Flickr user José put together this good-looking Linux Mint desktop. It features media controls and a simple launcher at the bottom. Here’s how he set it all up.
THE impetus to learn Linux has never been stronger, given recent industry trends.
Computerworld reported in February that the demand for Linux skills is rising in the United States, and that Linux-certified IT professionals generally get fatter paychecks than most.
Now, thanks to the Linux Foundation, anyone who has an interest in learning about the popular operating system can sign up for free to join Introduction to Linux, a massive open online course on the edX online learning platform.
To explain the idea briefly, a kernel module effectively adds a new piece of functionality to your computer. Linux operating systems start out as a blank slate, which means if you want to connect a new device for example, you need the corresponding kernel module. In the case of Netcat, their module contained their new music, and let you listen to it via your operating system.
Tired of running Android on your Google Nexus 7 tablet? You could give Ubuntu a try… or you can take SlateKit Base for a spin. This weekend the developers launched a technical preview of the Linux-based operating system for Google’s 2013 tablet.
The third iteration of Ubuntu Kylin released just last month and has already reached 1 million downloads. All versions are a desktop replacement based on Ubuntu Linux specifically geared toward Chinese users. The name Kylin comes from a FreeBSD operating system that was originally built for the Chinese Government between 2001 and 2013, and during its final years was rebranded as NeoKylin and moved to the Linux kernel.
I was at the OpenStack Summit this week. The overwhelming majority of OpenStack deployments are Linux-based, yet the most popular laptop vendor (by a long way) at the conference was Apple. People are writing code with the intention of deploying it on Linux, but they're doing so under an entirely different OS.
When Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu Linux, made his keynote speech at OpenStack Summit in Atlanta, he announced many new Ubuntu OpenStack cloud and Juju DevOps initiatives.
The Linux Foundation has added three significant names to the list of channel partners that support the non-profit consortium for advancing open source software: Rackspace (RAX), CoreOS and Cumulus Networks are now members of the Foundation, adding to its strengths in networking and cloud computing.
On Friday the Tux3 file-system was called for review and offered to the mainline Linux kernel. Tux3 has been under development for more than six years but it seems that even after all this time and improvements, the code quality still isn't the best and the work is being scrutinized.
XFS developer Dave Chinner came out Sunday afternoon criticizing the Tux3 code. Dave began, "I had a quick look at the code. This is not a code review - it's a message to tell everyone else not to waste their time looking at the code right now..."
We're anxious to test out Intel's next-generation Broadwell processors but it doesn't look like they'll be out in time for "back to school" shopping but should certainly arrive in time for the holidays.
jAlbum, a suite of tools that can be used by photographers, various organizations, or casual users has received a small maintenance update. This is nowhere large enough for compare with the version 12, which was a massive upgrade for the application.
You may remember the time when you could get disks with Ubuntu for free. I personally have one copy for my memories! Unfortunately, Canonical withdrawn that offer long ago.
Developer Andrea Scarpino announced the availability of KDE Frameworks 5 packages for Arch Linux. Currently the packages are available in the extra repository of Arch.
Users can install the under-development version of KDE Frameworks 5 side by side with KDE 4 from the Beta 2 stage. To make this possible the packages are installed under /usr instead of /opt/kf5 as it used to be on the Arch User Repository (AUR) previously. Till date the only exception was the kactivities component because both KDE Frameworks and KDE 4 ship a kactivitymanagerd binary. To make them co-install now both the packages from KDE4 and KDE Frameworks install a kactivities virtual package on the same system under the /usr directory. The packages are grouped into two parts: kf5 and kf5-aids (PortingAids).
Red Hat said it provides commercial support for its Linux distribution regardless of which version of OpenStack its customers are using, rejecting a report to the contrary from earlier Wednesday.
"To be clear, users are free to deploy Red Hat Enterprise Linux with any OpenStack offering, and there is no requirement to use our OpenStack technologies to get a Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription," Paul Cormier, Red Hat president for products and technologies, said in a blog post.
Canonical is building the most used Linux distribution for the desktop, but it’s also making one of the most successful operating systems for servers. The fact that Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Openstack and Ubuntu’s orchestration tool, Juju, is running the most powerful supercomputer in the world.
Canonical published some details yesterday about a libxml2 vulnerability in its Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating systems.
Dual-booting Canonical's Ubuntu Linux and Android on tablets and smartphones has moved a small step closer to reality with the release of a new version of the Ubuntu Dual Boot Installer. Codenamed M9, the release offers support for Ubuntu OS upgrades, along with a slew of other enhancements.
The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 17 “Qiana” MATE RC.
The first and last pre-stable version of what will become Linux Mint 17 has been released. It will be code-named Qiana and will be an LTS (Long-term Support) release, supported until 2019. Released installation images are for Cinnamon and MATE desktop environment only and are based on Ubuntu 14.04.
The list of new features for both desktops is impressive and I think fans of Linux Mint will love Qiana even more than previous versions. While we await the release of the stable version, which should be available in about a month, here are several screenshots from test installations I set up yesterday.
This review is aimed at people who have heard of Linux Mint but who haven't yet given it a go.
If you are a Windows user and you are indecisive about whether Linux is really for you then this review might help you in your decision making process.
I am not advocating that you replace Windows right now with Linux Mint 16 as you would be better off waiting for Linux Mint 17 whereby you would have a supported operating system for years to come...
The Release Candidate for Linux Mint 17 (Qiana) was released a few days ago. A lot of people have been looking forward to this release, and I am one of them. So I have downloaded both the Cinnamon and MATE versions, and installed them on several of my laptops and netbooks. As is pretty much always the case with Mint, everything went very smoothly, and it all appears to work very well.
There's been many requests to run some new OpenGL and 2D performance benchmarks under different Linux desktop environments. With the imminent release of Linux Mint 17 and it shipping the latest version of the increasingly-popular Cinnamon Desktop Environment, here's a six-way desktop performance comparison using Intel graphics on Linux Mint 17.
UAVs, also known as unmanned aerial systems (UASes), have attracted industry attention for their ability to provide birds-eye views that would otherwise require expensive, noisy manned flights. Meanwhile, consumers can now spend a few hundred dollars to fly their own spy drones via smartphone apps. Despite the excitement, there's an equal degree of concern about the potential loss of privacy -- and if you live in the wrong valley in Yemen or Pakistan, perhaps loss of life.
The smartwatch market is continuing to grow and with Google I/O next month Android Wear will likely be a force to reckon with. Samsung currently dominates the smartwatch market thanks to its marketing power.
The UK government has published guidance recommending that Samsung Knox is used on devices running Android 4.3 in order to keep communication secure within the public sector.
When it comes to home screen flexibility, the iPhone is even less flexible than the Palm handhelds were back in the 1990s. By comparison, the iPhone is positively regressive.
The competition for the company's new ArcBook is decidely less intense. Thus far, Lenovo's IdeaPad A10 is probably the highest profile Android notebook, though HP is apparently readying the Slatebook 14 for release soon. Lenovo is selling the A10 directly in the UK for 179 pounds, but it's only available in the U.S. as a pricey import. In comparison, the ArcBook will cost just $169.99, less than the Chromebooks it will ostensibly compete against.
If you ask users of the Firefox browser why they use it, a lot of them will say that they have favorite extensions that work with it. And, among those popular extensions, AdBlock Plus is among the most popular of all. However, a post from Mozilla's Nicholas Nethercote claims that the almost 19 million users of AdBlock Plus don't realize that bugs and some design aspects of the extension can cause it to guzzle memory, potentially slowing computers down.
Allan Clark, chairman of the board at the OpenStack Foundation, discusses new initiatives from the open-source cloud platform.
Last week was OpenStack Summit in Atlanta, and there were enough big headlines to guarantee that OpenStack is going to remain one of the biggest technology stories of this year. In conjunction with the summit, there was a survey on how organizations are implementing OpenStack, what platforms they're using with it, and more. And, as was found in a previous survey done by the OpenStack Foundation, respondents reported that Ubuntu is by far the most prevalently used operating system with OpenStack.
The open source OpenStack cloud platform is not a hobbyist project, it's a technology platform that is powering major brands today. That's the message coming loud and clear from the OpenStack Summit here in Atlanta.
What are we to make of Oracle announcing support for an open stack of cloud foundation software for its distribution of Linux and Xen? Are we seeing a culture clash?
GhostBSD is a desktop distribution that’s based on FreeBSD. The core developers are from Canada, so I think it ok to call it a Canadian distribution. The only article I’ve written about this distribution was a review of GhostBSD 2.5 back in February 2012 (see GhostBSD 2.5 review). I wasn’t impressed.
But that was then, this is now. The third alpha of what will become GhostBSD 4.0 was released a few days ago. To see how far the distribution has come since the 2.5 edition, I downloaded and installed it from a DVD image in a virtual environment. I’m still not terribly impressed, though I realize the this is only a third alpha release. The following screenshots were taken from that test installation.
This is what the boot menu looks like. This needs to change. Even PC-BSD, another FreeBSD-based distribution, has abandoned this bland boot menu.
23. The free software movement (1983)
Early AI Lab programmer Richard Stallman was a major pioneer in hacker culture and started the freesoftware movement by launching the GNU operating system, a compatible replacement for the (nonfree) Unix OS. The last gap in GNU was filled by the kernel Linux, yielding the widely used GNU/Linux system.
Advocates of Free Software aren’t made in a single night. When it comes to computers, software, and digital art, inspiration and motivation are of utmost importance. Terry Hancock, part owner of Anansi Spaceworks and Free Software Magazine columnist, was surrounded by all three growing up.
Before open data, there was FOIA. Beginning in 1967, the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) empowered the public to request access to government documents. Unfortunately, some branches of government quickly began to push back, and within the decade the infamous phrase "can neither confirm nor deny" had been devised to avoid releasing information.
This came to exemplify the adversarial relationship between the public and government. Yet public records requests (also known as FOIL, Right-to-Know, public information or open records requests, depending on where you are) remain a fundamental way in which the public is able to obtain information from government agencies under FOIA-like laws in all fifty states.
They open up areas struck by digital exclusion. They develop autonomous Internet networks in mountainous areas, install organic solar panels, and let local Internet radio emerge. They can even transform abandoned water troughs into eco-jacuzzis. "Hackerspaces," user-friendly spaces where technological tools are crafted, are spreading throughout the rural environment.
Drafting and using open licenses for data and hardware presents both familiar old challenges (like license proliferation) and new challenges (like less developed legal frameworks and different production models). About thirty people working in these areas recently gathered (under the umbrella of the FSF-E's "European Legal Network") to discuss the latest work in these areas under the Chatham House Rules. This article will summarize what the group learned, and, I hope, stimulate discussion to improve the state of licensing in those areas.
The Mamba3D printer is an affordable, high quality, all-metal, open source 3D-printer raising funds on kickstarter.
OK kids, so I had a bit of time recently. I've been hacking on Guile's new CPS-based compiler, which should appear in a stable release in a few months. I have a few things to write about, but today's article is on effects analysis.
While many are still trying to figure out Cloud Computing, here comes a rival concept – Fog Computing. It’s computing that takes place at the edge of the network, closer to home. That is, computing that takes place on the devices that are nearest to you – your smartphone and other connected devices that are around you. The so-called Internet of Things (IoT), or Internet of Everything (IoE).
Fog Computing is not a new concept. Like Cloud Computing, it’s just a marketing buzzword for something that’s already taking place.
That’s one of the messages from a Senate hearing Thursday into a VA health-care system under fire on multiple fronts — from repeated complaints about long waits for service to unnecessary deaths.
Yet even the American Legion, which has called for VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki’s resignation, finds “veterans are extremely satisfied with their health-care team and medical providers,” according to the Legion’s national commander, Daniel M. Dellinger.
One recent Friday afternoon, in a Mariott Hotel ballroom in Pomona, California, I watched two women skeptically evaluate their McDonald's lunches. One peered into a plastic bowl containing a salad of lettuce, bacon, chicken, cheese, and ranch dressing. The other arranged two chocolate chip cookies and a yogurt parfait on a napkin. "Eww," she said, gingerly stirring the layers of yogurt and pink strawberry goop. The woman with the salad nodded in agreement, poking at a wan chicken strip with her plastic fork.
While salaries for the top 25 highest-paid public-research-university presidents have swelled in recent years, student debt and faculty-disenfranchisement problems have grown, says a new study.
The European Court of Justice has concluded that Google has to delete search results linking to outdated but lawful content in order to protect the data protection rights of individuals.
We handed in our tax data sell-off petition to HMRC earlier today, along with ORG Advisory Council member Julian Huppert MP and campaign groups 38 Degrees and SumofUs. The Guardian's just put a story up covering the petition hand-in.
Looking for an honest US Senator my be a long shot, but we need one now to take forward the foiling of the British government’s attempts to block publication of the Senate report into torture and extraordinary rendition. Now we have got this into the mainstream media, it may have more traction. I am delighted that the Belhadj legal team have formally adopted the information that the UK is seeking to block release of key information in this report. Given that the Crown’s defence in the Belhadj case rests entirely on the argument that the USA does not want the facts revealed, that the Crown is then lobbying the USA to hide the same facts ought to be too much even for the most abject establishment lickspittle of a judge to stomach.
Today, a coalition of 36 civil rights organisations invites European citizens to take part in a day of action to make sure that the next European Parliament defends digital civil and human rights. Through WePromise.eu, people can pledge to vote for candidates who have signed up to protect digital rights.
While the debate over net neutrality continues to rage in the United States, the British government is planning to block European Union legislation on the matter.
It’s a surprising turn of events. Just last month, the European Parliament voted to place the principles of net neutrality into law. However, before it becomes law throughout Europe, each member country must also pass the legislation. On Thursday, the British government indicated it may veto it instead.
At issue is a new provision that critics argue would restrict the British government’s “ability to block illegal material.” The amendment made it so that only a court order would allow for the banning of content, and not a legislative provision, as originally proposed, according to RT.
As we noted, yesterday's FCC vote concerning the NPRM on "open internet" rules was really just the start of the process. A lot of people seem confused by this -- and part of the problem is really the FCC. Tom Wheeler keeps insisting that the rules are designed to protect net neutrality and the open internet, but as lots of people keep pointing out, the rulemaking he's proposing would likely do the opposite. Because of that, you get a ton of confusion, perhaps best shown by a simple comparison, put together by Drew Oden on Twitter of the summary from both the NY Times and the Washington Post about what happened:
But, tragically, the powers that be among the legacy entertainment industry still seem to view net neutrality as a problem, not an important part of their future. It appears this is a combination of a few factors, led by their continued and irrational fear of "piracy." Because of this, they seem to think that any sort of "open" internet is a problem. In fact, back in 2007, the MPAA specifically argued that net neutrality would harm its anti-piracy efforts. Similarly, both the RIAA and MPAA have lobbied strongly in the past for special loopholes and exceptions to any net neutrality rules that would allow ISPs to block content the legacy guys don't like. In fact, one of the most famous net neutrality violations involved Comcast throttling BitTorrent connections. The Songwriters Guild of America once claimed that net neutrality would mean an end to songwriting.
The cable industry has not been shy about handing out campaign donations to Congress. So guess who's sending letters to the FCC arguing against Net neutrality?
The MPAA is urging lawmakers to protect young Americans from the "numerous hazards on pirate sites." The movie industry group believes that young people may not be aware of the risks they face when visiting these sites and hopes that Senators will be able to address this cyber threat appropriately.
There is a direct connection between copyright monopoly enforcement and mass surveillance, and between mass surveillance and lack of free speech. If you want to keep free speech, the copyright monopoly must be reduced sharply.