07.15.09

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers
• Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day

GNU/Linux

• Asus Eee PC T91

  Besides running Windows, there’s also the Asus ExpressGate, which is a Linux OS on a chip. This is bootable within seconds from powering on into a fully working platform, with nearly everything one might need, from a web browser through email and skype to even viewing images.

• CTEK Announces Axis Server Replacement – First in a Line Of High Performance Linux Based Networking Devices

  Ctek, a leading manufacturer and distributor of specialized communications solutions for industrial and commercial applications, announces the G6200 Device Server, the first in a series of Linux based networking products. As a distributor for the discontinued Axis server line Ctek recognized the need for an up-to-date follow on product. Accordingly the G6200 is designed to be a direct replacement for the popular Axis 83+ and 89 servers including a no cost development environment complete with software tools that minimize the application migration effort.

• claromentis releases linux information management portal for the franchise sector

  Claromentis is pleased to announce that it has released an information management solution dedicated to the Franchise sector fully available on Linux. London, UK, July 12th 2009

• Softpedia Linux Weekly, Issue 53

  The following Linux distributions have been announced last week: Sabayon Linux 4.2 KDE Edition, CrunchBang Linux 9.04.01, Parted Magic 4.3 and SystemRescueCd 1.2.2. In other news: VLC reaches version 1.0.0 after eight years of activity;

• The Rise and Fall of Empires

  Naturally, I believe Linux will be one of the big players that can step into a power vacuum left behind by a Microsoft retreat. It’s own modularized structure makes it well-suited to fill in where Windows and other tools once tread. The continued corporate interest in Linux-based tools seems to bear this theory out.

• Server

  • 5 key questions about cloud storage

    “I look at cloud adoption a little like I look at Linux adoption 10 years ago,” says John Engates, chief technology officer at San Antonio-based Rackspace Hosting Inc. “Adoption didn’t happen overnight. It came in the back door. The system administrator or developer who did work on the weekend brought in the Linux application he built and showed it around on Monday like a science project. It took a while for people to realize it’s a viable way to do things.”

  • Microsoft admits: it costs less to run Linux

    Buried in today’s news of Microsoft’s pricing scheme for their cloud service, aka Azures, is some amazing insight into their own IT infrastructure costs.

    Before we continue, I suggest you go here and become vaguely familiar with Azure’s pricing structure.

  • IBM Power servers most reliable in new survey

    IBM’s Power servers topped a list of most reliable x86 and Unix machines in a new survey, clocking in at only 15 minutes of unplanned downtime per year.

    Linux distributions running on x86 servers also performed well, as did Sun’s Sparc machines and HP’s Unix boxes. Windows Server machines performed worse than most competitors, with two to three hours of downtime per year, but have still improved dramatically over previous surveys.

• Kernel Space

  • Linux is not an Operating System

    Last week Google announced their intention to release an operating system based on Linux. The reaction of some people on reddit was: “No, another neutered, watered-down, crapitized “linux”. Linux will once again be viewed as a sub par, ‘specialized’ OS.” Well, this is not possible because Linux is not really an operating system, it is a kernel. And it is actually very successful as a specialized operating system’s kernel. Let me explain.

    [...]

    ChromeOS will use Linux for what it is the best: be the kernel of an operating system customized and optimized to a specific function. For ChromeOS it means being the best possible Netbook operating system.

• Applications

  • Play Enigma: A Puzzle Game Unlike Any Other

    Enigma works fine under Windows, but it’s a multi-platform game designed by Linux programmers, and the interface is very non-Windows. There’s no menu bar and once you’re in the game window, your mouse cannot leave it until you hit “Esc” to get back to the game menu. You can set the window size (it cannot be resized in play) under Options, or play in full-screen mode, and adjust the sound and music volume as well.

  • Symark Launches New Automation Product

    Symark’s PowerBroker software is used for managing user accounts and access control on Unix and Linux servers.

• KDE

  • Vibrant Community Propels KDE Forward at Akademy 2009

    Akademy 2009 was held as part of the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria last week. During the week the KDE community attended conference presentations and was engaged in meetings, informal discussions and of course a great deal of coding. This article provides an overview of what’s happening in the KDE universe and what can be expected for the future.

  • Growth Metrics for KDE Contributors

    In 1996 when KDE was first announced, it had only a handful of developers and the project could manage the source code without using a revision control system. More and more developers have begun to contribute to KDE over the years, and while there has been some attrition, the total number of active developers working on KDE has been steadily growing.

• Distributions

  • Slackware Linux going 64 bit

    This might be old news to some of you but for the longest time Slackware Linux was x86 only with really no indication that the distro author, Patrick Volkerding, would create a port.

  • Deuxième version du liveCD MLO 2009.1

  • Distributions: From Ubuntu to openSUSE and Pardus

    Recent early development releases of the popular distributions provide a preview of what’s to come, while some lesser known distributions reach new milestones. A new version of the KDE desktop is due by the end of the month.

  • Evolving Partner Programs: Microsoft vs. Red Hat

    Microsoft and Red Hat have launched hosting and cloud partner programs within weeks of one another. But the partner programs are as different as closed source and open source. Here’s the scoop, plus a key ingredient that could Microsoft’s hosting strategy a leg up with channel partners.

  • Ubuntu-based distro touted for power management

    A group called PlanetWatt has released a Beta 3 version of a new lightweight, power-sipping distro based on Ubuntu. The low-power WattOS is built from scratch using the Ubuntu MinimalCD and Ubuntu 9.04, and uses the lightweight LXDE environment and OpenBox, says the group.

• Devices/Embedded

  • GPS and GPRS with Embedded Linux

    Aldacom presents the AldaLogic C10/3, a breadboard which contains a complete embedded Linux PC on a surface of just 104mm x 63mm. A Quad-band GPRS module and SiRF3 GPS module are also on board, as well as interfaces for USB, RS232 and Ethernet components. An SD-card reader enables the trouble-free expansion of the 4 Mb of flash memory which comes as standard.

  • Embedded Linux Founder MontaVista Celebrates Its 10-Year Anniversary

    MontaVista® Software, Inc., the leader in embedded Linux® commercialization, announced its 10-year anniversary celebration today. Founded in 1999 with a focus on delivering Linux for the embedded market, MontaVista has remained committed to furthering the development and innovation of commercialized embedded Linux through enabling a broad range of architectures, delivering commercial quality, and expanding the tools available for embedded developers. As a result of this focus and commitment, there are over 60 million devices in the market powered by MontaVista Linux today.

  • MontaVista boasts 1-second Linux boot

    It’s getting to where a fellow can’t enjoy a nice relaxing boot time these days. The latest perpetrator of the conspiracy: Linux application tool vendor MontaVista, which said today that it is demonstrating an embedded Linux system that boots in just one second.

    MontaVista’s Linux demo goes from a cold boot into a sample, “fully operational” vehicle dashboard application in a single second, the company said. It will be showing off the speedy boot performance at the Virtual Freescale Technology Forum this week.

  • Unlike Android, the iPhone can’t scale, says Google

    All the talk this week has been about Google’s forthcoming Chrome PC operating system, but that doesn’t mean its other operating system, Android, is going away, according to its chief engineer.

    Andy Rubin, Google’s vice president of mobile engineering, said today that Android, aimed at smartphones and netbooks, was even likely to outstrip the success of Apple’s mobile operating system, which is now in more than 40m iPhone and iPod touch devices.

Free Software/Open Source

• Open Atrium: Intranet in a Box

  Just under 15 years ago, I received a review copy of the Internet in a Box:

  Internet In A Box is the first shrink-wrapped package to provide a total solution for PC users to get on the Internet.

  [...]

  The company behind Open Atrium, Development Seed, have an interesting history in free software:

  Development Seed’s origins are a bit different than those of most communications shops. We got our start in the mountains of Peru deploying communications portals on open source software for international development organizations working on the ground. The first websites we built were for small grassroots organizations working to improve the economic infrastructure in the region and provide basic human services like healthcare. While the reach of our clients and the complexity of our projects has changed over the years, the underlying mission of Development Seed has not: to provide technological solutions to world-changing organizations.

• Will Chrome OS Burnish the Open Source Jobs Market?

  Admittedly, this is a recruitment agency saying this, so Mandy Rice-Davies applies. Nonetheless, it seems likely that Google supporting not one but two Linux-based open source operating systems will do nothing but good for the jobs market.

• live-android

• Why the public sector is opening the doors to open source technology

  With the public sector spending plans of all political parties coming under close scrutiny, IT is being labelled in equal measure as the cause and saviour of the current spending crunch that the public sector is facing.

• Mutuality 2.0: open sourcing the financial crisis

  If open source can create complex software products, what would be needed for the same techniques to apply to financial products? In software development, it has become clear that “many eyeballs really do make all bugs shallow”. Could the same logic apply to risk-assessment in financial products? As the financial world becomes divided between “safe and dull banking as a utility” versus “the caveat emptor casino”, open source finance could be a delivery mechanism for the first.

• Open Data is coming

  We (mainly Cameron Neylon and me) ran a session this morning on Open Data. These are un-sessions which need preparation but not a strict agenda. Certainly not a lecture. So we kicked off very briefly with the scene and moved to the Panton Principles on what scientists want to do in publishing data for the benefit of the community.

Leftovers

• Murdoch papers paid £1m to gag phone-hacking victims

  Rupert Murdoch’s News Group News­papers has paid out more than £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of his journalists’ repeated involvement in the use of criminal methods to get stories.

• Call for limits on web snooping

  Governments and companies should limit the snooping they do on web users.

  So said Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, who said that growing oversight of browsing could have a pernicious effect.

• Intellectual Monopolies

  • The Psychology Of Externalities: Only I Can Benefit

    Of course, this is not just limited to the AP. It’s a common psychological problem when it comes to externalities. Look at almost any dispute that’s being caused by the modern internet and you can find someone who’s upset about some externality not being “fair.” We see it with the blame being put by the entertainment industry on “piracy.”

  • GNR Uploader Gets Two Months House Arrest, Plus Will Produce Propaganda For RIAA

    It still doesn’t make much sense that the FBI got involved in trying to track down and arrest a guy who uploaded a pre-release version of Guns ‘N Roses’ long awaited new album before it was released. If anything, it should have been a civil matter — and, honestly, there’s little indication that the upload caused any harm whatsoever.

  • Modified 3 Strikes Back on Agenda For New Zealand Pirates

    After the previous Labour government failed in its attempts to set up an ISP code of practice to deal with copyright infringements via section 92a of the Copyright Act, today sees new proposals revealed. ISPs won’t be expected to police their networks, but instead decisions – including 3 strikes – will be made by the Copyright Tribunal.

  • Copyright Tribunal gets ‘net cop’ power under new proposal

    The Copyright Tribunal would be given the power to punish internet users who repeatedly breach copyright under proposals put forward today.

    A discussion document from the Economic Development Ministry and interested parties has recommended a three-phase process to allow copyright holders to pursue those who breach their rights.

  • Sarkozy brings back crazy three-strikes Internet law

    The French “Three Strikes” law is back on — a law that can punish you for being accused of copyright infringement by cutting off your internet connection, fining you, and putting you in prison. It also criminalizes offering free internet access because pirates might use it.

  • Brussels claims failed business model is causing online piracy

    The EU’s telecommunications chief, Viviane Reding, blamed the current internet business model for the rise in online piracy on Thursday (9 July), during a speech in which she outlined a new medium-term strategy for a ‘digital Europe.’

    Ms Reding said the European Commission intends to open up a broad consultation period on the ‘digital Europe’ strategy next month, but already she has indicated that a central part of the plan for the next five years will be to provide greater access to good quality online content.

  • GOOD IDEA: Beck Re-Records Classic Albums For Free Series

    Beck has started something he’s called the Record Club for which he and friends like Devendra Banhart, MGMT, Jamie Lidell, and producer Nigel Godrich get together and re-record someone else’s classic album in its entirety with little or no rehearsal.

  • Not That It Matters… But Appeals Court Rejects Webcasters’ Challenge Over Copyright Royalties

    If the current negotiated rates threaten to put a lot of webcasters out of business, and the CRB’s original rates were even higher, doesn’t that suggest a pretty serious problem both with the CRB and with the appeals process? Separately, it looks like the court had no problem at all ignoring the constitutional questions about the Copyright Royalty Board for a second time. It’s as if no one wants to actually follow what the Constitution says…

  • ASCAP’s Latest Claim: Embedding YouTube Videos Requires Public Performance License

    A few years back, we idly wondered if it could possibly be copyright infringement to embed a YouTube video on your own site. It would be a very difficult argument, since an embed code is really no different than a link. The content itself is hosted by YouTube and was uploaded by some other party. Yet, we figured eventually someone would make a claim along those lines… and wouldn’t you know it would be ASCAP?

  • LGJ: If 24 songs = $1.9 million, then 1 game = ?

    For example, a leak of a game that proves to be lower quality than anticipated may cause losses of an untold number of sales. A fan sequel that’s of poor quality may drive people away from the original work, or a machinima that is highly offensive may cause the offended parties to not buy the game the machinima is based on. As you might imagine though, these numbers are nearly impossible to figure out.

  • Radio-Canada Issues YouTube Takedown Over Harper Communion Video

    Many Canadians will know that there has been a controversy this week over whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper pocketed a communion wafer during Romeo Leblanc’s state funeral. The issue has been fueled by a video posted on YouTube of the incident.

  • Rosetta Stone Sues Google for Trademark Violation

    Rosetta Stone Inc, a provider of language-learning software, said it filed a lawsuit against Google Inc in a U.S. federal court, alleging trademark infringement.

  • Ninth Lawsuit Against Google Over AdWords–Rosetta Stone v. Google

  • But Who Will Cover City Council Meetings?

    As Jay Rosen notes, it appears that when concerned citizens are interested in what’s happening in their local governments, they appear to do an amazingly thorough job covering city council meetings — perhaps much more thoroughly than the bored reporter using the gig as a stepping stone to a more exciting beat.

  • Hamburg Declaration = Humbug Declaration

    What a load of codswallop. What makes them think they are the sole guardians of that “free, diverse and independent press”? In case they hadn’t noticed, the Internet is rather full of “quality and varied information, education and entertainment on the many platforms”, most of it quite independent of anything so dull as a newspaper. As many others have pointed out, quality journalism is quite separate from old-style press empires, even if the latter have managed to produce the former from time to time.

  • National Portrait Gallery: Nuts

    So you should be *encouraging* people to upload your pix to places like Wikipedia; you should be thanking them. The fact that you are threatening them with legal action shows that you don’t have even an inkling of what you are employed to do.

  • National Portrait Gallery Threatens Wikimedia Developer For Downloading Public Domain Images

    Derrick Coetzee, a software developer and an administrator of Wikimedia Commons, the media repository for Wikipedia is being threatened by the National Portrait Gallery in London. Coetzee admits that he downloaded about 3,000 high-resolution images from the site, but notes that they are all of paintings that are in the public domain (nearly all are over 100 years old). Coetzee is in the US, where he notes Bridgeman v. Corel suggests that photographs of public domain paintings do not carry any copyright, since the photograph does not add any new expression. However, such issues are not settled in the UK, and the National Portrait Gallery is insisting that the photos are covered by copyright.

  • MPAA Will Hunt Down isoHunt Founder for Life

    After a win against TorrentSpy the MPAA is determined to silence isoHunt and bankrupt its founder Gary Fung. MAFIAA lawyer Steven Fabrizio guarantees that if they win the case, the movie industry will relentlessly hunt down any damages owed to them for the rest of Fung’s life.