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Links 28/6/2011: Android Activations Surpass Microsoft Windows, Millions of OLPC XOs Noted





GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux



  • Server





  • Kernel Space

    • Kernel Log: BIOS bugs behind greater power use
      Since version 2.6.38, kernels have used more power because, in certain situations, they disable the power-saving ASPM feature. New stable and long-term kernels offer corrections; however, one of them is conspicuously lagging behind.

      In April, the Phoronix web site reported that some systems require more power with Linux 2.6.35 and 2.6.38 than they did with the previous versions. Phoronix says it has now found the reason for the increased power consumption in 2.6.38.


    • Linux Kernel Power Issue Workaround


    • The kernel column #102 with Jon Masters – celebrating 20 years of kernel history (and a look ahead to Linux 3.0)
      Jon Masters marks the 20th anniversary of the Linux kernel with a reflection on 20 years of Linux kernel history and a look ahead to Linux 3.0…

      Twenty years ago, in April of 1991, a young Finnish computer science student at the University of Helsinki began work on a piece of software that would fundamentally change the computer industry. Linus Torvalds had just recently acquired an Intel 80836 microprocessor-powered PC system and wanted to exploit its support for ‘Protected Mode’ paged virtual memory (the ability for the processor to isolate individual programs from one another and give each an entire memory address space of its own to work with), and in the process learn about how such features worked. At the time, contemporary consumer operating systems such as Microsoft’s Windows 3.0 had only very limited support for the advanced features of the new Intel processor, and commercial UNIX-based alternatives were extremely expensive propositions, while open source operating systems such as Minix used alternative (older) techniques like memory segmentation, which had been in older Intel CPUs.




  • Applications



  • Desktop Environments



    • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)



    • GNOME Desktop

      • Nord: A Beautiful Glassy GNOME Shell Theme
        Nord is a new glassy GNOME Shell theme based on Zukitwo, created by WebUpd8 reader rAX.

        The theme is currently in beta and there are some known bugs but it already looks great, featuring some unique elements like the switches which look amazing (see the screenshots). If you use GNOME Shell, you must really give it a try!



      • making the jump to gnome 3
        Well the pros, well really the wants, finally won out over the cons and I upgraded my primary laptop that I use for work and just about everything else to Fedora 15 and gnome 3. What finally pushed me over the edge? Evolution 3 and Firefox 5.


      • Gnome 3, its got some issues…


        Since I switched to Gnome3 I’ve been finding some weird inconsistencies. The problem is, I can’t be sure its actually Gnome3 or something else?






  • Distributions

    • TLWIR 6: What City Is Your Distro?
      Which GNU/Linux distribution a person prefers is a very individual choice. Some people like distributions that give them total access: the freedom to do whatever they want. Others want a desktop OS that will hold their hand if they run into problems. There is no single distribution that provides all of the right answers; each GNU/Linux user has to find the operating system distribution that best meets their own needs. In this week’s TLWIR, I will look at some of the best GNU/Linux distributions with a unique twist: I will compare the distribution to the city that I think most embodies its fundamental spirit. This week’s stories are as follows:


    • DoudouLinux 1.0 Released, Now Available In 15 Languages [Linux For Children]
      DoudouLinux is a Linux distribution for children, designed to be both educational and fun. It can be used from a CD/DVD or an USB stick so you don't have to install it. We've reviewed it a while back so check out that post for more info.


    • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

      • Open Framework Systems (OFS), a new strategic partner for Mandriva.
        Mandriva, Europe’s leading publisher of Linux solutions, announces the collaboration with the Norwegian company Open Framework Systems (OFS).

        Mandriva and OFS are working together to provide a secure collaborative solution to its customers. OFS Collab Collaboration Suite is designed to be a real time secure collaboration suite that can be accessed from different types of clients and editors. With simple mouse clicks, user will be able to secure parts of a document with read and edit access rights. The Collab Collaboration Suite is client server based. The server handles the security and stores the documents in a centralized document management storage.


      • PCLinuxOS KDE 2011.6 Released
        I will be installing this release on my other systems over the next day or two, and I will add the results of those installations to this post.




    • Gentoo Family

      • Sabayon Linux 6.0 released -- without GNOME 3.0
        The Sabayon community released version 6.0 of its Gentoo-based Linux distribution, moving up to Linux 2.6.39.1, but opting for GNOME 2.32.2 and KDE 4.6.4 desktop environments instead of the controversial GNOME 3.0. Sabayon 6.0 adds support for the Btrfs filesystem, switches to LibreOffice 3.3.3, and updates to version 1.0 of its Entropy package manager.




    • Red Hat Family



    • Debian Family





  • Devices/Embedded



    • Phones



      • Android

        • 500,000 Android device activations per day
          This number is, of course, great news for Google and the Android platform. With such a large number of activations per day, it really shows how popular the mobile operating system is around the globe, and how much demand there is for Android devices overall. Not only is this number high, but it’s also a more true representation of consumer activity as it directly relates to users purchasing (and activating) their devices, as opposed to numbers referring to shipments (to retailers), as companies often provide.


        • Android/Linux Activations Exceed “7″
          We were told that, once upon a time, “7″ was shipped on an average of 7 PCs per second. Growth of “7″ is about 1% per month. On 1400 million PCs, that’s about 14 million PCs shipping with “7″ per month, ~5.4/s per second. Android/Linux is activating 500K per day (500K/86400 = 5.8/s). Further, the growth rate of the growth is 4.4% per week…






    • Sub-notebooks/Tablets







Free Software/Open Source



  • The decline of ‘open source’ as an identifying differentiator
    One of the things that I have observed in relation to open source-related business strategies in recent months is the decreased use of the term ‘open source’ as an identifying differentiator in some companies’ marketing material, either to describe the company or its software.

    The way in which a company identifies itself in the opening lines of a press release may not necessarily describe accurately what the company does, but it is a clear indicator of how the company wants to be perceived.

    It seemed to me that a significant number of high profile open source-related vendors had stopped using the term open source as an identifying differentiator.


  • A window to open source OS
    Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others,' informs www.ubuntu.com. The word also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are', adds the site.

    “The vision for Ubuntu is part social and part economic: free software, available free of charge to everybody on the same terms, and funded through a portfolio of services provided by Canonical.”

    It was, therefore, a pleasant meeting that I recently had with Prakash Advani, Regional Manager - Asia Pacific, Canonical, Mumbai (http://bit.ly/F4TAdvaniP). “I have been using the latest Ubuntu 11.04 on a laptop that's almost three years now and I don't see any degradation of performance,” says Prakash. “It performs the same that it used to three years back when I installed Ubuntu 9.10. After that we released three more versions and they have all worked beautifully on the same hardware.” Our conversation continues over email.


  • Events



  • Web Browsers



    • Mozilla

      • Firefox in the Enterprise
        Mozilla is committed to providing the best Web experience for people everywhere, for whom the Web has become such an important part of their daily lives. Providing updates to Firefox more frequently allows us to secure users against emerging threats and provide the platform for innovation that today’s rich and compelling Web experiences demand.

        The Mozilla Community has focused our efforts on the needs of the individual user, and prioritized the product roadmap and features accordingly. However, as is the case with many technologies, loyal Firefox users and their IT departments have sought to bring Firefox into their places of work.






  • SaaS

    • Future of cloud survey shows significance of open source
      The 451 Group was pleased to work with North Bridge Venture Partners, GigaOM and additional companies and players in the industry for the Future of Cloud Computing Survey 2011, which confirmed the early nature of the market, but also indicated customers and users have learned from previous trends, particularly open source software and virtualization. The Future of Cloud Computing Survey 2011 garnered 417 responses from both vendors and end users, focusing on current use, drivers, barriers and future plans regard‪ing cloud computing.




  • FSF/FSFE/GNU/SFLC

    • GCC 4.6.1 Compiler Released
      As expected when mentioning the GCC 4.6.1 release candidate one week ago, GCC 4.6.1 has been officially released this Monday morning.




  • Public Services/Government

    • UK shakes dust off open source policy
      If it looked like UK open source policy, just recently exhumed, had already been swept back under the same carpet it has been kept under since it was first launched two and a half years ago, the announcement yesterday that Liam Maxwell had acquired responsibility for it with a Cabinet Office portfolio did surprisingly little to improve its mien.

      It is then just as well Cabinet Office is about to announce long-overdue progress in its cause of creating a level-playing field for open source software. Because the new appointment will need all the help he can get.




  • Openness/Sharing



    • Open Access/Content

      • Afghans Build Open-Source Internet From Trash
        In light of events that occured in the Middle East earlier this year, many worry that in the future, rogue governments could cut off access to the internet as a way to control political "threats."

        Douglas Rushkoff has championed the idea that the current corporate-controlled internet is far from the open commons we pretend it is.






  • Standards/Consortia

    • BIRT 3.7 Released
      Open Document Text (ODT), Open Document Presentation (ODP), and Open Document Spreadsheet (ODS) outputs are also available with the addition of three new emitters.










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