01.03.12

Contents

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

GNU/Linux

• Biggest Story in IT for 2011

  While Android/Linux was huge, GNU/Linux was as well. The number of users is probably about the same as the number of users of Android/Linux. Even NetApplications reports nearly a 50% increase since July.

• Year of the Penguin – el Reg’s 2011 Linux-land roundup

  It’s been a tumultuous year for the Linux desktop. Anno domini 2011 saw the release of not one, but two major new desktops, the GNOME project’s GNOME 3 shell and Ubuntu’s rival Unity desktop. By the time most distros hit their stride in 2011, the GNOME 2.x line had been replaced with GNOME 3.

• Munich Linux Migration Project LiMux Reports Success

  LiMux, a project to convert local government institutions to Linux and open source software in Munich, has exceeded initial expectations. The project has done slightly better than projections of 8,500 and now boasts 9,000 Linux migrated workstations. The progress and evolution of this project that began in 2003 is well worth examination.

• Bit for byte, Linux is still best value!

  There is a saying I once heard which goes like this. No matter how big your hard drive is you never have enough space. Lets face it. Humans are pack rats and information junkies. When it comes to computers we never want to delete anything. Who knows, maybe one day in the future I will want to read that ten year old email about member enlargement again

• Desktop

  • 10 Reasons to Switch to Linux in 2012

    The past year was a tempestuous one in the world of desktop operating systems, it seems fair to say, with big changes occurring in just about all of the major contenders.

• Server

  • Microsoft reluctantly bows to Linux users

    Microsoft’s business customers are speaking, and they want Linux. If Microsoft doesn’t deliver the goods, Amazon, Red Hat, and VMware, to name three of its cloud rivals, are already happy to fully support Linux users on the cloud.

  • Linux Coming to Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud?

    Plenty of pundits say the cloud runs on Linux. Heck, even Microsoft appears to be gearing up to support Linux in the cloud — sort of. The specifics: Microsoft is preparing to “enable” Linux to run on Windows Azure — though it doesn’t sound like Microsoft will officially offer “support” for Linux on Windows Azure.

• Applications

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • The Best of Linux.com Weekend Project from 2011

    • How to Install Firefox 10 in Ubuntu 11.10 and 11.04

    • Important Concepts For Linux Beginners – Shells and Utilities

    • Make Self-Extracting Archives with makeself.sh

    • The Perfect Server – CentOS 6.1 x86_64 With nginx [ISPConfig 3]

    • Secure Your Desktop Fedora Installation

    • Low level formatting – when, why and how

    • How To Put Your Face On A Different Body Using GIMP

    • Synchronize Google Docs documents With Local PCs

  • Wine

    • Infos: Wine 1.3.36 released

    • Wine 1.3.36 Brings UDisks, DIB Enhancements, Etc

  • Games

    • Happy new year, a review of 2011

    • Icculus on Shank Tools

• Desktop Environments

  • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

    • Time for celebration – 4.8 Release Parties

    • What’s new in KWin Scripting?

      First of all a happy and successful 2012 to everyone. Let’s work together to make this year a great success for KDE!

  • GNOME Desktop

    • Why Everyone Is Confused About Gnome And Gnome 3

      Let’s begin with Gnome. Gnome 3 currently has two official desktops that are installed by default. These are completely different software packages that are not related at all. One is called Gnome Shell, which is new and has received lots of attention. The other is the classic Gnome desktop and is called Gnome Panel. Even though these are completely different applications, people are referring to them as ‘the Gnome 3 desktop’.

    • GNOME Is Still A Ways Off From 10% Goal

    • Introducing Cinnamon

      With Gnome 2 no longer an option we lost one of the most important upstream components our Linux Mint desktop was based on. Our entire focus shifted from innovating on the desktop, to patching existing alternatives such as Gnome Shell. We used MATE and MGSE to provide an easier transition away from Gnome 2, but without being able to truly offer an alternative that was better than Gnome 2. Both MATE and Gnome Shell are promising projects but MATE’s ultimate goal is to replicate Gnome 2 using GTK+ and Gnome Shell doesn’t provide what we need in a desktop and is going in a direction we do not want to follow. So for these reasons we’re designing a new desktop called Cinnamon, which leverages new technology and implements our vision.

    • Try Out GNOME’s Upcoming Browser Right Now [Linux]

      If you’ve ever been a little more curious, you may have noticed that the GNOME desktop environment has its own browser. No, it’s not Firefox, which is the replacement of the said browser by the distributions that include it. Instead, you may have heard of the Epiphany browser, a very low-resource program that uses WebKit as its rendering engine.

• Distributions

  • New Releases

    • What is ExTiX 9 x64?

    • Parted Magic 2011_12_30

    • Release Notes: Release Notes for siduction 2011.1 ‘One Step Beyond’

    • DREAMLINUX 5 – The new distribution from Dreamlinux Project

    • Dreamlinux 5.0 Is Based on Debian 7 Wheezy

    • Dreamlinux 5.0 Has Been Released | What’s New | Download

      After a long development cycle for Dreamlinux 4.0, the Dreamlinux developer team decided to discontinued the release of Dreamlinux 4.0 And Today the Dreamlinux developers pleased to announce the new Dreamlinux 5.0 after a long absence since the last stable release Dreamlinux 3.5. Dreamlinux is a debian based distribution which specializes in multimedia support. So, let’s check what’s new in Dreamlinux 5.0 and Download options.

    • What is aptosid? – Debian Hot & Spicy!

      aptosid is an operating system based on the Debian GNU/Linux unstable branch, codenamed sid, and our ISOs hold fast to the core values and the Social Contract of Debian (DFSG).

  • Gentoo Family

    • Gentoo 12.1 LiveDVD Released

      Gentoo is the empire GNU/Linux distribution which enables a user to compile the entire OS from scratch, optimized for that particular machine. Many users, like me, dream if using Gentoo but can’t due to the ‘installation’ process. However, there is a live version of Gentoo which you can use to test and play with Gentoo without it biting your fingers.

    • Gentoo Linux 12.0 has been released

    • Gentoo Gets New Year’s Release

      One good way to start the New Year is with a new Gentoo release. So lucky for us Gentoo 12.0 was announced today. It’s available as its usual live DVD and features Linux 3.1.5, KDE 4.7.4, and Gnome 3.2.1.

    • Beaglebone and Gentoo

      Two weeks ago I got a Beaglebone board from the people at Beagleboard.org to create the documentation I always create with every device I get.

      Like always i’d like to announce the guide for installing Gentoo in the Beaglebone. Have a look at: http://dev.gentoo.org/~armin76/arm/beaglebone/install.xml . Feel free to send any corrections my way.

    • Gentoo 12.0 LiveDVD Rolls Out

  • Red Hat Family

    • Red Hat expects to hire 1,000 workers this year

      Jim Whitehurst, CEO of the Raleigh-based Linux software company, told Investor’s Business Daily in a recent interview that the company plans to add at least 1,000 workers in 2012 — which would boost its worldwide employment by more than 20 percent. Last month the company reported that it had 4,350 workers, including more than 700 in Raleigh.

    • JUDCon 2012: Red Hat expects 800 registrations

      Linux and middleware vendor Red Hat, which is organising its JBoss User and Developer Conference JUDCon 2012 event at NIMHANS during January 23-24, has said that it has received around 670 registrations as of date. The company plans to close when it gets around 800 registrations.

  • Debian Family

    • Derivatives

      • Canonical/Ubuntu

        • Introduction to Unison

        • Ubuntu’s Unity Desktop: A Free Republic or Paternalistic Democracy?

          If your computer is so old that it was last spotted in the wild roaming with the dinosaurs before they were flamed by an extinction-level event, then (like me) you just might just be grateful for Unity (2D) to extend the lifetime of your machine. Since the doctors switched off the life support on my best, though ageing laptop (private funeral only, no flowers, donations in lieu) I’ve had to switch the hard drive into my second best machine. The problem is that it’s even older, at seven or eight years (probably about sixty eight in dog years). The spec’ is miserable: slow single core processor, USB 1.0 ports, less than 700MBs of SDRAM and although it does support OpenGL there’s not really enough horsepower under the hood to be really properly usable. My graphics card is not sub prime but everything else is. Therefore, “insufficient” for Unity-3D, the shell for Gnome slated for the imminent release with Ubuntu 11.04, codename Natty Narwhal and now the default desktop on Oneiric Ocelot (11.10). Dead end? No. Unity-2D to the rescue. Perhaps.

        • A Quaint and Curious Distro

          Ubuntu is Linux’s best bet for mainstream adoption. The distro has oodles of drivers, an intuitive interface, an automated installer, a livecd, thousands of apps, and a massive community support.

        • Full Circle Podcast Episode 27 You Cant Buy this Kind of Entertainment

        • Flavours and Variants

          • An enlightening experience: Bodhi Linux 1.3.0

            Bodhi Linux Siddhartha Gautama Buddha (also known as Sakyamuni) was born a wealthy prince approximately 2,500 years ago. At the age of 29, he gave up his privileged princely lifestyle to spend the next six years as an ascetic seeking truth. After a marathon 49 days in meditation while sitting beneath a Bodhi tree, he obtained Enlightenment.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Phones

    • Android

      • Google TV 2.0 screenshot tour

        This Google TV 2.0 Screenshot Tour was created to accompany DeviceGuru’s upcoming, detailed tips-and-tricks review of the Android 3.1 update to the Logitech Revue. The tour encompasses more than 180 screenshots showing numerous aspects of the Revue’s home screens, applications, and more.

      • 5 Best Free Android Retro Console Emulators

      • iOS Continues To Lose Web Share

        According to Netmarketshare, Apple came down from 61.50% (Oct) to 54.04%(Nov) and slipped to 52.10% in December. On the contrary Android had taking a sweeping jump to 18.86% (Oct) from 16.26% (Sept), but it lost around 2% in November and settled at 16.72%. Android further lose around .57% by December which is lesser than iOS’s 2.6% in the same period.

      • Google taking off apps from the market- Without Warning

        If you have recently bought an Android device, I bet you are hooked onto it- especially the Android market. When I bought my Android tablet, I kept downloading and trying new apps all the time. And why wouldn’t I? The Android market of Google has certainly got the best apps. Compare this to Apple iPhone. Apple market isn’t open like Android’s. Android market allows developers to complete their apps and lets users download them without seeking permissions from anyone.

      • 10 most popular Android Apps of 2011

      • ClockworkMod Tether: Share your Android phone’s internet connection with a PC

      • ClockworkMod Tether Tethers Android For Free

        Android and Windows/Mac/Linux: Most tethering apps require root, or at the very least cost a fair amount of money. ClockworkMod Tether is a completely free wired tether app for unrooted Android phones.

Free Software/Open Source

• TLWIR 29: Mozilla News, LibreOffice Chart Trick and Bitcoin Rises Again

• Predictions for Smart Buildings in 2012

  The Automation Campaign In 2012 Will Be About Open Source Programming Languages, and Standards For Naming Conventions, Building Systems and Integration.

• What does “Open” mean?

  I am particularly pleased with how our session; New Open Source Technologies that are Changing the Industry 1:30 pm Monday, January 23th is shaping up.

• QuNeo’s Kickstarter Success Fueled By Pro Fanboys

  The QuNeo is a “Multi-touch Open Source MIDI & USB Pad Controller” in its final days of fundraising via a Kickstarter campaign. The controller will be produced by Keith McMillen Instruments and due to a combination of their reputation, desire for the product and Kickstarter’s strong combo of fundraising and presales, their request for $15,000 on Kickstarter has resulted in pledges over $100,000. Though gear is definitely a different kind of product than an album or film release, it’s worth considering the QuNeo’s success as a harnessing of the combined force of fanboy enthusiast and pro fan, often in the same individual fan.

• Web Browsers

  • Mozilla

    • The Best Firefox Tips Of 2011

    • The Best Firefox Add-Ons Of 2011

    • Firefox 9 Released, Offers Major Speed Boost

• SaaS

  • Cloud-Ready Buildings and Open Source

    It is inevitable that the future of building systems operations is in the cloud. In the best run corporations, whose enterprise operations are in a private cloud, building system operation has already joined other enterprise operations. They have found that cloud-based building operation is the means to better cost control, improved service provision, and close ties between enterprise activities and energy costs. As distributed energy makes the links between business and building operations more critical (and rewarding), building owners without clouds will want to link their own buildings to the clouds.

• CMS

  • Drupal Web Design Company Alliance Interactive Joins Drupal Association

    Alliance Interactive has signaled its continued commitment to leadership within the open source community by joining the Drupal Association as an association member. “We have been impressed by the quality of Drupal’s membership program, their commitment to the industry and their passion for representing full service agencies,” said Adam Aloi, managing partner of Alliance Interactive.

• Healthcare

  • Does webOS have a future in healthcare?

    HP’s webOS platform may find new life as an open source operating system for healthcare applications. Researchers at Stanford University have developed applications for the HP TouchPad tablet, a discontinued webOS device, to operate an interventional MRI scanner and view patient respiration data and images gathered from the device.

• FSF/FSFE/GNU/SFLC

  • Happy GNU Year!

• Project Releases

  • Avidemux 2.5.6 Video Editor Brings Many Changes

    Avidemux, one of the open-source non-linear video editing applications, ended 2011 on a high note with the release of Avidemux 2.5.6.

  • Clementine Music Player 1.0 (Stable), Finally Released

    A while back, Clementine music player got Grooveshark and Spotify support and these, among many other new features are finally available in a stable release (1.0). You’ll need a Spotify Premium / Grooveshark Anywhere account though.

• Public Services/Government

  • Security ‘misunderstandings’ remain open source barrier

    Cultural barriers and misunderstanding of security risks remain the biggest blocks to the public sector’s wider implementation of open source, the civil servant tasked with boosting open source has told UKAuthority.com.

    Robin Pape, chief information officer for the Home Office and the senior responsibility officer within government for open source and open standards, said open source software is still not being given appropriate consideration when government bodies evaluate software options.

• Openness/Sharing

  • Open Access/Content

    • Now, classroom content of IITs can be accessed by MIT students

      The Indian Institutes of Technology have agreed to a proposal by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to join their OpenCourseWare community. This move will enable MIT students to access classroom content of the IITs online at a click of the mouse.

      However, this is not the only way by which the IITs are opening their doors to the world; lectures from IIT classrooms will soon be available on Apple’s multi-media platform iTunes. YouTube already has a separate channel for IIT courses, which, as of December 2011, had 63.64 lakh viewers.

• Programming

  • The Linuxification of software development

    Just before the start of my holiday vacation, I went ahead and updated my old Froyo Android phone to the new Galaxy Nexus running Ice Cream Sandwich, promptly becoming a statistic in a new trend: buying new hardware to update software.

• Standards/Consortia

  • Kazaam Screencaster To Use VP8, Drops x264

    A lot of bloggers and techies use screencasters to record desktop sessions for training, documentation, tutorial or reviews. Under GNU/Linux, there are couple of desktop session recorders. Gnome 3, for example, comes with a built-in desktop recorder. There is one such screencaster called Kazaam. However, the program is not getting any updates after Ubuntu’s 11.04 release.

Leftovers

• 11 Who Died in 2011 (And Were Not Named Steve)

• Mounting Google Documents in GNU/Linux is just not a (real) option

• Security

  • New Year’s Resolution: Full Disk Encryption on Every Computer You Own

  • AKO users warned following Stratfor website hack

    The U.S. Army’s web portal for soldiers is asking anyone who registered usernames with open-source intelligence provider Strategic Forecasting , or Stratfor, to watch for identity theft and report any credit card fraud to the Army’s Criminal Investigative Command.

    On Friday, hackers affiliated with the group AntiSec published hundreds of thousands of email addresses and Stratfor usernames online, along with thousands of credit card numbers.

• Finance

  • Public Money for Public Purpose: Toward the End of Plutocracy and the Triumph of Democracy – Part Six

    I will conclude by proposing six social tasks for the rising generation – six challenging tasks whose successful pursuit will help us achieve a more just, equal and democratic society. It is my view that the resulting society will not only be fairer and more decent. It will also be more economically productive, and will better promote human happiness and flourishing by more effectively distributing the goods and services we produce. Most of us will be happier in such a society as well, because the practices of democratic equality do a better job satisfying the human desires for cooperation, solidarity, trust, stability and fellowship that are the foundation of the social life for which human beings are naturally framed.

  • The Miracle of Solvency

    The lies which got us to the purgatory we are in, are being told all over again, right now, in every bank in the Western World. Not by accident, but on purpose, by men with calculators and degrees, in the full knowledge of what they are doing, why and for whose benefit.

    Every religion has its holy days. The days when the priests face their god and perform the rituals that renew the covenant between them. For believers it is the renewal of their faith, of their promise to believe in and serve their chosen God in return for which God will protect them. Global Finance is no different, and these days approaching New Year are their Holiest of Holies.

• PR/AstroTurf/Lobbying

  • Impunity Reigns and Death Threats Rise in Colombia

    Truth telling in Colombia, a nation that bears the scars of politically motivated violence lasting half a century, has become increasingly difficult in response to new legislation intended to help heal the wounds of this Latin American nation, says one of the nation’s renown documentary film makers.

    The Victims and Land Restitution Law — which passed this June under heavy international pressure — is estimated to give more than four million Colombians the right to seek reparations for land or family members lost during the armed conflict. While hailed as an important step forward, the legislation has been criticized for its gaps. For instance, critics charge it is easier to access reparations on behalf of victims of guerrilla or paramilitary violence than for victims killed by the government. The law has also increased the volume of threats against journalists in the country who dare to rehash the history of violence and tell the stories of the victims, according to Colombian investigative journalist Hollman Morris who recently visited the United States.

• Copyrights

  • Ron Paul Opposes SOPA

    SOPA has been criticized by everyone who understands how dangerous the bill is. Hollywood may be pumping money into the congress to get congressmen pass it as soon as possible, ignoring expert’s warning and opposition by the governments across the globe and most importantly opposition by the citizen of the United States themselves.

  • Wikipedia To Dump GoDaddy Over SOPA