GNU/Linux Rising: Relevant News Items From March
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-19 19:12:45 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-19 19:12:45 UTC
Desktop
I'm sure there will be objections from people who want to define "the year of the Linux desktop" differently. There will be those fans of GNU/Linux distributions like Ubuntu who will object that the Linux Desktop has not arrived until we're all running KDE and Gnome. I fear those folks have a while to wait. Others will object because there are still so many copies of Windows and new PCs are still shipping with Windows. That's a fair point, but I believe even those users are actually Linux Desktop users. As I argued last year, Linux has already won on the Windows desktop.
Eurocom sent out a news release that beginning today they will be offering choices of operating systems in their line of GPU-upgradeable, high-performance, professional laptops. Besides the high-end laptop line-up, they will also be offering Linux options for their lightweight notebooks.
If your office runs 24/7, you'll have to do the migration in stages. You may have to migrate servers one at a time, and migrate departments group by group. So, some work gets paused, but most of your business will run during the entire migration process.
Linux has a reputation for being designed for geeks only, but that’s old history. Many modern Linux distributions exceed the user-friendliness of XP, and they’re free to download. If you don’t like the feel of one, you can easily switch to another. What’s more, each Linux distribution comes loaded with useful software such as productivity suites, modern browsers like Chrome or Firefox, and photo and music management apps.
"This is a subject very near and dear to me," Linux Rants blogger Mike Stone told Linux Girl over a fresh Tequila Tux down at the blogosphere's Punchy Penguin Saloon.
Though Stone spent several years teaching "how to" computer courses for faculty and staff at a local university back in the 90s, "all those years barely prepared me for my greatest challenge: my own mother," he said.
To wit: After buying his parents a Windows 95 computer way back when, "I sat her down and showed her how to use the basic hardware," he explained. Yet "even after hours a day over the course of weeks, the computer was too much for her. Windows just had too many options, and she kept getting herself into places she couldn't get out of.
"I literally spent years looking for environments that would make her comfortable," Stone went on. "She went through the Windows OSes (95, 98, ME and finally XP) and some Linuxes -- Red Hat first and then a couple variations of Ubuntu. She always found ways to get herself into trouble."
I’ve been a computer user since around 1991, when we got our first PC, a Tandy from Radio Shack (almost $1,000), which came with Windows 3.1. Since then I’ve used each and every version of that operating system (OS), and still do. But at home and for personal use, it’s Linux for me. Why? Well that’s a question with many answers.
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The biggest driving factor for software developers to work together with open source is cost. It is much cheaper for them to cooperate through open source than it is to remain isolated with proprietary software, asserted Inktank VP of Product Management Neil Levine. "You can no longer rely on one particular vendor to provide everything you need with regard to technology."
After the Desktop
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QOOQ is a durable tablet designed for use in then kitchen. It's even got its very own Linux-based OS...
There was a time, back before smartphones and tablets, when most of us used, at most, only three operating systems.
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For months now David Herrmann has been working on a new project known as OpenWFD for open-source WiFi displays on Linux. OpenWFD is an open-source implementation of the WiFi Display Standard / Miracast. That work is now showing success and as part of that Herrmann has just announced Miraclecast as a component to providing open-source Miracast/WFD support on the Linux desktop.
Chromebook
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Chromebooks are making a big statement in the laptop world: NPD Group Inc. reported that Chromebook sales accounted for 21 percent of all notebook sales last year. For devices that are functionally little different from tablets — designed for basic tasks like checking email and web browsing — they're growing fast. Even as the tablet market continues to grow, capturing 22 percent of the entire personal computing market just last year, Chromebooks are giving people an alternative to rectangular touch screens.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Professor Eben Moglen on How Social Control Media Metabolises Humans and Constrains Freedom of Thought
- Nothing of value would be lost if all these data-harvesting giants (profiling people) vanished overnight
- Debian Left Twitter (MElon "X"), We Think the Free Software Foundation (FSF) Should Do the Same
- What would the FSF really lose if it stopped posting there?
- Tons of Anti-Linux 'Articles' Published by Bots (LLMs), Maybe Microsoft's
- Upon closer inspection, all this FUD turned out to be LLM garbage
- Ubuntu Desktop Director of Engineering Has Only One Blog Post. It Promotes Microsoft Windows.
- Remember that even 15 years ago (more or less, maybe 16 years ago) Canonical appointed a a 'former' Microsoft manager (Spencer) to lead Ubuntu on the desktop
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- Links 07/02/2025: US 'Demolition Crew', e-ID Loopholes, and Sanctions
- Links for the day
- Social Control Media is Narcissism
- Nowadays there's a lot more literature and even press coverage explaining the harms of Social Control Media
- statCounter Sees GNU/Linux Share Doubling in China Over the Past Year
- It'll be interesting to see what data in the coming months shows
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 06, 2025
- IRC logs for Thursday, February 06, 2025
- Richard Stallman (RMS) Confirms Next Week's Talk in Europe
- He gave at least 2 talks in Europe last month
- Nationalism As A Service (NaaS) by Microsoft Azure, Gutting the US Government for Profit
- Will Microsoft be receiving bailouts as a reward for all this?
- Rumours of IBM Layoffs Apparently Confirmed Yesterday, IBM Canada Consulting Impacted (as Rumoured)
- when IBM has layoffs we must also read it as Red Hat layoffs
- Gemini Links 06/02/2025: Voicemail Sucks and Night of Lights
- Links for the day
- Links 06/02/2025: YouTube Takedowns Out of Control, 'DOGE' Breaking Laws
- Links for the day
- IBM Red Hat on "era of cloud computing", pushing "hey hi" (AI) hype in Microsoft Azure
- LLM slop might actually be more benign than Microsoft promotion
- Corruption and Rule-Breaking Prevail at the European Patent Office (EPO), Europe's Second-Largest Institution
- The law does not really exist at the EPO; it can be perceived as merely a "recommendation"
- statCounter: More Countries Where Windows is Around 1% "Market Share" (People Have Moved to Android/Linux)
- in some nations Windows is already 1% or less
- 404 Media Says "Workers at NASA Told to Drop Everything to Scrub Mentions of Indigenous People, Women from Its Websites" But There's Also Accessibility in the Firing Line
- In the case of abandoning accessibility, everyone stands to be hurt and proprietary software can be brought in to replace standards
- When BetaNews Writes Real Articles About "Linux" They Promote Windows
- The Web is in a bad state. We need to at least try to correct this.
- Gemini Links 06/02/2025: Cynicism and "Real Magic on the C64"
- Links for the day
- Links 06/02/2025: New Sanctions, Layoffs, and Executive Orders
- Links for the day
- Distros and Desktop Environments, Devices
- GNU/Linux focused
- New Rumours of IBM Layoffs in 2025, IBM Consulting Still Struggles, Based on Management
- "Hey hi" (AI) has been a common excuse for business failure
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 05, 2025
- IRC logs for Wednesday, February 05, 2025
- Links 05/02/2025: Kessler Syndrome and News Online
- Links for the day
- statCounter: Monaco Now 7% GNU/Linux ("Proper")
- GNU/Linux, not counting Chromebooks, is on the rise
- Many Parts of Google Lose Money
- It's quite apparent that many parts of Google - even some that rely on ad revenue or push ads - aren't profiting
- European Internet Forum (EIF) is Dominated by American Corporations and Microsoft Lobbyists, Staff Take the Lead
- Should the officials over here or the European Parliament pay attention to these people?
- Links 05/02/2025: Connection without Connectivity and Unionised Grocery Workers
- Links for the day
- Just Because People on Top of the Microsoft Pyramid Made a Lot of Money Doesn't Mean Microsoft is Wealthy
- The bigger they are the harder they fall
- Gemini Links 05/02/2025: Learning, Madman Ruling a Mad Country, Back in Geminispace
- Links for the day
- statCounter Shows "WIntel" Chasing a Dying Market
- Microsoft acts as if it's running out of money
- Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Still Raising Money, Richard Stallman Contributes
- total exceeding $430k
- A Lot of Stuff About "Linux" in Google News is LLM Slop, Fake 'Articles'
- It seems to be getting worse
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 04, 2025
- IRC logs for Tuesday, February 04, 2025