Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 27/09/2009: Qt 4.6 Demo; Ubuntu Netbook Remix Karmic



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • Linux: My Mouse Ate My Homework!
    One of the biggest challenges with using Ubuntu on a MacBook is getting used to all the "fun features" offered by the Synaptics touchpad, especially if you have big, clumsy hands like I do.


  • Importance of Labs in Linux Training
    Having many labs, some of our manuals have 60 labs, are essential for learning in small segments. Labs should provide clear directions on how to accomplish precise goals. The labs need to lead the student on a road that they clearly understand leads to success. Having created labs to be used in a training situation over 11 years now, one thing I learned was that the labs need to be short, something that can be accomplished in 15-20 minutes. That length of time provides a challenge and offers reward based on one goal not multiple goals. One thing that I have seen with the 45 minute labs is that some students struggle early in the lab and bail out by not finishing the lab. Face it, learning Linux, especially from the command line is a real challenge for today’s graphically orientated users.


  • The First Geek Wedding At a LinuxFest
    At the Ohio LinuxFest yesterday, two Linux geeks were married — or had their projects merged into a single trunk, as the officiant, Lord Drachenblut, put it. The wedding of Randy Noseworthy (proprietor of the Juiced Penguin) and Janet Edmonson was announced last week and was live-tweeted by at least one attendee — here's his photo of the happy couple.


  • Is Linux the New Threat?
    Thus I am now starting to wonder if at the end of this recession it will be Linux that will become a dominate operating system? I am thinking that Linux in conjunction with Google are going to be the next juggernaut. I know Nokia with its N900 has completely jumped on the bandwagon with Linux.

    Does this mean I will buy Redhat at these lofty levels? No. But it does mean I am kicking myself for not paying more attention to Redhat.


  • The best place for Linux
    These needs could be financial, philosophical, technological or even educational (lets just call them al :). For financial I don't just mean struggling businesses or people. Countries and governments also have a financial need. This was one of the reasons behind the OLPC project. Poor and third world countries can greatly benefit from Linux to help give them a leg up into the modern world.


  • Proposed Process Changes For X Server 1.8
    Peter Hutterer, who has been working on the X.Org input code for some time and is the developer behind MPX, late into the X.Org 7.5 release cycle decided to step up to the plate and personally get this important X.Org update out the door. Peter is not stopping after X Server 1.7, but has already made a proposal regarding the release and development changes going forward for X Server 1.8 and into the future.




  • Applications

    • 9 of the Best Free Linux Groupware Software
      Groupware software (or collaborative software) is designed to enable users to collaborate, regardless of location, via the internet or a corporate intranet and to work together in a virtual atmosphere.

      In an organisation, productivity rests on the intranet, and a groupware or collaboration server is what helps to make the intranet productive. This type of software provides critical services like email and address books, and establish communication via instant messaging.


    • Linux Alternatives to Popular Apps
      Linux is quickly gaining popularity, but there are still many users afraid to convert as they are not familiar with the applications.


    • Clipboard management with Linux
      In fact you will always need one on your Linux box.


    • Chromium Linux now has flash support out of the box
      Although it was already possible to enable Flash support in Chromium quite easily, the developers have now implemented the Flash player out of the box so you won't have to configure anything after installing it.


    • Heroes of Newerth Preview
      I meant to post this quite some time ago, but that’s moving for you: Rock, Paper, Shotgun posted a preview of Heroes of Newerth, the DoTA-inspired multiplayer strategy game from the Linux-friendly developers S2 Games.








  • Audiocast

    • Episode 120: Two funny Accents in one Show!
      This week you’ll get both hosts of the show in one package. Philippe (southern France) and I (northern Germany) discuss the results of the Double Book Challenge in the “From Scratch” section. We use Skype and the connection is not as good as we were used to it between Chile and Germany. So expect some funny noises added to the accents.


    • 2009 Show Notes €· Going Linux Podcast
      Here you will find links to the topics we cover as well as links to software, websites articles, and other resources mentioned in the episodes of Going Linux.


    • LinuxCon Audio Diary 3
      I recorded it in Portland a couple of days ago but there was some trouble with my server and I had a lot of traveling to do, so the release has been delayed.


    • Linux Advertises on the Radio
      Just recently, an advertisement has been running on Texas Radio stations for Linux! It explains what Linux is, why it’s awesome, and where to find more info!








  • K Desktop Environment

    • Cuteness 4.6
      Seven days after the release of the Tech Preview 1, we released the latest stable Windows build of Fotowall [1] that was based on Qt 4.6. Somebody could argue that this is a bit imprudent. We did that because the benefits of the 4.6 release are worth the risk of the move!


    • Howto integrate KDE into your life
      Practical ideas on howto integrate KDE into your offline existence

      ------------------------------------------------ Short list (for people with short attention span, like me)

      0. Talk to other kde people 1. Kde-understanding and/or patient surroundings 2. Do not work overtime 3. Kde thought-integration 4. Prioritize








  • Distributions

    • Distro Hoppin`: PCLinuxOS 2009.2
      I've always felt that PCLOS was receiving too much hype for what it was worth, but man was I mistaken. I love living on the bleeding-edge of software and PCLinuxOS 2009.2 certainly caters to that.




    • Ubuntu Family

      • Ubuntu business model- a misunderstood concept
        Canonical, the business arm of Ubuntu, has one of the most promising business models in the Linux world, and also the most misunderstood. First of all, Ubuntu is in a market termed by economists as a perfectly competitive market. This means that it cannot charge any price beyond that which is determined by the market. The only way to make profit, as has rightly been identified by Canonical is to create an ecosystem of products and services around Ubuntu, which would complement the functions of the OS.


      • Canonical/Ubuntu CEO Mark Shuttleworth Visits Dell
        Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical and Ubuntu, sat for a video interview with Dell Cloud Computing Evangelist Barton George. In it, Shuttleworth takes a “service pack” shot at Windows 7 and covers numerous questions about Canonical’s business and cloud strategy. Here’s the video — plus some perspectives from WorksWithU.


      • Ubuntu Software Store Renamed
        The new "Ubuntu Software Store" has been renamed to “Ubuntu Software Center” - caving in to users dissatisfaction over the choice of name.


      • Full Circle Magazine: Issue 29 is here!
        This month, you’ll get:

        * Command and Conquer * How-To: Program in Python – Part 3, LAMP Server – Part 2, Virtual Private Networking. * My Story – One Man’s Journey, and Walk With Ubuntu. * Review – Kompozer. * MOTU Interview – Iulian Udrea. * Top 5 – Physics Games. * Ubuntu Games, as well as all the usual goodness!


      • Misconceptions about Ubuntu Linux
        Linux has been an emerging operating system for quite some time now, but its use has been limited mostly to back office servers, embedded devices, and geeks. More recently, Ubuntu linux has taken the lead in the desktop Linux area. Many enthusiasts hope that Ubuntu will revolutionize the way we use our computers. Unfortunately, with all the hype there are a lot of misconceptions about Ubuntu and Linux in general and I thought I’d take some time to expose them.


      • Linux: Gloobus - Quicklook for Ubuntu


      • Lucid Lynx – What We Know So Far
        Lucid In Summary: -

        * Stick using Gnome 2.0 * “Sleek and stylish” new theme. * Harnessing the power of Upstart * Few new “features” * Stable * Bigger better Software Centre replacing, well, everything. * User Interface Improvements * Implement features that weren't able to make it into Karmic (Wine Integration, Gwibber, etc)












  • Devices/Embedded

    • Embedded Linux for x86
      Emlix, a company specializing in providing free and open software, embedded, has prepared a package of BSP (Board Support Package), designed for devices equipped with x86 processors.




    • Phones

      • Operating Systems that power your mobile phones – 3
        Openmoko is a geek’s delight. Its not yet targeted at general users and is currently recommended to advanced users only (read developers and techies!).

        Its got everything a geek could dream of (well almost everything)








    • Sub-notebooks

      • Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix Is Looking Great
        Our final write-up regarding Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix and the Moblin Netbook Remix will come in October. Beta releases of all the distributions in the Ubuntu family are planned for the first of October followed by the final releases on the 29th of October.


      • Ubuntu Netbook Remix Karmic
        UNR Karmic contains both the excellent Messaging and Session Indicators. The message indicator allows you to quickly see how many unread emails/IM messages/Twitter replies you have. The session indicator allows you to easily set your IM presence and also lets you switch users (if you hardware supports it) and log out easily.


      • Jolicloud brings the stupidity of web apps to Linux netbooks.
        There may well be something I'm not getting here, but I honestly can't see what the big deal is about this new Jolicloud distro.

        I should point out that my experience was with an installation of Jolicloud within Easy Peasy, another netbook Linux with Ubuntu Netbook Remix. But I did try out Jolicloud proper on a previous occasion, and it didn't seem any different...












Free Software/Open Source

  • Joomla! Overview
    To get the perfect Web site with all the functionality that you require for your particular application may take additional time and effort, but with the Joomla! Community support that is available and the many Third Party Developers actively creating and releasing new Extensions for the 1.5 platform on an almost daily basis, there is likely to be something out there to meet your needs. Or you could develop your own Extensions and make these available to the rest of the community.


  • ILUG Cochin September 2009 Meeting
    ILUG Cochin September 2009 Meeting to be held at Jay’s Internet Club, Broadway on 27 Sep 2009. The meetup being an all day event, will begin by 9.00 AM in the morning and will continue till 5.30 PM in the evening.


  • Open World Forum 2009, Paris, 1-2 October
    OWC will also host the European Open Source Think Tank 2009 and the Open Innovation Summit, along with a FLOSS Communities Summit, an Open CIO Summit and a FLOSS Competence Centers Summit.


  • OSS push in VT Schools and Local Gov
    If we read this right it means there is real local government preference for Open Source. Now right now they’re going into because of costs instead of control, but I think a taste of freedom tends to stick around once you’ve deployed a FOSS solution and it’ll be more difficult for Microsoft or even IBM, Novell etc to get back in without offering serious concessions.

    I also like that they are informing people that students can take advantage of OpenOffice, because it’s free too and supports all the same formats. That’s very good news as it’s an aspect of Free Software in schools which is often overlooked (that what is taught can be taken home without pressuring poor students to buy expensive software).


  • New: OOo-DEV 3.x Developer Snapshot (build DEV300_m60) available
    Developer Snapshot build OOo-Dev DEV300_m60 which installs as OOo-DEV 3.x has been uploaded to the mirror network.


  • GNU/Linux and FOSS versus “Software Piracy”
    My final solution to “software piracy”? Leave the PCSS behind and do a complete switch to FOSS. Ernie Ball Incorporated did and as far as I can tell from all reports I can find they are better off after doing so.




  • Programming

    • Interview: Leslie Hawthorn on the 2009 Google Summer of Code
      LWN last talked to Leslie Hawthorn, Google's Open Source Program Coordinator, in September, 2007 about the Google Summer of Code (GSoC). GSoC is a project where Google pays students to work with a mentor to write open-source code. The 2009 Google Summer of Code recently concluded, marking the end of the project's fifth year.


    • What I Did On My Summer Holiday
      Google Summer of Code has again been a huge success for KDE this year. 37 out of 38 projects were finished successfully. Much of the work done during these projects is already merged into trunk and will be available for the users with the KDE 4.4 release in January 2010. Thanks to all students and mentors for their great work! Below you will find a short interview with each of the students, asking them about the cool things they have been working on for the past few months.








Leftovers

  • Pfizer Lawyers Say Plaintiffs Guilty of Witness Intimidation in Neurontin Litigation
    Just a month after Pfizer came under fire for allegedly using strong-arm tactics against a potential key witness in the multidistrict litigation over its Neurontin anti-seizure medication, the pharmaceutical giant lodged a similar complaint against a plaintiffs expert.




  • Censorship/Web Abuse

    • Hey, TI, Leave Those Kids Alone / Fighting hobbyists with the DMCA
      And TI's DMCA claim fails for another reason, as well: running software of your choice on your calculator has no "nexus" with copyright infringement. The courts have made it clear (1, 2) that you need a nexus with infringement if you want your DMCA claim to stick. This is not about decrypting copyrighted code so that you can distribute it to the four corners of the Internet. This is about running your own software on your own calculator. So where's the copyright infringement in that?


    • Flip Flops Are Evil
      Surprisingly, AT&T has reversed its position, and is now passionately supportive of net neutrality. What, you may ask, caused this dramatic shift? Why, Google, of course. AT&T filed a letter with the FCC today complaining that Google Voice blocks calls to certain rural locations. According to AT&T, blocking phone calls is a violation of net neutrality — dictionary, anyone? — and thus Google is in violation of the rules that aren't rules which AT&T vehemently despised but now passionately adores.


    • Verizon, AT&T: Net neutrality not OK for wireless
      "We are concerned, however, that the FCC appears ready to extend the entire array of Net neutrality requirements to what is perhaps the most competitive consumer market in America: wireless services," he said.

      He argues that wireless networks differ from wireline broadband networks because bandwidth is more limited on a wireless network. And he said that imposing new rules on how carriers operate their wireless networks would stifle investment.










Cuteness 4.6





Direct links

Recent Techrights' Posts

[Meme] 9AM Meeting at Brett Wilson LLP
Brett Wilson LLP in space
 
Links 18/07/2025: Peace With PKK and Connie Francis Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: Alhena 5.1.8 and Bornhack 2025
Links for the day
How to Top Up a "Limited Liability" With Even More Limitations (Dodging Accountability in the UK)
Some people call it a "shell game". Sometimes it's done for tax evasion purposes.
Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Inches Towards 75% of Fund-Raising Target
Will the cutoff date be extended again?
Gemini Space (or Geminispace) Grows, But Usage of Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops Further
Ideally, all Gemini capsules should use self-signed certificates
Links 18/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs in Activision, The New Stack (Sponsored by Microsoft) Complains About Openwashing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: OCC25 Gnus for Reading Usenet and RSS Feeds, Small Web Updates
Links for the day
Listing as Staff People Who Left the Company More Than Six Years Earlier
There are apparently no laws against that
Brian Fagioli Shovels Up LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Onto Slashdot, Then Uses Slashdot for Affirmation or as Badge of Honour
Notice how some of his latest slop is presented ("as featured on Slashdot")
Social Control Media Productivity
Snapping photos of the bone
The Law Firm SLAPPing Us For the Microsofters Lost 72% of Its Tangible Assets in the Past Year, According to Its Own Reports
That might help explain why they're willing to tolerate serial stranglers from Microsoft as clients
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com Slopfarm and Slopfarms Propped Up by Google News
"As LLM slop is foisted onto the WWW in place of knowledge and real content, it now gets ingested and processed by other LLMs, creating a sort of ouroboros of crap."
Links 18/07/2025: Weather Events and Health Hazards
Links for the day
Microsoft's All-Time Low in Finland
Microsoft is in a freefall
Security: Shane Wegner & Debian statement of incompetence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 17, 2025
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: "Goodreads for Gemini" and Defence of "The Small Web"
Links for the day
Links 17/07/2025: Anger and Morale Issues at Microsoft, Wars and Conflicts Get Digital
Links for the day
CALEA / CALEA2 is the Real Problem, Not Chinese Operatives Exploiting CALEA / CALEA2 (as Any Other Nation Can)
CALEA / CALEA2 is more of a front door than a back door
99.99% Uptime in First Half of 2025
Since January there was only one noticeable outage
Nils Torvalds and Anna "Mikke" Torvalds (née Törnqvis) Hopefully Use GNU/Linux by Now
"Torvalds Family Uses Windows, Not Linus’ Linux"
Attack of the Slopfarms
FUD-amplifying bots with slop images, slop text (LLM slop)
When People Call a Best/Close Friend of Bill Gates a "Serial Rapist"
Good thing that the Linux Foundation keeps the "Linux" trademark ("Linux Mark") clean
Not My Problem, I Don't Care
Context/inspiration: Martin Niemöller
Honest Journalism About the European Patent Office Ceased to Exist After SLAPPs and Bribes to the Media
The EPO is basically a Mafia
Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia, Shutdown in Pakistan, What Next?
It seems possible that in 2025 alone Microsoft will have laid off over 50,000 workers
Life Became Simpler When I Stopped Driving and I Don't Miss Driving When I See "Modern" Cars
Gee, wonder why car sales have plummeted...
Why I Believe Brett Wilson LLP and Its Microsoft Clients Are All Toast
So far our legal strategy has worked perfectly
EPO Jobs Are Very Toxic and Bad for One's Health
Health first, not monopolies
Response to Ryo Suwito Regarding the Four Freedoms
the point of life isn't to make more money
Microsoft's Morale Circling Down the Drain
Or gutter, toilet etc.
What Matters More Than "Market Share"
The goal is freedom, not "market share"
Tech Used to be Fun. To Many of Us It's Still Fun.
You can just watch it from afar and make fun of it all
Links 17/07/2025: "Blog Identity Crisis" and Openwashing by Nvidia
Links for the day
Greffiers and the US Attorney of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
The lawsuit can help expose extensive corruption in the American court system as well
Credit Suisse collapse obfuscated Parreaux, Thiébaud & Partners scandal
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The People Who Promoted systemd in Debian Also Promote Wayland
This is not politics
UK Media Under Threat: Cannot Report on Data Breach, Cannot Report on Microsoft Staff Strangling Women
The story of super injunction (in the British media this week, years late)
Victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, Wanted to Sue Him But Lacked the Funds (He Attacked Their Finances)
Having spoken to victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Under the Guise of "MIT Technology Review Insights" the Site MIT Technology Review Posts Corporate Spam as 'Articles'
Some of the articles aren't even articles but 'hit pieces' against Free software and some are paid advertisements
Brett Wilson LLP Has Track Record in Scam Coin Cases (e.g. Craig Wright and More), Now It Works for 'Crypto' Scam Purveyors
But wait, it gets worse
Exclusive: corruption in Tribunals, Greffiers, from protection rackets to cat whisperers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Will Brett Wilson LLP Handle Its Own Winding Up Petition or be Struck Off for Overt Abuse of Process?
Today we sue not only the first Microsofter
Links 16/07/2025: Chip Bans and Microsoft’s “Digital Escort” Program
Links for the day
Ubuntu Becomes Microsoft GitHub, Based on Decision Made by British Army Officer
You're hopeless, Canonical
Revolving Doors: One Day You're a Judge, the Next Day You're an Attorney Paying Public Officials and Working for Violent and Dangerous Microsoft Employees
how the US justice system works
Sharing Code and Recipes
It helps explain the triviality of software freedom
Slopwatch: Noise, Plagiarism and Even Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
What are we meant to do to prevent a false association or misleading connotations? Game the LLMs? No. Boycott slopfarms.
How Many Women Has Microsoft's Alex Balabhadra Graveley Already Strangled and Where Does That End?
If you too are a victim of this man and wish to share information, contact us
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Simple Web Browsing with TLS
Links for the day
Links 16/07/2025: Fascist Slop Takes "Intelligence" Clothing, New Criminal Case Against MElon
Links for the day
"We Might Save Somebody's Life"
I follow the example of my father
Why I am Suing the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, in the UK High Court This Week
Out of respect to the process and to the Court, I shall not share any pertinent details about the case
Links 16/07/2025: China’s Economy Grows Steadily, France Takes Action Regarding Harm to Children by GAFAM and Fentanylware (TikTok)
Links for the day
It is Not About Politics
Beware the people who try to make this about politics
Good Journalism Saves Lives
a shocking number of women die or get seriously hurt every day due to violence from a partner
Recognition of Women's Contributions to Free Software
Being passive is not an option when bad things are happening
Slopfarms Are Going to Perish Because Public Opinion is Changing
Many slopfarms will simply go offline
19 Years of Standing Up for Justice, Equality, and Truth
This week we shall take it up a notch
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: Tmux and OCC25 Working TLS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 15, 2025