Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 12/6/2011: Chromebooks Coming, New Pidgin



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • The Linux desktop experience is killing Linux on the desktop


  • Pogo Linux Launches New Storage Division, Pogo Storage
    Pogo Linux today announced that it has launched a separate storage division, Pogo Storage. Pogo Storage expands the company's storage offerings with cost-efficient, entry-level to mid-range enterprise solutions. The new division is dedicated to helping small- & mid-sized organizations implement emerging storage technologies and get the most from their storage budget.


  • Desktop

    • 10 reasons why Chromebooks will be a huge success
      As June 15th nears, the folks at Google must be busy biting their nails off. This is the big G’s first step into the world of operating systems, and they want everything to go just right. With the release of Chromebook, they will be competing with 3 operating systems which have been around for a very long time. Whether Google will manage to topple them or not, only time can tell; however, there are a few reasons that this might work out pretty well for them. Here are ten such reasons why Chromebooks will be a huge hit.


    • Serving a Printer to Google Cloud Print from Linux
      Been waiting for Google Cloud Print to finally come to linux?

      The wait is over!

      For now, Google has only released the ability to serve up a printer to the Google cloud via Windows while explicitly noting that the capability to do so in Linux is on the way. However, the entire ‘Cloud Aware’ printer scheme has seemed to always been referred to as coming-soon and that is probably a ways off yet. So I remain skeptical as to when we will actually see this ability. [update: There are some out there now and reviews are trickling in.]

      Luckily, Armooo posted a python script that you can run on Linux (and I assume *BSD, but haven’t tested just yet) to serve up your local CUPS printer to the Google Cloud.

      The script can be found here at his Github page and uses Python and PyCups to serve up your CUPS-enabled printer to the Google Cloud.


    • Savvy Senior: Tips on easy-to-use computers for seniors
      And since it runs on Linux software instead of the standard Windows or Mac OS, it’s a virus-free computer too.




  • Server

    • Time to say goodbye to Risc / Itanium Unix?
      Orange Business Solo - 450 mins, 250 texts, 50MB email and a new phone

      Twenty years ago open systems was the battle cry that shook the absurdly profitable proprietary mainframe and minicomputer markets.

      The proliferation of powerful and less costly x64-based systems that can run Solaris, Linux or Windows is making more than a few Unix shops think the unthinkable: migrating away from Unix for their mission-critical workloads.






  • Kernel Space



  • Applications



  • Desktop Environments



    • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

      • Dolphin Review – Kubuntu’s Counterpart to Nautilus
        Those of you who are using Kubuntu are already familiar with Dolphin, the default file manager shipped in most KDE distributions. There are several very good file managers for KDE, and I must include here Konqueror or Krusader, however Dolphin’s goal is to offer as much as possible functionality while also keeping lightweight and fast. And yes, it does it perfectly well, offering powerful features and a clean interface at the same time.






  • Distributions



    • New Releases

      • [Toorox] 06.2011 "GNOME"


      • Macpup 525
        Macpup 525 is the latest and is based on Puppy Linux 5.2.5 ,"Lucid Puppy", An official woof build of puppy Linux that is binary-compatible with Ubuntu Lucid Lynx packages. This contains all the apps from Lucid puppy with the addition of Firefox 4.0.1. Extra apps like Opera or Gimp are available for easy download from the Quickpet App on the ibar or the Puppy Package Manager. This version also includes the Enlightenment E17 window manager. The EFL libraries version 1.0.999 and E17 version 59456 where compiled and installed from source.


      • Imagineos 20110605


      • ALT 6.0.0-20110611




    • Gentoo Family

      • Pardus and Xfce: a bright and powerful parade
        Pardus has been around for years, and occupies a luxury-car niche in the Linux world: easy to install and configure, extremely stable, very friendly, and very KDE-centric. I would say it’s comparable to Mepis in some ways. There are differences, of course. Pardus is a government-sponsored project, and it exists for the benefit of Turkish universities and research centers. The main support board is in Turkish, and the independent international one is hosted in Germany.

        Most of the current code has been developed from the ground up, and it is considered an independent distribution. As far as I know, it has no derivatives, either, and no spins. In the Linux family tree, it is the sharp-dressed uncle you saw at funerals and liked, but whenever you suggested visiting him your parents suggested that he was probably out of town.




    • Debian Family





  • Devices/Embedded



    • Tiny CompactFlash computer gains USB carrier board
      C Data Solutions announced a carrier board for its tiny CompactFlash-based Compact Computer (CoCo) that enables expansion via third party USB devices. The CoCo carrier board adds dual USB host ports to the uClinux-based CoCo, which offers a 500MHz Blackfin processor with 32MB SDRAM, 8MB flash, and an FPGA, and enables rapid prototyping of devices with a mix of CompactFlash peripherals.


    • Embedded Linux Skills Are Hot: Use Summertime to Sharpen Up


    • MontaVista, Rightware to build in-car infotainment using embedded Linux
      MontaVista and Finland’s Rightware Oy are developing a GENIVI-compliant in-car infotainment platform that uses the Linux operating system.

      The two companies said in a press release that the product uses Rightware’s 3d user interface product, which is called Kanzi, on top of a GENIVI compliant MontaVista Linux.


    • Phones



      • Android

        • Has the Time Come for an Android Market Drug Test?


        • Android Market Webstore adds compatibility alerts
          Google upgraded its Android Market Webstore to inform users whether a given app is compatible with their Android devices. Meanwhile Google Maps has been updated with live tracking of public transportation in six cities in the U.S. and Europe, and Microsoft is trying to lure Android developers with new resources including an "Android to Windows Phone 7 API mapping tool" website.


        • 4.5-inch Samsung Infuse 4G is zippy fun, says review
          Samsung's Infuse 4G on AT&T is a speedy Android 2.2 "Froyo" smartphone that offers a lot for its $200 price, including a 1.2GHz Hummingbird processor, an eight-megapixel camera, and a big 4.5-inch screen with Super AMOLED Plus display technology. The Infuse 4G's delights make it clear why Samsung is quickly dominating the Android smartphone market, this eWEEK review says.


        • Mot spins dual-core Photon 4G and 4.1-inch prepaid Triumph
          Motorola Mobility and Sprint announced a Photon 4G smartphone that runs Android 2.3 on a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, offers a 4.3-inch qHD display, and has an optional, Atrix-like "laptop dock." Motorola also announced that its 4.1-inch Triumph, running Android 2.2 on a 1GHz processor, will be exclusively available from Sprint's Virgin Mobile USA prepaid service.


        • New multi-threading multicore architecture targets Android tablets
          A fabless startup called ICube announced a new multicore processor architecture aimed at Android tablets, claimed to be the first to handle both CPU logic and graphics processing in a "truly integrated" single core. The Harmony Unified Processor Technology architecture offers up to four processing threads per core, and will first appear later this year in a 65nm, dual-core IC1 SoC, says ICube.


        • Save Time with Android’s Hardware Keyboard Shortcuts










Free Software/Open Source



  • Open Source Hackfest Benefits WMF, Community
    On May 24th and 25th, the Wikimedia Foundation hosted a CiviCRM coding sprint in our San Francisco office. CiviCRM is the premier open source constituent relationship manager; WMF uses it to store donor and contribution information. Our CiviCRM database contains more than a million contact records and a million contribution records.


  • NetRexx is now open source
    NetRexx, a variant of the Rexx script language, developed by IBM, has been made open source software under the aegis of the Rexx Language Association (RexxLA). The first indication that the language was to be made open source came in February, but now the process has been completed.


  • Events

    • Linux Foundation charters bus for road trip from Corvallis to LinuxCon
      The Linux Foundation is hosting a "Linux Learners' Student Day" on August 16, the day before the full convention gets under way. It's partnering with the Oregon State University Open Source Lab to host the student day, and is chartering a bus to take students from Corvallis and Portland up to Vancouver.




  • Web Browsers



    • Mozilla

      • Home Tab and New Tab Conceptual Mockups
        -Creating an interface that is unique to Firefox in a browser market headed towards commoditization (back+ forward+fast!) -Ambient application-level notification -Introducing the concept of tab browsing to users of the home button -Building up the user’s mental model of the features that will also be available on other platforms, like the iOS application Firefox Home


      • Firefox 5 release: new speed, same illness (quick review)
        Firefox 5 started without any issues this time. First of all, it checked compatibility of installed plugins. Unsurprisingly, nothing was found. I did not install any plugins in Firefox, because I do not use this browser. Once started, I could measure memory usage for cold-started Firefox 5 and Chrome 12. I closed all additional processes opened by installed Chrome Extensions via Chrome Task Manager for clearness of experiment .


      • Mozilla releases SeaMonkey 2.1
        Mozilla and the SeaMonkey Project developers have released version 2.1 of their "all-in-one internet application suite". SeaMonkey, formerly known as the Mozilla Application Suite, is the successor to Netscape Communicator and includes a web browser with advanced email and newsgroup support, an IRC chat client and HTML editing support.






  • CMS

    • Joomla Quietly Crosses 23 Million Downloads, Now Powering Over 2,600 Government Sites
      According to BuiltWith, of the top million websites using content management systems (or CMSes), three systems own more than 75 percent of the total market share: WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. (All of which are open source, by the way.) Many are likely most familiar with WordPress, which TechCrunch has covered quite a bit (and uses to power most its sites, for full disclosure). WordPress is the most popular CMS on the Web, running 62 percent of the top million websites that use a CMS, according to BuiltWith, with Joomla now ranking second at 10 percent.




  • Project Releases

    • Pidgin IM client updated to 2.8.0
      The Pidgin development team has announced the release of version 2.8.0 of its open source instant messenger application. Pidgin 2.8.0 implements basic silence suppression for voice calls to prevent wasting bandwidth for silent periods during a call, and adds the DigiCert High Assurance CA-3 intermediate CA certificate which is needed for validation of the Facebook XMPP interface's certificate.




  • Licensing

    • Open Source Has Nothing To Do With Filtering Apps!
      Now, Having explained so much about Free Software will Mr Mike Isaac of Wired explain how Google's banning an app violates the 'license' or philosophy of Open Source or Free Software?

      Isaac wrote, "The word open speaks directly to the hacker ethos — open source software is made to be shared, pored over and freely distributed. Open networks were made to be entered, explored and (occasionally) exploited. Open markets, self-governed. For better or for worse, it’s pure libertarianism at its finest."

      The word 'Open' has been exploited by greedy corporates more than ever which leads to confusion and FUD. That's why we recommend using the word Free Software to be clear of what you are talking about when you refer to THE open-source movement. You can see what kind of confusion is there even among writers. Greg Crowe of GCN writes,




  • Openness/Sharing

    • Project London: Filmmaking goes open-source
      In 2009, the live-action sequences were shot for "almost nothing" by Hubert and executive producers Ian and Phil McCoy. Thousands of hours of postproduction followed and, as the film developed, so did the Blender Community. Artists gained skills and their portfolios grew -- one used his Project London work to get a job with the US government creating 3D military models. "It's really what we want, that the volunteers will be able to get something out of it too," says Hubert. As the team hit the software's limitations, they simply amended its code. "Nathan Vegdahl [a key contributor] made something that would auto matically scan a folder for new submissions, start the render, and organise all the resulting frames," says the director. "It saved us a ton of time."


    • Open Hardware

      • HexBright is the first open source flashlight
        The HexBright Flex, which is slightly longer than the Prime model at 5.25 inches, offers a light intensity of up to 500 lumens which is five times greater than that of conventional LED flashlights. It is fully rechargeable through its micro-USB port thanks to its 18650 lithium-ion battery which is easily replaced. The Flex will ship with four default modes including hi, medium, low and flash, but one thing that differentiates it from other flashlights, besides its brightness, is that it can be re-programmed via USB. This allows the flashlight’s microprocessor firmware to be re-flashed when connected to a PC.







  • Programming



  • Standards/Consortia

    • Interoperability and Open Standards: Help Make It Happen
      In a previous column, I mentioned that I was invited to talk at a meeting at the European Parliament about innovation prizes last week. That's not something that often happens, and I frequently get to hear about meetings only after the event, when it's too late, which is very frustrating. But happily here's one on the 16th June entitled “Interoperability and standards: making it happen“ that I've come across in time...






Leftovers





Clip of the Day



Bloopers en casamientos



[an error occurred while processing this directive]



Credit: TinyOgg

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
 
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025
August Hits Microsoft Hard: Dead Divisions, Dead Products, Layoffs Again (on Week 1)
Microsoft's debt is soaring
Slopwatch: Slow Day for LLM Slop, Serial Sloppers Still at It in Their Slopfarms
The Web would be better off if those sites went offline
Red Hat Layoffs Expected in 5 Days (Monday)
"They will announce and proceed with the cuts on 08/11."
Links 06/08/2025: Substack in Trouble, Slop Sceptic Shira Perlmutter Seeks Emergency Injunction Pending Appeal
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Pinephone, Reverse-Engineering, and More
Links for the day
Links 06/08/2025: Faked Values of Slop Companies and Government Bailouts
Links for the day
FOSSY 2025 Conference Safety
The GAFAM-funded FOSSY 2025 is over
Microsoft's Favourite Pay-to-Say 'Analyst' Firm Has Just Collapsed
'Analysts' that helped propel Microsoft to fictional values akin to Ponzi schemes
Ask Google (Jeeves)
What does Google "know", not know, or would rather forget (or embellish)?
They Want You To Talk About Trump or 'The Other Bill' in Relation to Trafficking of Underage Girls for Sexual Exploitation
Just something we wanted to say...
How to Quadruple Your "Goodwill" Value and Grow Your (Wall) Street "Value" From $152B to $4000B Without Producing a Single Successful Product/Service
The longer it goes on for, the bigger the implosion will be
Staying Productive
Two very reputable institutions recently told us they now reckon Microsoft is somehow funding those SLAPPs against us
A Blow for Patent Ambitions of Bill Epsteingate
It's about money
66 Countries Where More People Use iPhones (or iPads) Than Microsoft Windows, According to statCounter Data
a list of countries where iOS now exceeds Windows
Apple's iOS Bigger Than Microsoft Windows in Many Countries
This ought to alarm Microsoft
The Mainstream Media Talks About Spotify Share Price and Price Hikes, Not Its Debt Increasing by About 33% in Just 12 Months
Spotify isn't a company in good shape
New "US Editor for The Register" is 80% Microsoft and Windows
they typically just treat Microsoft like the "Holy Grail" of "IT"
Microsoft is Apparently Sending Gag Orders or NDAs to Staff That Got Laid Off (“We were told not to post on LinkedIn. Not to say anything.”)
The main lies we keep seeing
Richard M. Stallman Has Published AI Memos Since 1980 (45 Years Ago)
Back when the term AI actually meant something
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: BitTorrent and Feedly Bots
Links for the day
Windows All-Time Lows, Android All-Time Highs in Kuwait
New lows for Windows can be found in many countries this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 05, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 05, 2025