Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 19/07/2009: New Ubuntu CE, Red Hat at S&P 500



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • Linux Sucks
    Please stay away from GNU/Linux because it is a computer revolution. It is slowly changing the computer industry in major ways. Even Google is creating their own operating system that will be based on the Linux kernel. What are they thinking? Linux for the masses? Oh no! How are we going to get used to not paying hundreds of dollars for an OS. We would have to change our way of thinking and I don't think majority people are ready for that. We cannot allow this to happen. I have been using GNU/Linux for years and I still can't get used to such a great operating system. I am happy with it and the great software that I am using. Please take my warning seriously! GNU/Linux is awful and I hope you stay away from it. It is better to pay high prices for an OS that you do not like and the company will dictate to you what you can or cannot do with it, what software you can install and treat you like a criminal. If you do not take my warning seriously and will install GNU/Linux I hope that you are ready for what is to follow. Don't say I haven't warned you. Think hard about switching to GNU/Linux.


  • Chrome OS to Bring More Linux IT Jobs?
    The news has been abuzz about Google's upcoming OS. Many people have been arguing reasons for and against the system, its viability in such a market, and, if the OS is successful, even the morality of the company who may be trusted with even more private information than it already has. Well, here's another reason for Chrome OS: it could bring more jobs in the area of Linux IT.




  • Kernel Space

    • Does Printing Work Well In Linux?
      So does printing work well in Linux? My response would be an enthusiastic “YES”.


    • Mesa 7.5 Finally Released w/ New Features
      After being in development for a number of months and being challenged by a few delays, Mesa 7.5 was officially released last night. What's most significant about this milestone is that it's the first release to include the Gallium3D architecture. The Gallium3D drivers are still incomplete and there are many state trackers to be added, but this code for the next-generation Linux graphics card drivers is now living in mainline Mesa.






  • Applications

    • Open Source Word Processors Give You Lots of Free Choices, Part 1
      With interest heating up around Linux on netbooks, notebooks and desktop PCs, more and more people are hunting for good word processing software that runs on Linux. Luckily, while a lot of word processing options for Linux have fallen by the wayside, new ones keep springing up, too. Meanwhile, some of the older standbys are picking up features that rival those of Microsoft Word.


    • 7 Excellent Open Courseware Collections for Digital Photographers
      Digital photographers are always looking to improve their skills behind the lens. Anyone can point and click, but what does it take to take a picture with real depth, meaning, and intrigue? What does it take to move from taking a vacation photo to capturing a moment in time? The following open courseware collections aim to help students move from just playing around with a digital camera to creating works of art.


    • The Wine development release 1.1.26 is now available.
      What's new in this release (see below for details): - Still more translation updates. - Faster bitmap stretching using XRender. - Proxy support in WinHTTP. - Many more JScript functions. - Various bug fixes.


    • Quod Libet - A Different GTK Music Player
      Quod Libet is a GTK music player written in Python with support for various audio formats, including Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MP3, WAV, MP4 and WMA. Quod Libet has a different interface and a slightly different approach compared to players like Rhythmbox or Banshee, for example.


    • Review: Rhythmbox 0.12.0 in Ubuntu 9.04
      Rhythmbox is the default audio player coming with the GNOME desktop environment, featuring a clean, typical interface which is so common for GTK audio players. I could say that Rhythmbox has little missing features and it is rather complete.


    • Gargoyle: Web Interface for Router Configuration
      Gargoyle is a router interface for devices of the Linksys WRT54G series and other small routers such as the La Fonera. The software is based on the recently released OpenWrt firmware Kamikaze and targets not only power users but speaks especially to the average user as well. It provides functions not usually found in router firmware, such as smart DynDNS support, QoS and used bandwidth monitoring.






  • Desktop Environments

    • An open alternative for Palm Pre iTunes users
      He continued, “We promise not to change our application to prevent users to use Amarok with your device. Not only do we care about our users, we are not a competitor to you or have any ulterior motives. Amarok is already fully supported on all flavors of Linux and we have beta releases on Windows and Mac OSX which just need a bit of polishing and stabilization.”

      Much as I like iTunes, you have to admit, especially if you’re Palm or any other phone or hand-held device maker, that the Amarok offer should be taken seriously. After all, you’re in the business of selling full-featured devices, not playing software catch-up. Wouldn’t you rather have an open platform that would just work for your customers without worries? I know I would.








  • Distributions

    • Wolvix-2.0.0beta2
      This distro was brought to my attention in the BN IRC room, and whilst my distro hopping machine had difficulties with it (its a little anti social at the moment) I gave it a run on one of the many machines dotted around my house and found myself very surprised (pleasantly) by the results. Its a Slackware based distro, and in these days of MONO uncertainty and the ever growing popularity of about 4 or 5 of the “big name” distro’s, its nice to break out of the mold and take a look at a lesser known option (sans MONO I hasten to add).


    • Vector Linux 6.0 Gold – Review and Screenshots
      Vector Linux is a popular Linux Distro whose motto is “speed, performance, stability”.

      Version 6.0 was released in February 2009. Their stated goal is to “Keep it simple, keep it small and let the end user decide.” Having said that, this end user decided to see what was cooking at Vector.




    • Red Hat

      • CIT Group falls off S&P 500 index


      • Red Hat replaces CIT in S&P 500 index
        The switch will occur July 24 after the market closes. S&P says CIT's value had fallen too low Friday for the bank to remain a member of the S&P 500.


      • Red Hat joins the S&P 500
        Standard and Poor’s announced that Red Hat would join the S&P 500 as of the close of trading on Friday. Red Hat replaces lender CIT Group, which had a market capitalization below $275 million, ranking it 500th in the index.

        The market seemed to like the S&P news. In after hours trading Friday, Red Hat was up 8.45 percent to $22.34.








    • Ubuntu

      • Ubuntu Christian Edition 5.0 Is Based on Ubuntu 9.04
        The Ubuntu CE development team proudly announced yesterday, July 17th, the immediate availability of the Ubuntu Christian Edition 5.0. Being based on the powerful Jaunty Jackalope (Ubuntu 9.04), the new, highly anticipated release of Ubuntu Christian Edition includes a brand new DansGuardian GUI, E-sword installer and, of course, the usual updates and fixes.


      • Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS Released
        For those of you still running Ubuntu 8.04 due to its Long-Term Support status rather than upgrading to Ubuntu 8.10 or Ubuntu 9.04, fire up your update manager as Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS is now available. Ubuntu 8.04.3 LTS is the third maintenance update targeting the Hardy Heron and it includes security updates and fixes for high impact bugs.












  • Devices/Embedded

    • MontaVista Launches Android Commercialization Services Offering
      MontaVista€® Software, Inc., the leader in embedded Linux€® commercialization, today launched a professional services offering for design engineers developing commercial products with Google Androidâ„¢. MontaVista's Android Commercialization Services offering is designed to help Android developers deliver innovative commercial products to market quickly and efficiently. This new global services offering is being launched this week with a series of seminars in Tokyo, Taipei, and Seoul.




    • Phones

      • Palm's Mojo Risin'
        Palm issued a public release of the Mojo software development kit for its new webOS operating system, in what could possibly be a response to leaks of the SDK in June. The SDK, given a limited release in April, had been slated for public release by the end of summer. Palm's take is that the public release follows the success of its early access program. "After a successful early access program, Palm's Mojo Software Development Kit is available to all interested app developers," begins the announcement on Palm's blog by Online Communications Director Jon Zilber.








    • Sub-notebooks

      • Group test: Linux netbooks
        Netbooks may be on the cheaper side of computing, but as we're all watching our pennies now, making the right choice is essential. We've brought together all the netbooks we could get hold of - most of which are bundled with Linux - for a comprehensive test.


      • HyperSpace and Mobiln Enter Partnership to Conquer Netbooks, Nettops, MIDs, and Google Chrome OS?
        Google’s recently announced Linux-based, cloud operating system, Chrome OS, has been the talk of the tech world over the last few days, and rightfully so. Any talk of a fresh OS designed for netbooks (at least, initially) is sure to grab headlines, but when you sex it up by tossing the Big G into the mix, well, it’s world-class news.


      • Microsoft to exclude ARM netbooks for Windows 7
        Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system will not run on netbooks powered by ARM chips, Microsoft said on Wednesday...


      • Checking out the Jolicloud Netbook OS
        That may, actually, be exactly what is needed to bring the concepts of Ubuntu Netbook Remix to the masses. It’s too early to tell, but Jolicloud looks like it has a chance of being one of the first Linux-based netbook distros to take off, if they can get deals with hardware manufacturers.










Free Software/Open Source

  • OSGeo Journal - Volume 5 - OSGeo 2008 Annual Report
    All articles are copyrighted by the respective authors and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Contact the author directly for questions about modifying or revising an article.


  • How NPR is Embracing Open Source and Open APIs
    News providers, like most content providers, are interested in having their content seen by as many people as possible. But unlike many news organizations, whose primary concern may be monetizing their content, National Public Radio is interested in turning it into a resource for people to use in new and novel ways as well. Daniel Jacobson is in charge making that content available to developers and end users in a wide variety of formats, and has been doing so using an Open API that NPR developed specifically for that purpose. Daniel will talk about how the project is going at OSCON, the O'Reilly Open Source Convention. Here's a preview of what he'll be talking about.


  • Evolutionary Computing — my open-source journey (and maybe yours, too)
    As an experiment, I decided to bring my Evolutionary Computing presentation on making the journey into free, open-source software — a slide show originally created in OpenOffice Impress 2.4 — into Google Docs, which happens to have a presentation app in addition to the better-known Docs and Spreadsheets components.


  • Free 'Really Cool' Stickers About Linux/FOSS
    Do you want to remove that Windows or Apple logo from your Linux-powered netbook or laptop? If you do then you may as well replace it with some cool graphics that would stand out. To spare you from the hassles of creating you own or searching the web, I recommend that you download the Free Software Sticker Book first. There you will find tons of ready-made stickers (in ODG format) that is related to Linux and Free and Open Source software. But before I'll give you the download link, here are some teasers...


  • NICTA opens its software to the world
    Research organisation National ICT Australia (NICTA) has stepped up its support for open source software by launching the OpenNICTA portal (http://www.opennicta.com) where people can view and download software developed and licensed by the organisation.


  • Five Open Source Apps For Writers and Authors
    Even if you have the perfect idea for the next Great American Novel, getting it down on paper is never easy. While you could always use standard word processors like OpenOffice Write or AbiWord, they don't have the bells and whistles that make writing books, manuals, and theses as easy as possible. Fortunately, there are a few open source applications that help budding authors get stories out of their heads and into the hands of readers.




  • Firefox







  • Business

    • Q&A: Open Database
      Dr. Dobb's: What's MariaDB?

      Widenius: It's a community developed branch of MySQL with bug fixes and new features developed by the MariaDB community, of which Monty Program Ab is an active member. We will keep MariaDB in sync with MySQL development to ensure all bug fixes and features in MySQL also exists in MariaDB. At this time MariaDB 5.1 should be notable faster, have more features and have fewer bugs than the corresponding MySQL 5.1 release.






  • Openness

    • (Open) Learning from Open Source
      As regular readers of this blog will know, I am intrigued by the way that ideas from free software are moving across to different disciplines. Of course, applying them is no simple matter: there may not be an obvious one-to-one mapping of the act of coding to activities in the new domain, or there may be significant cultural differences that place obstacles in the way of sharing.


    • Douglas Rushkoff's Open Source Economy: A ReadWriteWeb Interview
      As a media theorist who's written about some of the most influential ideas of the digital age, Rushkoff is second to none. In Life Inc., he describes not just corporations, but how we all can change to an "open source economy" that favors decentralized value creation over banking and central currency. We spoke with him to ask more about what this new economy would look like and how the Web is involved.


    • Results of EC questionnaire on OA
      CREST has released the results of its questionnaire on OA. The questionnaire responses were due April 1, 2009, and the EC accepted the summary of responses on June 9, 2009. (Thanks to Heinz Pampel.)








Leftovers



  • Censorship/Web Abuse

    • The NSA wiretapping story nobody wanted
      Mark Klein: Fear. First of all it was a scary time. It still is a scary time, but during the Bush years it was sort of a witch hunt atmosphere and people were afraid. People are afraid of losing their jobs, and it's a rule of thumb that if you become a whistleblower you'll probably lose your job. And if you have a security clearance, you not only lose your job, but you probably will be prosecuted by the government. The Bush administration made that very clear in statements they made over and over again: 'Anybody who reveals anything about our secret programs will be prosecuted and we are running investigations to find out who leaked this to the New York Times.' Well that puts a fear in people.


    • Some E-Books Are More Equal Than Others
      But no, apparently the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic edition, and apparently Amazon, whose business lives and dies by publisher happiness, caved. It electronically deleted all books by this author from people’s Kindles and credited their accounts for the price.


    • Amazon vanishes 1984 from citizen Kindles
      In an irony-filled moment that underlines the flaws of our increasingly digital society, Amazon has removed George Orwell's 1984 from America's Kindle ebook readers.








  • Intellectual Monopolies

    • Associated Press: “It’s Okay If WE Do It.”
      This could have been an enthusiastic Wikipedia editor, so I checked the history page of the article, which tracks every change. It turns out that Wikipedia had it first. Here is a link to the 10 July 2009 version of the article.

      Let me repeat, to be clear: Wikipedia Had It First. Which means an AP writer or editor cribbed directly from Wikipedia, changed some words, and put it in the article.

      In and of itself, that is not the problem. Wikipedia is, in fact, fine with this.


    • Gadzooks - it's ZookZ from Antigua
      I've been following the rather entertaining case of Antigua vs. US for a few years now. Basically, the US government has taken a "do as I say, not as I do" attitude to the WTO - refusing to follow the latter's rules while seeking to enforce them against others. The net result is that plucky little Antigua seems to have won some kind of permission to ignore US copyright - up to a certain point - although nobody really knows what this means in practice.


    • ‘Drop Internet Issues From ACTA, Add Public Interest’
      Nine organisations representing the technology industry, libraries, digital rights and privacy interests have sent a letter to United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk urging that issues related to the internet be dropped from negotiations for an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). They also demanded that in the secretive ACTA negotiation, negotiating documents be made available to those representing the public interest, and that advisory committees be created to include civil society and internet-related industry interests.










Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day



Alexandro Colorado, international open source evangelist 22 (2004)



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

Recent Techrights' Posts

Twitter as X-Rated Hatred: Criticising Microsoft is Not OK, Calling for Beheadings (With Bounties on People's Heads) is OK
Twitter automation missed 'hit job' advertising
Balancing Activism Against (or With) Basic Necessities and Daniel Cantarín on Our Collective Battle for Software Freedom Around the World
"I'm VERY angry about lots of stuff happening here in Argentina, all of it shielded behind the word "freedom"."
 
Links 16/08/2024: YouTube Bans and Surveillance Expanded
Links for the day
We Were Right All Along and the Collaborators of Microsoft Helped Competition Crimes of Microsoft
Once again vindicated regarding UEFI "secure boot"
[Meme] The New Windows Slogan
stat me up
Addendum: Associate's Notes on Free Software as a Labour Issue and the Connectivity Swindles
these are related issues/causes
Microsofters Infiltrating Roles of Authority and Government Positions to Protect Microsoft and to FUD Microsoft's Competition
friends of Microsofters who bully me and my wife
Links 16/08/2024: UK Skills Deficit and Kim Dotcom to be Extradited to the US (for Doing the Same Stuff GAFAM Does)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/08/2024: Overgeneralisation and Games
Links for the day
Russia's Yandex 5 Times Bigger Than Microsoft... in Ukraine
They'd rather rely on the Kremlin than on Microsoft
[Meme] Gemini is Different, So What?
different, not worse
Now It's "Official": Over 4,000 Known Gemini Capsules in Lupa
For the first time ever
Clown Computing
Reprinted with permission from Dr. Andy Farnell
[Meme] What Freedom Means to IBM
Free labou
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 15, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, August 15, 2024
From 99% in 2012 to 27% in 2024: How Microsoft Lost Georgia
What we're seeing is a migration from Windows to other platforms, notably GNU/Linux
To Understand Cisco's Mass Layoffs Look at the Company's Soaring Debt (Same at Microsoft)
Look what's happening to Intel - down almost 60% since the start of the year, 57% to be precise
Windows Flying Low at 25%
It's another all-time low
[Meme] Long Texts You Never Bother Reading (Because Life is Too Short, Unlike Those Texts)
The devil is in the terms of service
Links 15/08/2024: Monkeypox Hysteria and Modern Homesteaders Living Off the Grid
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/08/2024: Confession of a Convention Game Master and Some Release nostalgia
Links for the day
Congratulations to Romania, Where Windows is Now "Minority Market Share" Platform
Time will tell if GNU/Linux can pass 5% on the desktop/laptop "form factor" there
Why It Matters That 4,000 Gemini Capsules Are Known to Lupa and Why Gemini Protocol Matters to Us
I have no doubt Gemini Protocol will continue to expand because it solves a real problem
Links 15/08/2024: Avast Surveillance Scandal Unsolved and Facebook Still Censors Terror Sympathisers
Links for the day
Daniel Cantarín's Response to Alexandre Oliva's Talk on Achieving Software Freedom in the Age of Platform Decay
Soylent News caught up with the series
4,000 Gemini Capsules
it's basically one capsule short of 4,000
"Microsoft is a Sponsor of The New Stack."
Many articles turn out to be just ads
New Highs for Android in Russia, But It's Reportedly Working on Its Own Linux-Based Operating Systems (GAFAM-Free)
statCounter isn't equipped to properly parse user agents or to keep up
Upcoming Series: Terms of Service (TOS) Under the Microscope, FSF Party, GitHub Scandals, Clowns, and More
Right now we have way more material than we have time to cover. But that's a good thing.
Gemini Links 15/08/2024: Lies of Therapy and Web Applications
Links for the day
Software Freedom in Perspective - Part 5 - When Richard Stallman Came to Argentina
It might seem a bit harsh, but a discussion at the end of this series will tie things together and explain why those things were said
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 14, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Russia develops an alternative to Android and iOS | News.az
Russia already has several of its own operating systems
Links 14/08/2024: Ecology and War Inside Russia
Links for the day
Daniel Pocock - Use of Technology in European Parliament Election Campaign (Public Talk)
It starts in 4 hours
Android About to Fly Past Windows in Portugal
Perhaps by month's end or next month Portugal will be orange (Android majority)
How OpenAI Will Decrease the Losses
You have no losses when you have no users left
Giving Control to Microsoft is Always a Dire, Huge Mistake
Microsoft is known for buying things and sabotaging things, not for creating things
Founders That Sell Their Company to Microsoft Speak Out
"Microsoft's closure of Arkane Austin in May was one of the more shocking events of the past couple of years"
In Chile, Microsoft's Web Browser (a Chrome Copycat) Fell to 3.6%, About the Same as Firefox and Opera and Less Than Safari, Yandex Browser, Google Chrome
It does not look like Chileans fancy Microsoft's browser. They go out of their way to use something else, even on Windows.
Software Freedom in Perspective - Part 4 - Daniel on Linux-based Mobile Platforms in LATAM (Latin America)
GNU, Linux, and mobile
Almost Nothing of Invidious Left Online (YouTube is Attacking Gateways)
what it looks like at this very moment
Gemini Links 14/08/2024: Funeral for an E-reader and a Mother Wants a Laptop
Links for the day
Links 14/08/2024: 8 Years of GDPR and Ridicule of "Hey Hi" (AI) Hype
Links for the day
This is How You Give Microsoft More Control Over LibreOffice Both as Software and as a Project
Didn't the Document Foundation learn from prior Microsoft Store scandals connected to LibreOffice?
"Heroes of Fedora" Are Just Salaried Employees of IBM (But "Community" is Just Sounding a Lot Nicer)
A real community would not allow IBM a majority
YouTube Has Thrown Free Software Users Into a Crisis
For many Free software users, who rely on Invidious, YouTube is nearly dead already
[Meme] "New Chapter in the FSF."
We expect to have some coverage from this week's event
There is No I in "GAFAM" and Soon There Won't be I At All (Like Novell Vanished, Not Overnight, as It Took Over a Decade)
Intel is going through the biggest crisis in its entire history
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 13, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 13, 2024
It's a "sm0l" World and It Won't Outsource to the Pentagon Anymore
As many people aren't interested in a new PC - or simply cannot afford one - we can expect leaner operating systems to gain further
Software Freedom in Perspective - Part 3 - GNU/Linux in Argentinian Desktops/Laptops
Daniel explains why many years ago many PCs shipped with GNU/Linux and that there was an economic reason for it. At least in Argentina.
Tivoisation and Decommodification in Clown Computing
Some firms or organisations lost sight of what "servers" or "hosting" even mean
The News Vacuum
The problem is worse than just an absence of reporting
x86 Lowered the Standards of Hardware Products
A lot of it is just hacks and cheats that help fake performance