be featuring Open Source topics in hall 6. The CeBIT Open Source Forum 2009 will be the venue of daily lectures on the use of Linux and free software – and you can watch them online, live and for free!

• Kernel Space

  • S3 Graphics Releases Linux Driver With OpenGL 3.0, VA-API

    For months we have seen S3 Graphics advertise a magical Linux driver in their press releases that promised to offer OpenGL 3.0 support and advanced video functionality. They had reported to us the driver would be released in December, but that deadline had passed and they continued to announce Linux support when launching the Chrome 540 GTX, but still there was nothing. However, S3 Graphics has now actually delivered such a driver! They have delivered a Chrome 500 series Linux driver that not only provides OpenGL 3.0 support but also H.264, VC-1, and MPEG-2 hardware decoding on the GPU. While it may appear to be good, this driver is still far from perfect.

  • Intel, NVIDIA Kernel Mode-Setting In Fedora 11

    The Nouveau kernel mode-setting support is still very experimental as their API isn’t even finalized and it will not enter the mainline Linux kernel in time for Fedora 11. Red Hat though will patch the Linux 2.6.29 kernel to introduce this Nouveau KMS support for those who wish to use it instead of the DDX mode-setting within the X Server.

• Distributions

  • Introducion and 4.1 Sneak Peek

    Sabayon is a DVD size distro, this means we can include most of the software most people will need on the disk, this helps new users and those who are new to package management systems, it may not be perfect, but I would rather choose what NOT to install, rather than installing minimally and running all the configs etc that are needed to get a working X11 system, otherwise we would all run Gentoo, right? This approach also allows us to get everything to work out of the box. Chances are if Sabayon doesnt work on your hardware out of the box or with minor configuration no other distro will at all.

  • Mandriva 2009 – Quite all right, but could be better

    Mandriva 2009 is a good distro. Quite good. The live session was great, the post-install is very good, except for slow repositories. The installation process was long and tedious, however, it is only done once.

  • Slax – Tiny, beautiful, functional

    After running this distribution for a while, I immediately thought it would be a great fit on my very old PIII 1.1 GHz with just 256 MB of RAM. Currently this machine is chugging along with Win XP and Ubuntu with Ubuntu replacing Mandriva since the drive containing Mandriva failed. It is a stop gap distro and I was searching for something light to replace Ubuntu. From the time I discovered Slax, I have been researching how to install it on a computer. Since it is a Live CD distro there doesn’t seem to be a direct way to install it. All in all Slax is beautiful, minimal and functional.

    I am still trying to empty my flash drive to run Slax on it and to see if my other files can happily co-exist. If I manage to do that, I will do another post.

  • Fedora

    • Fedora 11 Will Have An Incredible Number Of New Features

      Fedora 10, an amazing Fedora release in its own right, had 28 approved features. Fedora 9 had 30 and Fedora 8 had 21.

      As of writing this Fedora 11 has 51 which have already been approved, plus another 9 waiting to be approved any day now. That means in the end there should be ~60 approved features which make it into Fedora 11! This doesn’t even count the work going into external things such as overhauling the documentation or the community work going into the Moksha project.

    • 5 Minutes of Fedora 10

  • Debian

    • Linux & Open Source Slideshow: Debian’s Lenny Remains an Apt Community Linux Option

      Debian GNU/Linux 5.0, which is also known by the “Toy Story”-inspired name “Lenny,” sports the same excellent software management tools and broad processor architecture support that marked previous Debian releases. While more modest than the “Etch” release that preceded it, eWEEK Labs found in Lenny an apt standard bearer for the noncommercial Linux community.

    • Simply Mepis 8 is Finally Here

      In summary, I am extremely pleased with this version of Simply Mepis. It is rock solid, easy to use and easy to maintain. I must not forget to give credit to the guys from the MEPISlovers forums who worked tirelessly producing quality artwork, giving valuable input to Warren. My hat is off to everyone who had a hand in making this distribution the excellent product it is.

    • Warren Woodford on MEPIS kernel, favourite features

      Warren Woodford, founder and lead developer of MEPIS Linux, had previously complained that Debian 5.0 “Lenny” didn’t ship with a long-term support Linux kernel, and so the latest release of MEPIS breaks form with Lenny only days after its release by shipping with a newer kernel – something that could potentially make MEPIS less compatible with software certified for Debian. We asked Warren what kind of thinking was behind the switch, and also about his favourite new features in MEPIS 8.0…

    • Ubuntu

      • Why the Artwork Refresh in Karmic Koala is Important

        One of the major goals of Ubuntu Karmic Koala outlined in Mark Shuttleworth’s recent announcement is a new look for Ubuntu, something that has been requested a lot. Not everyone, though, thinks this should be a priority. A WorksWithU article voices the concern that there are more pressing issues for Ubuntu than giving it a new look.

        [...]

        Though it seems a little silly from a purely logical standpoint, introducing a new theme could actually be quite helpful to Ubuntu’s image and appeal to new users and long-time Ubuntu fans alike.

      • Canonical’s Two Most Important Ubuntu Partners

        A blog entry over on ZDnet makes the case that Amazon.com and Dell are Canonical’s two most important Ubuntu partners.

        [...]

        ZDnet says Amazon’s cloud service is actually profitable. I haven’t been able to confirm that on my own. But even if the service is losing money at the moment, Amazon’s cloud is growing fast and seems to leverage a solid business model that will generate recurring revenue and profits for years to come. Meanwhile, Dell remains one of the strongest brands in IT — despite recent stumbles that have trigged quarterly losses from time to time.

      • Full Circle Magazine: Issue 22

        This month:

        * Command and Conquer – Resizing Images With FFMPEG.
        * How-To : Program in C – Part 6, Web Development – Part 3,
        * Installing CrunchEEE To The EEE PC, and Spreading Ubuntu.
        * My Story – Making The Switch
        * Book Review – Ubuntu For Non-Geeks 3rd Edition
        * MOTU Interview – Emanuele Gentili
        * Top 5 – DVD Rippers
        * PLUS: all the usual goodness…

• Devices/Embedded

  • NAS vendor touts Lenny installs, new Atom-based system

    Taiwanese network-attached storage (NAS) vendor Qnap Systems proudly announced the availability of Debian Lenny (version 5.0) for all of its ARM-based Turbo NAS models. Meanwhile, the company also tipped its hat toward x86 with a Linux-ready Intel Atom-based four-bay TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS for business users.

  • ARM9 SOM ships with Linux dev kit

    Armadeus Systems is shipping a low-cost system-on-module (SOM), available with a development board and a Linux community distribution. The “APF27″ is built around an ARM9 Freescale i.MX27 system-on-chip (SoC) and a Xilinx Spartan3A FPGA, and offers a variety of I/O, says the French embedded firm.

  • From Minsk with love (and Linux BSPs)

    Promwad specializes in custom Linux development using a variety of system-on-chips (SoCs) and operating systems. However, Linux has been the company’s primary focus since its founding, Pakholkov explains.

  • Developers ignore Symbian’s derision of Android

    Symbian has dismissed Google’s open-source credentials for Android as merely “marketing.”

  • Dell’s 3G Smartphone Play: Netbooks

    Dell chalks up its success with Linux to the direct sales model, where it can coach customers on the phone about what system may suit them best.

    But besides patting itself on the back for excellent customer service, Dell is sending a pretty clear signal to Microsoft that it intends to continue with Linux netbooks. Dell makes more profit on the Linux systems.

Free Software/Open Source

• Seven Must-Have Firefox Security Add-Ons

  Mobile workers who access the Internet from laptops while traveling can pose a serious security threat to your network. That’s because laptops are more vulnerable to malicious software and hacker attacks when they are not protected by corporate security systems. When the mobile worker returns to his office and connects to the corporate network, a compromised laptop can spread malware throughout the organization or cause a company-wide security breach.

• Filezilla – The open source way to FTP

  For me, Filezilla is the only way to go as far as FTP’ing data back and forth between my computer and the server my data resides on. Of course, I’m a bit biased because Filezilla is open source software distributed free of charge under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

  [...]

  Now I know many of you have your own preferred FTP applications and if they’re Windows-based, you most certainly paid for them. Well, this is one feature of Filezilla that shines well above…it’s free! I mean, why pay for something when you can get a program for free that outshines the others? That and the fact it works so well should make it the #1 choice for anyone out there that needs an excellent FTP program.

• Socitm president rethinks open-source ‘lag’ comment

  Mark Taylor, chief executive officer of open-source vendor Sirius, rejected Steel’s appraisal. “The reality is that open source reduces costs by giving greater flexibility of licensing, while up-and-coming open-source technologies are well ahead of proprietary software,” he told ZDNet UK.

  Taylor said that browsers such as Mozilla’s Firefox contain features that still have not been incorporated into proprietary browsers.

• IT Cost Cutting – Efficient Infrastructures and Open Source Software Alternatives

  Operating system licenses can easily break an IT budget. With open source solutions like CentOS, which is practically identical to the RedHat Enterprise offering, have been making its way into datacenters across the globe. Combine this with an open source security solution such as OSSIM, and you quickly have a very robust security product running for next to nothing in dollars terms.

• NEC supports open-source RTOS on its MCUs

  NEC Electronics has announced support for the open source and royalty free real-time operating system, FreeRTOS for its 16-bit 78K0R and 32-bit V850 microcontrollers.

  FreeRTOS is distributed under a modified GPL licence which allows users to deploy in applications without any requirement to share their source code.

• eZ Systems Releases Apache Solr-Based Open Source Enterprise Search Solution

  eZ Systems today released the Apache Solr-Based Open Source Enterprise Search solution, the eZ Find 2.0, designed to enhance the search functionality on eZ Publish sites.

  eZ Publish is an enterprise-grade Open Source Content Management System and development framework with functionality for Web publishing, media portals, intranets, e-commerce and extranets.

• Healthcare

  • Vendors Test Open Source HIE Apps

    Multiple software vendors this week are testing a beta version of open source server technology to aid in establishing interoperability among disparate health information systems.

    The vendors are participating in the 10th annual Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise Connectathon in Chicago. Sponsored by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and the Radiological Society of North America, Connectathon is a prelude to the Interoperability Showcase at the 2009 HIMSS Conference & Exhibition, April 4-8 in Chicago. Vendors must participate in the Connectathon to demonstrate at the Interoperability Showcase.

  • Misys open source solutions tests software

    Misys Open Source Solutions, a division of Misys plc, announced today that it will demonstrate newly developed software at the healthcare industry’s week-long interoperability testing event, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Connectathon in Chicago.

• Business

  • Open Source E-Commerce: Survey Rates the Best in OSC

    What a difference a year makes. Rarely does an industry landscape change so radically in just 12 short months. This year the upstart New osCommerce Project was crowned Best Open Source Commerce program by respondents in my Second Annual Open Source Commerce survey. It was followed by CRE Loaded, the original osCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop and a long list of “Other open source commerce programs.”

  • Open Source Projects Targeting Mobile Platforms Rising Sharply

  • Open source PBXs make corporate gains; how much is up for debate

    The bad economy may be a boon to relatively inexpensive open-source IP PBXs, which one study says already account for nearly 18% of all PBXs installed last year in North American business networks.

    Because they are generally less expensive, open source products may become attractive to more corporate users as their budgets are cut, laying the groundwork for a growth spurt, according to the recent study by Eastern Management Group.

• Government

  • There’s still gold in them thar Golden Horseshoe hills

    Then, in 1999, Mr. McEwen attended a seminar for young presidents at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He listened to the story of Linus Torvalds and how he had assembled a world-class computer system over the Internet by using the “open source” technique. At its heart was Mr. Torvalds’s willingness to reveal his computer code to the world and invite thousands of anonymous programmers to vet and improve it.

• Sun

  • Downturn Speeds Adoption of Open Source, Says Sun

    The economic downturn has accelerated the adoption of open-source technology in the region, which was gaining traction even before the global crisis. Cost-effectiveness is now the critical factor in most business leaders’ minds.

    The economic downturn has accelerated an existing surge of open source technology adoption, said technology firm Sun Microsystems.

• Open (But No Source Code)

  • Engineer Tomomasa Sato calls for open-source ‘Model-T robot’

    Japan’s leading robot engineer has called for the development of a standardised robot based on an open-source operating system in order to kick-start the mass production of humanoid robots.

  • Open-source collaboration key to auto sector survival

    The key to finding that “something more” may well lie in “open-source problem solving” – a technique employed by Toronto executive Rob McEwen more than a decade ago to revitalize a dying gold mine at Red Lake, Ont., and turn it into one of the most productive lowest-cost gold mines in the world. (The story is well told in the book Wikinomics, by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.)

  • Facebook Goes Open Source–With Its TOS

    After what can only be termed a kerfuffle last week over changes to its Terms of Service, Facebook has decided to take some pretty drastic steps to address the issue of content ownership on the social networking site: they’re soliciting input from their users.

  • ISDA Launches CDS Standard Model as Open Source

    The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today announced the launch of the ISDA CDS Standard ModelTM as an open source project. The model has its basis in J.P. Morgan’s CDS Analytical Engine, which was transferred to ISDA on January 29, 2009.

Leftovers

• Apple Cracks Down on Emoji Apps

  Apple gave no reason for the removal–I know, you’re reeling with shock over that–but as unlocking the emoji apparently required a loophole in the iPhone OS, it’s not exactly a surprise. The upshot? If you’re craving the ability to put icons of everything from rocket ships to frogs into your emails or text messages, then you should grab an emoji app while you can. Those that unlock the emoji before the update will retain the feature.

• Censorship

  • Chinese internet surveillance boss arrested for bungs

    A top Chinese censor has been arrested over suspicions he took millions in bribes to help a local anti-virus firm to crush a competitor.

  • Looks Like Australia’s Plan To Censor The Internet Is Dead… Again… For Now

    While some politicians are still insisting it’s necessary, it looks like there is no longer enough support in the Australian Senate to pass the law that would make such filtering mandatory. In other words, it’s yet another costly Australian censorship plan down the drain. Until the next one, of course.

• Copyrights

  • Caving into bullies (aka, here we go again)

    So here we go again — How long till we can buy Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and be told that this book “cannot be read aloud”?

    But the bigger trend here is much more troubling: Innovative technology company (Amazon (Kindle 2), Google (Google Books)) releases new innovative way to access or use content; so-called “representatives” of rights owners, Corleone-like, baselessly insist on a cut; innovative technology company settles with baseless demanders, and we’re all arguably worse off.

  • Amazon Gives In To Ridiculous Authors Guild Claim: Allows Authors To Block Text-To-Speech

  • The Silly End Result Of DRM: Google Android Developers Barred From Running Paid Apps

    It’s really amazing how the use of DRM makes companies do stupid things. They get so focused on “protecting” they don’t realize how all that protection hurts them. It happens over and over again.

  • Massive Layoffs Hit The RIAA: Maybe Focus On Building Business Rather Than Suing Customers Next Time?

    Details have been spilling out over the last few days that the RIAA has been making pretty massive cuts to staff. We already knew that EMI was cutting back on its support of the RIAA/IFPI, and it seems that with the rest of the RIAA’s major label supporters also having economic troubles, the writing is on the wall that the RIAA is about to go through a major transformation.

  • Why Piracy Is Not Actually A Problem For The Music Industry

    The post does a good job laying out the details on eight other reasons why the recording industry is in trouble that have nothing to do with unauthorized file sharing. Basically, there’s competition from other forms of media (video games, the internet) and there are more efficient markets and technologies that have siphoned off some of the excess profits the industry used to enjoy. It’s a great list, but what it leaves out is the next step: what does that actually mean for the industry. And, the answer is that if they are willing to change their business model to adapt to this changing market, they can do amazingly well.

  • Political Hypocrisy: French President Sued for Copyright Infringement

    This may very well become the most ironic stories of 2009 in the copyright debate. The CBC is reporting that French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sued by an independent band for copyright infringement.

  • Want to waive copyright? Creative Commons has a tool for you

    The Creative Commons has launched an official tool to guide content creators through the process of publishing their works under the highly permissive CC0 license, which enables them to waive all rights.