GNU/Linux Everywhere: New Stories, More Evidence
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-05 13:58:09 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-05 13:58:09 UTC
Success Stories
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Linux is a most popular Operating System compared to Windows and Mac. Linux is everywhere even at those places where most of us have not even thought. Tiny machines to Gaint Supercomputers are powered by Linux. Linux no more remains a Geeky thing.
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Although the Head Up Display (HUD) will remain the default, Canonical will be bringing back the local menus as an option. Jack Wallen responds to this announcement.
Ivory Coast, Romania, Latvia, India
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Before Emma, the JerryClan-Ivory Coast had flirted with Ubuntu, but that was before encountering the beautiful EmmaBuntus distribution.
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The laptops are running Linux, specifically Ubuntu 13.10, along with several dozen free and open source programs. Our program is believed to be the largest open source 1:1 implementation in Pennsylvania. By using open source software exclusively, we estimate an initial cost savings of at least $360,000 on licensing fees.
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Romania's Ministry of Education urges the country's schools to consider switching to open source solutions such as the Ubuntu distribution. This will help the schools to avoid legal problems with using unlicensed copies of proprietary software, the ministry confirmed today.
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A former Romanian secretary of state, Constantin Teodorescu, is calling on the country's public administrations to switch to Linux and other open source solutions. "The Romanian government should contact the budgetary heads at all public administrations and explain that they can switch everything to free software", he writes on his blog on Friday. "Let's get this straight, and end this tragedy".
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The Children's Hospital in Riga, Latvia, is using the Ubuntu Linux distribution for an increasing number of tasks. About half of the hospital's 600 workstations are now running Ubuntu, says Juris Alins, working in the hospital's IT department.
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National Council Of Education, Research and Training (NCERT) has released a notification on their website which promotes the use of Free and Open Source software in Indian schools. This notice is released well in time, as other schools, colleges and government institutions in India are already moving to open source software to save costs and prevent vendor locking. NCERT is responsible for maintaining standards in most government and private schools and educational institutions in India.
Chromebook
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When Google announced Chrome OS, many people scoffed at the viability of a browser-based OS. Currently, however, Chromebooks are among the most popular inexpensive computing devices today. The search giant has done a great job of making an OS that is light enough to function on entry-level Atom-based SOCs and even low-powered ARM silicon. With the launch of many new Chromebooks (click hear to find out which one we think is the best chromebook) we wanted to see if a person could survive with a Chromebook playing games, videos, word processing and more for an entire week. Read on to see how the OS fared against Windows in our seven-day challenge.
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There has been breakthroughs in sales of Chromebooks, with devices selling well in the inexpensive notebook segment in the US, and widely adopted for educational use through government procurement projects, the sources said. Chromebook shipments in 2014 are expected to increase to 4-5 million units, the sources indicated.
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Tango PC, the small form factor desktop rig that can fit in the palm of your hand, was already an impressive concept based on the fact that, despite its size, it’ll be powered by desktop hardware while also booting to traditional desktop operating systems like Windows 7 and Windows 8. On top of that though, Tango also announced that Tango PC owners will also be able to configure their miniature desktop computer to ship with alternative operating systems like Chromium OS and Ubuntu Linux pre-installed.
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Here are four Chrome extensions that make it easier to read web pages on your Chromebook. These extensions will let you skip making the font sizes of web pages larger to improve readability.
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I think computers like Chromebooks are the way of the future, but not because of their operating system - because of their hardware. Relatively low cost laptops with SSDs for storage and an insane battery life are everything I want in a computer.
Skills
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“Enterprises are increasingly describing Linux as a core part of the business,” said Shravan Goli, President of Dice. “In turn, hiring managers are turning up the dial on the incentives offered to technology talent with Linux skills. These professionals are working on projects tightly aligned with a future vision of what enterprises look like.”
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In terms of employers, Yoh's research found that there are 8,000 employers currently hiring for IT jobs with Linux requirements. The companies with the most Linux-related job postings are: Amazon.com, 2,356 jobs; Lockheed Martin, 713; Dell, 679; Northrop Grumman, 569; and Computer Sciences Corporation, 535.
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With large firms making attempts to equip themselves better with the latest technology so as to maintain their edge over the competition; this seems to be a good time to be a technology professional. However, it’s even a better time to be into Linux system administration. How? We will see it here.
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Linux experts get higher pay checks, better opportunities as their skills are still hard-to-find
Recommending GNU/Linux to a Friend
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Based on the figures in LinuxQuestions' Members Choice Awards, 84% of Linux desktop users prefer a classic desktop. By contrast, innovations like GNOME 3 or Ubuntu's Unity lag far behind. Which raises the question: what accounts for the popularity of the classic desktop, and what are the implications for the design of graphical interfaces?
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Last but not least, Starks' article is "wrong a bunch of ways," blogger Robert Pogson told Linux Girl.
In fact, "the Linux kernel is very similar on every distro," he explained. "If there is no driver for some hardware in a particular distro, build a kernel from kernel.org or change hardware.
"You have to get your priorities straight," he added. "Because some manufacturer may not have provided a driver for Linux is no reason not to use Linux. On the other hand, there are dozens of benefits of using GNU/Linux."
In all of Pogson's years of using Linux, "I have only seen a very few pieces of hardware I could not use: two printers, a wireless thingy and that's it," he recounted. "I used to use the Vesa driver if I could not get a driver for some video card. Along the way I have had more than a decade of excellent use of GNU/Linux."
In short, "I would recommend it to a friend," he concluded. "I would recommend Debian GNU/Linux even for a newbie. I would never recommend that other OS for any purpose. It's just too burdensome."
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She was on her computer at home doing something or the other when suddenly things went bad for her. The menu bar and the task bar disappeared, including the “Start” button and she couldn’t close or change anything on her screen. In a panic, she called friends to try to see if she could get guidance to fix it. One friend told her that the same thing had happened to her and it turned out to be a virus. Olivia was told to turn her computer off immediately and reinstall Windows. That was the only way to proceed.
All of her family pictures and all of her files…gone. She and her friend reinstalled Windows and spent the next two days getting her computer back into shape.
When I was giving the keyboard shortcut portion of the class, I noticed Olivia holding her hands over her mouth as her eyes grew wide. I thought she was going to cry. It turns out that Olivia had accidentally hit the F11 key while she was typing. She had no controls, no cues or hints as to how to get her computer screen back to normal. She had no idea she had accidentally hit the F11 key or that hitting it again would return things to normal. When she discovered how easy this was to fix she was both relieved and angry. She even left her seat to come forward and give me a hug as she recounted the story.
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During this period in time, the most common issue I ran into was Windows malware disrupting my client's ability to use their computer(s). After a while of fixing the same old problem, I decided I was ready for a change. During this transitional period, I became more familiar with the various popular Linux distros that were available: Red Hat, Mandrake (Mandriva), and the live Linux CDs that followed a short time later.
Flash forward to now, I use Linux on the desktop almost exclusively. For my day-to-day duties, Linux on the desktop allows me to create written content in addition to occasional video how-to tutorials. I can email, print, scan and store files on my computer in much the same way as those of you who use Windows do. The key difference is that I choose to use an operating system where the key support comes from the community, and not from some large corporation.
Advocacy
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To conclude, my point isn’t whether or not its wise to highlight the failings of one distro compared to another. My point is simply this: Linux Advocacy in its simplest and clearest definition is not MyLinux versus YourLinux. It is simply Advocating the use of Linux.
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I noticed a huge pop in my web stats for today and wondered why. The cause was a link on Tux Machines. There was a recent change of ownership. Now Dr. Roy Schestowitz and Rianne Schestowitz seem to be the main authours. In a couple of days they produced a huge number of informative articles mostly links to diverse sites advocating FLOSS and GNU/Linux. I love it.
Pessimism
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It's always "somewhat interesting and entertaining to see the ebb and flow of the top Linux distributions," said 451 Research's Jay Lyman. "One of the highlights is typically the Linux operating systems with staying power. After years of jockeying, we've seen Ubuntu in the top few distributions consistently for some time, which speaks to its desktop and developer popularity."
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It's long been the case that the world of Linux distributions offers at least one compelling choice for virtually every taste and purpose, but -- much like those dissatisfied with the weather in New England -- users who don't see a distro they like need only wait a few minutes.
We've lost a few distros since 2013 began, but we've also gained some interesting fresh blood. "You win a few, you lose a few," as the old saying goes; fortunately, the overall pool of choices remains as rich and diverse as ever.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Preparations for Our 19th Anniversary Have Already Begun
- When we get back we'll probably sort out some balloons and venue for the next party
- Pleased After 2 Years With team.blue
- Moving from a Content Management System (CMS, dynamic) to a Static Site Generator (SSG) was a wise decision that made life so much easier
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is Being Attacked by Organisations Jealous of Its Principled Stance and Longevity
- Nobody is perfect, but imperfection does not instantaneously imply sinister intent
- Many Microsoft "Assets" Are Fabricated Baloney (to Game the Numbers)
- At times it seems like what we deal with are many weak patents (on algorithms), valuations or speculations based on hype ("hey hi"), and stocks held by Microsoft and its own staff
- "Internal Changes at Red Hat / IBM"
- It seems like quite a few people are leaving
- Confirmed in French Media: Mass Layoffs (10% Culled) in Microsoft France
- Now some reports in French
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- Gemini Links 03/09/2025: calendar.txt, Alhena 5.3.1, and ROOPHLOCH
- Links for the day
- The Theory That the Man From McKinsey, Whom Red Hat Took From Microsoft a Month Ago as Executive, Wants 'Efficiency' (Lower Salaries)
- So far... no "official" word
- When Your Site's Articles Are Being 'Cheapened' by Slop as Feature Images
- Dr. Farnell should become an advisor to The Register MS
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- It used to have hundreds, according to Lupa
- Doing to Red Hat What They Already Did (and Still Do) to IBM
- there seems to be a drive to hire cheaper staff, and it may be led by somebody Red Hat hired from Microsoft
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- Links for the day
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- Gemini Protocol is still open; it cannot be hijacked or subverted because it's frozen by design and by intention
- Open Source Initiative IRS Filing: Almost All the Money is Corporate, Stefano Maffuli (Executive Director) Takes About a Quarter of That Money for Openwashing of "AI" Ponzi Scheme
- OSI is currently little but a PR/marketing agency of Microsoft
- Many People Are "Leaving" Red Hat, Even High-Level Managers
- Something is definitely going on at Red Hat
- Techrights Has Been Subjected to Calls of Violence (and Death Threats), It Never Condoned Violence
- I have no sympathy for people who call violence "free speech" and then get in trouble
- Condoning Violent Behaviour and "Free Speech"
- perhaps Microsoft Lunduke lost touch with what constitutes violence
- Takeaway From the Google Verdict: GAFAM Has Too Much Control (Even Over the US Government and Courts With Government Appointees)
- Many people feel disappointed but hardly surprised by the verdict
- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 in One Month
- As noted a few days ago, several times in fact, many people now recognise the importance of the FSF's mission, even if most people don't know what the FSF is
- "Voluntary" Layoffs at Microsoft (to Game the Numbers, Sugar-Coating a Crisis)
- "Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer."
- Over at Tux Machines...
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- Links for the day
- "People on LinkedIn Saying That They've Left Red Hat."
- We already saw signs of it a month ago and named some of the people
- Gone With the BRICs (or BRICS): "Linux 8" in Cuba
- GAFAM must be worried
- Telecompaper Reports Microsoft to Reduce the Workforce by Another 10% (in France)
- Imagine what this will do to staff's morale
- Microsoft in Freefall in Finland
- Can Finland eradicate Windows from all its infrastructure, including core operations that are sensitive to sabotage by cracking?
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- The Web is quickly becoming devoid of any standards
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- For Microsoft, India is a runaway market
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- The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
- A "9/11" Coming
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- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
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- IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
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- Only fools would trust GAFAM
- Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
- This can end up costing them over a million dollars
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- We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
- Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
- We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
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- It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
- When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
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- There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
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- Links for the day
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- Links for the day
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- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
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