Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 04/10/2009: New X Server, Nexuiz, Arora, OpenSSH, Perl



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • Linux on everything!
    My current work is mostly related to embedded devices with comms, and as such, I read quite a bit about linux on embedded systems on a daily basis. Mobile phone manufacturers are rushing to linux (android), and recently I became proud owner of one such thing. Many gadgets, like gps devices, pda, mobile phones, netbooks, etc. also run on linux these days.


  • AUDA calls for new .au domain names
    Linux Australia has been the only organisation to use the conf.au domain for its annual Linux Conference -- linux.conf.au. Both conf.au and info.au pre-date the AUDA's existence, but interest in their use is low.


  • Linux Journal Contents #187, November 2009
    It doesn't matter how big your infrastructure is, even if it's planetary sized, Linux can handle it. Got massive amounts of data to analyze? Check out our article on IBM's InfoSphere Streams. Need a SAN on a budget, use Linux to provide it. Messaging problems, try AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol). In addition to our feature articles, don't miss our articles on RSpec, DEFCON, Ext3 vs XFS, Virtualization, HIPL, Pokerth, X-Moto and more.


  • Ryan Peters: Intel's universal R and D shift
    The best way to accomplish this is using none other than Linux's open source platform. Intel's version is called Moblin, aka Intel's Linux Development Community.

    Intel, the world's largest chip maker, reaffirmed the industry's direction toward open source development last month at Intel's Annual Developer Forum in San Francisco, Calif.


  • Computer Hackers Steal Thousands From Steuben ARC
    Authorities say the crooks were from Eastern Europe and used that information to steal the money. Since then, the Steuben ARC has limited their employee's internet access. They've also switched from a Microsoft operating system to Linux, which is said to be tougher to hack.




  • Desktop

    • Computers make big difference for families in need
      The donated computers were equipped with Linux operating systems and free educational software. Charter Communications donated $100 worth of free Internet to each family.


    • Linux is for doing, not socializing
      Linux does fine as it is. With Linux, I have been able to get a lot of work done. In schools, in businesses and at home. Things are getting done. Tasks accomplished.

      They are getting done at a lower cost, they are getting done With less oversight required. They are getting done without any idiot who took a programming class nailing it with a virus or other malware.

      Linux doesn't need a community. It doesn't need Facebook or other social site pages or channels.

      Linux doesn't even need blogs like this.

      What Linux needs is people who are serious about getting things done. Not just java sipping cronies bragging about how little they spend or en vogue what they are using is something not everyone else is using.

      Linux needs tasks to accomplish and people who want to accomplish them.








  • Server

    • LSE eyes Turquoise to boost independence in Europe
      The LSE was expected to replace its Microsoft .Net-based TradElect platform with a Linux-based system from Millennium IT, but that may change if the Turquoise deal goes ahead.


    • How to turn a spare Linux machine into a media server
      Mobile phones, games consoles and even televisions are rapidly developing the ability to read, display and play files held on a media centre PC, and Linux is the perfect free software solution. All you need is a relatively low-powered PC, a decent amount of storage and somewhere safe to hide it.


    • Update: Gentoo in commercial environments
      Hey, I'm the CTO of a small company in Sweden, and this is our short 'success story' :-)

      blogg.se is a Swedish blogging platform which generate 130 000 new entries, 150 000 comments and 2 500 new accounts on a daily basis. We currently (September 25th, 2009) have a reach of 2,2M unique visitors per week.








  • Kernel Space





  • R700, KMS, 3D, SSD, and other hardware
    Gosh, just look at all the buzzwords in the title!

    As you may have guessed, I'll be talking a bit about the recent developments on the FOSS drivers for RadeonHD cards, specifically for R700 cards. And some other hardware stuff.

    Radeon

    Yesterday, October 3, I made some big ol' changes to my workstation.




  • Applications

    • Nexuiz 2.5.2 Released
      After quite a long beta period we can finally release the long awaited new version of Nexuiz - 2.5.2!


    • Mixero v. 0.51.3 review
      Besides Windows PCs and Macs, Mixero also works with Linux-based computers, and according to the Web site, an iPhone version is in the works.


    • Lightweight Arora web browser turns 0.10.0
      Arora 0.10.0 features the addition of AdBlock to block unwanted online ads and now includes the ability to save passwords so that users don't have to re-type their information each time they log into a website. The directory listing feature included in the previous release now has the ability to hide and show hidden files when viewing a directory and several keyboard short cuts have also been added.


    • 7 cool VLC features worth knowing
      7. Download YouTube and other online videos: First grab the URL of the YouTube video page.


    • Manage Collections with Tellico
      And you could even have different reports that summarize the information about your collection. You could group the entries according to the filters you want. It’s really nifty. : ) You could even save those reports in HTML so you could upload them on your website, if you want to share such information with friends, family and fellow hobbyists.








  • Desktop Environments

    • Collection of themes for Gnome and Ubuntu- Octobre I-
      Here is a nice collection of themes for Gnome and ubuntu, some themes were updated and somes you will see them for the first time




    • KDE

      • Trying the netbook project made easy
        So new features for 4.4 are that:

        1: plasma style selection is moved from behind right click on desktop, to system settings where are icons, themes and colors?

        2: The independent dashboard option is moved from plasma settings what is shown when user zooms out activies, to "Desktop" place on system settings?


      • So you want to know how important KDE 4 is?
        I’ve followed and written about the development of the KDE 4.0 project on the old version of this blog. Until now however, I’ve never addressed the criticism that some sections of the Linux community have heaped on it. So I’ll just start with this post in the blogosphere that caught my eye.


      • How Important is KDE 4?
        So, how important is KDE 4? To the KDE project, it is absolutely crucial. I hate to say it, but it looks as if KDE 4 has become KDE’s “Vista.” The KDE reputation has been tainted with a divided community, mediocre products, and a seeming lack of solid direction. I can only hope KDE becomes stable at some point in the near future, perhaps by choosing to make their “4.5″ release their stable release fit for refinement and development, much like with KDE 3.5. Perhaps creating that stable environment for people to improve upon could lead to the creation of a new, thriving community, one just as influential as the one when KDE 3.5 was around. Otherwise, they may lose the market they have fought so hard to gain.










  • Distributions

    • Tiny Core Linux 2.3 : Linux 2u
      Tiny Core Linux is a very small (10 MB) minimal Linux GUI Desktop. It is based on Linux 2.6 kernel, Busybox, Tiny X, and Fltk. The core runs entirely in ram and boots very quickly. Also offered is Micro Core a 6 MB image that is the console based engine of Tiny Core. CLI versions of Tiny Core's program allows the same functionality of Tiny Core's extensions only starting with a console based system.




    • Red Hat Family

      • Is Hadoop Champion Cloudera the Next Red Hat?
        Cloudera, a startup based in Burlingame, Calif., today announced the release of its first commercial product, Cloudera Desktop. It’s a graphical interface for managing Hadoop, the open-source framework that is catalyzing the data mining renaissance. Cloudera’s Hadoop now works on almost all major cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services, Rackspace and soon, VMware’s vCloud.






    • Debian Family

      • Hymera Open review
        Hymera is a Debian-based, GNU/Linux operating system. It is a relatively brand new distribution developed and maintained by Hymera Engineering S.r.l., an Information Technology outfit based in Milan, Italy. Hymera Engineering publishes four versions of their Linux distribution – Hymera Open, Hymera Desktop, Hymera Evolution, and Hymera Server. This review is of Hymera Open, the free, desktop-oriented version.


      • Ubuntu 9.10 Beta Karmic Koala
        The new Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 release is an evolutionary improvement over previous releases in terms of basic functionality but it has significant performance enhancements which include vastly reduced boot up time.


      • Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Beta: First Looks
        In general, Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) doesn’t introduce a wide array of new features, however it does include small updates to many different smaller areas. As always, it includes updated versions of the pre-installed software. A full new feature list can be found here.


      • Upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
        If the upgrade process is successful and everything is working well, congratulations and have fun with Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala.


      • Trying out Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala beta: dual boot Thinkpad T400
        * It worked extremely well. I now have a machine with Ubuntus 9.04 and 9.10 beta running side by side.


      • Changes to releases.ubuntu.com rsync/FTP access
        Our sysadmins have asked me to advise people about some upcoming changes to rsync and FTP access to releases.ubuntu.com. In order to distribute CD images more effectively, releases.ubuntu.com will shortly be reorganised such that it can only support access over HTTP.


      • Launch Application Menu In Ubuntu With Windows Key
        If you have migrated from Windows to Ubuntu then you might be missing the Windows key. In Windows OS if you hit the Windows Key, the Start Menu shows up instantly but this is not the case in Ubuntu. Ubuntu keeps the launcher shortcuts for applications in the Application menu which is located in the left side of the Panel. Let me share an easy way to configure the Windows Key to launch the Application Menu.












  • Devices/Embedded

    • Plug computer design used for storage docking station
      Seagate announced a hard disk drive (HDD) network adapter and docking station called the FreeAgent DockStar, based on Marvell's Linux-based SheevaPlug Plug Computer reference design. Meanwhile, Real Time Logic's Linux-compatible application web server software has been released in a SheevaPlug-compatible version.




    • Sub-notebooks

      • Anjal - Slick Evolution Interface For Netbooks
        Using WebKit for its mail rendering and composing makes Anjal look very slick.


      • When a laptop’s too much, try a netbook
        Windows XP and Linux are both faster and better choices than the more robust Vista.


      • Google Chrome OS on Chinese netbook next month?
        But a Chinese manufacturer might be about to get a head-start next month by releasing a locally-manufactered netbook that comes with a pre-release version of Google Chrome OS installed, according to reports on a Chinese website that closely monitors the production lines of China's hundreds of tiny electrical firms.

        [...]

        (Note: the current Yeelong 8089 with Linux retails at 2899 RMB (that's US$425 or €290) in China, but sells in Europe for €335 at the moment. Not sure if any Chrome version would have the same price).


      • Hi-tech teacher at their little fingertips
        Known as the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Project, to be launched this month, all children from Grades 1 to 5 in nine remote schools, one each from a province, are to be provided laptops by the ministry, the Sunday Times understands. Three private institutions, Chart Foundation, Hatton National Bank and Tigo, have also joined in to provide laptops to four more schools.


      • One laptop per child pilot project
        Bhutan’s aspiration for an information technology (IT) and a knowledge-based society could receive a major boost if the “one laptop per child (OLPC) pilot project” succeeds.

        The One Laptop Per Child association, a US non-profit organisation, and the international telecommunication union (ITU) recently donated 220 XO laptop computers, previously known as the $100 laptop, to Bhutan.












Free Software/Open Source

  • Schools start to move to OpenOffice
    The city of Münster has started a pilot using OpenOffice in schools. The city's IT department, Citeq, will also switch all of the 150 servers used in its primary and secondary schools over to GNU/Linux. Half of these have already been migrated to open source. The changes in the school's IT systems are part of the overall IT strategy of the city's IT department.

    At two schools teachers are trying out OpenOffice at the moment. The suite will be made available to all schools in November. "We plan to make OpenOffice the default office application for schools", says Citeq's spokesperson Stefan Schoenfelder.

    The city earlier this month reported that 140 of its 360 servers are now running GNU/Linux. In a press statement published last week Wednesday, Citeq states that using open source is making it easier for the departments to share information.

    The administration is also saving considerable costs, writes Citeq. "Open source tools such as Linux are mature, so we consider their use is very economical."

    Münster is using a mix of Suse and Debian Gnu/Linux for its servers. These are used for instance as files servers, or for running the Typo3 open source content management system. They also use it for the proprietary Oracle database management system and the proprietary ERP system SAP, Schoenfelder says.


  • Strength of support models and symbiosis for free and open source software
    Next, I wanted to address the free software and freedom versus open source and business debate. While this is, similar to open source versus proprietary, also viewed often as a ‘war’ that must have a winner and loser, it is my fundamental belief what without freedom, the ideology of free software and organizations such as the Free Software Foundation, commercial open source would be nothing more than some big vendor’s or big consortium’s latest buzzword, campaign, strategy, etc. Conversely, without the billions and billions of dollars that vendors, channel players and others are making and the costs that customers and users are saving thanks to open source software, the ideology would most likely be relegated to academia and philosophy books. Thus, the two — that is free software and the ideology and open source software and the commercial use of it — are symbiotic.




  • Graphics





  • Programming







Leftovers

  • The Economy: "Systemic Failure Approaches"
    Banks are not prepared, having inadequate Loan Loss Reserves, guarding their profits, denying their reserves, managing their stock prices. They deceive their share holders on continued portfolio risk. They try to shove all their garbage assets on the USFed and to Fannie Mae under the USGovt roof, amidst the shrill cries of ‘Too Big To Fail’ nonsense.


  • Goldman Sachs Should Have More Sensitivity About Bonus Impact, Warner Says
    Goldman Sachs Group Inc. must be cautious about handing out record bonuses while the banking industry is still under distress or risk spurring an outcry from Congress, U.S. Senator Mark Warner said.


  • Could Goldman Sachs Share GM's Bankruptcy Fate?
    The comparison isn't a stretch. In fact, it wasn't just a ticker-symbol letter - "G" - that the two companies shared: GS for Goldman Sachs, and GM when General Motors was still a public company. It turns out that their underlying business models also shared similar strategic flaws. And those flaws put the two on a similar path to ruin at the hands of forces that grew out of the crises in their particular industries - crises that they each helped create.






Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day



Internet Video Celebrity Caitlin Hill 07 (2007)

[an error occurred while processing this directive]



Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part VIII
By Dr. Andy Farnell
GNU/Linux Reaches All-Time High in Europe (at 6%)
many in Europe chose to explore something else, something freedom-respecting
Techrights' Statement on Code of Censorship (CoC) and Kent Overstreet: This Was the Real Purpose of Censorship Agreements All Along
Bombing people is OK (if you sponsor the key organisations), opposing bombings is not (a CoC in a nutshell)
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 24, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, November 24, 2024
Gemini Links 25/11/2024: Purity and Cory Doctorow's Ulysses Pact, Smolnet Portal and SGI
Links for the day
Patents Against Energy Sources That Reduce Pollution
this EV space (not just charging) is a patent mine field and it has long been that way
DARPA’s Information Innovation Office, Howard Shrobe, Values Compartmentalisation But Loses the Opportunity to Promote GNU/Linux and BSDs
All in all, he misses an opportunity
Wayland is an Alternative to X
the alternative to X (as in Twitter) isn't social control media but something like IRC
BetaNews, Desperate for Clicks, is Pushing Donald Trump Spam Created by LLMs (Slop)
Big clap to Brian Fagioli for stuffing a "tech" site with Trump spam (not the first time he uses LLMs to do this)
[Meme] Social Control Media Bliss
"My tree is bigger than yours"
Links 24/11/2024: More IMF Bailouts and Net Client Freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/11/2024: Being a Student and Digital Downsizing
Links for the day
[Meme] The Most Liberal Company
"Insurrection? What insurrection?"
apple.com Traffic Down Over 7%, Says One Spyware Firm; Apple's Liabilities Increased Over 6% to $308,030,000,000
Apple is also about 120 billion dollars in debt
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 23, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, November 23, 2024
[Meme] GAFAMfox
Mozilla Firefox in a state of extreme distress
Google Can Kill Mozilla Any Time It Wants
That gives Google far too much power over its rival... There are already many sites that refuse to work with Firefox or explicitly say Firefox isn't supported
Free (as in Freedom) Software Helps Tackle the Software Liability Issue, It Lets Users Exercise Greater Control Over Programs
Microsofters have been trying to ban or exclude Free software
In the US, Patent Laws Are Up for Sale
This problem is a lot bigger than just patents
ESET Finds Rootkits, Does Not Explain How They Get Installed, Media Says It Means "Previously Unknown Linux Backdoors" (Useful Distraction From CALEA and CALEA2)
FUD watch
Techdirt Loses Its Objectivity in Pursuit of Money
The more concerning aspects are coverage of GAFAM and Microsoft in particular
Links 23/11/2024: Press Sold to Vultures, New LLM Blunders
Links for the day
Links 23/11/2024: "Relationship with Oneself" and Yretek.com is Back
Links for the day
Links 23/11/2024: "Real World" Cracked and UK Online Safety Act is Law
Links for the day
Links 23/11/2024: Celebrating Proprietary Bluesky (False Choice, Same Issues) and Software Patents Squashed
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 22, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 22, 2024
Gemini Links 23/11/2024: 150 Day Streak in Duolingo and ICBMs
Links for the day