Contents

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

GNU/Linux

• Linux – Dealing with the reality

  Same goes of “joy of computing. It’s not about showing off, or speed, or stability. It’s PC, personal computer. It’s mine. It took me a month to put everything together, and it sort of works. However, you know what, I love it. It’s mine. I can sometimes even feel its working for me, restlessly overcomes any mistakes I made along the way. It’s personal. If I don’t like such and such component, well, dead with that. I will switch. I hand-pick the part that I trust and love. My fingerprint is all over the place: it’s my personal computer.

  Can Windows ever achieve that? Can Macintosh can ever achieve that? Windows Vista is flashy alright, professional alright, but it’s someone else, it’s something I bought, not built. It’s just impersonal, cold, and fake at best (cruel at worst, if you are talking about the EULA).

• 10 reasons why Linux will oust Windows

  Despite the positive buzz generated by Windows 7, it is only a matter of time before Linux takes its rightful place at the top of the operating-system pile.

  Microsoft’s failings are finally catching up with it and will cause the once-unstoppable juggernaut to cede to Linux. A key event was September 14, 2000, when Microsoft set a tiny snowball rolling with the release of the deeply flawed Windows Me. That snowball has been gaining momentum, despite some ups and downs along the way–XP was an up, for example.

• New work force development lab opens in Chicora-Cherokee in North Charleston

  The computers were refurbished by the Charleston Linux Users Group, an organization that promotes free, open-source software. They worked to install Linux software and set up the machines for use without having to deal with licensing associated with Microsoft and other software, said Semmy Purewal, a computer science professor at the College of Charleston.

  The Linux Users Group and a group of College of Charleston students have worked since February on restoring the computers. Comcast Cable has donated cable installation and free Internet access for a year.

• Capacity planning tools tutorial for Linux and Unix

• Linux system ready to go?

  I’m going to stick with Ubuntu on the laptop, Vista is gone for good, but I’ll keep the XP (ol’ reliable) on the main desktop computer for now … just in case.

• Linux: The Operating System of the Cloud

  After struggling to reach mainstream status in the technology world for years, utility computing may yet arrive in the coming quarters. This time around, however, it will be known as cloud computing. And when cloud computing does cross the chasm into mainstream adoption, it will be powered by Linux.

• Venezuelan government’s Canaima GNU/Linux 2.0.1 stable is released

  Canaima is a Venezuelan GNU/Linux distribution, promoted and developed with significant government support, and designed to be packaged with applications for administering federal government agencies!

• Open source cluster computing on demand

  Powua uses mainly open source software including Debian GNU/Linux as the operating system and applications such as Blender for 3D graphics processing and OpenMPI, a set of libraries for scientific computing.

• Linux is not about what you see on the screen.

  Much as the human being has basic rules to determine our being so does Linux have basic rules. Anarchy is the absence of rules. Outside of that minimal framework the choices are endless. With Linux the question of “Where do you want to go today?” has as many answers as computer users.

• Weekly

  • Softpedia Linux Weekly, Issue 43

    Summary:

    · Editorial: What You Should Expect from Fedora 11
    Distributions announced last week:
    · Easy Peasy 1.1 Is Out, Has a Brand New Look
    · Available Now: New Fedora 10 Re-Spins
    · Ubuntu 9.04 Released
    · iMagic OS 2009.5 Launched
    · SimplyMEPIS 8.0.06 Is Here
    · Fedora 11 Preview Launched
    · Sabayon Linux 4.1 KDE Edition Out Now

  • Linux Outlaws 90 – Salami-ROM

    This week: Dan quotes Connery, Google gets sued over Android name, adopt a line of Miro code, Firefox Plugin Wars, the USAF buys XP and Dan interviews Christina Haralanova about her studies on women in open source.

• Kernel Space

  • ALSA 1.0.20 Released, Many Fixes & Improvements

    With three months having passed since the release of ALSA 1.0.19, it is now time for an update to the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture. ALSA 1.0.20 was announced this morning and it brings forth a slew of bug-fixes and other audio driver updates for Linux.

• Applications

  • XBMC (Open-Source Media Center) Has Been Updated to Version 9.04, Codename Babylon

    XBMC (“XBMC Media Center“) has been updated to version 9.04, codename Babylon, available now for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Apple TV, the classic Xbox, and bootable CDs or USB drives.

  • Hedgewars – The Worms redesigned

    I remember the old times, when we would gather the whole family, and with impunity besiege the computer without a break.

    It was a time of the Worms series reign, a reign that we all enjoyed. Though the initial release hit the skies in 1994, I have never forgotten the past, and it was one of the most wanted Linux games when it happened to convert to it.

  • Multi-processor support coming for Firefox

    Mozilla has started a new project to make Firefox split in several processes at a time: one running the main user interface (chrome), and another or several others running the web content in each tab. Like Chrome or Internet Explorer 8 which have implemented this behavior to some degree, the main benefit would be the increase of stability: a single tab crash would not take down the whole session with it, as well as performance improvements in multiprocessor systems that are progressively becoming the norm.

• Desktop Environments

  • KDE Community Improves Desktop with KDE 4.2.3

    KDE Community Ships Third Translation and Service Release of the 4.2 Free Desktop, Containing Numerous Bugfixes, Performance Improvements and Translation Updates

  • KDE 4.2.3 released

  • Get to know Linux: Fluxbox

    If you’ve been around Linux long enough, then you most likely will have heard about Fluxbox. Fluxbox is a desktop that was based on Blackbox 0.61.1, which makes it extremely light weight, fast, and reliable. Fluxbox is also very minimalistic which makes it ideal for certain situations. Although Fluxbox might seem somewhat lacking in the features of a standard, modern desktop, don’t sell it short. Fluxbox is easy to use and doesn’t suffer from the bloat of other desktops.

• Distributions

  • There’s Way More to Linux than Ubuntu: 8 Distros Compared

    Yes, there is more to Linux than Ubuntu. As you are probably aware, there are many different types of Linux to choose from, even though not all get the attention they deserve. These are organized into separate distributions, (distros) and each one is different. If you’ve read our previous Beginner’s Guide to Linux, you are already familiar with the advice we gave about choosing the right distro for your needs. This guide will shed more light on some of the more common distributions in use today and will cover the distinct advantages or disadvantages of each.

  • How to build your own Linux distro

    Since Manchester University’s Owen Le Blanc released MCC Interim Linux (generally agreed to have been the first Linux distribution), way back in 1992, there have been hundreds of ways to get the world’s favourite free software operating system on to a computer. The diversity of alternatives reflects the diversity in the development community, with distros split along technical, functional, linguistic and even ideological lines.

  • Clonezilla: Sheer awesomeness

    I was going to start by saying that building a Crux system is a long and tedious process. But really, no matter what software you’re using, building a system to your liking takes time and effort.

    But for someone like me, who swaps out systems sometimes once or twice in the course of a few days, building and rebuilding, installing and reinstalling … it can be very time consuming.

    So I took some advice and looked into Clonezilla, and I really like what I found. Now I have a way of flashing an entire system — an entire hard drive, really — to a file or a folder, and switching between systems in a matter of minutes.

  • Xfce in Ubuntu/Xubuntu and Debian(/Slackware/fill in the blank)

    The real endnote: The preceding few paragraphs attempted to explain why I’m uncomfortable with the standard distro review, both as a writer and a reader. I hope I got the point across at least a little. When you see one of these reviews, you’ll know it. Not that there’s no value in rolling a new Ubuntu/Fedora/Mandriva/Slackware/etc. distribution onto a box and writing about what’s different/better/worse. If the writer has been running a given distro/project all along, I tend to take more notice even of a quickie review. But if you run, let’s say Slackware, throw the latest Ubuntu on your box and talk all about how Ubuntu is different from Slackware and how everything’s in the wrong place, and you do this a few hours after the installation, that I feel is usually of very little value.

  • A Few Questions For Jaldhar H. Vyas

    Apart from packaging, I have written documentation, represented Debian at trade shows, conferences, and user groups and mentored prospective new maintainers. One initiative I started which I am particularly proud of is Debian-IN. This is a group of people interested in promoting Debian and Free Software in India.

  • 7 E17 Linux & BSD Distributions

    KDE4 is not the only desktop environment which provides a sleek eye candy experience. E17 still remains to be one of the only Desktop Environments/Window Manager, which provides a speedy and visually pleasing experience. There are some Linux and BSD distros which use E17 to provide an attractive and speedy operating system, where many seem to be unique compared to many KDE, Gnome and XFCE distros…

  • Future of Ubuntu

    It was around a year when I first heard about this unique distro of Linux that was simple to use and free of cost. One of my friends, Lokesh Goyal, has asked for a free CD that Canonical Ltd. was distributing through ShipIt system. He is the second geek that I have come across in my town and I asked his reviews about this new operating system.

    [...]

    Living in a small town and having no one as technical as it needs to exploit the wonders of Linux, it is a great task to be one of those who hail Linux. My friends and I are quite happy that we are able to make some small contributions in popularity of Linux. Ubuntu has a great future in our town and it will grow further and further.

  • Mandriva

    • Mandriva-only mode

      2009.1 simply rocks .

    • Mandriva 2009.1 Install

      The Mandriva install is quick and easy to do. The only real issue is that you need to know the terms and settings for networking options that you may be using. This example shows wired network with DHCP so that it is picking up the IP Address from the router. I was impressed with the speed and it felt much faster than Ubuntu 9.04… The Gnome desktop for Mandriva is 2.26.1 and worked flawlessly, at least for the time I worked on the desktop. Nice graphics, decent speed and a Control Center for administration that is excellent. I will put up a report on the Control Center soon. You can purchase the CD or DVDs for Mandriva Here.

    • Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring – First Impressions

      One of the biggest improvements in my opinion is, I never had to consult the Errata. Also, never once was I required to visit the terminal (command line) for any accomplishing any task whatsoever. Almost all the things work the way they should. The One CD image was only 633 MB for the Africa and Asia edition. The available CD space could have been packed with something useful. On the whole, Mandriva Spring 2009 is a solid release with a great blend of stability and polish.

    • Mandriva 2009.1 Spring

      Mandriva Linux 2009.1 Spring is one of the first major distros featuring KDE 4.2 as the default desktop environment. The whole distro is built around the current stable KDE release and there wasn’t as much as a blip, even while we were running around the desktop pushing all the buttons for this review (there’s also Gnome 2.26, Xfce 4.6 and LXDE for netbooks and older machines).

  • Red Hat

    • Interactive Ideas wins Linux praise

      Interactive Ideas has won the Distributor of the Year award at Red Hat’s EMEA Partner Summit.

    • 6 Ways to Get Involved with Fedora

      If this interests you, here are the 6 ways in which you can contribute to this wonderful project.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Enea Launches Innovative Solution to Jump Start Embedded Linux Projects

    Enea has announced an innovative offering to jump start development of embedded Linux projects where performance and unique requirements are of central importance. The Enea Embedded Linux Project Framework (ELPF) is an entirely new approach that offers the core components, tools and services that are common to virtually all Embedded Linux projects in a single, one-stop package. Additional packages and components that are not widely used are available as required.

  • Linux development tools rev’d for multi-core SoCs

    Tilera Corp. released version 2.0 of its Eclipse- and Linux-based Multicore Development Environment (MDE) supporting its massively multi-core MIPS/ RISC system-on-chips (SoCs). MDE 2.0 offers support for both its Tile64- and newer TilePro-family processors, for development of scalable, multi-threaded, shared-memory applications, says the company.

  • Linux Applications Are Scaling Better Than Ever!

    With the TILEPro processors and the new MDE features like Zero Overhead Linux (ZOL™) and Bare Metal Environment (BME), users are able to linearly scale their Linux and real-time dataplane applications to unprecedented performance.

  • Phones

    • Motorola’s Android Smartphones Are for Real: News and Photos Arriving

      Recently, we covered Motorola’s confirmation that it will deliver several smartphones based on the open source Android operating system later this year. That’s good news, because applications have been proliferating for Android–with more than 3,000 available–and Android now has 6 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, even though it has largely been restricted to one handset: the T-Mobile G1 phone. Now, news about and photos of the upcoming Motorola Android phones are making the rounds online. Here are the details.

    • Palm WebOS to breathe new life into Foleo?

      I would hardly be surprised if you didn’t recognize the name Palm Foleo. In 2007, on the eve of the netbook revolution, Palm announced the Foleo, which was a small, portable notebook-like device that was designed to complement a Palm smartphone and allow users to interface with the phone using a larger screen and keyboard.

  • Sub-notebooks

    • Dell preparing an Android netbook?

      One of Dell’s technology partners has dropped a clanger by stating in a press release that it’s porting Flash Lite onto Dell netbooks for use with Android, reports The Register today.

    • Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 on an entry-level netbook

      Once installed, booting UNR from power on to login prompt was a swift 35 seconds. That’s 13 seconds off Windows7 RC’s time on the exact same hardware.

    • Netbook gains: win or loss for Microsoft?

      Given all these factors, is it really beneficial to Microsoft to keep providing copies of Windows XP at less than cost in order to gain marketshare in the netbook space? I have my doubts. But then did the company have any choice but to try and corner the market when Linux showed that it would eat up anything that wasn’t carefully guarded?

      This may be one reason why the company is hinting that it is unlikely to make a separate version of Windows 7 for netbooks. And one can’t really argue with the logic behind it: does one really need sales that bring in no profit?

    • Lenovo IdeaPad S10 (Red)

      New to the IdeaPad S10 (Red) ($410 street) are a Linux pre-boot environment and several color options, and it’s still one of only two netbooks (the other is the HP Mini 2140 with an ExpressCard slot.

Free Software/Open Source

• OpenOffice 3.1 officially arrives

  After making its appearance on various mirrors, OpenOffice 3.1 has now officially been released.

• Battle for Ant Hill

  The Free Software industry is spearheading the concept. Here a 14 year old wizkid can have real impact on enterprise grade software. As long as she can program quality code, her contributions are included in heavy weight products like Voice over IP or webserver solutions. Scary? Sure – for the Old School thinkers and doubters. Opportunities? You bet – for the ant hill innovation.

  Make no mistake, the Free Software industry is a booming industry making headlines every day. It is reshaping the IT world, showing the power of individual contributions.

• Open Source Cyber Security

  And Beckstrom wants these upgrades to be largely open source, available to the public community of programmers and thinkers. It’s safe to say that any cyber security program defined as a counter-intelligence / counter-terrorism / counter-espionage effort would be wrapped up in all sorts of classified ropes.

• New Book: Front End Drupal: Designing, Theming, Scripting

  This is a book to teach readers how to customize how Drupal looks, with a special focus on Drupal 6 and its new theme engine.

• Business

  • Zenoss 2.4 Released Today With New Network Monitoring Features

    Open source network management system Zenoss has released Zenoss version 2.4. It sports a number of new features, refreshed documentation, and more than 400 bugfixes to improve overall stability. In addition to the system’s core monitoring capabilities, the Zenoss community has created over 70 plugins called ZenPacks that provide additional functionality, statistics, and data.

  • Opting in for better open source support

    There once existed a common misconception that, “if we have coped with the tools we’ve used until now, why adapt to something new?” The answer is simple: change. Given the considerable impact that the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies have had on the way governments and businesses operate today, we now have a completely revised approach to sophisticated technology solutions – and need to forget this misconception in its entirety.

  • Untangle offers integrated OSS security for SMBs

    South African open source specialist Obsidian Systems has added Untangle, a commercial-grade open source security solution suited to small- and medium-sized organisations, to its line up of supported products.

  • SourceForge.net 2009 Community Choice Awards Nominations Start Today

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 6, 2009 — SourceForge (NASDAQ: LNUX), the global online network for community-driven tech media and e-commerce, today announced the opening of nominations for the fourth annual SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards. The awards program allows the community to recognize open source software projects that are built with the highest quality, creativity and ingenuity.

• Licensing

  • Open Database License

    If you think open data is as important as open source, then please take a look at a release candidate of the Open Database License (ODbL).

Leftovers

• From Cell to Sell: Police Recruit Activists as Spies

  In Scotland, police have been offering environmentalists money in return for information about activist groups.

• Censorship/Web Abuse

  • US P2P bill aims shackles at browsers, IM

    Technology lobbying groups have pounced on proposed US legislation designed to prevent the accidental sharing of sensitive files over peer-to-peer networks, saying it is so broad that web browsers and even entire operating systems would also be covered.

    The Informed P2P User Act would require makers of file-sharing software to add prominent warnings that files can be shared and require users to give their consent by clicking a button. The notice would appear once when the application is being installed and again when it it is first run.

  • P2P bill could regulate Web browsers, FTP clients

    The U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a hearing Tuesday to examine a bill that would force peer-to-peer applications to provide specific notice to consumers that their files might be shared.

  • Congressional Rep Wants To Put Internet Trolls In Jail

    That particular case was distorted by a few issues, involving the fact that Lori was an adult while Meghan was a child. If the MySpace friend “Josh” had been a real teen, would the same outrage have happened? I had a friend in high school kill himself after his girlfriend dumped him. Should she have been charged with a crime?

  • Text-bullying

  • EU tells music and film industry to sod off

    The EU assembly voted 407 to 57 to throw out a compromise reached by EU governments that would have allowed France to cut off Internet access to people accused of downloading illegal copies of movies or music.

  • European Parliament dirty trick on Internet vote

    A key new amendment enshrining the operator’s right to block Internet content will not be voted on. It is tucked into the “compromise” document, which will be voted as a block.This appears to be a breach of procedure and should be seriously questioned.

  • Congressional computers continue to be used to vandalize Wikipedia

    Wikinews contributors have discovered that members of the United States Congress or members of their staff have recently been making questionable edits to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia anyone can edit. This continues the trend identified by four exclusive Wikinews reports over a four-year period exposing questionable and fraudulent edits made beginning in 2005 by Congress members or staff.

  • UK Home Secretary announces ID card pilot launch

    U.K. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced a voluntary pilot scheme for identity cards. Greater Manchester has been chosen for the pilot and passport holders over 16 will be able to submit applications for the card at post offices and pharmacies.

• Copyrights

  • EFF sues Obama administration for promised access to secret copyright treaty documents

    Rebecca from the Electronic Frontier Foundation sez, “The U.S. government is still blocking the release of information about a secret intellectual property trade agreement with broad implications for privacy and innovation around the world, despite the Obama administration’s promises to run a more open government. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) could establish far-reaching customs regulations over Internet traffic in the guise of anti-counterfeiting measures, but no one knows for sure the state of this pact, as the government is hiding the details. EFF is calling on the feds to change their minds, and will keep fighting this in court.”

  • Government Still Blocking Information on Secret IP Enforcement Treaty

    Two public interest groups today called on the government to stop blocking the release of information about a secret intellectual property trade agreement with broad implications for privacy and innovation around the world.

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge said that the April 30th release of 36 pages of material by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) was the second time the government had the opportunity to provide some public insight into the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), but declined to do so. More than a thousand pages of material about ACTA are still being withheld, despite the Obama administration’s promises to run a more open government.

  • RIAA lied to the US Congress

    In April the RIAA told US lawmakers that it was not going to chase individual file-sharers any more and was going to stop dragging grannies, homeless people and kids into court using dodgy evidence obtained by methods that seemed to break some state laws.

  • RIAA: “we have no choice” but to file more named lawsuits

    The RIAA said it would file no more “new” lawsuits against individual file-swappers, but it filed more such lawsuits in April. How to explain the apparent contradiction? By defining “new” in a particular way.

  • E.U. to Hear Proposal for Cross-Border Net Copyright

    Two European commissioners are proposing the creation of a Europewide copyright license for online content that could clear the way for cross-border sales of digital music, games and video — and lower prices for consumers.

    The plan, to be offered Tuesday by Viviane Reding, the European telecommunications and media commissioner, and Meglena Kuneva, the consumer affairs commissioner of the bloc, would allow consumers to shop online for media from any retailer in the 27-nation European Union.

  • EU: UK needs “private copying” copyright exemption

    Even as it launches the punningly-titled eYouGuide for online rights, the European Commission wants to do more than just explain how confusing it is to answer the question “Is CD ripping legal in Europe?” It wants to go further, harmonizing “private copying” laws across the European Union. (Which means that the UK would actually need to have such a law.)

  • Radiohead’s Manager: File Sharing Should Be Legal; It’s Great For Music

    This probably isn’t much of a surprise given Radiohead’s well-publicized experiment with letting fans “pay what you want” for its last album, but the band’s manager has now said that he thinks file sharing should be legal (sent in by Ruby), noting:

    “We believe file-sharing by peer-to-peer should be legalised. The sharing of music where it is not for profit is a great thing for culture and music.”

  • Pirate Bay Judge Accused Of Conflict In Another Case As Well

    So now they’ve turned up another recent case (article in Swedish, here’s the Google translation), this time involving BMW, where the judge appears to have been connected to the lawyers representing BMW as well.

  • IFPI Goes After Torrent Site Hosting Providers

    In the aftermath of the Pirate Bay verdict, Sweden has witnessed the demise of many other BitTorrent trackers. But not quite enough according to music industry lobby group IFPI, who are now threatening the hosting providers of torrent sites. The host of private BitTorrent tracker TorrentBytes appears to be one of the first targets.

  • Who owns the facts? The AP and the “hot news” controversy

    In 1918, the Supreme Court created a “hot news” quasi-property right that still exists in some places today, and the Associated Press has been threatening to take on the blogosphere with it. Ars digs into the “hot news” historical archive to explain why the idea has always been controversial.

  • New Zealand Newspaper Threatens Blogging Critic With Trademark Infringement Claim

    Pete wrote in to alert us to yet another case of a lawyer taking an overly aggressive approach to a cease-and-desist… and, in doing so, drawing a lot more attention to the issue.

  • Fines for IP infringement will increase tenfold

    The Government plans a tenfold increase in the penalties for criminal breaches of intellectual property law. Infringement of IP laws will be punishable by fines of up to £50,000 rather than the current £5,000, according to Government plans.