Links 23/3/2012: Commodore Linux, Iceland Moves to Free Software
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2012-03-23 09:21:20 UTC
- Modified: 2012-03-23 09:21:20 UTC
Contents
-
Commodore USA has released the new AMIGA mini and the VIC mini, two small form factor PCs with a bit of retro styling, but very new and powerful guts
-
Kernel Space
-
Graphics Stack
-
The Gallium3D compute infrastructure, which is the underlying work for supporting OpenCL over this open-source graphics driver architecture, is on approach for landing in the very near future. This has been one damn good day for open-source Linux graphics drivers following the earlier Nouveau surprise announcements.
-
Soon, the kernel will support several AMD graphics cores that are used in recent Radeon graphics cards and in various upcoming processors. In systems with Intel graphics, using hibernation can cause memory corruption. The development of Linux 3.4 has started.
-
Applications
-
Instructionals/Technical
-
Wine
-
Desktop Environments
-
K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)
-
Jonathan Riddell, the KDE developer, recently announced that Canonical stopping funding the Kubuntu project and reassigning him in a new role. Looking at Canonical's focus on Unity, that's not a surprising move. I don't know how Canonical works, but looking at the new challenges they set for themselves with every release, I do think they need all the hands they can get. The result of that hard work is evident - Unity is shaping up really well.
-
-
Have an old computer lying around that you’d like to use for some light web surfing, document editing, and other tasks? I mean like a PC with a 1999-era Intel Pentium III processor? It turns out there’s an OS for that… and it’s not Windows 98.
-
In my last blog about Linux Live Environments, I mentioned REMnux, an environment specifically built for malware analysis. I'd spent a little time with REMnux when it first came out, but decided to take the latest version (3.0) for a test drive.
-
New Releases
-
Debian Family
-
Derivatives
-
Canonical/Ubuntu
-
Canonical’s next long-term support release of its flagship Linux distribution, Ubuntu 12.04 is in late beta. This next release, due out on April 26th, is in beta now. I’ve been using it for several weeks now and so far, so good.
Indeed, the new Ubuntu is good enough already that I’ve it on my default Ubuntu system: a 2009-era Gateway DX4710. This PC is powered by a 2.5-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad processor and has 6GBs of RAM and an Intel GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) 3100 for graphics. No, it’s not fast, but unlike Windows 8’s beta, you don’t need a fast computer for Ubuntu.
-
From a pool of thousands, 15 photographic wallpapers have been chosen for inclusion in Ubuntu 12.04.
-
With Ubuntu remaining uninterested in systemd, the Upstart init system continues to be developed. Released today was Upstart 1.5 with a few new features.
-
-
However, while that beefed up version may be available at some point, costs and demand will likely hold it off for a while, the popular mini-computer's designer said.
-
Phones
-
Android
-
NASA has made great efforts to get the public interested in their various projects and avenues of research using tools such as social media networks and their suite of mobile applications. Unfortunately, those applications have almost exclusively been iPhone exclusive. Of the over 20 mobile applications NASA has released, only a scant have made it over to everyone’s favorite open source mobile operating system.
-
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Android is open source and built on Linux. Fortunately for Android enthusiasts and independent developers, however, Sony has made life a little easier by releasing the open source archive for the Xperia S device. Of course, there are some catches. Read on for what this announcement means for the juncture of Android and free software.
-
Sub-notebooks/Tablets
-
Oracle/Java/LibreOffice
-
The Document Foundation (TDF), which produces the leading open source office software suite LibreOffice, is on schedule for the release of a cloud version of its software next month.
The team released the last update to its 3.4 build on Thursday and is now focused on developing version 3.5 further, but the group is now also ready to go live for cloud services in April. That said, the team reserves the right to hold off on launch until the last few software fixes come in, TDF spokesman Italo Vignoli told The Register.
-
Project Releases
-
Public Services/Government
-
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE is finding favour on the Icelandic government scene with the announcement that all of its public administration organisations will adopt it.
-
Iceland's push to move its public sector to open-source software has made some headway, with most of the shift seeing Windows swapped for Linux.
-
Security
-
Some words just seem to go together: "bread" and "butter"; "trial" and "error"; "Microsoft" and "security breach." The MS12-020 Remote Desktop Protocol vulnerability revealed last week shows once again that when it comes to data security, Microsoft is its own worst enemy and any "secure" system can be compromised.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Intercontinental Brigading - Part XI - Losing Over a Million Pounds (Borrowed Money) to Try to Silence Critics of Restricted Boot With Microsoft-Controlled "Certificates"
- Garrett is also very jealous of Daniel Pocock
- Linux Kernel Needs Diversity and Diversity of Good Code, Not LLM Slop
- Linux (and Linus) are kicking a can down the road
-
- Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Solar MiniBBS, Building Major Tom, and Zig
- Links for the day
- Links 22/10/2026: Busan’s Celebrity Shark in Canal Again
- Links for the day
- Links 22/10/2026: "Software Developers Have Been Promoted Into Incompetence"
- Links for the day
- Links 22/10/2026: eBay to Lay Off a Tenth of Staff (Again), Node.js and PHP Security Crises, Climate News
- Links for the day
- Red Hat Layoffs Still Going on This Week (Whilst IBM's Debt Grows in Spite of Mass Layoffs)
- IBM is bluffing/cheating the shareholders again
- IBM's Debt Continues to Increase While the Company Rapidly Shrinks
- This is what a dying company looks like
- Microsoft Shrinks Every Year
- Microsoft will try to spin or twist this as "efficiency"
- Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Holiday Inn and Emacs
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, October 21, 2026
- Techrights Was Right About a Fake Security Model Built Around Lies or Built Upon Trust in "Certificates" and "Authorities" (like Microsoft)
- We have begun to amass some media reports and blog posts from technical sites
- Windows Monopoly is No Longer Sustainable (the Case of Oceania)
- This is why Microsoft layoffs are happening all the time
- Some Downtime Possible Shortly (Router Work)
- We don't use PHP in the site anymore
- Mass Layoffs at Microsoft This Week and/or Next Week
- Cannot pull a bunny out of some hat
- With Its Future on the Line, EPO Management (Dictatorship) Resorts to Further Escalations to Fake 'Production' and Curtail Industrial Actions
- It's clear that with a yearlong campaign of industrial actions - including strikes - Campinos cannot save face anymore
- Gemini Links 21/10/2026: Summer Day in Tokyo (30c in Late October) and Whole Food for the Whole World
- Links for the day
- Links 21/10/2026: "Zelensky Took the Gloves Off This Time With Convicted Felon" and "Cellebrite iPhone Radio Zero-Day"
- Links for the day
- Reuters is Becoming Slop, Not a News Agency (Treat Reports From Reuters Sceptically)
- In their own words
- Disclosure/s Crisis at The Register MS (Promoting a Ponzi Scheme for Money)
- So now they sell several schemes/scams at the same time, not limited to the slop
- Links 21/10/2026: "The Tragic Death of the Republican Party" and "No War But Data Center War"
- Links for the day
- Internet Relay Chat Still Growing
- The numbers go up, not down [...] Don't believe the doomers
- Intercontinental Brigading - Part X - American Back Doors Inside Our Computers, With Transatlantic Swatting Against Critics Thrown 'Into the Mix'
- "If your Windows PC's Secure Boot certificates are out of date, your system is vulnerable to malware like rootkits."
- Gemini Links 21/10/2026: A Walk Through Amsterdam and Pythagorean Theorem
- Links for the day
- More Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Weeks From Now, Then Again Months From Now
- Microsoft's crisis is not limited to XBox
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 20, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, October 20, 2026
- Gemini Links 20/10/2026: The Brothers Who Fought Mussolini and a Dying Main Laptop
- Links for the day
- Brett Wilson LLP Has Almost Zero Litigation Clients This Year (in the Area They Specialise in)
- The silence on the financial front, combined with the lack of new clients, is deafening
- Where to Celebrate the 20-Year Anniversary
- let us know in IRC
- Cheapening of the Workforce at IBM and Microsoft, Typically Without Even Announcing Any Layoffs
- from leadership to compelled "retirement"
- Help Us Improve Techrights
- The site relies on teamwork in a growing community; even readers are part of it
- Links 20/10/2026: $100 Million ICE “Intelligence” Program and France Riots
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 20/10/2026: GAFAM GCP Outage in the UK and New Oddμ Release
- Links for the day
- Articles in The Register MS Composed by Employees of the Companies They're About
- The Register MS is the place to be
- Intercontinental Brigading - Part IX - Swatting is Not Funny, Swatting is a Murder Attempt
- “Swatting is not harmless. It is a serious crime that can lead to dangerous situations and divert law enforcement away from someone facing an actual emergency. What callers may believe to be a ‘joke’ actually risks the public safety of our communities and can carry lifelong consequences for those responsible”
- Links 20/10/2026: Facebook Scraping and Plagiarising News Sites, Copyright Act Turns 50
- Links for the day
- Microsoft's XBox Leadership and Strategy is Slop
- XBox sales are already worst in the entire history of XBox
- 81% Voted in Favour of EPO Strikes Until End of This Year
- Who's in the line of succession at EPO?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 19, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, October 19, 2026
- Gemini Links 20/10/2026: Old Movies, Bandera Hike, and Mongolian
- Links for the day