12.21.11
Links 21/12/2011: Munich Migration to GNU/Linux a Success, Apache Promises OpenOffice.org 3.4
Contents
GNU/Linux
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Desktop
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#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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Kernel Space
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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.”
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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.
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Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris i7-3960X Scaling Performance
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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.
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Graphics Stack
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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.
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Applications
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Distributions
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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.
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New Releases
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Red Hat Family
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Fedora
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Debian Family
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Derivatives
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Canonical/Ubuntu
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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.
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Flavours and Variants
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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.
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Devices/Embedded
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Phones
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Android
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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.
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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.
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Sub-notebooks/Tablets
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Free Software/Open Source
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Web Browsers
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Mozilla
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Does A Simple Firefox Add-On Make SOPA Useless?
As the world of SOPA continues to turn, the emergence of a simple Firefox browser add-on may render the potential punitive actions of these protection acts null and void; or, at least ineffective, if not outright useless.
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Firefox 9 delivers “30% speed boost”
The update brings improvements in JavaScript, which the open-source developer says offers a 30% speed boost.
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Mozilla and Google Sign New Agreement for Default Search in Firefox
We’re pleased to announce that we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google. This new agreement extends our long term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years.
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Firefox, Google uncertainty ends with three-year extension of search deal
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Download Firefox 9.0 Final for Linux
There’s no official announcement yet, but the binary and source archives of the final version of Mozilla Firefox 9.0 were made available for download on the official FTP site of the Mozilla company.
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Oracle/Java/LibreOffice
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Apache forges ahead with OpenOffice.org suite
In its new role as steward of the OpenOffice.org open source office suite, the Apache Software Foundation expects to offer an Apache-branded version of the package for developers in 2012. Apache also is carefully guarding its trademarks.
Apache on Tuesday is releasing a statement about its OpenOffice efforts, entitled “Open Letter to the Open Document Format Ecosystem,” which notes the planned 3.4 release, tentatively slated for early 2012. Apache has just about completed with code clearance stage of the effort, said Don Harbison of the Apache OpenOffice project management committee in an interview.
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Open Letter to the Open Document Format Ecosystem from The Apache Software Foundation
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Apache says OpenOffice 3.4 planned for early 2012
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Oracle gooses Studio compilers for Solaris, Linux
Having cranked Solaris Unix up to 11, software giant Oracle has now revved up a new companion set of compilers that work with the new operating system as well as the current Oracle Linux clone of Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux.
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CMS
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Public Services/Government
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Open Source receives official support in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Several Brazilian government entities heavily involved with IT had already signed the “Brasilia Protocol” in 2008, a mutual commitment to Open Data Formats. Similarly, many government sectors were already implementing changes towards open source internally. This new Law formalizes this commitment and extends it to the whole of the public administration in the State of Rio de Janeiro.
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Openness/Sharing
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Open Access/Content
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MIT launching certificate program based on OpenCourseWare, open source platform
A decade after MIT began to put its teaching materials and lectures online via the OpenCourseWare platform, the university has announced that it will leverage these materials to provide an online certification program, currently termed MITx. Although these certificates won’t have the same weight as an MIT degree, they will indicate mastery of specific subject areas. The whole system will be built on top of an open-source software platform, which may enable other universities to follow in MIT’s footsteps.
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Leftovers
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Finance
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Goldman Sachs spent $800K on 3Q lobbying
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. spent $800,000 in the third quarter to lobby the federal government on rules for implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act and on other financial services issues, according to a disclosure report.
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Civil Rights
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