07.28.09

Contents

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

GNU/Linux

• ”Iron Linux” – Promwad’s Motto at the Vth International LVEE Conference

  The phrase “Iron Linux” had become a motto for Promwad Innovation Company when preparing reports for V International LVEE conference. Company’s employees presented a range of presentations, the main goal of which was to show to the audience uncommon examples of application of Linux on different hardware platforms, or, in other words, show “Linux life forms in hardware and how to locate it there”.

• UNIX

  • Say ‘Cheese’: OpenSolaris’ Time Slider

    Whenever an operating system — however obscure — comes up with a killer feature, it’s worth sitting up and taking notice. And there’s no doubt that OpenSolaris’ Time Slider feature is heavily armed and dangerous.

  • Timeline: 40 Years Of Unix

    AT&T-owned Bell Laboratories withdraws from development of Multics, a pioneering but overly complicated time-sharing system. Some important principles in Multics were to be carried over into Unix.

    Ken Thompson at Bell Labs writes the first version of an as-yet-unnamed operating system in assembly language for a DEC PDP-7 minicomputer.

• Applications

  • Studio DV, Open Octave, And More

    Recently I profiled the latest LiVES video editing system, and in that article I mentioned that I intended to buy a camcorder for use with LiVES and other video editing software. Since then I purchased a Samsung SC-D382 midiDV recorder. Studio Dave is now on its way to becoming Studio DV.

    [...]

    And just for the sake of completeness I must mention that VLC can read from V4L (Video for Linux) and V4L2 devices, i.e. your webcam. Too cool.

• Desktop Environments

  • GNOME, KDE, and Xfce: Which Desktop is Right for You?

    These are not the only desktops available for GNU/Linux. Many regard LXDE, another lightweight desktop, as an up and coming choice, although it lacks some of the polish of Xfce. Others prefer one of the time-honored window managers, or simple graphical environments, such as IceWM or FVWM, or the tiled window managers like ratpoison. Without straining, you should be able to find several dozen alternatives, most of them catering to a specific need or design philosophy.

    But, mostly, GNOME, KDE, and Xfce are the deskops that people are likely to see most often. Each is a useful place to start, and, if it doesn’t suit you, one of the others can be installed in minutes. Graphical environments can be confusing in GNU/Linux, but one thing is sure — you’ll never lack alternatives.

  • LXDE 0.4.2 Review and Screenshot Tour

    I am a big fan of light desktop environments. Well, most people looking for a lighter alternative normally settle for a lightweight window manager, such as Fluxbox or AwesomeWM.

• Distributions

  • Review: antiX M8.2 ‘Thasunke Witko’

    Thasunke Witko is the Oglala Lakota name for the native American more commonly known as ‘Crazy Horse’, one of the main leaders of the tribes who fought the white man at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

  • Review: New Linux Mint a Desktop Lightweight at Best

    Overall, Mint 7 offers most of the software that an average user needs. Though I have issues with the OS, it still can be used as a “light” desktop.

  • Red Hat Chairman:’We spend over $100 million per year to advance Linux’

    Matthew Szulik, Red Hat’s former CEO and current chairman, has been in semi-retirement for the past two years, but you’d never know it from listening to his interview with the BBC’s Peter Day. Szulik, ever the revolutionary, talks up open source’s opportunity to disrupt conventional software and promote social reform.

  • Ubuntu

    • Ubuntu Netbooks: Strong Demand at System76

      As I scour the market for a potential Ubuntu netbook purchase, I’ve stumbled onto two interesting tidbits of info: First, Ubuntu netbook demand recently exceeded supply at System76. Second, another niche Ubuntu PC maker will introduce a netbook this August.

      Sorry I don’t have specific “sales figures” for you. But I do have anecdotal pieces of info…

    • CrunchBang Linux 9.04 (OpenBox with Ubuntu) Review and Screenshots

      CrunchBang is a fine distro. It is very fast, and thanks to OpenBox, full of configuration options for the power user. The initial drab desktop can be configured to a very graphical environment, or left as-is.

      A casual Linux user might be better served to start with a more standard distro like Ubuntu or OpenSuse, with all the graphical eye-candy. CrunchBang ain’t pretty out of the box, but it surely gets the job done quickly!

      If you have an older machine, or are looking for a fast distro with many customization options for you to design the desktop of your dreams, then you will definitely want to try CrunchBang Linux.

• Devices/Embedded

  • VPX board steps up to Penryn processors

    GE Fanuc has announced a Linux-compatible SBC (single-board computer) using the military-friendly VPX format. The VPXcel3 SBC341, “available in five ruggedization levels,” includes an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, DDR3 memory, and 1GB of flash storage, according to the company.

  • $8 ARM chip touted for DDR2 support

    Atmel announced a new member of its Linux-compatible ARM9-based SAM9G family of industrial-focused embedded processors. Touted for supporting DDR2 memory and 100Mbps+ data rates, the “AT91SAM9G45″ clocks to 400MHz, supports LCD touchscreens and 3.3 V power, and offers a 480Mbps USB interface, says the company.

  • Study: Wind River outpaces MontaVista

    VDC Research issued a report estimating that Wind River has pushed past MontaVista Software, taking the top spot among commercial embedded Linux providers. In a separate study on the overall embedded market, meanwhile, VDC said that real-time solutions outperformed the general embedded market last year, with nine percent growth over 2007.

  • Timesys(R) Provides First Commercial Open-Source Linux(R) Solution for the Texas Instruments OMAP-L137 Processor

    Timesys Corporation (http://www.timesys.com), provider of LinuxLink, the first commercial software development framework for building custom embedded Linux based products, today announced LinuxLink availability for the new OMAP-L137 processor from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). This represents the first LinuxLink release for the low-power OMAP-L1x applications processors and will be followed by support for the OMAP-L138 processor.

  • OLPCsb: Deploying XO Laptops in USA Classroom (Pt 5)

    With our international program still developing, technological kinks being worked out, and our local teacher and University students still exploring and researching ways for the XO’s to be integrated into the California 3rd grade curriculum, we have not yet done extensive documentation and created a resource model. We have been conducting sit-in observations of the class, and working with the teacher to understand his needs, concerns, and ideas for the future.

Free Software/Open Source

• Graffiti Tutorial

  Today we are going to create some realistic graffiti in the Gimp. This tutorial is partially inspired off of Photoshop tutorial by DreamDealer v5.0 at DreamDealer.nl Let’s get started!

• Wiki founder hopes win over Apple bodes well for online freedom

  The open source project that aimed to get iPods and iPhones working with Linux and other software should be re-posted next month.

• 101 Lectures for Your Open Source Education

  As a college student, open source philosophy has a lot to offer you. You can not only take advantage of the great resources open source has, but also become a part of a movement that shares more freedom of ideas. In these lectures, you’ll learn more about the open source philosophy and what it can be used for.

• Plex celebrates 100th plug-in

  The current stable release of Plex is version 0.8.1 released under the GNU General Public License (GPL2), apart from the Plex Media Server which is currently closed source and connects to the GPL licensed client over the network.

• Kaltura.com Tries To Position As The Open-Source Option In Video-Management

  This “Community Edition” is a free version under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.

• Calibre 0.6 Adds More E-Book Formats

  Calibre is under GPLv3 license for Linux, Mac OS and Windows download.

• Office Suites

  • Openoffice.org- The rise and rise of Open Source.

    OpenOffice.org 3 is developed using an open-software, “no secrets” approach. Anyone can look at the programs and suggest improvements, or fix bugs. Anyone can report problems or request enhancements, and anyone can see the response from other users or developers. The status of current and future releases is displayed on a public wiki, so you can decide if and when you want to upgrade to take advantage of new features. Anyone used to commercial software and its hyping and marketing speak will find OpenOffice.org 3 refreshingly different. Enjoy the benefits of open-source!

  • OpenGoo: An Open Source Answer To Google Apps

    What’s not to like about Google Apps? It has a ton of features, it’s incredibly easy to collaborate with other people, and it’s free. Well, how about the fact that your data is only as accessible as Google decides to make it? If you’re looking for the usefulness of a Web-based collection of office apps but want complete control over your data, OpenGoo might be just the answer you’re looking for.

Leftovers

• Judge rejects fair use defense as Tenenbaum P2P trial begins

  Hours before the second P2P file-sharing trial in the US gets underway, the judge finally rules that defendant Joel Tenenbaum cannot claim “fair use” in the case. The proposed defense would be “so broad it would swallow the copyright protections that Congress has created,” she wrote.

• Don’t Sue Me, Bro… Taser Drops Suit Against Second Life

  TASER International has – at least for now – dropped a trademark infringement suit against Linden Lab, which operates Second Life.