Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 14/06/2009: Linux Multi-touch, KDE4 for PCLOS



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • The Geek Factor
    Four years ago - StartCom’s main focus was still the StartCom Linux distribution and hosting business of MediaHost™ - we setup a new web site and created a very simple wizard for obtaining a digital certificate and announced to the world that we intend to end this multi-million dollar business of implied security. There was certainly some naivety and a lot of innocence with our proclaimed goal - until our servers were overran by almost two million page views during the initial days after our announcement which hit the Internet news sites. We went like….WOW!


  • Linux multi-touch technology demo'd
    A development group at ENAC in Toulouse, France, reports that it has developed a proof of concept for adding iPhone-like multi-touch support to the Linux kernel. The group has released a video showing multi-touch effects such as resizing and rotating using Linux 2.6.30.


  • ZumoDrive Expands: Linux Client, Proxy Support, Yahoo! Mail Integration
    2. ZumoDrive for Linux – I prefer cross-platform services so I can easily access and use them on any device. An alpha build of ZumoDrive for Linux is available for download. There are packages available for Ubuntu, Fedora, RedHat and CentOS.


  • SmartFLeX Technology, Inc. and Cendio AB announce new partnership in US.
    SmartFLeX Technology Inc. is a new partner to Cendio and will work with and sell the ThinLinc Linux Terminal Server solution in the US.




  • Desktop

    • Will my program work on all Linux distributions?
      This was a question asked by a programmer friend of mine who has a passion for wooden spoons. It is however, a very important question and has been asked several times. The reason being that there are hundreds of Linux distributions and they all have slight differences in their setup.


    • eBox Moves Onto the Desktop
      Wow. This is the first dead-simple log-on service for Ubuntu clients (that I know of, anyway, and I try to keep my ear to the ground). SUSE and RHEL have had good solutions for their distributions for a while, but eBox sets Ubuntu 9.04 and beyond up for SME use.








  • Server

    • An EHR for cancer patients
      The iKnowMed system runs under Linux, follows the HL-7 standards for describing medical conditions, and will go through the CCHIT certification procedures so physicians can use HITECH stimulus money to get it.








  • Desktop Environments

    • KOffice 2009 Sprint In Berlin
      Last weekend — it seems like yesterday and like a year ago at the same time — the KOffice team came to Berlin for the first post 2.0 sprint. Graciously hosted by KDAB and smoothly organized by Alexandra Leisse, this sprint was one of the most productive sprints ever for KOffice. Not only because there were many developers attending, among them three out of four of our KOffice Summer of Code students, but also because everyone was filled to the brim with joy and relief about having release 2.0 and eager to forge forwards to 2.1.


    • KDE 4 packages for PCLinuxOS Scheduled
      KDE 4 packages for the PCLinuxOS distrubtion are scheduled to arrive in the PCLinuxOS repositories by the end of June or sooner if things build well. Hopefully most of the 3rd party applications will have matured enough to replace their KDE 3 counterparts.






  • Distributions

    • Xenon: An Inspired Linux Project
      One of my readers commented briefly that he would take on the project. With the inspired words, "Alright then. I'll make you one," amongst the fray of negativity, a new distro was born: Xenon.


    • Ubuntu screenshot time
      To be fair, I think what this says is how well the Canonical people have their act together at optimizing GNOME for their project. Nice job, guys. Coming from a Slackware guy, I’m here saying that I’m not only impressed with the setup process, but I’m impressed with the performance so far too.




    • Fedora

      • Fedora 11 Review
        For those who have seen my past reviews, you've probably already figured out that I don't even bother to write a review unless there is something spectacular or culture changing to write about. This review of Fedora 11 is not an exception.

        Before I continue, I think it's important to put things in proper context, so for those not familiar with the Fedora Project I'll give a brief rundown. The Fedora project is partially funded, in various ways, by Red Hat and produces the core of what eventually ends up as the Redhat Enterprise Linux operating system. In fact, Fedora was previously known as "Fedora Core".

        [...]

        In the past I would have never recommended Fedora for someone new to Linux. Fedora 11 is a different story entirely. Fedora 11 is easy to use, fast, rock solid, and loaded with features others just don't have. If you happen to have a slow Internet connection or service where you pay based upon bandwidth usage, it's currently the most reasonable choice available...at least until others can adapt the Presto technology into their package management systems.


      • First Look: Fedora 11












  • Devices/Embedded

    • Elektrobit MID Reference Design Aims to put Linux Desktop apps + Smartphone in your pocket
      Smartphones, netbooks, smartbooks, and Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) while very similar feature-wise, each has their own distinct advantages. Smartphones such as theiPhone ( News - Alert) have been widely successful, while the MID market has been a bit slow to take off. Elektrobit Corporation (EB), based in Oulu, Finland aims to change that with their new MID reference design that combines the "pocketability" of smartphones with the power of PCs/netbooks since it can run desktop Linux applications.




    • Phones

      • Intel quietly boosting its software in bid to get chips into smartphones
        Intel, which has long downplayed its big software-development team, is now coming out with a speedy Linux-based operating system — in direct competition to longtime partner Microsoft — in order to break into the smartphone-chip market.


      • How Palm Designed The Pre
        Perched on Peter Skillman's desk for the past year has been a white ostrich egg, about as long as a DVD case. It is a talisman for Skillman, vice president of design at Palm: the inspiration for a novel smart phone, the Pre, slated to be available in early June. It hints at the phoenixlike rebirth Palm hopes to achieve in the smart phone business.


      • Pre proves a worthy smartphone competitor


      • The Palm Pre takes Manhattan


      • In Hindsight: Palm Pre or new iPhone? Read the fine print
        It happens every year: Programmers and other Apple fans gather for the Cupertino iPhone, iPod and "I'm a Mac" computer maker's Worldwide Developers Conference* (*WWDC to its friends). Conspicuously absent from the event was CEO Steve Jobs. (The Apple rumor mill had raised the prospect of a cameo appearance from Jobs, even though his medical leave is scheduled to last until the end of the month.)








    • Sub-notebooks

      • Android Gains on Microsoft
        As if Google doesn't have enough high-octane foes, it's about to pick a fight with another giant: Amazon (AMZN). The Wall Street Journal reports that the search giant is planning to launch software that will allow book publishers to sell digital versions that will work with any computer, e-book, or smartphone that can access the Web. This puts Google in direct competition with Amazon, which sells electronic versions of books for its Kindle. What's next, Google—taking on Jesus Christ or something? You gonna offer a Linux-based patch that lets us walk on water?


      • Ellison Mulls Foray Into Netbook Market
        Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison floated the idea that the software company might target mobile devices after its planned acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc., including the small, low-priced computers called netbooks.


      • Microsoft upset with Intel
        We used to call them WinTel, as Intel was one of the loudest supporters of Redmond's Windows operating systems, but since it came up with Atom and netbooks, Intel is trying to push for Linux. Intel calls it Moblin 2.0 and this OS is supposed to give you everything you should need to type and surf the web.


      • Microsoft is angry at Intel over Moblin
        Microsoft and Intel are angry with each other. Well to be more honest Microsoft is angry at Intel. Once upon a time, before the days of Anti-Trust, MS and Intel were pals, Intel supported MS and MS Supported Intel.


      • Intel Looks beyond Microsoft in Embedded Space
        Popularity of Linux-based OS is on raise. In the embedded space, its traditional partner Microsoft does not have major footprint, according to T.R. Madan Mohan, managing partner at Browne and Mohan Importantly, the non-PC business is almost 3.8 times that of PC business and Intel has been able to generate less than $1.2 billion in this segment. Considering all these, Intel has been trying to push its Linux version into the market; and has been strengthening its software armor chest by acquiring OpenedHand and Neoptika.










Free Software/Open Source

  • Fwd: [theora] Safari 4 Plays Theora/Vorbis


  • What Open Source shares with Science
    One of the overlooked advantages that Open Source development affords, is that it imitates perhaps the most fruitful and beneficial of all human endeavours: Science. How has the scientific-method evolved, and what can it teach us about the future possibilities of software construction?

    Science, in its clearly understood modern guise, is unique. This essentially Western tradition of open inquiry is believed to have developed only one instantiation throughout the whole period of human history. While almost all human societies have developed language, art, and music, open inquiry into the natural and philosophical world sprung only from the eastern rim of the Mediterranean sea, in a number of ancient Greek states, approximately 27 centuries ago.


  • BIND 10 Set to Update DNS
    A decade after work first began on version 9 of BIND, the widely deployed open source DNS (define) server, work is now fully underway on its successor, BIND 10.




  • Business

    • Freeriding, participation and another modest proposal
      There has been in the past several articles related to “freeriding“, that is the use of OSS without any apparent form of reciprocal contribution, be it in a monetary form, or in terms of source code. I am not sympathetic to this view in general, because it masks an ill-posed question, that is “if you use someone code, are you required to give something back?”

      [...]

      Users contribute back in terms of participation in forums, in providing direct and indirect feedback, and much more. Of course only a small part of the users contribute back, a phenomenon that was apparent in most social phenomenon well before the internet, and should be no surprise to anyone.


    • Community: hype or enabler?
      We’ve stopped counting how many of our components were contributed by users - there are too many of them. For example, in France the Pays des Vals de Saintonge (PVS), recently decided to finance the Edigéo and Magic connectors to transform their data, which would then be given back to the community under a GPL license so that all municipalities could benefit from them. Eurofins enhanced a SQL Server connector commenting “Thanks to our expertise in terms of databases, we improved the MS Server connectors and we have shared these improvements with the community.” And Habitat 76 financed the development of a connector for the Alfresco management tool, which it opted to return to the community for integration in future versions of Talend Open Studio and Talend Integration Suite.

      These are only few examples of the involvement of our community.

      So to conclude, I’m delighted to say - no, the community is NOT hype!


    • MySQL has a new release model
      In an earlier post, the pursuit of openness, I announced that MySQL is working at a new release model.

      There are still a few details to sort out, but the general plan is ready. The new release model has been approved and starts to operate immediately.


    • Accenture jumps into open source in a big way
      I caught up with Alex Wied, senior manager at Accenture and head of its Innovation Center for Open Source, and Tony Roby, partner in Accenture's Global Architecture and Core Technologies group, to find out what, exactly, Accenture has been doing with open source, and how the global consulting firm expects to use open source going forward. They collaborated on the answers to my questions below.


    • FLOSS Weekly 73: Tim O'Reilly
      Tim O'Reilly talks about open source and the future of web technologies.








  • FSF/GNU

    • 15 Mythical and Humorous Facts About Richard Stallman
      1. Richard Stallman doesn't use web browsers, he sends a link to a demon that uses wget to fetch the page and sends it back to him.

      2. Richard Stallman is the only man alive who can pronounce GNU the way it is meant to be pronounced.

      3. Richard Stallman doesn't read web pages. They write to him.








Leftovers

  • Pirate Bay – Anti-piracy campaign?
    I have written an email to Mr Anderson and his campaign which, whilst of good intention and noble cause, to me hints on previous “attempts” to tackle TPB (by others) which IMO ended in tears and comments making them look a little silly. I would ask him to consider that the people who run these BT trackers are actually very knowledgeable and certainly know their subjects inside out. I would ask him to “Cave quid dicis, quando, et cui” since a badly thought-out attempt will do more harm than good and in my opinion the coverage the TPB has had in recent dramas only exposes more new users to Bittorrent and in particular TPB. I base this opinion on the various forums and news groups that I see which have users comenting about the press coverage and then asking what TBP and bittorrent is.


  • Senator Orrin Hatch... And The Lies The Copyright Industry Tells
    In my last post, I walked through the misleading or outright false arguments by Rep. Wexler in defense of stronger copyrights. At the same event, Senator Orrin Hatch also spoke, and it's worth responding to him as well.
    You in this room are the artists, the innovators, and leaders of the world copyright industry. Not only do your artistic works continue to encourage the creation of new works that inspire and delight us, but also your industry is one of the few that consistently generates a positive balance of trade.
    This assumes, incorrectly, that copyright is the sole reason for the creation of artistic works or that positive balance of trade. The evidence suggests otherwise. There are many reasons why people create. Some have nothing to do with monetary incentive -- but even those that do have found that "copyright" is not the only way to make money, and, in fact may not be the best way to make money. Yet, those who do creative things are often limited by copyright.


  • Has The Pirate Bay Lost Its Appeal... Or Should We Not Trust The NY Times?
    Someone just alerted me to a NY Times story claiming that the guys behind The Pirate Bay have lost their appeal of the verdict that found them guilty. That would be big news (and it may very well happen). However, I can't find anything else to support it. The NY Times credits the Hollywood Reporter, whose only recent article I can find on the subject merely claims that the TPB guys failed to get the case thrown out. But digging deeper, the only information I can find is that the District Court, which made the original ruling has told the Appeals Court that there was no bias.


  • Once Again, Before Sending A DMCA Takedown, It Helps To Actually Own The Content
    But, basically, someone used a video to respond to a guy from the Discovery Institute concerning a recent appearance he made on Fox News. The Fox News video is Fox's copyright. Yet, the Discovery Institute sent the takedown notice. Furthermore, the use of the video (even if Fox had sent the takedown) is almost certainly fair use. It was used for commentary in a non-commercial manner.






Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day



Real-time Linux hacker Bill Huey discusses Linux kernel society 08 (2004)



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

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

With Workers Back From a Holiday Weekend, Microsoft Layoffs Carry on, More Waves to Come
Now it's Monday and people are bad to work, even some journalists
You Need Not Wave a Rainbow Flag This Month to Basically Oppose Arseholes Looking to Disrupt and Divide the Community
Don't fall for it
What Miguel de Icaza and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar aims, different methods
The 'Corporate Neckbeard' is Not the "Good Guy"
Works for IBM
Microsoft's Nat Friedman Became Unemployed the Same Time the SLAPPs Against Techrights Started Coming From His Friends (Weeks After We Had Exposed Scandals About Him and the Serial Strangler, His Best Friend, Who Got Arrested a Few Days Later)
Nat Friedman is not "Investor, entrepreneur"
Weeding Out Extremism in Our Community
To me it seems like Microsoft Lunduke is rapidly becoming like a "hate preacher" who operates online, breeding an extremist ideology or trying to soften its image
Censorship Versus Fact-Checking and Quality Control
It's not censorship but a matter of quality control
Gemini Links 07/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and TUI Rant
Links for the day
 
Layoffs and Shutdowns at IBM, Not Just Microsoft
Same as Microsoft
The FSF's (Free Software Foundation, Inc.) 2025 Summer Fundraiser Already Past Halfway Line
This is where GNU/Linux actually started
Mozilla Had No Good Reason to Outsource Firefox Development to Microsoft
What does Mozilla plan to do when GitHub shuts down?
Mozilla Firefox Did Not Die, It Got Killed
To me it'll always look like Mozilla got killed by its sponsors, especially Google, which had a conflict of interest as a sponsor
Dalai Lama Succession as Evidence That Determined, Motivated People Can Reach Their Nineties
And we need to quit talking about their death all the time
Dan Neidle, Whom Brett Wilson LLP SLAPPed (on Behalf of Corrupt Rich Tax Evaders), Still Fighting the Good Fight
Neidle fights for the poor people
Wayland Should Start by Dumping Its Very Ugly Logo
Wayland wins the "ugliest logo" award every year
Stop Focusing on Hair Colours, Focus on Corporate Agenda
If someone commits a crime, it does not matter if his or her hair was mostly white or there was no hair or a wig or whatever
Links 07/07/2025: Science, Conflicts, and a Fictional K-pop Group
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/07/2025: Being a Luddite and Announcement of Gotify
Links for the day
Links 07/07/2025: XBox Effectively 'Dead', DMCA Subpoena Versus Registrar
Links for the day
The Nasty Smear (and Stereotype) of "Neckbeard" or "Greybeard" is Ageism
This is the sort of stuff they might try to volley at critics of Wayland
Why Many of Us Use X Server and Will Continue to Use It For Many Years to Come
Don't make this about politics
Brett Wilson LLP Uses Threats to Demand Changes to Pages or Removal of Pages Without Even Revealing Which Staff Member Does That (Sometimes People From Another Firm!)
This has been in the public for years
Dan Neidle Said "It Really Then Became a Job of Tormenting" Lawyers Like Brett Wilson LLP (Who Threatened Him for Exposing Crimes, Just Like They Threatened My Wife a Few Months Later)
he and his wife decided to take on the evil people and their evil lawyers
Large Language Models (LLMs) Externalise Their Cost to the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
"The forty-sixth Free Software Bulletin is now available online!"
Reinforcing the Allegations Some More, Bryan Lunduke Digs His Own Grave
In his latest episodes he merely repeats his own lies, which I debunked using evidence right from his own mouth
Global Warming and Free Software as a Force of Mitigation
we'll need to think about Software Freedom, not just brands like "Linux"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 06, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 06, 2025
[Video] "Copyleft Isn't a Bug."
"Copyleft isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. GNU GPL forced the world to treat code like a public good."
Being in Social Control Media Means Exposing Oneself to Heckling
Richard Stallman does not (either himself or directly) post to any social control media
Links 06/07/2025: Airlines Perils, Scams, and Breaches
Links for the day
Two Risks to Companies: The Microsoft Culture and the Microsoft Tools
Novell was killed by a form of "social engineering" by Microsoft
It's Hard to Trust People Who Worked - Not Only Those Who Still Work - at Microsoft
Bryan Lunduke is just what people would call an "arsehole of a person"
For the Second Time, Bryan Lunduke From Microsoft is Siccing Racist Trolls and Vandals at Me
You're only reinforcing the point we made yesterday
Links 06/07/2025: End to End Encryption at Risk, Reuters Twitter ("X") Account Withheld in India
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/07/2025: Tinylog and Certification Rotation
Links for the day
Links 06/07/2025: Climate Change and "The Right to Criticise"
Links for the day
PCLinuxOS Sites Coming Back, Gradually
let's just be patient
Social Control Media, Even If Based on Free Software, Still Has Many Problems
a distraction from what actually mattered and still matters
IBM is Not Your Master
IBM makes friends with people who exclude the majority of the population: women
Help Fund the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
If you have some dollars to spare, go support the FSF
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 05, 2025
A Short History of Attacks on Techrights (and Boycott Novell Before That)
good opportunity to tell again the story of several (not all) attempts to silence us
The Mainstream Media Took 4 Days to Realise Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan and Fired Everybody
We estimate that Microsoft has had about 29,000 layoffs since January
Leadership in Free Software
Don't let IBM lead. It's a terrible flag bearer.
“Twibel” Actions Against Comedians (and Why It's a Truly Low Blow)
they try to make up in quantities for a lack of merit or quality
Linux Foundation Apparently Flirting With Slop (Marketing by LLM-Generated SPAM)
The Web is in a really bad state!
COVID-19 Sped Up Site Improvements in Techrights
A few months later we created our very own IRC network
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: Negative Questions and 'Touching Grass' (Going Outside)
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Dalai Lama Succession as 90th Birthday Approaches, 40 deg C in China
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Hungary and US Defecting to Russia, "Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: 4th of July 2025 and "Zig Roadmap 2026"
Links for the day
How to Combat the Exploitation and Abuse by Microsoft GitHub
Not to mention corruption and crimes against women
Bryan Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People
"[Lunduke] is actually sending his audience to attack people."
Even The Right Wing is Rejecting Bryan Lunduke
no wonder he became so irrelevant and marginal
Microsoft's MSN Helps Microsoft Spread Lies About the Layoffs' Scale (Well Over 25,000 People Laid Off This Year)
There seem to be monopolies on lies and on truth
The Death of X Has Been Greatly Exaggerated (by Compromised Media)
X.Org Server is alive and well
Rewriting Things in Rust
How far would you go?
In 2025 Everything is "AI". Remember Blockchains?
Talk about what companies and things (services, products, software) actually do, not the labels they use
Julian Assange Has Been Free for a Year
Julian Assange and I disagreed on some things
Monopolies and Scalping
Monopolies gravitate towards price hikes
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 04, 2025
Microsoft's August Layoffs Wave: "August is Confirmed for Additional Performance Based Cuts"
"August is confirmed for additional performance based cuts from the recent connects along with additional organizational cuts."
What Microsoft Reputation Laundering (With a Weaponised Law Degree) Looks Like in a Foreign Continent
You would expect this in uncivilised and primitive countries
Slopwatch: LLMs 'Write' Fake or Distorted 'News' About "Linux"
LLM slop disguised as news