07.20.11

^{Gemini version available ♊︎}

Links 20/7/2011: Linux Vitality, Tablets With Linux Grows Fast

Posted in News Roundup at 6:28 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux
- Distributions
- Devices/Embedded
Free Software/Open Source
Leftovers

GNU/Linux

12 Things You See Every Day That Wouldn’t Exist Without Linux

We checked around, and it’s true. Linux is all over the place. We rounded up some of the less obvious and more offbeat things that depend upon Linux to function.
Kernel Space
- Real-time patches for the Linux kernel take a major step forward
  
  Thomas Gleixner has released the first test version of a real-time (RT) Linux kernel based on a current release candidate of Linux kernel version 3.0; having been slightly delayed, version 3.0 is due to be released any day now. With version 3.0-rc7-rt0, the developers have taken the biggest step towards a modern basis for the RT kernel, a kernel that is chiefly maintained by Gleixner and several other developers – the current stable kernel with real-time capabilities is still based on the Linux 2.6.33 series, which Greg Kroah-Hartman has continued to maintain specifically for the RT developers.
Applications
- Disk Usage Analyzer Has a Keen Eye for Sizing Up Space
- Games
  - The A.Typical RPG Released
    
    The GNU/Linux binary was released at 9th of April but no GNU/Linux gaming website reported about it, so I think it could count as “news”
Desktop Environments
- GNOME Desktop
  - The Grand Review of three new desktops, pt. 3: the Glorious GNOME Upgrade
    
    In a very short while, I have had the opportunity to try three new desktops. KDE 4 (not new but completely unknown to me previously), Unity on Ubuntu Natty (not a new desktop, but a novel shell nevertheless), and GNOME 3. I have previously documented my experiences on KDE 4 and Unity, and in this third and final installation it is GNOME 3′s turn.
Distributions
- The A.Typical RPG Released
  
  A KDE-based distro powered by Arch Linux? Sounds like a perfect combo. We put Chakra through its paces to find out whether it would bring us closer to Linux computing nirvana…
  
  Pros: Fast and sleek distro with several innovative tools and features backed up by excellent documentation
  Cons: The lack of persistent storage capability in the Live CD mode
  Chakra Homepage
Devices/Embedded
- Sub-notebooks/Tablets
  - IDC reports 1st Qtr 2011 tablet market share, Lookout Apple: Android is catching up quickly
  - digits: iPad Loses Market Share to Android
    
    In the fourth quarter, Apple’s share of the tablet market fell to 75% from 96%, while Android saw its market share increase to 22% from just 2.3%.
  - Top 6 of the Top-selling Tablets on Amazon Run Android/Linux
    
    Shocking, isn’t it? With Apple selling 9million iPads in Q2 2011, one would expect a better showing for iPad which only made it to #7.
  - Lenovo Challenges Apple’s iPad With Three Android Tablets
    
    Yet another giant has entered the tablet arena to challenge iPad’s dominance in the tablet segment. Lenovo today announced its first family of Android tablets – the IdeaPad Tablet K1 for consumers, the ThinkPad Tablet for business customers, and the IdeaPad Tablet P1 for home and office use.
    
    The tablets run on Android 3.1, backed by more than 250,000 apps.
    
    IdeaPad Tablet K1 is certified to deliver Netflix. Sadly, Netflix requires controverical DRM (Digital Restriction Management) technology to allow users to watch their movies. Lenovo tablets come with this controvercial DRM techology.

Free Software/Open Source

Funding
- Open Source Developers Can Make Money From In-App Payments
  
  Google’s open source Android and ChromeOS have created a viable shop for open source developers to monitize on their apps. Unlike Apple’s restricted AppStore, which may take weeks to get an app approved, and you are always at the mercy of Apple for the survival of your app, Google’s Chrome WebStore and Android Market offer a more ‘democratic’ and innovative approch.
FSF/FSFE/GNU/SFLC
- Resist the Temptations of the Cloud!
  
  There is a systematic marketing campaign to drive users to entrusting their computing and their data to companies they have absolutely no reason to trust. Its buzzword is “cloud computing,” a term used for so many different computing structures that its only real meaning is: “Do it without thinking about what you’re doing.

Leftovers

Finance
- You Want to Fix the U.S. Economy? Here’s a Start
  
  A simple 8-point plan would restore both the banking and the real estate sectors, and end the political dominance of the parasitic “too big to fail” banks.
  
  Craven politicos and clueless Federal Reserve economists are always bleating about how they want to fix the U.S. economy and restore “aggregate demand.” OK, here’s how to start:
  
  1. Force all banks to mark all their assets to market at the end of each trading day, including all derivatives of all types, including over-the-counter instruments.
  
  2. Allow citizens to discharge all mortgage and student loan debt in bankruptcy court, just like any other debt.
  
  3. Banks must mark all their real estate to market weekly as defined by “last sales of nearby properties” adjusted for square footage and other quantifiable measures (i.e. like Zillow.com).
- Goldman Sachs Plans Job Cuts as Debt Trading Misses Estimates
  
  Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), the U.S. bank that makes most of its money from trading, said it will cut about 1,000 jobs after a plunge in fixed-income revenue that was bigger than analysts estimated.
  
  Second-quarter fees from trading debt, currencies and commodities tumbled 63 percent from the previous quarter, more than twice the drop at other major U.S. banks. Net income was $1.09 billion, or $1.85 per share, the New York-based company said today in a statement, falling short of the $2.30 per-share average estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.