Nokia has opened a home automation project based around a Linux platform. They say you will be able to control your home from a browser or tablet or a cellphone. Direct to the project page.
Now that I mentioned supercomputers at the time of this writing the worlds fastest supercomputer runs Linux. In fact most of them run Linux as you will see here in the list of the top 500 supercomputers. Out of all of the operating systems on these supercomputers Linux is a whopping 87.8% with windows only (giggle) 1% as can be seen here. The current worlds fastest supercomputer runs..... Redhat Linux and Fedora. The exact same ones you can download and install on your personal computer.
The promising nonlinear video editor Kdenlive has made its first non beta for KDE 4, version 0.7 is on us. This closes another gap of the free desktop world: a usable open source video editor. Kdenlive has the potential to become the Amarok or K3b of video editors, offering comfort and elegance so far not available in alternative programs. The feature set looks amazingly complete and far exceeds the KDE 3 version already. Check the release announcement.
The final thing I would like to remark on is the blazing speed of CB: The Openbox desktop loads in 3 seconds - honestly - and applications are not far behind, either loaded via the right-click menu or via the shortcut key combinations.
Q: What can come from the collaboration with IBM?
A: We believe that open source will continue to take share away from proprietary alternatives, because it is a fundamentally superior development model. Open source develops better software faster and at a lower cost. Over time, this will pervade most areas of software.
Fedora is really aggressive about keeping up with bug fixes and security updates over the lifecycle of their products. With Fedora 9, they updated (and will continue to update) KDE every time the KDE folks did. As a result, the KDE that ships with Fedora 10 is very similar to the KDE that you have on a fully updated Fedora 9 system. This is a good thing. After KDE came out with the 4.1.x series I switched back to KDE and have been fairly happy ever since. That isn't to say that all KDE users are happy with KDE 4 but I find it to be quite usable now.
On the Linux side, and especially for the smaller computer users in your world, the OLPC, or One Laptop Per Child, XO model - which runs on electricity and a hand-cranked battery - is a great choice at just under $400 at Amazon.com. No, it's not the world's most sophisticated computer, but the only way you or I can buy one is to pay enough to let the OLPC folks give one to a child in the developing world. That alone makes it worthwhile.
As much as I have lusted after an iPhone (my current plan would have been too expensive to dump) and longed to leave the clutches of T-Mobile (see my previous columns), having had the Android-based T-Mobile G1 in my sweaty hands for a couple of weeks has changed my mind about both staying with T-Mobile and wanting an iPhone.
Being involved in the Scottish Open Source Awards has been something of an eye-opener for me. As a Linux enthusiast I am reasonably well-versed in Open Source as it impacts on the home user, but I had clearly under-estimated the impact that Open Source has had on the wider community, in business and in education.
The administration of the Polish city of Katowice is successfully introducing OpenOffice.org on its desktop computers, replacing the previously used proprietary office suite. Compatibility issues are minimal, and the move is freeing up budget to be used for other investments, such as more powerful hardware.
Each day for the next 35 days, the "Defective by Design" campaign by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) will name and shame a different product it says consumers should boycott because of the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM). The FSF has launched its campaign with an attack on Apple. Although Apple boss Steve Jobs spoke out against the use of DRM in iTunes Store in early 2007, most of the music sold through Apple's online shop still comes with Apple's FairPlay DRM. The iPhone and iPod Touch have been criticised by the FSF on a number of occasions for adding "even more layers of DRM". With its new MacBooks, Apple takes protection even further.