10.15.11

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers

GNU/Linux

• Server

  • “75 Per Cent Of Stock Exchanges Worldwide Run On Linux”

    Want to know why open source technology could be a hit proposition for your business venture? Kapil Gupta, CEO of OMLogic Consulting and an OSI Days speaker, in an interview with Linux For You, shares interesting facts to highlight why open source technology makes business sense. He also gives a brief synopsis of his upcoming talk at the OSI event that would surely appeal to the open source based businessman!

• Audiocasts/Shows

  • CAOS Theory Podcast 2011.10.14

• Kernel Space

  • First Linux Benchmarks Of AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer

    Here’s the first Linux benchmarks of AMD’s FX-Series Bulldozer desktop CPUs that launched on Tuesday. Specifically, it’s Gentoo Linux performance results for an AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer.

    The AMD FX-8150 Linux benchmark results can be found on OpenBenchmarking.org. It’s an eight-core AMD FX-8150 on an ASUS Sabertooth 990FX motherboard with 4GB of RAM. Gentoo Linux was used with the Linux 3.0.6 kernel and GCC 4.5.3. Unfortunately, this system is not under my control and there’s no direct comparisons available for this hardware system to any other AMD processors.

  • Utilities for Making and Checking MS-DOS FAT Filesystems

• Applications

  • Easily Rename Files And Directories With GPrename

  • Transmageddon Video Converter

  • Proprietary

    • Desktop virtualization: Parallels vs. VMware vs. VirtualBox

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • How To Upgrade Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) To 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) (Desktop & Server)

    • Using GeoIP With Nginx On Debian Squeeze/Ubuntu 11.04

    • How To Upgrade Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) To 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) (Desktop & Server)

    • First Linux Benchmarks Of AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer

    • Starting Ubuntu in console mode

    • How to Fix Lag Issues with ATI Proprietary Graphic Drivers (fglrx) in Ubuntu 11.10

    • Get the name of the newest file in a directory on the linux shell

    • Ubuntu Tip: Enable synchronizing installed apps with other computers

    • Customizing a package for openSUSE!

    • Ubuntu 11.10 GNOME Shell Guide

    • A Simple User Guide For Ubuntu Oneiric

    • Root-kits: The Enemy Within

    • Linux System Hardening

    • Drawing circles

    • How to show the full URL in Firefox

  • Games

    • Much Awaited Game ‘Dungeons of Dredmor’ Released for Linux

      Much awaited game Dungeons of Dredmor from Gaslamp Games is now available for Linux and can be purchased from Desura (Linux client is currently in beta).

    • Alien Arena 7.52 Released with New Levels and Game Mode

      Multiplayer First Person Shooter Alien Arena has just been updated to version 7.52 bringing in lots of new features and fixes.

    • Dungeons Of Dredmor now available!

• Desktop Environments

  • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

    • KDE Commit-Digest for 9th October 2011

    • Plasma Active Perspective: The User Story

      Plasma Active brings a flexible, elegant, activity-driven user experience to a spectrum of devices. This article is part of a series of articles about different perspectives on Plasma Active. This installment looks at the user story, and aims at answering the questions “what does Plasma Active bring me as a user?”, what are the underlying concepts and how do we plan to achieve these goals.

    • Fifteen years of KDE

      Fifteen years ago Matthias Ettrich started the KDE community. On 14th October 1996 he wrote his famous email to the de.comp.os.linux.misc group on Usenet. He called for other programmers to join him to create a free desktop environment for Linux targeted at end users. Many, many people joined. Thousands of developers wrote millions lines of code. We did 90 stable releases of our core set of applications alone, not counting all additional stuff and the thousands of 3rd party applications.

    • 15 years of KDE

    • Looking for a Polished Linux Desktop? Consider KDE

      In the world of Linux desktops, Ubuntu’s Unity and GNOME have tended to dominate the headlines in recent months, but there’s another contender that many consider an even better choice.

    • KWin on Pandaboard

    • KDE Rekonq Browser Picks Up Many Features

• Distributions

  • CAINE (Computer Aided INvestigative Environment) – Digital Forensics LiveCD

    CAINE (Computer Aided INvestigative Environment) is an Italian GNU/Linux live distribution created as a project of Digital Forensics. CAINE offers a complete forensic environment that is organized to integrate existing software tools as software modules and to provide a friendly graphical interface.

  • New Releases

    • Softpedia Linux Weekly, Issue 169

      · Announced Distro: Parsix GNU/Linux 3.7r1
      · Announced Distro: Superb Mini Server 1.6.2
      · Announced Distro: Sabayon 7
      · Announced Distro: Ubuntu 11.10

  • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

    • The ‘restricted’ repository for Mandriva/ROSA 2011 is available for public testing!

  • Gentoo Family

    • Sabayon 7 vs. Ubuntu 11.10 Performance

      The release of Ubuntu 11.10 “Oneiric Ocelot” this week captured most of the Linux spotlight, but also arriving this week was Sabayon 7, the Gentoo-based Linux distribution that’s meant to be easy-to-use and desktop-oriented. In this article Sabayon 7 has been pitted against Ubuntu 11.10 with its stock Linux 3.0 kernel and its new experimental Fusion kernel.

  • Red Hat Family

    • Fedora

      • Testers Wanted to Kick Tires on Fedora 16 Beta Release

        The Fedora project rolled out the beta version of Fedora 16 today and invites testers to take it for a spin. Current known bugs are listed in the Fedora wiki, and beta testers are encouraged to provide feedback to help fine tune the operating system before Fedora 16 rolls out in November.

  • Debian Family

    • Debian GNU/Linux Point Release

      I know, I know. Everyone who has any interest in this kind of thing is waiting anxiously for the new Ubuntu release. So I will shamelessly exploit that anticipation by mentioning that an updated distribution for Debian GNU/Linux “squeeze”, 6.0.3, was announced over the weekend. Well, announced, but not quite entirely available yet. Most of the ISO images have been updated, but the Live images have not yet.

    • Derivatives

      • Canonical/Ubuntu

        • Review: For Ubuntu, The Road To 200 Million Desktops Starts With 11.10

        • The Most Beautiful Ubuntu 11.10 Manual Published

        • Ubuntu 11.10 “Oneiric Ocelot” released

        • Spotify Gets Better Ubuntu Integration In Latest Update

        • How to install Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot – An Ubuntu Installation Guide

        • Ubuntu’s Oneiric Ocelot: Nice, but necessary?

          Oneiric Ocelot, or Ubuntu 11.10 as it is known, has been delivered and refines the core of the Unity environment Canonical built at the expense of GNOME.

        • Ocelots Are Go

        • Ubuntu 11.10 review. Oneiric Ocelot – beautiful, but deadly

        • Now there’s a list of Ubuntu-certified computers

        • Ubuntu 11.10 Review: Incremental Refinement

          As Mac and iPhone users play with their new iOS5 and iCloud, Linux users get to play with a brand new release of the most popular Linux OS. Ubuntu 11.10, also known as Oneiric Ocelot, has arrived.

          Unlike the last release, which featured a switch to an entirely new Unity user interface, this one is a fairly incremental upgrade. What most of us expected were further refinements to this new user interface, and Ubuntu more or less delivered on that, but let’s get into the nitty gritty.

        • Ubuntu 11.10: Word on the Street

        • Ubuntu Spotted at Best Buy, But Not as Something for Sale Though

          And to think, they kicked me out of Bestbuy for wanting Ubuntu on a netbook. This was around…2008? I went in to one of the Bestbuy’s at Tigard, Oregon. Asked for my Windows Refund, or just to get a laptop with Ubuntu installed…got the “lemme ask my manager” response, 30 minutes later the manager “banned” me from the store.

        • Upgrading to Drupal 7, not always easy

        • Ubuntu 11.10 – Oneiric Ocelot Has Been Released

        • Ubuntu 11.10 screenshots

        • Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot Post Installation Guide

        • Flavours and Variants

          • Lucid Puppy 5.2.8 released

          • Ubuntu Rescue Remix: Version 11.10

            Version 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) of the very best Free-Libre Open-Source data recovery software toolkit based on Ubuntu is out.

            Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix provides a robust yet lean system for data recovery and forensics. No graphical interface is used; the live system can boot and function normally on machines with very little memory or processor power. Following Ubuntu’s six-month release schedule, all the software is up-to-date, stable and supported.

            Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix features a full command-line environment with the newest versions of the most powerful free/libre open-source data recovery software including GNU ddrescue, Photorec, The Sleuth Kit, Gnu-fdisk and Clamav.

          • An Ubuntu Alternative -or- An Alternative Ubuntu

            For all those who object so strongly to the Ubuntu Unity desktop, I have been thinking this afternoon that I have some time (it’s Friday), and I have a free disk partition (Natty is out, Oneiric is in, and the Ubuntu test partition is free), and I haven’t looked at Kubuntu in quite a long time (it’s been so long that I don’t even remember the last time). So I have downloaded and installed it on my Lenovo S10-3s. Here are the results:

          • Disappointments of Kubuntu 11.10

            There are 2 times a year when all Linux users, and especially Ubuntu users, are excited. They are April and October. These are months when new versions of Ubuntu Linux are released.
            This October is not an exception. 13th of October (sorry, not Friday this time) saw release of version 11.10, nicknamed Oneiric Ocelot. As usual, Canonical, company beyond Ubuntu, releases whole family of systems based on the same core: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Lubuntu.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Linux-based network camera design supports up to 1080p@60fps

    Nexvision announced a Linux-based network video camera reference design with remote accessa dn analytics based on the Texas Instruments 1GHz, DSP-enabled DM8148 DaVinci processor. The CAMSMOOV also integrates an FPGA, as well as a camera with up to four camera processing boards supporting up to 1080p@60fps H.264 video at up to 12 megapixels, plus sensors and a variety of wired and wireless I/O.

  • Phones

    • Android

      • One Smart Phone, Two Personalities

        AT&T, the second largest wireless carrier in the U.S., and Qualcomm, which dominates the market for smart-phone processors, want to give your phone a split identity. The companies are separately adopting technology that can make a smart phone secure enough to keep IT bosses happy, but open enough to allow its owner to install apps or surf the Web.

        AT&T will release its version of the technology, called Toggle, for Android phones this year. Someone using a device with Toggle installed taps the home button twice to flip between personal and work modes. The personal mode behaves like a regular phone and is fully under the user’s control. The work mode looks like a separate phone with its own desktop and suite of apps and is secured by a password. Its functionality is constrained by a company’s IT policy; all data stored or created under the work mode, whether e-mail, contacts, or Web downloads, is encrypted and can be remotely wiped if a phone is lost or stolen.

Free Software/Open Source

• Events

  • SCALE Kids Conference announced

• SaaS

  • X.commerce Joins OpenStack Community

  • Cloudera and MicroStrategy Announce Integration Between Business Intelligence and Apache Hadoop

• Oracle/Java/LibreOffice

  • Oracle v. Google – Google Gets Significant Win on Mitchell Report

  • Oracle v. Google – You Can’t Make This Stuff Up (or maybe you can)

    If it weren’t for the potentially serious economic and technological ramifications of this case, some of the filings would be worth their weight in gold with respect to their entertainment value. Such is the case when reading Google’s response (519 [PDF; text below]) to Oracle’s precis letter seeking leave to file a Daubert motion regarding the Google damage expert reports of Drs. Leonard and Cox (See document 511). As I said yesterday, we only read Oracle’s side of the story, and I expected Google’s to be quite different. It is.

    Oracle complained that Drs. Cox and Leonard have no technical background and, instead, relied upon Google employees for technical interpretations. As Google points out, this is the same thing Oracle has done. Pot, meet kettle.1 Google further points out that it intends to make all of those Google employees upon which Drs. Leonard and Cox relied available for questioning at trial before putting either of the doctors on the stand. So Oracle will have ample opportunity to question the merits of the technical observations.

  • Oracle v. Google – Google Continuing To Press Hard On Its Positions

    Google is continuing to press Oracle with further motion filings. This time Google attacks Oracle’s claim for past patent damages as outside the scope of the law. (521 [PDF; text below]) Oracle has asserted a claim for patent damages from the year 2007. Oracle, however, did not give notice of infringement to Google until much later, perhaps as late as July 2010. If Google is successful in obtaining leave to file its motion and is successful on the motion, it could preclude virtually all damage claims for past patent infringement. Damages would then only be due from the date of notice going forward, if at all.

  • LibreOffice Conference Announcements

  • The Apache Software Foundation Statement on Apache OpenOffice.org

    On 1 June 2011, Oracle Corporation submitted the OpenOffice.org code base to The Apache Software Foundation. That submission was accepted, and the project is now being developed as a podling in the Apache Incubator under the ASF’s meritocratic process informally dubbed “The Apache Way”.

    OpenOffice.org is now officially part of the Apache family.

    The project is known as Apache OpenOffice.org (incubating).

    Over its 12-year history, the ASF has welcomed contributions from individuals and organizations alike, but, as a policy, does not solicit code donations. The OpenOffice.org code base was not pursued by the ASF prior to its acceptance into the Apache Incubator.

  • Apache Asserts OpenOffice Stewardship

    Despite the growing momentum of the LibreOffice fork of OpenOffice, the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is urging the community of volunteer developers to rally around the OpenOffice code base as the canonical version of the open source software suite.

  • The Document Foundation Thinking Beyond Desktop

    During the LibreOffice Conference in Paris yesterday, The Document Foundation made several interesting announcements. Among them, a new online version of LibreOffice and a port for smartphones are planned for next year or 2013.

    LibreOffice Online appears to be an online application of LibreOffice in the ilk of Microsoft 365 or Google Docs. The new browser-based app, developed by openSUSE’s Michael Meeks, “is based on GTK+ framework and HTML5′s canvas.” There isn’t a lot more detail available right now, but a demo video is available here (requires WebM support).

  • Apache vows to develop, protect OpenOffice

    Citing its success with other donated projects, the Apache Software Foundation vowed to protect OpenOffice.org and prevent fragmentation.

    In a lengthy statement issued to naysayers and concerned parties today, the ASF rejected claims that OpenOffice would be neglected and pointed to its success with other adopted open source projects such as SpamAssassin as proof that the “Apache Way” will grow and develop OpenOffice.

    The ASF also noted that the project would be known under the name Apache OpenOffice.org and is officially in incubation status.

  • LibreOffice gaining momentum, heading to Android, iOS, and the Web

• CMS

  • Drupal and WordPress at SchipulCon: One Stage, One Open Source Love

  • Upgrading to Drupal 7, not always easy

  • Open Source Drupal Marks the Spot for eBay’s X.com

    eBay is the latest tech giant to embrace Drupal, the open source content management system that now runs an estimated 2 percent of all websites on the planet.

    As eBay formally launched its new X.commerce business unit — a sweeping effort to bridge the worlds of online and offline payments — the company revealed it had moved the unit’s X.com website to Drupal, dropping the proprietary Jive Software platform the site previously used.

• Business

  • Openwave and Open-Xchange Partner to Provide Service Providers with Advanced Email Solutions

  • Univa Partners With StackIQ

• FSF/FSFE/GNU/SFLC

  • Why Stallman is right about Steve Jobs

    An indication of the extent to which people in today’s world are prone to hypocrisy is evidenced by the way they react after someone dies.

• Project Releases

  • Blender 2.60

• Public Services/Government

  • PY: Government project targets exclusive use of OSS for all government agency websites in 2012

    The government of Paraguay has embarked on an ambitious project with the aim to implement on an exclusive basis open source software (OSS) in all government agencies in 2012.

  • FR: Council of State clarifies right of local government to opt for open source

    In a ruling of 30 September 2011, the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, clarified the right of contracting authorities to require suppliers to use specific open source software in the context of public procurement.

  • PY: Government project targets exclusive use of OSS for all government agency websites in 2012

    The government of Paraguay has embarked on an ambitious project with the aim to implement on an exclusive basis open source software (OSS) in all government agencies in 2012.

    Nicolás Caballero, IT Coordinator for the Office of the President of the Republic of Paraguay was quoted by a local newspaper as saying: “The first and most evident aim is to save resources.” He noted that the saved resources can be allocated to other areas and that assessments performed by the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare foresee savings of about $ 4 million (approx. € 2.9 million) for the ministry alone.

Leftovers

• X11

• Time zone database back online

  The time zone reference database used by all versions of Unix and Linux is back online in an updated version, reports Java developer Stephen Colebourne in his blog. Last week, the tz database was taken offline because of a copyright problem. Now, the data is available for downloadDirect download from a new server. Robert Elz will be maintaining the time zone information. The tz database will eventually be posted at the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), where the mailing list for the presentation and discussion of relevant information is already kept.

• The computer is dead, long live the computer

  After six years of loyal service, I have retired my oldest desktop. Save for an occasional vacation and an unlucky power outage once a year or so, the machine worked 24/7, without any big problems or hiccups. But six years of age for a computer is like three million for a person, so all good things must end and better things come in their stead.

• Finance

  • Delaware judge dismisses Goldman Sachs pay claims

    The New York investment bank Goldman Sachs is known for, among other things, paying its executives pretty well. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, for example, was awarded a $67.9 million bonus in 2007, the same year the firm set a Wall Street pay record.

  • Goldman Sachs Investor Lawsuit Over Pay Plan Dismissed

    Goldman Sachs Group Inc. persuaded a judge to throw out shareholders’ claims that the investment bank’s compensation system improperly rewarded employees for taking risks that hurt the firm’s stock price.

    Delaware Chancery Court Judge Sam Glasscock concluded yesterday that Goldman Sachs’s board acted properly in setting up a pay plan for the fifth-biggest U.S. bank. The judge dismissed a consolidated investor lawsuit claiming the plan wrongly awarded billions of dollars in bonuses to executives and employees, including Chairman Lloyd Blankfein, even as the firm’s market value declined by $50 billion since 1999.

• ACTA

  • ACTA Signed by 8 of 11 Countries – Now What?