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Links 11/9/2011: Linux Tablets for Just $159, Sakai Open Academic Environment (OAE) Reaches 1.0.0





GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux



  • Desktop

    • ENT: The many faces of Linux - Online with Bob Vaillancourt
      A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had been playing around with a new distribution of Linux called Bodhi. One of the things I liked was its ability to run on minimal hardware. Its resource requirements were quite low, even to the point of enabling it to run on rather antiquated 386 machines.






  • Kernel Space



  • Applications



  • Desktop Environments



  • Distributions

    • ALT Linux 6 KDesktop review
      Package Management: Debian’s Advanced Packaging Tool, APT, is the package management framework on ALT Linux, with Synaptic Package Manager as the installed graphical interface to apt-get, the most commonly-used command line utility in APT. The version of Synaptic that ships with this version of ALT Linux is Synaptic 0.57.3, which was released in late 2005. Compare that to Synaptic 0.70, the version that comes pre-installed on Linux Mint and Ubuntu. So the graphical interface you have to use on ALT Linux 6 KDesktop is very old. It works, but if you have used Synaptic on other distributions, you feel like you have just stepped back into the last decade.


    • The OpenJDK as the default Java on Linux
      Recently I’ve received a bunch of private correspondence from people confused/worried over the change in the default Java packaging for Linux. For many Linux distributions, the official Sun/Oracle version of Java has been packaged up as the default Java for the platform. However, due to a recent licensing change, this will no longer be the case! So, is this a positive or a negative thing for the Java and open source ecosystem? Read on for my take on it :-)


    • New Releases



      • PelicanHPC GNU Linux
        09 Sept. 2011. version 2.6 is available. make_pelican uses a new and simpler method to add non-Debian software. This latest image was made using the new method, and the image contains the updated tutorial which explains the new system.




    • Debian Family



      • Derivatives







  • Devices/Embedded



    • Phones



      • Android

        • Motorola’s Facebook phone leaked, without Google Android?
          A report posted by Unwired View on Thursday revealed an unannounced new smartphone from Motorola Mobility, running without the glorious power of Google Android operating system. The site claims the phone was posted in Bluetooth’s official website where certified devices land and get the “approval” for using the technology.


        • Undeniable Reasons That Show iPhone 5 Will Fall Head First Down Against Samsung Galaxy S2
          Samsung’s Galaxy S2, which is expected to reach the U.S. this month, has been released in more than 120 countries. The UK and South Korea were the first ones to receive the device.


        • Sharp Launching Aquos 3D Android Handset in Japan
          3D Android phones haven't really taken off just yet. Even with HTC's big marketing behind the Evo 3D, and the LG Optimus 3D, we haven't seen much adoption right out of the gate. It appears that Sharp is staying in the game, though, as they've just announced a 3D Android handset that's headed for Japan's SoftBank.


        • Is Android forking – and does it matter?
          Android seems to be having a difficult time at the moment, but, far from being a sign of increasing problems, Glyn Moody argues that the forking of the mobile operating system by the likes of Amazon and Baidu could work in Google's favour.






    • Sub-notebooks/Tablets

      • Like Father like Son (or Like Phone like Tablet)
        For those that read a previous article of mine, it shows to me why Microsoft wants to “talk up” the desktop – It knows that it won’t be able to compete in the Tablet world and if they follow their Phone legacy, then there will be the excuse of “its still in its infancy” whilst the product matures to a point to compete with others.

        It may be 12 months away (Windows 8 ) but I think we can add another 8 months onto that for “baking”. 2 Years for a ready competitor to Apple and Android Tablets? Yes Microsoft, you better keep talking up the Desktop, maybe you’ll convince a few of your customers.

        Unfortunately Microsoft can no longer dictate to the consumer, for the mainstream majority, I’d suggest Tablets are the future, Tablets I hasten to add that unlike the majority of Desktops, won’t force Microsoft products onto people.


      • Barnes & Noble Steps Up Push for Android Developer
        Barnes & Noble, growing increasingly serious about their Android efforts, has begun touting the benefits of their NOOK App Developer program. I recently spent some time speaking with Claudia Romanini, Director of Developer Relations and learned that NOOK Apps has been an all-around success. App downloads are already in the millions and developers are making money. According to Romanini, there are now more than 500 apps to choose from with many more on the way. The number of developers signed up for the program has eclipsed 10,000 more than doubling in the last few months. About that all-important money, I was advised that some developers have seen earnings of more than $100,000 in their first 30 days.


      • Quick Deals: Herotab M6 Gingerbread Tablet for just $159








Free Software/Open Source



  • Events



  • Web Browsers



  • SaaS

    • HP's OpenStack Cloud Goes Into Private Beta


    • Hadoop data-management provider Platfora raises $5.7M months after launch
      Hadoop is an open-source data-management software framework. It’s useful for companies that store enormous amounts of data and have to regularly index it. That can include financial services companies that have to track previous prices and old transactions or companies like Yahoo that need to regularly access search information. Platfora aims to add a more manageable user interface to access all that and make the data easier to digest for everyday users and business professionals.


    • LexisNexis open sources code for Hadoop alternative
      HPCC Systems, the division of LexisNexis Risk Solutions dedicated to big data, has released the open source code of its data-processing-and-delivery software it’s positioning as a better version of Hadoop. The High Performance Computing Cluster code is available on Github, and it marks the commencement of HPCC Systems’ quest to build a community of developers underneath Hadoop’s expansive shadow.




  • Databases

    • Open-source databases in the post-Oracle world.
      Open-source products, like MySQL and PostgreSQL, brought relational database functionality to the masses at a fraction of the price of a commercial Oracle, IBM or even Microsoft database. MySQL led the pack of free, or almost free, contenders -- customers typically paid for support, not the database itself. Sun Microsystems bought MySQL in January 2008 and open-source fans saw Sun, which fostered many open-source projects, as a worthy caretaker.




  • Education



  • Healthcare



  • Business

    • Web terms SME operators need to understand #6: Proprietary systems
      If it weren’t for open source (as covered last week), there would be no need for the term “proprietary”.

      Because from a business perspective, “proprietary” is essentially “situation normal”.

      Normal because it’s the notion of a free or community service that to business is in fact pretty unusual.




  • Project Releases



  • Public Services/Government

    • Government of India Promotes FLOSS
      In the interests of open e-government, India has widely adopted GNU/Linux in governmental organizations from the legislators to the schools. A recent draft of policy formally gives preference to FLOSS. This has been a long process over the last decade. India has lots of divides and has no need of a digital divide so standardizing on FLOSS works for them.


    • Cabinet wants open source openness, with chocolate biscuits?
      Press reports have been circulating since the start of this month analysing the government's attitude towards open source technology procurement. As we now know, the traditional approach within Whitehall has been to opt for some of the most costly proprietary technologies.

      Has this situation occurred due to perceptions of the 'safety factor' associated with big brand vendor products?

      Is this a case of 'nobody ever got fired by buying Microsoft' asks the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones.

      Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has said that he wants to shift mindsets and see more open source software deployment considered across a so-called "level playing field" now.




  • Openness/Sharing

    • Millennials' Open Source Attitude


    • Open Hardware

      • Geek 101: What Is Arduino?
        If you've been reading this blog for a while, you've probably seen us refer to the Arduino microcontroller on a number of occasions. This little circuit board is at the heart of many DIY projects, from robotics to art projects and just about everything in between.

        But what on Earth is Arduino, anyway? What makes it so versatile? And what can you do with it?






  • Programming

    • Google's 7th Summer of Code comes to an end
      Google has announced that its seventh annual Google Summer of Code (GSoC) event has come to an end. More than 1,100 university students from 68 countries participated in this year's event by writing code for 175 open source organisations, 50 of which are new to GSoC. A total of 417 mentoring organisations, including the Blender Foundation, the Debian Project, the GNU Project, the KDE Project, LibreOffice and Mozilla, were accepted in 2011.






Leftovers



  • Defence/Police/Aggression

    • Orwell, 9/11, Emmanuel Goldstein and WikiLeaks
      A strikingly good piece of investigative journalism from Associated Press finds that accusations about the damage done by WikiLeaks' latest release are -- yet again -- wildly overstated and without any factual basis. These most recent warnings have centered on WikiLeaks' exposure of diplomatic sources whom the released cables indicated should be "strictly protected." While unable to examine all of the names in the cables, AP focused on the ones "the State Department seemed to categorize as most risky." It found that many of them are "comfortable with their names in the open and no one fearing death."


    • When mistaken identity leads to torture
      Khaled El-Masri was held for weeks by secret agents who missed a letter in his name




  • Cablegate

    • WikiLeaks Has No Blood on Its Hands
      Cassandra Vinograd and Bradley Klapper of the Associated Press conducted a partial review of US State Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks focusing on the sources the State Department “categorized as most risky.” The findings in the report cast further doubt on the official party line the government promotes when commenting on anything WikiLeaks and concludes, US examples of threatened sources have been “strictly theoretical.” The review found “several of them” are “comfortable with their names in the open and no one fearing death.”


    • 2011-09-05 Caracas Cables Pt I: Hugo’s Former Wife and “Half Brother,” Contentious Environmental Politics
      At the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, diplomatic staff routinely spoke to the rightist Chávez opposition during the Bush years. But in 2004, an odd encounter occurred between the Americans and Chávez’s former wife, Herma Marksman, who held a rather disparaging view of the Venezuelan president. Marksman, a history professor who was married to Chávez between 1984 and 1993, told U.S. diplomats that the firebrand populist was ambitious from an early age and “even thought of running the country as a 20 year-old.”


    • Kashmir politics - in disarray and dirtier than Dal Lake
      Kashmiris knew about their leaders all along. They knew they played a many-layered game. So when whistleblower website WikiLeaks recently released cables which the then US ambassador to India David Mulford had sent to the US State Department in February 2006, the contents didn't surprise many.


    • A Wild WikiLeaks Week By Sonala Olumhense
      It is a cruel coincidence that in a week in which awful revelations have been tumbling out from WikiLeaks, much of it about the filthy nature of Nigeria’s political elite, the Goodluck Jonathan government insisted on inserting a 100 Days celebration.

      I would have counseled a policy of silence, but perhaps, in their wisdom, they imagined such a celebration would deflect attention from the lamentable revelations.


    • The Idea That DoS Attacks Against WikiLeaks are War Crimes
      A recent interview WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange did with Sueddeutsche Zeitung in Germany features Assange’s take on what happened with the Cablegate release, how the organization has managed to withstand cyber attacks, the organization’s suspicions about OpenLeaks founder and former WikiLeaks spokesperson Daniel Domscheit-Berg and how the organization thinks it has impacted the world.

      One section that sticks out is Assange’s discussion of the denial of service (DoS) attacks the site has managed to withstand.


    • Wikileaks: Ugandan First Lady “Ultimately Behind” Anti-Homosexuality Bill
      Tomorrow’s edition of Sunday Monitor, Uganda’s largest independent newspaper, cites leaked diplomatic cables to report that Ugandan First Lady, Janet Museveni, was behind the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.




  • Copyrights

    • Hollywood Leaks strikes fear into film industry bosses
      Behind the feelgood story lines and happy endings of even the most bland Hollywood movies lurks a formidable PR machine that exerts a grip on every aspect of a film's life. From keeping scripts secret, to vetting press interviews with stars, setting embargoes and filming on closed sets, big Hollywood studios jealously guard their projects. After all, hundreds of millions of dollars are often at stake. One slip-up can kill a movie – and a dead movie usually takes a few careers with it.






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