The ix2 software itself is based upon a Linux shell, called LifeLine, which has been localized in 11 languages, according to Iomega.
A few days ago the second beta of Amarok 2 was finally released. I have to admit that a year ago I was looking forward for the final release. But now… I’m not at all (I guess it is because of Songbird).
Theodore Ts'o has renamed the Ext4 filesystem, for which he has been responsible for source and documentation, from extdev to ext4. Linus Torvalds has also incorporated the change into his personal source tree for the upcoming Kernel 2.6.28.
The overall goal of the LSB is all about portability - write once for LInux and have your app run on any distro. It's a worthy goal for sure though a difficult one. That said, the Linux Foundation is already claiming a degree of early success with the LSB 4.0 beta. They claim that there are already some 234 applications that are at or nearly ready for LSB 4.0 certification..not too shabby.
Red hat and Dell have announced an alliance that will see the systems giant offer the new midrange Red Hat Application Appliance.
Analysis: Red Hat, Canonical and Novell are enhancing the security features in their Fedora, Ubuntu and OpenSUSE Linux distributions, which are all slated for release later in 2008.
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What's more, full-disk encryption, unlocked by a single pass key, poses problems for multiuser machines, in which the disk unlocking is an all-or-nothing proposition, as opposed to a user-by-user measure.
As implemented in Ubuntu 8.10, the encrypted private directory feature creates a folder—labeled "Private"—in users' home directories. The system automatically encrypts files placed in this directory and unlocks the directory upon user log-on.
Once installed it offers a choice of desktops, including a 3D interface for those with a powerful enough graphics card and computer. If you are unsure which program replaces a Windows one, Mandriva has provided a list of major programs in both.
The take up of Linux-powered netbooks shows many people aren't wedded to using the same OS on every computer, particularly if all their data is stored in the cloud. If punters take a gamble on a cheap Linux netbook and like what they see, they'll be more likely to try Linux on their other computers.
DS: What’s the deal with your Linux switch? You used to be a Mac guy, right? CD: Yup, I mean, obviously, always Linux on the server, yeah, but I was always Mac on the desktop for a long time, starting with Apple II Plusses in 1979, and then Macs all my life—one or two a year minimum over the years.
DS: What prompted the switch, and what do you think so far? CD: Well, there are a couple things—the DRM stuff keeps getting worse and worse. It seems like every time I turned around, Apple is doing something with its OS to add more bullshit to it. More DRM, more controls on how users use it....They’re anti-features. There’s no customer who woke up this morning and said, “Gosh, I wish there was a way I could do less with my music this morning—I hope there’s an iTunes update waiting for me.”
So, it just seemed to me, increasingly, that Apple wasn’t making computers to suit my needs; they were making computers to suit the needs of some theoretical entertainment giant. And, you know, I think that’s their business if they want to do it, but they’re not a charity, so if they don’t want to make the stuff I want to buy, I don’t have to buy it. Which is exactly what I did—I stopped buying it.
