BACK in the old days of Linux and GNU (without GNU programs like GCC there may be no Linux) there was a site called LinuxDevices, founded by a technologist whom I later came to know personally (some time in the middle of the last decade). LinuxDevices produced very high quality articles, ushering Linux (and often GNU) as it quietly grew inside devices and embedded systems. After a series of takeovers the site went dark and I spent a lot of time/efforts trying to bring it back online one way or another (I was even, at one point, planning to scrape it all from the Web Archive and rehost it). Thankfully, some people at QuinStreet (new owner of LinuxDevices) realised that rather than keep a huge number of high quality articles offline they could let the authors host them all (at their own expense) while basically licensing everything (as there are copyrights) and then linking back to QuinStreet. This makes perfect business sense and everyone is happy (QuinStreet, the authors, and of course all visitors, except Linux and GNU foes). The people at QuinStreet who helped make this happen deserve huge gratitude because they did help bring LinuxDevices -- unlike some other sites (e.g. the Microsoft boosting site "Microsoft Watch") -- back to the Web almost under the full control of the original writers (not to be confused with publishers). This shows the common aspiration of many writers and demonstrates the importance of writing for oneself under one's own control (no self-censorship) -- a subject for another day for sure.
Linux.com (Linux Foundation), which also covered some Linux devices quite recently [18-21]. There's more from Linux BSD OS [22-23], Linux Journal [24-25] (focusing on Raspberry Pi these days), and various other publications [26-36]. Rather than individually cover every example (LinuxGizmos covers almost every important new example in this area) we shall point readers to LinuxGizmos, which deserves the title "GNU/Linux Web Site of the Year" for 2013. In over 15,000 articles/pages LinuxGizmos now has what could be named the "chronicles of GNU and Linux in physical machines". ⬆
One of most widely respected repositories of embedded and mobile Linux news and information has returned to the web as an archive hosted here at LinuxGizmos.com.
QuinStreet acquired LinuxDevices.com in Feb. 2012 through its purchase of a group of websites from publisher Ziff Davis Enterprise. After the acquisition, LinuxDevices remained frozen in time for about a year before vanishing in May, shortly after I launched LinuxGizmos.com. Following a constructive discussion about possibilities for bringing the LinuxDevices content back online, QuinStreet generously offered to license LinuxGizmos to host the LinuxDevices Archive on our site, as a “holiday present to the Linux community.”
AirTame is developing an AirPlay-like protocol for PC-to-PC content streaming and screen mirroring, plus a Linux-based dongle for AirTame rendering on TVs.
Pogoplug announced a $49, Linux-based security device called the Safeplug that taps into the Tor network to hide your IP information when using the web.
What’s the latest status on all those cool embedded Linux and Android Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects of 2013? Most are moving forward, but delays are a common problem.
CompuLab unveiled two Linux-friendly, x86 based surveillance oriented mini-PCs: the Fit-CCTV supports 16 analog cameras, and the Fit-PoE supports four PoE-fueled IP cameras.
RadiumBoards announced a $50 “HD Camera Cape” for the BeagleBone Black with a 1.3-megapixel Aptina sensor that provides 720p, 30fps video and Linux and Android support.
Pogoplug announced a $49, Linux-based security device called the Safeplug that taps into the Tor network to hide your IP information when using the web.
Mentor Graphics has updated its Mentor Embedded Sourcery CodeBench and Analyzer embedded development tools with faster performance and improved debugging.
After Amazon tipped plans to build delivery drones, hacker Samy Kamkar unveiled a SkyJack drone designed to hijack them with an AR.Drone and a Raspberry Pi.
MSC Embedded announced a Linux-ready COM Express Type 6 computer-on-module built around AMD’s Embedded G-Series system-on-chip, ranging from a quad-core 2GHz SoC to a dual-core 1GHz processor that runs on only 9 Watts. MSC’s C6C-GX COM measures 95 x 95 mm, and features I/O including dual display interfaces at up to 4096 x 2160 pixels, dual SATA, eight USB ports, and PCI Express expansion.
Kontron announced a tiny, COM Express Mini Type 10 computer-on-module fitted with a choice of five Intel Atom and Celeron Bay Trail SoCs. The 84 x 55mm COMe-mBT10 module offers up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and up to 64GB flash, supports I/O interfaces including gigabit Ethernet, dual SATA, USB 3.0 and up to eight USB 2.0, plus dual DisplayPort and LVDS displays, and is available in a model rated for -40 to 85€°C operation.
Texas Instruments has announced the release of a new MSP430TCH5E haptics-enabled microcontrollers.
RasPlex is a custom Linux distribution based on the popular (and awesome) OpenELEC Raspberry Pi port. Rather than installing XBMC on an RPi, however, RasPlex installs the Plex Home Theater application. Granted, the Raspberry Pi does struggle with menu speed in Plex until the cache of thumbnails is built, but with a developer focusing strictly on making Plex work for the RPi, those caching issues will be solved soon!
Linux is making impressive inroads (sorry) in the field of in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), the automobile technology we use to group navigation, entertainment, location-based services, external connectivity to social media and even radio usage.
A new low-cost, high-quality, and programmable EEG platform has been announced by OpenBCI, a team made up of two creative technologists in Brooklyn NY, Joel Murphy and Conor Russomanno. They have also launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of their affordable and above all open source BCI product.
The editors selected the SX-580-2700DM-SDK, a Software Development Kit (SDK) used to develop software programs in Linux for embedded devices.
The Airtame dongle itself is running a modified version of Raspbian...
I am delighted to say that the Raspberry Pi cluster project is now fully funded to the first target of €£2,500, this means that the Indiegogo fees will be 4% of the total rather than the 9% which applies to partly funded flexible campaigns. The money received by Paypal has already partially cleared, so we have been out spending some of it, here is a collection of Raspberry Pi units doing some load testing.
The primary mission of the Raspberry Pi has always been to teach kids how to code the same way the BBC Micro did. In this issue we have another ten fantastic projects you can use it with, but for the Raspberry Pi foundation this is just a happy side-effect of the way they’ve created it. It also doesn’t hurt that these kind of practical applications can get children interested in technology as well.
Comments
Needs Sunlight
2013-12-26 13:10:23
There are other sites that would be valuable to retrieve, like DesktopLinux. And there are still others where it would be valuable to plan for the future, if that is even possible these days. However, it take at least a few years to see whether a site is worth preserving and by then backup practices are more or less set in stone. Some sites are lost, irretrievably except for what was in Archive.org.