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04.03.12

Links 3/4/2012: The 1% GNU/Linux Desktop Myth, Linux 3.4 in RC

Posted in News Roundup at 4:15 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNOME bluefish

Contents

GNU/Linux

  • Desktop

    • No Growth in a Growing Market

      At the same time that GNU/Linux was holding share of Wikipedia, traffic was increasing and the mobile share of traffic was increasing. Despite all that, GNU/Linux held share. Examining only non-mobile traffic, GNU/Linux share rose 18% while that other OS declined several percent.

    • Looking at the computer experience

      Hundreds of Linux distributions have been created trying to make that ideal mashup of Linux into a single user like OS.

    • The 1% Linux myth

      EVERY year, some bozo comes up with a prediction that Linux on the desktop is dead.

      These people really ought to know better, but it’s fun to get a rise out of Linux users, and a provocative headline does wonders for page views.

      I’ve decided not to play their game, so I’m not even going to name the fathead columnist who raised this issue again, and focus instead on why he’s wrong. That way, the truth gets out without benefiting the cynical purveyor of the lie.

  • Server

    • Resara software focuses on Linux-based servers

      Warren Luebkemen of Resara, LLC recently joined the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce and celebrated with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

      Resara, LLC is an innovative, passionate software company that was founded in 2005 to develop Linux based server products. Resara has extensive experience and expertise in thin client computing, which was the first product developed by the company.

    • Exploring Quality of Service For Home Routers

      If you saw my article on DIY Linux Routers, then you might have already taken the plunge and gotten yourself up and running with one. One of the primary reasons I made the switch to a dedicated machine running a Linux router distro was to have a router that would not lock up on me regularly, but what I found was that the additional features that these distros come with became a large part of why I love my Linux router.

  • Kernel Space

    • Red Hat Remains Leading Contributor To Linux Development

      According to the report more than 7,800 developers from almost 800 different companies have contributed to the Linux kernel since tracking began in 2005. Just since the last report, more than 1,000 developers representing nearly 200 companies have contributed to the kernel.

    • Linux 3.4 goes into testing

      Two weeks after Linux 3.3 was released, Linus Torvalds has announced the availability of the first release candidate for Linux 3.4. As usual, this step signals the end of the merge window at the beginning of the development cycle; during the merge window, Torvalds integrates the major changes for a new Linux version and about seven-eighths of all changes. Apart from a few stragglers, mainly minor and low-risk changes will be made in the stabilising phase that has now begun.

    • OSADL experimentally analyses Linux’s real-time capabilities

      With the help of its embedded farm, set up in November 2010, the Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL) has tested and analysed Linux’s experimental real-time (RT) capabilities. The OSADL analysed a total of 73 billion automated test cycles recorded over the last 12 months on more than 50 computers running mainline RT kernels on a range of CPUs.

    • An In-Kernel x86 Disassembler For Linux Kernel

      Patches for an x86 disassembler for the Linux kernel have been proposed. An in-kernel disassembler could prove useful for developers in cases of kernel panics and other happenings.

    • Speed Boost: The Linux Kernel Can Run On Zero CPU Cores

    • Graphics Stack

  • Applications

  • Desktop Environments

    • Unity, GNOME3, Windows 8 and… jumping rats
    • Xfce 4.10pre1 released

    • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

      • Muon Suite 1.3.1 Released

        Jonathan Thomas has announced the release of Muon Suite 1.3. The Muon Suite is a set of package management utilities for Debian-based Linux distributions built on KDE technologies.

      • Kubuntu Could Be Open To External Sponsors

        In early February news came out that Canonical would be dropping support for Kubuntu following the 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin release. This Ubuntu derivative that employs the KDE desktop no longer has the business interest of Canonical and so it’s set to become another community-based spin, similar to Xubuntu or Lubuntu. Jonathan Riddell, the lead Kubuntu developer at Canonical, is set to be tasked with non-Kubuntu work following the Precise Pangolin release.

      • Qt 5 Alpha

        Today we released the Alpha of Qt 5, the first major release since the Qt Project went live. A lot of people have worked hard to make this release happen. A large amount of work and features that went into this alpha have been coming from people not working for Nokia. It’s great to see that the project has become a place where many people meet and together push Qt forward.

    • GNOME Desktop

  • Distributions

    • DEFT 7.1 ready for download

    • New Releases

      • Fuduntu 2012.2 Released

        The Fuduntu team has announced the release and availability of Fuduntu 2012.2. With this release Fuduntu is shifting from SourceForge as a package host to a new mirrorable infrastructure. Several open source mirror providers have begun replicating the repositories. This change improves speed and availability of software available for installation, as well as package updates.

    • PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

      • Ahoy Mandriva! Are you still out there?

        A post by one of the developers on March 8 said, again in keeping with the best cryptic traditions, “Yes, quick very fresh news: Mandriva still have to solve some complicated problems, but the situation is far more better since yesterday, the main problem is cleared :)

    • Red Hat Family

      • Red Hat donates $100,000 to “the future of open source”

        The donation will be split between four projects which do not benefit, normally, from Red hat’s work: Creative Commons (CC), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) and UNICEF Innovation Labs. The $100,000 award is 0.7 per cent of the company’s annual net profit of $146.6 million. Much of Red Hat’s development work is available as open source anyway though, a contribution potentially worth millions of dollars to the community.

      • You Can Bring Your Red Hat (RHT) – Cramer

        Stock-picking wunderkind Jim Cramer spoke with Red Hat’s (NYSE: RHT) CEO Jim Whithurst on Monday’s Mad Money.

      • Is Red Hat At A Tipping Point?
      • Red Hat questions Canonical’s Ubuntu EC2 popularity claims
      • Red-Hot Red Hat’s Shares Climb to 12-Year High

        Red Hat’s strong earnings report won the company some upbeat reviews from analysts who see the maker of the Linux OS gaining in the industry-wide push toward cloud computing. Red Hat’s momentum has accelerated as companies try to save money and gain more flexibility by keeping their technology in far-flung data centers instead of PCs.

      • Fedora

        • Fedora 18 Will Go For Tmpfs

          Fedora 18 is expected to use tmpfs for mounting the /tmp directory, which sees that the temporary directory is stored in RAM/SWAP volatile memory. Tmpfs tends to generate less disk reads/writes, potentially saves power while inreasing performance, sees that the temporary directory data isn’t stored across reboots, and other advantages. System administrators installing new Fedora installations are still expected to be able to opt-out of using tmpfs.

        • Seneca College builds Linux Fedora for Raspberry Pi

    • Debian Family

  • Devices/Embedded

    • Sub-notebooks/Tablets

      • vivaldi ordering delay

        We had expected to be able to pull the lever on orders for Vivaldi by a couple of days ago. Last month there were some developments that have consequently pushed back the project by about a month. I’ll be sending out emails tomorrow to individuals catching them up with this, but thought I’d let people know via my blog as well.

      • Vivaldi Orders Delayed, Blessing In Disguise

        Tweet

        After a temporary hitch with trademark issues, KDE Active Plasma tablet has hit another road-block. There will be delays in the orders.

        Aaron Seigo has blogged about this delay, “We had expected to be able to pull the lever on orders for Vivaldi by a couple of days ago. Last month there were some developments that have consequently pushed back the project by about a month.”

Free Software/Open Source

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