08.26.10

Contents

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

GNU/Linux

• The People Who Support Linux: It’s a Family Affair

  Alex is an individual member of The Linux Foundation and has been using Linux for five years. She started using it when she moved in with her partner, who is a programmer and built her computer using Ubuntu. Since then, Alex, her 7-year old son, her parents, and even the neighbor have all become regular Linux and open source software users.

  “I am not a computer programmer or very skilled when it comes to figuring out what to do to make things work. So I need something that is easy and intuitive. I can load new applications, software and peripherals without having to look up manuals or finding that drive disc that always goes missing when you need it.”

• Is your company afraid of Linux? (2 of 3)

  How about salary comparison? Comparing salaries in this economy is like throwing darts in the dark. I’ve seen Windows and Linux employee’s being hired at ridiculously below average salaries but generally speaking the salaries are all over the place. Various studies and statistics show that Unix Server Administrators are the highest paid, then Linux and then Windows. The margin between Linux and Windows salaries is small and is shrinking due to higher numbers of Server Admins with Linux experience. Supply and Demand. This is good news as a business owner or IT manager.

• Kernel Space

  • Graphics Stack

    • Apple Mac OS X OpenCL Performance vs. Linux

      The results were mixed showing Apple still has room to optimize their OpenGL stack compared to NVIDIA’s Linux implementation and in not all areas did this package update result in performance enhancements

• Applications

  • Avant Window Navigator Update (PPA) Finally Brings Multiple Docks And Helpers

    An update today brings helpers and multiple docks to Avant Window Navigator from the AWN trunk PPA. “Multiple docks” means you’ll be able to run multiple instances of Avant Window Navigator, each with its own configuration.

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • Bcache Testing: Throughput

    • Stupid tar Tricks

    • Avoiding memory leaks in POSIX thread programming

    • Database Considerations for PHP 5 CMS

• Desktop Environments

  • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

    • Demystifying Akonadi

      Many people have been asking what the status of the new, Akonadi-based Kontact Groupware suite is. As I’ve been working closely with the PIM hackers, I thought I’d give my readers a heads-up on what’s going on and what to expect. In this article, I will often take KMail as an example for the port, but similar things apply to the other PIM applications that form the Kontact suite as well.

• Distributions

  • Reaching way back: Bonzai Linux

    Here and there, where I can, I have come across some workable distros that will run on a 150Mhz Pentium with only 32Mb of memory. It’s a rarity though, and even more unusual to find one that will boot and install, in that small a space.

    In fact, more than ever it seems the issue I have to confront is not a lack of processor speed or even hard drive speed, but simply memory overhead. That’s my limiting factor.

  • Reviews

    • Review of Qimo: Linux for Kids

      We’ve talked about Linux software for kids a few times here at MakeTechEasier, but so far we’ve never actually sat down to take a closer look at whole distributions intended for children. Many people are familiar with Edubuntu, the Ubuntu spinoff intended for school and other educational institutions, but you may not know much about Qimo. Unlike Edubuntu, which is designed for a client-server network model, Qimo is intended for a sole desktop user – in this case children 3 years old and up. It uses a customized version of the XFCE desktop, with large icons and simple menus, to make it easy to navigate. Included are many of the top titles in kids software for Linux, such as GCompris and TuxPaint. Today we’ll take a look at what Qimo has to offer, and submit it to the ultimate test: a real live toddler.

    • Lightweight Distro Roundup: Day 8 – Puppy 5.10 (WOW)

      Hi, Quintin here. For the most part I am flying solo today. I came back late from the Lets Talk Geek podcast last night where I elbowed myself into being their guest for the week and I did not have the chance to get Elzje’s insight into our featured distro for the day.

  • Red Hat Family

    • Red Hat has the Best Relative Performance in the Technology Sector (RHT, CTRP, VECO, FNSR, TDC)

    • Brush, Celgene, JDS, Red Hat, Wal-Mart: U.S. Equity Movers

    • Red Hat @ Year Highs

      Red Hat is currently trading 3.64% versus its previous trading session close, and it has calculated support and resistance at $30.29 and $33.50 respectively. Clearly with this action this range has been penetrated, and traders will be reviewing price action to establish a new tradable range

      The overall market index S&P 500 is trading lower by -0.03% from its previous trading close, which means that Red Hat stock is outperforming the overall market.

    • RHT Hits 52-Week High

    • Notable 52-Week High’s and Low’s of the Day 08/26: RHT, MIPS, SLW HIgh; TRMA, RUE, SCON Low

      Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) high of $34.75. Could be seeing some upside to M&A in the cloud computing market today. Shares are up 3.9% as Dell makes a stronger bid for 3PAR (NYSE: PAR) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) buys up privately-held Stratavia.

    • Red Hat Deltacloud Aspires to Become an Industry Standard

      Yesterday Red Hat hosted a virtual press conference titled “The Evolution of Cloud Foundations.” The press conference served to outline Red Hat’s plans for the future of their cloud services and JBoss, but the big announcement was that the company would be open sourcing all of its cloud APIs.

      During his portion of the presentation, Red Hat cloud product manager Bryan Che explained that third-party governance was necessary to achieve true interoperability and portability.

  • Debian Family

    • Canonical/Ubuntu

      • Linux on the Cloud: The Ubuntu Way

        Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, has always had many enthusiastic user and developer fans. It’s a different story within the enterprise. Canonical has been trying to improve its business reputation though in both the server and cloud spaces. In particular, according to Neil Levine, Canonical’s VP of Commercial Services, Canonical has been working hard to bring Ubuntu’s well-known ease of use on the desktop to cloud deployments.

      • What Will Ubuntu 10.10 Look Like?

        Ubuntu 10.10 is currently in its third alpha release, with the final version expected on October 10. Current home and business users of older versions of Ubuntu will have to decide if the benefits make it worth upgrading the free software.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Phones

    • Nokia/MeeGo

      • N900 OtterBox – Hands on Review

    • Android

      • Droid Incredible Now Expected to See Froyo Update Tomorrow

        Think of this post as a Monopoly-style “Bank error in your favor”. The Droid Incredible is now expected to see Android 2.2 updates as early as tomorrow, August 27th. This is a few days earlier than what we had last heard and only a couple of weeks beyond the initial rumored time frame. If you have one of these HTC beauties, you’ll soon be experiencing Flash 10.1, automatic app updates, 3G mobile hotspots, and much more! In the meanwhile, you brave rooting souls can grab it yourself.

Free Software/Open Source

• 58 Open Source Replacements for Small Business Software

  Many small business owners have never heard of open source software. That’s unfortunate because in many ways small businesses are ideal environments for open source applications.

  In a small business, every dollar matters. Open source offers opportunities for companies to cut their software costs. Even if you need paid support, you’ll probably pay less for an open source solution than for a comparable closed source solution.

• Events

  • Resources for learning about open innovation

    Last April, many of the big names in open innovation gathered at the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts (NESTA) “Open for Business” conference in London. Didn’t make the cut? Catch some videos of the event, plus a very informative whitepaper to share with the higher-ups.

• Web Browsers

  • Mozilla

    • New Firefox Mobile versions

      AMO has been updated with 2.0a1 and 2.0b1pre versions for Firefox Mobile. Alpha 1 will be released in the next day or so, so please test your extension if you already are compatible with 2.0a1pre, it is very likely that your extension will still work.

    • Panorama in Firefox 4, your new eye-candy tab canvas

      Mozilla posted the fourth beta of its Firefox 4 browser on Tuesday. The release comes with a brand new interface that takes tab management to the next level. Aptly named Panorama and invoked by clicking a new tile button on the rightmost end of the tab toolbar, it looks like a visual overview of your open tabs but it’s really a highly customizable canvas designed to reclaim your browsing experience.

    • Hands-on: Firefox 4 beta 4 brings Tab Candy and Sync

• Brazil

  • Brazil is open to open source

    I’ve been traveling quite a bit recently to meet with Lucid’s customers and partners around the globe. Earlier this week I had the pleasure of speaking at an event organized for business executives by our partner in Brazil, Primeware. The topic – no surprise – was open source enterprise search software. What I saw and heard seems to indicate the country’s broader sentiment about open source and growth.

    Lately, Brazil has been getting a lot of attention. In 2014, it will host the next World Cup. In 2016, it will be the site of the first Olympics to be held in South America. And next week, LinuxCon will launch in Brazil. It’s the world’s eighth largest economy, and people are sitting up and taking notice.

  • LPI Hosts September Exam Labs at LinuxCon Brazil and Ohio LinuxFest 2010

    The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), the world’s premier Linux certification organization, announced promotional exam labs for their Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPIC) at LinuxCon Brazil (São Paulo, Brazil, September 1, 2010) and Ohio Linux Fest (Columbus, Ohio, USA, September 12, 2010). This is LPI’s second event as the exclusive Free and Open Source Software certification provider at LinuxCon and their fifth year as certification sponsor of the Ohio LinuxFest.

  • Running On Empty

    My adventures in the translation (or localization) world started some time in the middle of 2005. I had just started using Ubuntu as my main distribution and being carried away by the buzz and excitement surrounding this new comer, I started looking for ways to “give back”. Not that I hadn’t tried it before, but to tell you the truth, Ubuntu had back then the only friendly and welcoming community out there that wouldn’t treat you with scorn and arrogance if you were a new user.

• Oracle

  • A very grumpy editor’s thoughts on Oracle

• Healthcare

  • VA Hospitals Embracing Open Source Medical Records System

    Beth Lynn Eicher, co-chair of Ohio LinuxFest, writes about her mother, Susan Rose, and how VA hospitals are using the VistA open source medical records system. Beth Lynn writes, “Mom did not understand what I was up to with open source. I did not understand what she was up to with open source.”

• Licensing

  • Dell checks for open-source licensing misstep

    Dell responded to the criticism via a post on Twitter Wednesday, saying, “We’re reviewing concerns re: the #dellstreak source code. We intend to comply with all applicable requirements. More details soon.”

  • Dell promises to open-source Streak code

    The version of Android 1.6 used by Dell is based on a Linux kernel and by definition fits under the GNU Public License (GPL), which requires that it open-source any new code. Without Dell’s custom portions of software, programmers haven’t had access to the drivers and other code that talks to the Streak’s exact hardware. Using the GPL doesn’t carry a deadline for when code must be published, but it’s usually assumed code will be available almost immediately or shortly before any hardware or software ships.

• Openness/Sharing

  • Give me some of that old-time, open source religion

    The Church of Scientology, in particular, seems to suffer from its proprietary way of thinking–at the hands of a rather forced kind of open sourcing. Vast quantities of online effort go into actively refuting or even denouncing Scientolgist beliefs and practices–up to and including publishing what are claimed to be the secret, closely-protected religious documents of the group’s inner orders. Anti-Scientologist website Operation Clambake presents an equal yet opposite view of a religious organization that is very technology-savvy and new-media friendly. Though the Church of Scientology has a massive website, replete with cutting-edge videos and presentations, their foundation–their doctrine–is clearly very proprietary. Beginners buy-in in book form or in person. The information they offer publicly and freely is quite limited. This un-free knowledge is the very thing that a group like Clambake takes advantage of.

  • Open Data

    • New Public Spaces 2: Practical Design Guidelines

      I’m still focused on virtual spaces where there’s a requirement to be official or government run. We know, exemplified beautifully through open data initiatives, the notion that government has to be the central point for everything has changed and will continue to transform. Using and facilitating community or nongovernmental channels is another matter.

Leftovers

• Legal Threat Demands We Shut Down Techdirt

  Here at Techdirt, unfortunately, we get an average of about one legal threat per month. The threats are almost always frivolous — and often made in anger without the individual realizing why the threats are frivolous. While some sites take the position that they will publish any and all legal threats, we have always tried to give the threatening party the benefit of the doubt, and to recognize that they made their demands in a moment of excess anger and misunderstanding. As such, we generally explain our position as to why any legal action would be a mistake — and in nearly every case, we never hear back from the person who threatened us.

• Gmail Calling: Google’s Bid to Rule Your Communications

  This is all part of Google’s strategy to be a VoIP powerhouse for consumers and businesses, as I wrote last November.

• ARM virtualization tech adds more fuel to server fire

  In a presentation at Stanford’s Hot Chips conference on Tuesday, ARM added a few more drops to the trickle of information that’s coming out which suggests that the UK-based mobile and embedded processor designer is very seriously pursuing the server market. Specifically, ARM’s David Brash described a new set of virtualization extensions for the ARM-v7-A architecture, which will be included in the follow-on to Cortex A9. Brash also described an OS-managed address extension that will alleviate some of the I/O and memory pressure that goes with ARM’s 4GB memory limit.

• My Favorite 10 xkcd Comics Part-2

  As I have said before, I started searching for top 10 xkcd comics initially but ended up with nearly 20 of them. So here is the part-2 of my favorite 10 xkcd comics. Between, don’t miss top 10 xkcd comics part-1.

• Science

  • Canon Introduces 120MP Camera Sensor

    One could say that the megapixel race as we know it is over, or it’s at least less of an ordeal now than it used to be. Camera makers cranked up the megapixels as fast as they could for years, but now we’ve reached somewhat of a peak, or a plateau, maybe. But there’s no question that camera makers will continue to push the megapixel envelope, and there are obvious advantages to doing so. Some medium format cameras today have sensors with over 40 megapixels, but that’s beginning to sound a little small.

  • The longer you sit, the earlier you die

    Researchers say that’s even for people who exercise regularly after long sit-a-thons at the office and aren’t obese.

• Security/Aggression

  • Military Computer Attack Confirmed

    A top Pentagon official has confirmed a previously classified incident that he describes as “the most significant breach of U.S. military computers ever,” a 2008 episode in which a foreign intelligence agent used a flash drive to infect computers, including those used by the Central Command in overseeing combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Environment/Energy/Wildlife

  • Morgan Freeman, Ted Danson support post-oil spill Gulf impact expedition

    Over the next 2 months, scientists from Oceana, an international organization focused on ocean conservation, will conduct a research expedition across the Gulf of Mexico to assess the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on underwater ecosystems, administrators said today.

• Intellectual Monopolies

  • Copyrights

    • Why Are Gay Porn Producers So Quick To Get Involved In Shakedown Copyright Pre-Settlement Schemes?

      In July, we noted that one such gay porn producer had filed a bunch of lawsuits for sharing films via BitTorrent, and now THREsq is reporting that litigious porn producer Io Group is also suing a bunch of John Does for the same thing. If Io sounds familiar, that’s because they were also one of the first to sue a video site for infringement, in this case Veoh, in a lawsuit that Io lost.

    • Another Reason To Buy: A Unique CD For Fans That No One Else Will Get

      The latest such example is from musician Brian Hazard, who recently recorded his 8th full-length album. He claims this is his last physical release (in the future, it’ll all be digital), he decided to still press the CD after he won a songwriting contest for free CD manufacturing. With that process underway, he decided to “improvise” a bit on the business model side, and see if any of his fans would be interested in an Individual Edition CD. This isn’t a “special edition,” but a totally uniquely individual edition, that no one else would get:

      As a souvenir of your support, I will create a personalized custom CD featuring unique mixdowns of each of the 12 songs I recorded for the album. The outtakes “Touch” and “Release the Hounds” are not on the standard Limited Edition CD and will not appear on any future physical release. The disc will open with a token of my appreciation — a spoken “thank you” mentioning you by name.