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08.08.10

Links 8/8/2010: Android Devices Sold in Volumes, But Google Stops Augen’s Use of Android Market

Posted in News Roundup at 3:12 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNOME bluefish

Contents

GNU/Linux

  • [Compiz] Some weekend hacking.

    People kept asking me about minimized window thumbnails. I caved.

    1. Patch for core
    2. Patch for workarounds

  • How Do You Use Linux – The Survey

    If you are a Linux User or an IT professional using FOSS or Linux, this is a survey you might want to take. You can complete it in 10 minutes or so and it would greatly help Don and Iffat in completing their project.

  • The Bizarre Cathedral – 77

  • Applications

  • Desktop Environments

  • Distributions

    • PCLinuxOS/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

      • “Is it a PC?” “Is it a Linux?”… “No its PCLinuxOS”

        Booting the live DVD initially didn’t work but the boot menu does give the option of a safe graphics mode also known as VESA. This got the ball rolling and a good looking Gnome desktop followed. Similar in looks to Mandriva but with a massive menu. Seriously there are tons of applications included here and this is down to PCLinuxOS being aimed for easy use and compatibility with everything. Clicking the Install icon will ask you for a password which I thought was a bit strange however I guessed at Root and it seemed to work fine. The standard formatting questions follow and the install begins. The install process wont let you go without a bootloader so if you have one in place, make sure you don’t install over it and make your other systems un-bootable. Its not a pretty road back if that happens!

    • Red Hat Family

      • 4 Awesome RedHat Commercials You Need to See

        I was vaguely browsing through different Linux related videos in YouTube when I found out these incredible RedHat commercials. They are not just hard core RedHat commercials, they are more like advertisements for Free Software and Open Source in general. More over, these videos gives a glimpse of the kind of knowledge and expertise RedHat have on everything Linux and Open Source.

    • Debian Family

  • Devices/Embedded

    • Rise of Linux Powered Devices

      The gadget world (comprising of mini computers, network devices, multimedia consoles, gaming systems, electronic toys, mobile phones and a lot of embedded devices) is steadily turning to linux. Linux has become ubiquitous, many of us might be using it on our favorite devices even without being aware of it. Here is a list of the electronic devices on which Linux has made a prolific resurgence.

    • Android

      • SKT records its millionth Android phone user

        As of yesterday, 1 million Korean smartphones serviced by SK Telecom, Korea’s leading cellular service provider, now run Google’s Android OS, just six months after SKT introduced the first Android-based smartphone, the Motoroi, on the domestic market.

      • Another Day, Another 200,000 Android Devices Sold

        “People are finally beginning to figure out how successful Android is,” Schimdt said at the inaugural Techonomy conference. “The number was about 100,000 [a day] about two months ago. It looks like Android is not just phenomenal but incredibly phenomenal in its growth rate. God knows how long that will continue.”

        Probably for a long time, and that’s great if you have a vested interest in Google’s success. While the open source platform itself is free, the more Android phones in the wild, the more people are using Google for Web searches, and that translates into cold, hard Google greenbacks.

      • Google: Augen’s Use of Android Market Unauthorized

        We decided to take our question to Google and ask them if Augen was allowed to install the Android Market and other core Google apps and a spokesperson responded that “Augen included proprietary Google software in their product via an unauthorized vendor. Google only licenses its software to partners and OHA [Open Handset Alliance] members directly.”

        Why is this a big deal if Android is open source, anyway? As we’ve talked about before, the Google Android OS is open-source, but core Google apps, including the Android Market, are closed source and must be licensed.

Free Software/Open Source

  • Meet The 2600hz Project, The New Sound of Open Source Telephony

    Some of the core developers behind FreePBX — a well-known, open-source phone system — have teamed up and started The 2600hz Project, a commercial entity promoting a collection of open-source telephony applications and libraries. Today, they are releasing blue.box, a reworked version of open source FreePBX. The new venture is co-founded by Darren Schreiber and is also a subsidiary of newly formed VoIP Inc. The 2600hz Project received $250,000 in funding from an unnamed investor.

  • Students Present Open Source Software at Summer Institute

    Standing, Norman Danner, associate professor of computer science, speaks to students from Bergen Community College about privacy issues in medical records during the 2010 Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) Project Summer Institutes Workshop July 30. The group is developing a mobile application for use by EMS personnel for recording medical data when on calls.

  • Amadeus CEO talks cloud, data centres and open source

    CEO of travel industry transaction processing company Amadeus, David V Jones, has outlined the company’s gradual move to the cloud and discussed why open source software will be used across all areas of the business by 2012.

  • Open Source Mentality for Science, Technology and Healthcare in Africa

    In Africa, the Ubuntu Linux software package has kicked off adaptation, utilization and contributions to open source mentality. There is abundant beauty and functionality in Ubuntu (South Africa). Try it out. Wazobia (Nigeria) Linux as it prepares to make a debut promises to augment open source mentality in Africa. The availability and affordability of these open source packages for development will no doubt go a long way in helping established African scientists to attempt developing empirical solutions for common problems that will impact on science, technology, agricultural practices and local healthcare delivery practices.

  • “Would You Dial An Open Source Help Desk?

    From time to time, MSPmentor explores open source trends in the managed services market. There are anecdotal examples of MSPs leveraging open source. But for the most part, I think MSPs serving small business leverage traditional, Microsoft- and Windows-centric tools. Still, OTRS (Open Technology Real Services) caught my attention this week with a 3.0 help desk beta release. As you may have guessed, OTRS focuses on open source solutions. Is the OTRS help desk ready for prime time? Here’s a reality check.

  • Reactions to Adobe-Day purchase

    Yet Adobe has always tried to find a place on the back end and perhaps a web content management system like Day’s provides the entrée they have been looking for. But what of Adobe’s existing relationship with Alfresco, another open source content management vendor, and what might the deal mean to open source content management in general?

  • Are Open Source Applications Really Less Secure?

    Gottlieb does acknowledge there are differences:

    * Because the source code is open, the cycle of identification and resolution of security vulnerabilities happens a lot faster than with closed source code.
    * Open source software has lead the way in social software. Social functionality has the potential to be more vulnerable than read-only functionality. Anything that a user submits can be malicious and needs to be filtered for potential exploits. A static website with no user-inputs has less to worry about.
    * Open source software tends to be more modular. The modules that you use may be less secure than the core application.

  • Pervasive Links With Open Source Data Mining Tool
  • Free Open-Source Tool to Publish Blog Content

    After one week of intense collaboration, participants in the One Week | One Tool workshop, organized by the Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University, announced the launch of Anthologize, a free, open source tool to publish weblog content in a variety of book formats.

  • Is open source right for your software business?

    As a software developer, should you consider the open source model for your products? When Richard Stallman first launched the Free Software movement in 1983, it was indeed a revolutionary concept in software development and distribution. But today’s concept of commercial open source is not as different from the traditional software sales model as some developers assume, and companies that adopt this model are likely to run into many of the same grim realities. Before you leap into a commercial open source model for your products, be sure to check your assumptions:

  • Eliminating gatekeepers helps talent thrive

    Make open source your friend. Back in the day, a fledgling entrepreneur had to spend millions on a tech team to write every line of code from scratch. Nowadays, practically everything is already written (and free) – you just need to know where to look.

    Find technologists that are comfortable mining the world of open source to create a prototype. When YouTube launched, they didn’t create their own Flash-player—they bought a 10 Euro license for a great open source player. Using open source software will save you time and money and will allow you to…

    [...]

    Open source and platforms are here to stay. They’re going to shake up industries that up until now we’ve thought were bullet-proof and redistribute the power back to the little guy. Personally, I can’t wait.

  • 2600hz Project Releases blue.box Telephony Software

    Developers, ISVs and systems integrators looking to add a telephony component to their homegrown portfolio of services now have an open source application from the 2600hz Project, a consortium of developers of telephony-related open source software.

  • Open Source Project Management with web2Project

  • Events

  • Web Browsers

    • Mozilla

      • Firefox Is Almost Tops In Europe–Only A Matter Of Time

        Although Firefox has already emerged as the number one browser in a few countries, there are strong signs that what we’ve long believed would happen is happening right now: Firefox is emerging as the most popular browser of all. Yes, Internet Explorer does have more market share than any other browser, and even gained a bit recently. However, new data from Statcounter shows that Firefox will overtake Internet Explorer in European market share next month. That trend will only continue.

      • More Than 1 in 10 Mozilla Bug Finders Turn Down Cash

  • SaaS

  • Oracle

    • Two open source Java servers, two different paths?

      The beta version of Tomcat 7 came out last week. This is a Big Deal! Tomcat has been at various times the reference implementation of Java Servlets, and Tomcat 7 now includes support for the latest version of the Servlet spec. Then there’s GlassFish — once Sun’s, now Oracle’

    • “Ready for Business: Oracle GlassFish Server”

      The Oracle white paper “Ready for Business: Oracle GlassFish Server” announces the availability of Oracle GlassFish Server 3, the commercially supported offering for GlassFish Server Open Source Edition and the industry’s first application server to support Java EE 6. The white paper highlights the advantages of Oracle GlassFish Server 3 for businesses, providing an overview of the product’s core features along with a closer look at some of the new capabilities that are part of Java EE 6.

  • CMS

    • Open Scholar Takes Open Source CMS to School

      Drupal-based Open Scholar is a free, open source content management system designed to easily build Web sites for classrooms, academic projects, individual professors, or entire universities. It installs easily and can host an unlimited number of sites on a single installation. Open Scholar supports customizable domains so schools can have relevant URLs and requires no programming knowledge to have a site up and running in minutes.

    • Drupal Commons Social Business Software Released
    • Drupal Commons offers open source sociability for enterprises

      Acquia have announced Drupal Commons 1.0, an open source social networking tool for enterprises. Drupal Commons is a complete system for fast deployment of a fully functional social networking site, either as part of a company’s internal infrastructure, or as part of an externally facing community site.

    • Open source WordPress powering CBSNewYork.com

      In a major coup for open source software lovers, the newly-launched CBSNewYork.com is powered by popular blogging and content management platform WordPress.

  • Education

  • Business

  • Government

  • Openness/Sharing

    • How to Find Cheaper College Textbooks

      The use of so-called open source textbooks, offered by companies like FlatWorld Knowledge, is also on the rise. “Students who are assigned open source textbooks can usually download a copy for free, or they can buy a printed and bound version for $20 to $40,” Ms. Allen said. (Suggest it to your future professors.)

    • Open source textbooks aim to reduce costs for students

      The University of Illinois system was awarded a $150,000 one-year grant from the Department of Education with the help of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin to develop open-source textbooks for students. Charles Evans, University of Illinois associate vice president for academic affairs, will be heading the project.

    • Open Source Pharmaceuticals?

      Open source sharing of data could be the key to developing important new drugs.

    • IBM and IIT Bombay to Research Mobile Phone Interfaces

      The findings of the research and any applications or technology developed are to be released to the open source community, the spokesman said. Working with the open source community will help speed up the adoption of the technologies, and attract developers to build applications for the target populations, IBM said in March.

    • Mobile research project between IBM and IIT Bombay announced

      The company said that the Open Collaboration Research (OCR) project will focus on the development of new designs for mobile device interfaces that can easily be used by people who are semiliterate or illiterate, as well as those who have limited access, or no access, to information technology.

    • Open Data

      • Creating a Participatory, Open Source Map of an Entire Country

        Based on my work with Grassroots Mapping (you can read more in an earlier Idea Lab post) — especially in Lima, Peru — OMC and I have many common goals. We share an interest in participatory and open-source mapping and a desire to teach cartographic literacy as an enriching and empowering activity. The opportunity to use Grassroots Mapping tools — such as aerial photography from balloons and kites — to support such an ambitious project was too much to pass up.

    • Open Hardware

  • Programming

    • Instantiations acquired by Google

      Google Inc. on Thursday acquired Instantiations Inc., a Tualatin-based developer of open source software development tools.

    • Google buys Instantiations, gets Eclipse, Java, and Ajax expertise

      RCP Developer is quite nice, so it’s a shame that the industry has largely moved on from Rich Client Java development towards HTML5, Flash, and mobile platforms. It’s a great product so there may be enough interest in it to sustain it as a viable open source community under the Eclipse umbrella.

Leftovers

Clip of the Day

Richard M. Stallman Speech NCHC Taiwan 2005


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