11.26.10

Contents

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

GNU/Linux

• LPI Announces New Affiliate in Greece

• Applications

  • 7 of the Best Free Linux Document Management Systems

    To provide an insight into the quality of software available for Linux, we have compiled a list of 7 powerful document management systems. Hopefully, there will be something of interest here for anyone who needs to control records and documents. We give our highest recommendation to Alfresco and OpenKM.

    Now, let’s explore the 7 document management systems. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, screenshots, together with links to relevant resources and reviews.

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • Quiz 3: What Is The Linux Command For Copy-Paste

    • How To: Install iBall Tablet In Ubuntu 10.10

    • Oregon Senator Wyden effectively kills Internet censorship bill

    • Linux Server Troubleshooting With strace

    • How to install and set Firebird 2.5.x server in #Ubuntu 10.10 #Maverick

    • How to Play The Sims 3 in Linux

    • Linux Protects Your Servers with Scapy (part 1)

    • One way to migrate Xen virtual machines to KVM in Debian

    • Monitor Linux Network Interfaces With vnStat

    • Sick Beard Install, Setup, and Configuration Guide for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

    • How To Test Your Dansguardian, Safesquid, POESIA, Parental Internet Filter Or We-Blocker Keyword Filter Anytime Anywhere

    • Install Nagios 3.2.3 in Fedora 14 from source

    • Network Monitoring with Nagios

    • Exploring the ListField, Part 2

    • Linux Backup Server: Remote Wakeup, Automatic Shutdown

    • Virtual Users And Domains With Postfix, Courier, MySQL And SquirrelMail (Fedora 14 x86_64)

  • Games

    • Ubuntu Invaders: First the wallpaper, now the game

      Ever wanted to control an Ubuntu-logo shaped space-ship to blast bugs out of the sky with? Well, it’s coming.

      Earlier this week we posted an Ubuntu-themed Space Invaders style retro wallpaper that left many of us wanting it to be that little bit more than a collection of static pixels sat stagnant on our desktops.

    • Dress-Up Pups Is Coming To GNU/Linux !

      The developers of the “Runes of Avalon” series, Anawiki have finally returned to GNU/Linux with their newest title Dress-Up Pups !

    • Trine And Trine 2 Are Coming To GNU/Linux !

      Holarse-Linuxgaming reports that the indie developers Frozenbyte which developed Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor (which were ported to GNU/Linux by Igios and published by LGP) are porting Trine and Trine 2 to GNU/Linux.

    • Blob Wars·: Blob And Conquer- A 3D opensource action game for Linux | Games

      Blob Wars : Blob And Conquer is a game written by Parallel Realities.It is a 3D action-adventure game and a direct sequel to the 2D platform game, Blob Wars: Metal Blob Solid. Again, the name is a play on a popular game franchise, this time Command & Conquer.

    • Alter Ego – a murder mystery adventure that runs out of the box in WINE

    • Dage – A 3D adventure game engine that is Linux native

    • Penguspy makes it easy to find the best Linux games, with ratings and more

• Desktop Environments

  • Some rant about desktops, evolution and everything..

    I have been asking myself numerous times before: what does we miss to have the best Desktop? No matter if it runs Windows, or Mac, or Linux, or anything else.

    And the answer I have for myself is that we are limited by the fact that we know what should one expect from his average desktop.

    So, what do we know about it?

    Well, the de-facto standard for the desktops includes a integrated environment, standardized appearance across all the applications, ability to quickly launch applications and switch between them, possibility of working with many documents easily… Possibility to easily work on different types of documents, graphical applications, use the resources located in some distant place over the world-wide network. And all the other small things that became so tightly integrated into our lives that we cannot imagine a computer without that.

    And now, most desktop environments and desktop projects have it. We have it in Windows. We have it in Mac. We have it in Ubuntu, Fedora, SuSE, Mandriva (or better – in Gnome, KDE, XFCE and other desktop environments).

  • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

    • KDE 4.6 beta1… HALess!

    • New features in KDE SC 4.6 Beta 1

    • 4.6 Beta1 Brings Improved Search, Activities and Mobile Device Support

    • Fixing Akonadi’s warning of the non-existing leap second table

• Distributions

  • New Releases

    • Liberté Linux 2010.1s

      The first release of Liberté Linux is available. “Liberté Linux is a secure, reliable, lightweight, and easy to use Gentoo-based LiveUSB Linux distribution intended as a communication aid in hostile environments. Liberté installs as a regular directory on a USB/SD key, and after a single-click setup, boots on any desktop computer or laptop. Available internet connection is then used to set up a Tor circuit which handles all network communication.”

  • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

    • PCLinuxOS: Gtk Lightweight Desktops: Xfce & LXDE Special Edition

  • Red Hat Family

    • Piper Jaffray Upgrades Red Hat (NYSE: RHT)

      Equities research analysts at Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, with a price target of $50.00.

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 screenshots tour

  • Debian Family

    • Canonical/Ubuntu

      • The King of Open Source Operating Systems: Ubuntu Rocks!

        We have grown up with Linux over the years and seen the best of operating systems come and go. The best of Microsoft’s and Apple’s have given us in-depth entertainment options to choose from and it has certainly been able to live up to their name.

        But what about Open Source Operating Systems? Who reigns supreme? Without a doubt, we give it to Ubuntu.

      • Ubuntu Font Family Licensing FAQ

• Devices/Embedded

  • SheevaPlug eSATA Plug Computer review

    OS tested Ubuntu 9.04.1 ARMEL
    Processor Feroceon 88FR131 1.2GHz
    Memory 512MB DDR2
    Storage 512MB NAND Flash
    Expansion SDHC-compatible SD card slot
    Network Gigabit Ethernet
    Additional ports USB 2.0, eSATA
    Debugging Serial console, JTAG over mini-USB
    Actual size 110 x 69.5 x 48.5mm
    Weight 200g (excluding cables)
    Price: £97 / approx $129

  • Testing farm pushes real-time Linux into the mainstream

    OSADL, which has been overseeing real-time Linux (RTL) development patches to the Linux kernel, announced a “quality assurance testing farm” where manufacturers can test a variety of RTL systems under simulated production conditions. The multi-platform test center aims to prove RTL as a capable, and more flexible, alternative to real-time operating systems (RTOSes).

  • Phones

    • Android

      • What I like about Android – and what I don’t — My Android Review (including my Favorite Apps)

      • Android’s Gingerbread goodies

        Better video, marketplace improvements and an interface upgrade look likely to top Android 2.3′s release notes

        Gingerbread, the latest update for Google’s Android smartphone operating system, is now just weeks, or perhaps even days away from release. The Android 2.3 release was rumoured for November 11 but Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, speaking at the Web 2.0 summit earlier this week, said Gingerbread would only ship “in the next few weeks.”

      • ZDNet Fail. Answer is Stop Tech Blogging

        Just read this article over at zdnet. What it basically says is condensed in these two points:

        1. Android is a failure for Google because it is open and carriers/OEMs are stripping off google search from it and putting replacements like baidu/Bing. (BTW, half the people say Android is fail because it is not open and the other half say it is fail because it is open. Which one is it, please decide )

        2. The solution is a Google Phone with google branding, sold unlocked at full price.

        Let me answer 2nd point first. Dana Blankenhorn, thanks for that nice blast from the past advice. Google already did it with Nexus One, like, one year ago duh..

Free Software/Open Source

• The quest for more – when $20 billion isn’t enough

  Simon Brew wonders if there are 20 billion reasons why the spirit of open source is being distorted…

• LPC: Michael Meeks on LibreOffice and code ownership

  Back when the 2010 Linux Plumbers Conference was looking for presentations, the LibreOffice project had not yet announced its existence. So Michael Meeks put in a vague proposal for a talk having to do with OpenOffice.org and promised the organizers it would be worth their time. Fortunately, they believed him; in an energetic closing keynote, Michael talked at length about what is going on with LibreOffice – and with the free software development community as a whole. According to Michael, both good and bad things are afoot. (Michael’s slides [PDF] are available for those who would like to follow along).

  Naturally enough, LibreOffice is one of the good things; it’s going to be “awesome.” It seems that there are some widely diverging views on the awesomeness of OpenOffice.org; those who are based near Hamburg (where StarDivision was based) think it is a wonderful tool. People in the rest of the world tend to have a rather less enthusiastic view. The purpose of the new LibreOffice project is to produce a system that we can all be proud of.

• Web Browsers

  • Mozilla

    • Firefox 4 Minefield Now With Improved Add-Ons Manager

      One of the design elements that I did not like in the development builds of Firefox 4 until now was the add-ons manager. I have reviewed it in detail in the article How To Uninstall Add-ons In Firefox 4. Basically, what I did not like was that it looked kinda messy, hard to read and out of place.

• Project Releases

  • Medical 1.0 RC1 released

• Openness/Sharing

  • Non digital commons a lot more complicated than Free Software

    In September 2010 I went to the Open World Forum to present some first results of my research about local impacts of Open Data. The Forum was an interesting and varied event, that gave space to very interesting talks, keynotes and comments about freedom, education and gender diversity in software. Another great moment for me was the contribution to the final panel by John Wilbank, Vice-President for Science Creative Commons.

  • Open Hardware

    • Extend your Arduino

      The Arduino is a small programmable device that can hold a small program and perform tasks such as reading temperature sensors, turning on or off switches, and can even serve as the ‘brain’ for a robot. I have used the Arduino (actually freeduino) for projects related to HVAC and hydroponics automation.

Leftovers

• Oracle whacked by DoJ complaint

  An industry group of 130 hardware maintenance providers has complained to the Department of Justice that they’ve been unfairly squeezed since Larry Ellison bought Sun Microsystems.

  The Service Industry Association has been complaining about Oracle’s tactics for some time, but has now written to the DoJ.

• Eat a Bagel, Lose Your Baby

• Mother, shall I put you to sleep?

  Young family members of this district in southern Tamil Nadu have been pushing their infirm, elderly dependents to death because they cannot afford to take care of them.

• Ghosts of Unix past, part 2: Conflated designs

• Health/Nutrition

  • US response to cholera in Haiti, fund exclusive elections

    In the face of a cholera epidemic that has claimed the lives of over 1000 people, infected many thousands and is feared to intensify due to widespread flooding in the wake of Hurricane Tomas, officials have stated that the elections scheduled for November 28 will go ahead as planned. While some candidates have questioned the wisdom of holding elections during such turmoil, a rising chorus of critics is disputing the elections’ very legitimacy and is urging the US, a primary funder, to take responsibility in guaranteeing a truly democratic process.

  • CDC Says Haiti’s Cholera Due to “One Event”

• Security

  • Cyber Monday is 1 Week Away: The Xmas For Hackers

    Following Thanksgiving is Black Friday, which is followed by Small Business Saturday, and then comes Cyber Monday, the biggest day for online retailers.

• Defence/Police/Aggression

  • Twenty-First Century Blowback?

    From 2001 to 2010, the US military spent about $32 million on construction projects in Oman. In September, the Army upped the ante by awarding an $8.6 million contract to refurbish the Royal Air Force of Oman’s air field at Thumrait Air Base.

    US efforts in Bahrain are on a grander scale. This year, the US Navy broke ground on a mega-construction project to develop 70 acres of waterfront at the port at Mina Salman. Scheduled for completion in 2015, the complex is slated to include new port facilities, barracks for troops, administrative buildings, a dining facility, and a recreation center, among other amenities, with a price tag of $580 million.

  • Barack Obama’s hopes for a nuclear-free world fading fast

    Barack Obama’s hopes of reshaping US foreign policy stand on the brink of failure tonight, after two of his most cherished initiatives — nuclear disarmament and better relations with Moscow — were dealt serious setbacks.

  • Guantánamo Bay prisoner payouts a first step to ending legacy of torture

    The government insisted today that it had started to draw a line under the legacy of complicity in rendition and torture that it inherited from the Labour administration by settling claims brought by 16 former Guantánamo inmates.

  • Guantánamo: security services must be protected, says Ken Clarke

  • Do Airport Screenings Really Make Us Safer?

    TSA’s activities provide substantial fodder for both citizen and professional journalists. YouTube is full of citizen-made videos of TSA agents engaging in questionable activities, like aggressively patting down a three year old child or pulling the pants off a wheelchair-bound, 71 year-old man to examine his knee implant.

  • Silvio Berlusconi ally was link to Sicilian mafia, judges rule

    he man who spearheaded Silvio Berlusconi’s entry into politics was also an intermediary between the media magnate and the Sicilian mafia, judges in Palermo ruled last night.

    In a lengthy written judgment on one of the Italian prime minister’s closest associates, the judges said that before entering politics Berlusconi paid “enormous sums of money” to Cosa Nostra for protection and later handed over funds to safeguard his network’s relay stations on Sicily.

  • Vox Taxi – Vox Dei

    I am not prepared to subscribe to such an anti-democratic statement. But if we want to move towards peace, we undoubtedly have to remove this huge rock blocking the road. We must infuse the public with another belief – the belief that peace is possible, that it is essential for the future of Israel, that it depends mainly on us.

  • Who’s correct about human nature, the left or the right?

• Environment/Energy/Wildlife

  • South Africa wages war on ruthless rhinoceros poachers

    South Africa is fighting an increasingly bloody war against poachers who have doubled the number of rhinos they have killed in a year to feed a soaring demand for rhino horn from Asian organised crime syndicates.

    The number of rhinos killed by poachers this year has soared to 261, more than double the total for the whole of 2009. Now the national army has been urgently requested to patrol game parks and some rhino owners have been forced to hire ex-military security guards.

  • Nature’s ‘ugly ducklings’ teetering on the edge of extinction

    A tiny bushbaby with over-sized ears and an almost blind dolphin that swims upside down have joined a list of the most unusual and important mammals that are teetering on the edge of extinction.

  • Whopper, Indeed: Republicans More Responsible for Green Outsourcing

• PR/AstroTurf/Lobbying

  • Pants on Fire: the Whoppers of the 2010 Elections

    Throughout the course of the 2010 Congressional midterm campaigns, candidates threw out countless fibs, questionable assertions, whoppers and half-truths. These are our candidates for the most misleading campaign ads of 2010, what are yours?
    Big Lie #1: Health Care Reform Guts Medicare

  • Capitol Hill’s Top 75 Corporate Sponsors

    Want to follow the money? Below, the 75 heaviest hitters in corporate campaign cash, 1989-2010.

    1 AT&T

    2 National Association of Realtors

    3 Goldman Sachs

    4 American Association for Justice

    5 Citigroup

    6 American Medical Association

    7 National Automobile Dealers Association

    [...]

• Censorship/Privacy/Civil Rights

  • Egypt blogger out after 4-yrs in jail

    An Egyptian blogger has been released after serving four years in prison on charges of insulting Islam and the president, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

    The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil, 26, known as Kareem Amer, was in bad health and was beaten by security officers before his release on Tuesday.

    The Interior Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

    Amer, a student at the state-run religious al-Azhar University, was arrested in 2006 on charges of insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak in his blog posts. He was sentenced to four years in prison and expelled from the university.

  • Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel peace prize may not be given out at December ceremony

  • WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange wanted by Interpol over rape case

    An international arrest warrant is being issued for the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, after Swedish prosecutors were today granted permission to detain him for questioning in a rape case.

  • BlackBerry to ‘allow Indian government to monitor messages’

    BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is ready to allow Indian authorities access to the emails and messages of its most high-profile corporate customers, according to a ministry official in the country.

• Internet/Net Neutrality/DRM

  • ISPs should be free to abandon net neutrality, says Ed Vaizey

    Internet service providers such as BT should be allowed to abandon net neutrality and prioritise users’ access to certain content providers, the communications minister Ed Vaizey said in a speech today.

  • Oregon Senator Wyden effectively kills Internet censorship bill

    It’s too early to say for sure, but Oregon Senator Ron Wyden could very well go down in the history books as the man who saved the Internet.

    A bill that critics say would have given the government power to censor the Internet will not pass this year thanks to the Oregon Democrat, who announced his opposition during a recent committee hearing. Individual Senators can place holds on pending legislation, in this case meaning proponents of the bill will be forced to reintroduce the measure and will not be able to proceed until the next Congress convenes.