Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 21/12/2011: Munich Migration to GNU/Linux a Success, Apache Promises OpenOffice.org 3.4



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux



  • Desktop

    • #noapple – or There and Back Again
      The TL;DR version is that I used Ubuntu 11.04 (Naughty Nightnurse) and liked it okay, then was excited to upgrade to 11.10 (Onanistic Oedipus) only to be somewhat disappointed with many of the changes. So I tried out Kubuntu, got frustrated and ran screaming back to Apple. I upgraded to Lion, realized that Lion really, truly sucks – sucks enough to make me rethink my decision to switch back. Then I find out that Debian testing (wheezy) now supports Gnome 3, so I loaded it up.


    • Why The Linux Desktop Still Rocks
      I needed that peace of mind that I never got with Windows, viruses always crashing my PC. I would have liked to get a Mac at some stage but the cost of it was a problem. Then I settled on Linux, and haven't looked back since.


    • Munich has Migrated the 9000th PC to GNU/Linux
      The meaning is clear: the end is in sight. It has been a long haul but Munich will finally have a GNU/Linux system working for them instead of Munich working for M$. While there has been much cost and pain in the process, the future is forever and the benefits from switching to GNU/Linux, open standards and more efficient organization will continue to roll in. If there is one lesson learned from the process in Munich it is that the sooner migration is started the better. Otherwise, you’re just digging a deeper hole. While that other OS can form a basis for IT it is an unstable one designed to bring profit to M$ above all else. With GNU/Linux, FLOSS and open standards, an organization has much more control over its destiny. Almost every “feature” that M$ created served to lock-in Munich more strongly. They recognized that and took action.


    • Walmart Sells Linux Online
      So, they’re selling desktop boxes on the small side and the other 70 items? Mostly books and courses on GNU/Linux.


    • The Linux Setup - Jonathan Roberts, TuxRadar Podcast
      I run Arch Linux, and I love it. It’s fast, always up to date and is actually the most stable Linux distribution I’ve ever used. It takes a little while to get set up, but thanks to the amazing Beginners Guide anyone can do it and it’s well worth the investment.






  • Kernel Space



    • Linux Kernel Milestones in 2011
      The Big 3.0 and 20th Anniversary

      Granted, the jump to 3.0 wasn't a technical achievement so much as Linus giving in to the voices in his head. Still, the 3.0 milestone is pretty nifty.

      The version bump went hand in hand with the 20th anniversary of Linux, of course. As Linus wrote when the 3.0 kernel went out, "it's simply a way to drop an inconvenient numbering system in honor of twenty years of Linux. In fact, the 3.0 merge window was calmer than most, and apart from some excitement from RCU I'd have called it really smooth."


    • Kernel Log: Multitouch for X.org and new graphics drivers
      X-Server 1.12 will include proper support for touch screens with multitouch capabilities. All three major manufacturers of graphics hardware for PCs have released new drivers. Linux 3.0 is still being maintained even though Linux 3.1 has already been out for a few weeks.


    • Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris i7-3960X Scaling Performance


    • The Linux Kernel vs Commercial kernels
      What exactly is the Linux Kernel and what makes it different than, say Windows or Mac System X? I’m not going to get too deep into the weeds on this one because, quite honestly, I’m not qualified to discuss Kernels beyond the basics. I’m really going to focus on the hardware/software interface aspects of the kernel pros and cons.


    • Graphics Stack

      • Nouveau Commits: Fermi Reclocking, PM, MXM, Etc
        Last week there were a number of commits to the Nouveau DRM kernel tree by Red Hat's Ben Skeggs, several of these commits bring interesting new features and support.

        With the Linux 3.2 kernel reaching the end of its development and the merge window for the Linux 3.3 kernel opening in January, it's time for kernel developers to get ready.






  • Applications



  • Distributions

    • Linpus Lite 1.6 desktop edition screenshot preview
      The last edition of Linpus Lite that was reviewed on this website, was Linpus Lite 1.4, and that was in September 2010 (see Linpus Lite 1.4 review). That edition was good in some ways, bad in others, but in general, was usable, though it lacked basic security features that I expected to see in a modern Linux distribution.

      The latest release, therefore, provides an(other) opportunity to see what, if anything, has improved in this RPM distribution. But while the review is being readied, here are a few screen shots from a test installation. If you would like to take it for a spin yourself, you may download an installation image here.


    • New Releases



    • Red Hat Family

      • CentOS and Oracle release their Red Hat 6.2 clones
        Only a week after releasing CentOS 6.1, the CentOS project finished up version 6.2 of its CentOS community version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), while Oracle launched Oracle Linux 6.2 -- a RHEL 6.2 clone that adds the company's Unbreakable Enterprise Linux kernel. Meanwhile, Red Hat released a beta of its long-lifecycle RHEL 5.8 platform and announced strong third quarter earnings.


      • Red Hat Revamps JBoss Portal and Operations Network
        According to Red Hat, there is a misconception in the marketplace that middleware can be difficult to use for content creation. It's a misconception the company aims to challenge with the new JBoss Enterprise Portal Platform 5.2 release. Red Hat is also tackling the issue of middleware server management with the new JBoss Operations Network 3.0 release.


      • Minimal Desktop Install on CentOS 6
        This example of a minimal desktop shows how to manually create partitions using ext3 and ext4 for a server that has a minimal desktop for a graphical interface. Here are the choices to complete that install.


      • Fedora





    • Debian Family



      • Derivatives



        • Canonical/Ubuntu

          • Ubuntu 12.04 Developer Week 2012 Announced
            Daniel Holbach from Canonical proudly announced a few minutes ago, December 19th, the dates for the next year's first Ubuntu Developer Week event.


          • Flavours and Variants

            • Mint Cocktail: Mojito or Molotov
              Unlike Ubuntu, Linux Mint does not keep the size of their distribution's ISO image to 700 MB. The latest release "weighs" about 1Gb. It is larger than a CD, so you need either a DVD-R(W) or a USB stick to get this operating system booted or installed.












  • Devices/Embedded



    • Phones



      • Android

        • Review: Galaxy Nexus is top Android phone, but you'll need big hands
          Samsung's Galaxy Nexus is now the "king fish" of Android communicators in screen size, speed, and operating system functionality, according to this eWEEK review. But, its 4.65-inch screen makes the $300 device a challenge to hold by those whose hands are average-sized or smaller, the author adds.


        • Cricket unveils contract-free, four-inch Huawei Mercury
          Cricket Communications announced its most powerful Android smartphone, a four-inch Android 2.3 handset with a 1.4GHz processor and an eight-megapixel camera. Priced at $250 without contract and $55 per month in fees, the Huawei Mercury is the first U.S.-destined variant of the Huawei Honor, being released this month in a variety of global markets.






    • Sub-notebooks/Tablets

      • Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet pushing Android tablet share to 40 percent, predicts IDC
        Android tablet computers will grow from 32 percent global market share in the third quarter to an estimated 40.3 percent through the fourth quarter, reducing Apple's iPad share to 59 percent, projects IDC. The growth in Android tablets is due largely to the popularity of the low-cost Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, says the study.


      • Archos Honeycomb tablet to debut at under $200
        Archos announced a seven-inch Android 3.2 ("Honeycomb") tablet due to ship in January for under $200. The Archos 70b is equipped with a 1.2GHz processor, and offers a 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, 8GB of storage, HDMI output, and support for Google apps and Android Market, says the company.


      • Review: Mot's Xyboard tablet rocks, but its stylus doesn't
        Motorola Mobility's Droid Xyboard 10.1 tablet brings the iPad some solid competition thanks to its Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system, thin profile, HD display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and compatiblity with Verizon's 4G LTE network. Yet, Motorola should take the hardware button design and new stylus option back to the drawing board, this eWEEK review adds.


      • Is Google prepping a Nexus tablet?
        Might Google be preparing to enter the Android tablet game with an officially-backed tablet much like the Nexus handset series? Depending on how much you read into the context and translation of the following, the answer is yes. According to Google's own Eric Schmidt, the company plans to rally behind a top-notch tablet.








Free Software/Open Source



Leftovers



Recent Techrights' Posts

The Week to Come
Planning ahead
LLM Slop Has Only Been a Boon for Misinformation Online
The very same companies that were supposed to maintain quality (again, not limited to Google with PageRank) are now actively participating in generating and spreading slop
When They Tell You It's Free, Does That Mean No Charges (If So, Who's Paying and Why)?
there's "no free lunch"
 
Links 28/07/2025: COVID-19 Sped up Brain Aging, "Circumvention is More Popular Than Compliance"
Links for the day
Richard Stallman is Usually Right Because He Thinks "Outside the Box"
he is able to observe society (mores and norms) as somewhat of an outsider
LWN Has Been Down for a Long Time, Another Casualty of LLM Bots?
Time will tell. How much time though?
Slopfarms Versus 'Linux' (and Against People Who Write Real Articles About GNU/Linux)
LLM slop in slopfarms by Brian Fagioli and Redazione RHC
Gemini Links 28/07/2025: Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray and Running pkgsrc in a FreeBSD Jail
Links for the day
Microsoft Turns News Sites Into Spamfarms
Is the site The Register MS the next IDG?
The Register MS/The Register US
On Saturday I contacted them for a comment (before issuing criticism)
Hacking revelations at Vatican Jubilee of Digital Missionaries
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 27, 2025
We're Going to Focus Less on the Molotov Cocktail-Throwing Microsofters and More on Patents
We can get back to focusing on what we wanted to focus on all along
Just Trying to Keep Web Sites Honest (Journalistic Integrity)
the latest articles in LinuxIac are real
Links 27/07/2025: Political Affairs, Data Breaches, Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: Hot in Japan and Terminal Escape Codes
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs Coming, Science and Hardware News
Links for the day
Links 27/07/2025: FSF Hackathon and "Hulk Hogan Was a Very Bad Man"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 27/07/2025: DAW Mixer Chains and Simple Software
Links for the day
The Register MS is Inventing or Giving Air Time to New Conspiracy Theories so as to Distort the Narrative As High-Profile Agencies Fall Prey to Microsoft Holes
But the problem is holes, i.e. Microsoft making bad products; the problem is Microsoft
Most Editors at The Register Are American, Including the Editor in Chief, a Decade-Long Microsoft Stenographer (Writing Prose to Sell Microsoft)
It's not easy to tell where the site is based (we tried) because it's hiding behind ClownFlare and CrimeFlare hasn't been well lately
Pushers of systemd Rewrite History (Richard Stallman Said UNIX "Was Portable and Seemed Fairly Clean")
Unlike systemd
"New Techrights" Soon Turns 2 (A Few Days Before the FSF Turns 40)
We have a lot more to say about LLM bots
When Silence Says So Much
Garrett, a 'secure' boot pusher, will need to defend himself in the UK High Court
The Register in Trouble
There is not much that can be done at this point
Trajectory of The Register: From News Site/s Into "B2B"... and Into Microsoft Salespeople
Something isn't right at The Register
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 26, 2025
Misinformation in Social Control Media
Social control media passes around all sorts of tropes
Slopwatch: Fake Linux 'Articles' and Slopfarms With "Linux" in Their Names/Domains
throwing bots at "Linux" to make some fake articles
Links 26/07/2025: Amazon Shutdown in China, Russian Economy Slows
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: History of Time (1988) and Gemini Games
Links for the day
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol