04.20.12

Contents

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

GNU/Linux

• Homekey: Linux on a stick rescues your parents’ PC from destruction

• Enterprise Betting big on Linux

• SPYRUS(R) Secure Pocket Drive(TM) Offers Portable Encrypted Linux Computing Environment

• Portable encrypted Linux computing environment

  SPYRUS announced a new version of Secure Pocket Drive that allows end users to build and distribute their own secure bootable Linux OS image. In addition to offering secure access to corporate networks, the Linux edition gives users the freedom to install and run their own applications and productivity software locally.

• Spyrus launches Linux friendly pocket drive

  Hardware security company Spyrus has created a pocket drive that allows users to build and distribute their own secure, bootable Linux OS image.

• The iPod for retro games

  Its creators call it the “iPod For retro games”. GameGadget from Blaze Europe is a new Linux-based portable games console designed as a platform for games released on now-defunct consoles.

• Rude Linux Users

  I remember those days when newbies often get ‘bullied’ by experienced users in the forums or mailing lists. Ubuntu changed the trend by having zero tolerance policy against such behavior. Now, CentOS community is facing the same problem. The project has made a call for its users.

  Johnny Hughes of CentOS posts on a mailing list, “… some members of the community in the areas provided by the CentOS Project are rude to users who are coming in for help. This happens much more often than it should. These complaints are not coming from newbies … I would expect that to happen. The complaints are coming from people who are very knowledgeable in the open source community and who are involved in other open source projects.”

• Desktop

  • Betting on the Wrong Horse

    Digitimes reports that China is a hotbed of PC production and consumption and that OEMs are jockeying for share, betting on “8″ and “ultrabooks” to advance their businesses.

    Reality could be different than those expectations. The “others” category in China is huge and they are not shy to produce and ship GNU/Linux systems.

  • How to run the new Chrome OS environment without a Chromebook

    Google is revamping its Chrome OS platform with a new desktop environment and window management system. We took a close look at the user interface improvements earlier this week in a detailed hands-on report. In our review, we explained how advanced users can install the experimental new interface on a Chromebook by enabling the developer update channel.

• Kernel Space

  • Linux Kernel 3.x Support for All Perle Serial and Parallel Cards

  • Linux Foundation publishes slides and video from 2012 Collaboration Summit

    The Linux Foundation has released many slides and video recordings of the presentations given at the recent Collaboration Summit, which ran from 3 to 5 April in San Francisco. Topics covered include virtualisation and cloud computing, licensing, desktop software and the Tizen mobile operating system. A number of these presentations offer insights into current developments in the kernel environment.

  • Linux Kernel 3.x Support for all Perle Multimodem Cards

• Applications

  • DeVeDe: the easy route to DVD creation on Linux

  • Qute: A Fancy Text Editor for Linux

    As Clint Eastwood would say, “There are two types of text editors in the world, the ones for coding and the others”. Well, Qute (pronounce “cute”) is certainly among the others. it’s a text editor with some advanced features in terms of eye candy. In other terms, not only does it support Tex and Markdown, it’s also a pleasure to work with its visually-appealing interface. If you are tired of the console or just want to test something different, you can try Qute for Linux (or Mac or PC).

  • W3m: Simple Text-Based Web Browser Support for SSL Connetions, Tables, and More

  • Cairo Dock 3.0 Released With GTK3 Support, Other Enhancements

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • Linux from Scratch: Part I

    • Manage Your Database with Adminer

    • How to Schedule Tasks with Cron and CornTab [Linux]

    • How to setup Git http authentication using LDAP in Apache

  • Games

    • The Humble Bundle Botanicula Debut

      It’s time for another Humble Indie Bundle… This time it’s called The Humble Botanicula Debut and features three games plus bonuses.

    • First Stable Release of ‘Arx Libertatis’ Available for Linux [3D First Person RPG]

• Desktop Environments

  • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

    • Tweaking KDE’s KWin For Linux Gaming Performance

• Distributions

  • Six (plus one) ways to use Linux Live CDs in your business

  • Best Linux Distribution?

    Best Linux Distribution? Whether you’re just getting your feet wet with Linux or you’re an old hand at it and have tried a half-dozen distros before finding the one you fell in love with, you probably have an opinion as to which Linux distribution is the best. This week we want to hear which one you think is the best.

  • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

    • Mageia 2 Beta 3, Return of the Live CD

    • Mageia 2 beta 3: Last beta sports a new look

      The third and final beta edition of Mageia 2, a desktop Linux distribution derived from Mandriva Desktop, has been released. The first and only Release Candidate is expected on May 2, with the final, stable edition slated for release on May 15.

      So, what does this release has to offer? Aside from the usual new features and bugfixes, Mageia 2 beta 3 features a new desktop design. And I think it is actually very good. The most important behind-the-scenes new feature, is the adoption of systemd for booting the system, instead of the old initscripts.

  • Gentoo Family

    • Three years with Gentoo

      From time to time, there are some posts about leaving Gentoo or suggesting it is dying. A leave is really up to the user, when he or she feels it is not the distribution they like, then that’s what it is. I never got to understand what those leaving posts were for. If you want to leave, then just do it, why do you show up and mumble things without much constructive effect added to community? It’s not like you would be able to give more feedback sine you were not be using Gentoo anymore.

  • Red Hat Family

    • New Horizons Hosts RedHat Seminar Event

    • Oracle Linux: The Past, Present and Future Revealed

      When Oracle CEO Larry Ellison started poking around the Linux market way back in 1998 or so, he turned to Wim Coekaerts for help. Fast forward to the present, and more than 8,500 customers run Oracle Linux. But how did Oracle get to this point? And what’s next for Oracle Linux and the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel? The VAR Guy tracked down Coekaerts and gained some candid insights — plus some strong opinions about Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu and even Cisco Systems. Here’s the update.

    • Red Hat looks at New Zealand for further open source growth

      Red Hat has become the first open source company to exceed US$1 billion in annual revenue.

      The 17-year-old software vendor posted revenue of US$1.13 billion for its fiscal 2012 year, up 25 percent over the previous corresponding year. Non GAAP adjusted net income for the year was US$216.4 million.

      “The bulk of the $1.13 billion was done on the subscription model, which proves the level of adoption of open source,” says Craig Neilson, Red Hat New Zealand general manager.

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux plus IBM Hardware equals Performance Computing

      Red Hat, Inc. is the clear leader in the Linux market. It has the strongest, commercially supported Linux distribution and the best-performing virtualization solution for servers and desktops. It is the first billion dollar open source company in the world and is the most successful Linux company thanks in part to its dedication to the open source community and free software. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), its flagship Linux product, is the one to watch in the data center for enterprise-level workloads including databases, application delivery and virtualization.

    • Fedora

      • Fedora Linux 17 Reaches Beta with Six Key Updates

      • Fedora 17 Beta Advances the Linux Desktop

      • Beefy Fedora could use a dash of miracle whip

        If you’re called Beefy Miracle, you better pack a punch. And when the Fedora crew christened their next Linux desktop, that was certainly the plan.

      • Fedora 18 Release name voting and Poll for whether to continue naming releases

  • Debian Family

    • Crunchbang Linux — So far it’s ‘like’ at first sight

      I’ve been distro-hopping/shopping lately, and last night it was time for Crunchbang Linux, a Debian-based distribution that uses a very nice implementation of the Openbox window manager.

    • This Debian Squeeze installation has lasted since late 2010

      People are always talking about how long they’ve had a particular Debian installation, some upgrading the same box through many subsequent releases.

      On the desktop anyway, restless, tinkerish people such as myself have a habit of blowing out their OSes for one reason or another — usually extensive modification/experimentation that breaks things. Others can’t go more than a month without either distro-hopping to the next new release.

    • Derivatives

      • Canonical/Ubuntu

        • The Importance Of Application Developers To Ubuntu

          For many years now we have been building a comprehensive Ubuntu contributor community. Across our many different sub-communities such as Packagers, Translators, LoCo Teams, Forums, AskUbuntu, Documentation Writers, Ubuntu Women, QA, Accessability, and elsewhere, we have worked hard to help everyone put their brick in the wall to help Ubuntu be the best it can for everyone and within our core values of the platform being Free Software, in your language, and available for everyone irrespective of disability.

        • HP to certify Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Server on select ProLiant systems

        • HP will certify Ubuntu 12.04 on some Proliant servers

        • HP Certifies Ubuntu Linux

        • Flavours and Variants

          • Linux Mint 13 Will Be Named Maya

            Clement Lefebvre, father of the Linux Mint project, announced a few minutes ago, April 19th, that the codename for the upcoming Linux Mint 13 operating system will be Maya.

            Linux Mint 13 (Maya) will be available for download at the end of May 2012, and it will be shipped with separate MATE and Cinnamon editions. However, it has not yet been decided which desktop environment will be the default for Linux Mint 13.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Raspberry Pi pre-orders hit 350,000

  • Raspberry Pi waiting list hits 250,000

  • Raspberry Pi computer finally reaches UK schoolchildren

  • Phones

    • Qualcomm warns of smartphone Snapdragon chip shortage

    • Android

      • Samsung Galaxy S II handsets on Orange will get Android 4.0 ICS this week

      • $70 ARM PC Can Run Android and Ubuntu Linux

      • Era of Intel-powered Android begins with Lava XOLO X900

  • Sub-notebooks/Tablets

    • Gemini outs trio of budget Android 4 tablets

      There are three fondleslabs in the set: 7in, 8in and 10in models, with resolutions of 480 x 800, 600 x 800 and 768 x 1024. They all use ARM Cortex A8-class processors, the 7in and 10in running at 1GHz, the eight-incher at 1.2GHz.

    • MIPS based low cost tablets to get Android apps

Free Software/Open Source

• Enterprises: Embrace open source development or go extinct

  A Forrester analyst warns that enterprises must evolve their IT systems of record into systems of engagement which allow customers, partners, suppliers and machines to engage seamlessly with corporate data — or fall prey to digital upstarts.

• The GNU Scientific Library: An interview with Mark Galassi

• Open Source Done Right: Interview With Yubico’s Fredrik Thulin

  Last month we had the chance to review Yubico’s YubiKey, a low cost, high accessibility authentication token that is aiming to change the way individuals connect with their online services. We came away very impressed, and with the distinct impression that Yubico was really on to something with not only their product, but their business model and goals: Yubico offers their services for free and released their server and client APIs as free software.

• Google Reveals its Open Source Networking

• Web Browsers

  • Chrome

    • Motorola’s LapDock: The next Google ChromeBook?

      Google’s $12.5 billion offer to purchase Motorola Mobility isn’t a done deal yet and some are still wondering how the Google will best benefit from the acquisition without upsetting partners. Motorola’s patents are surely a huge boon to Google and it’s possible Google keeps those and spins off Motorola; that’s what I predicted in December.

    • Chrome 19 enters beta and adds synchronised tabs

  • Mozilla

    • Thunderbird Extension To Sync Gmail Contacts

• SaaS

  • Marketplace pulls AWS hare ahead of OpenStack tortoise

    Today’s opening of the Amazon Web Services Marketplace will give cloud customers a lot more convenience in cloud deployment, while sending up clouds of dust for the still-behind OpenStack to inhale.

  • The Importance of Open Source to Open Clouds

    Open source puts the customer in control and can free them from the technology decisions and business practices of any single vendor. This is important because even the best-intentioned vendors have to ultimately make choices about product roadmaps, pricing approaches, and target markets that may or may not align with the needs of a particular customer. Vendors get acquired, go out of business, and shift technology focus. That’s life. And, with proprietary software, you as a customer ultimately may not have many options if your vendor isn’t willing or able to support your needs or, indeed, to continue selling you software at all. Your only recourse may be to shift to another vendor, even if that means overhauling a large chunk of your infrastructure. Open source can crack open this lock-in.

  • Morphlabs launches OpenStack-based cloud rack

  • Making an aaS out of free software

    While many in the tech industry and the media have been touting the benefits of various “As-a-Service” models, there are also still concerns that such remote computing models will ultimately harm a fundamental core principle of free software: the ability to truly possess the software in all forms.

• Education

  • State Senate bill to create open source library supported by education representatives

    wo state Senate bills that aim to help college students save significant money on textbooks recently passed at a Senate committee hearing.

    The two bills — introduced by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento — passed April 11 at a hearing of the Senate Education Committee, where public higher education representatives spoke in support of creating a library with open source textbooks for the 50 most popular lower division courses. Between now and Aug. 31, the bills will move through the committee hearings and Assembly floor, where they can be amended or defeated, according to Steinberg’s spokesperson Alicia Trost.

• Funding

  • Twitter signs up to sponsor open source Apache Software Foundation

    Twitter’s open source office announced today that it has become a sponsor of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). As a sponsor, the social networking company will contribute financial resources to the ASF to help support the organization’s mission.

• Public Services/Government

  • NASA announces Open Government Plan 2.0

  • NASA Releases New Open Government Plan

  • NASA unveils new initiatives around open source, open standards, outreach

• Openness/Sharing

  • Open Access/Content

    • Professor’s book provides ways to make online classes affordable

      In his latest book, a longtime University of Houston-Victoria professor delves into how a computer operating system can help people overcome difficulties with mobile learning.

  • Open Hardware

    • Open Source Software Fuels Innovation in Hardware Product Design

    • Q.bo open source robot now available to pre-order

      Spanish company TheCorpora is now accepting pre-orders for its Q.bo open source and open hardware robot. TheCorpora founder Francisco Paz spent several years working on the rolling robot, which is about 45 cm tall and can be used both in research and around the home.

• Standards/Consortia

  • Modern Web Architecture: The HTML5 Web Storage

Leftovers

• Security

  • Portable encrypted Linux computing environment

• Finance

  • The European Stabilization Mechanism, Or How the Goldman Vampire Squid Just Captured Europe

    By December 2011, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, former vice president of Goldman Sachs Europe, was able to approve a 500 billion Euro bailout for European banks without asking anyone’s permission. And in January 2012, a permanent rescue funding program called the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) was passed in the dead of night with barely even a mention in the press. The ESM imposes an open-ended debt on EU member governments, putting taxpayers on the hook for whatever the ESM’s Eurocrat overseers demand.

    The bankers’ coup has triumphed in Europe seemingly without a fight. The ESM is cheered by Eurozone governments, their creditors, and “the market” alike, because it means investors will keep buying sovereign debt. All is sacrificed to the demands of the creditors, because where else can the money be had to float the crippling debts of the Eurozone governments?

• Privacy

  • Privacy Advocates vs. The Government: Why CISPA Will Become Law

    Have you heard about CISPA? It’s the acronym for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.

    CISPA is being likened to the now-moribund SOPA and PIPA bills smothered by Congress after widespread public opposition.

    However, only opponents see similarities. Advocates see it as completely different.