Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 07/10/2009: Red Hat Dominates GNU/Linux Market, LSE Explains Linux Migration



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • q4wine 0.113 has been released
    Finally, after many months of development, testing and bugfixing a new version of q4wine has been released. q4wine is a wine configuration and management utility written in QT.


  • Linux Radio Ads a Success, Not a Failure
    A big thanks to Ken Starks for once again putting his money where his mouth is, and generously sharing the fruits of his labors. And a big rude noise to those titans of industry who profit handsomely from Linux, but can't be bothered to promote it in any way. The Linux "brand" is valuable and has many important differentiators; it's all in how it's presented.


  • Why the London Stock Exchange went for Linux
    MillenniumIT has already tested the system using data from the LSE. Fairbrother said that the system offered high performance, was highly scalable, and could perform at sub-millisecond speeds.


  • Applications

    • Home, Sweet Home: Sweet Home 3D 2.1 Linux Version
      3D design applications are somewhat an anomaly among Linux. Sweet Home 3D proves that good, free programs now exist in that market.


    • Gmail Notifier Applets for Ubuntu
      After trying each of these different applets for a few days, I think I’ve settled on cGmail, although CheckGmail is a close second and would definitely be a winner if it integrated with osd. But that choice reflects personal preference more than anything else; all of these utilities perform the same basic function well.








  • Distributions

    • LiveCD, Now Developed by Team Unity Linux
      The main tools used by developers for many LiveCD distributions was facing stagnation in 2008. Unity Linux has taken up the torch for bringing this great tool into the 21st century.


    • More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck
      Some of these are more obscure lesser known distros that are quite powerful and very useful. Some of these come from personal use some of them came from the great comments you readers posted the first time I did this.




    • Red Hat Family







    • Ubuntu

      • Screenshots Tour of Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 Beta
        Yes, after six months down the road, it’s time to gear up for the newly born Ubuntu baby again. This time, Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala, will be officially released on 29th Oct 2009. We, at MakeTechEasier have not been slacking around. With the release of the 9.10 beta, we have grabbed the LiveCD image, wipe our machines clean and installed the full version onto it. Now, let us present you the screenshots tour (and new features) review of Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 beta.


      • Why Matt Zimmerman must not quit Ubuntu.
        Canonical, and for that matter Ubuntu, pride themselves on certain philosophies that I believe must be upheld at all times, the theme of this philosophy being tolerance and humanity towards each other. How then can such a company throw out or pressure someone to resign because he had disagreed with his boss albeit publicly?


      • Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope on Lenovo G450
        What? You asked why I give Linux to my father? Of course I give it to him, he have been using linux for more than 2 years now. My father and my sister were a fond user of Linux. He use Kubuntu 7.04 on his PC at his house, and Linux Mint Felicia on his office. Yet he is not an IT worker, he just a lecturer teachin Philosophy. My sister like using Linux for it’s unique style. She use Linux Mint Felicia for daily activities in his university, and she has been a kind of linux marketer whenever her friends ask her about it (giggles, since I myself were hardly doing it) … Well, nope she is not an Engineering, or Computer Science student, she majoring Psychology (and I’ve been asked her to do the research about people and open source for her final project).


      • Karmic Koala: The best Ubuntu Linux ever?
        Another real nice addition to this distribution for new users is the Ubuntu Software Center. This take on an apps store, makes it mindlessly easy for people to find and install software. Experienced Linux users won't need this. For them, the Synaptic package manager and all the other usual package installation programs are there, and that's great. But, if you have a friend who's just getting their feet wet in Linux, this feature is great.


      • What makes Ubuntu so user friendly?
        Of course what you really need to do is define “user friendliness”. For many people that means “just be Windows”. But for some it’s much more than that. If you say “Just be Windows” – doesn’t that include Vista? And Vista was not the most user-friendly OS. User-friendly, to me, is an operating system (as a complete whole – not in pieces) that does not interfere with the user. A real user friendly operating system will allow the user to do what they need to do without confusing road blocks or cumbersome sub-systems. And, finally, a user-friendly operating system should be secure from the threat of viruses and malware without the inclusion of third-party software. Linux has that in spades.












  • Devices/Embedded

    • $8 ARM chip touted for DDR2 support
      Atmel announced a new member of its Linux-compatible ARM9-based SAM9G family of industrial-focused embedded processors. Touted for supporting DDR2 memory and 100Mbps+ data rates, the "AT91SAM9G45" clocks to 400MHz, supports LCD touchscreens and 3.3 V power, and offers a 480Mbps USB interface, says the company.


    • uClinux-based DSP module takes on SIP audio
      Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) announced an embedded module and host board designed to enable SIP-based multimedia communications. The ADI uCBF54x-Start Kit host board incorporates an ADI Blackfin-BF548 DSP-based uCBF54x System Module developed by Arcturus Networks, and is equipped with a uClinux BSP, says ADI.


    • Mobile hotspot gains full Linux SDK
      Novatel Wireless announced an expanded development program and Linux-based SDK for its low-cost "MiFi" WiFi/3G mobile hotspot. Initially available only to select developer partners, the MiFi Developer Program provides a "NovaCore" SDK with comprehensive APIs for the MiFi, as well as technical support, says the company.


    • Palm Pre re-re-introduces iTunes synchronization
      The company also tried to get the USB Implementers Forum to rule that Apple was unfairly locking the Pre out of iTunes, but the industry group sided with Apple's position instead.

      When Palm released webOS 1.2 without iTunes syncing, we thought perhaps the company had given up. But it seems Palm was just busy finding a work-around to Apple's proprietary locks.

      Barring some unforeseen and extremely unlikely change of heart for Apple, it's only a matter of time before the Pre's compatibility with iTunes is once again shut down. It's a losing battle to be sure.








Free Software/Open Source

  • Open Source and the Fear of Failure
    Yesterday I took part in an interesting event organised by BT called "Accelerating Enterprise adoption of Open Source Software" (disclaimer: filthy lucre was involved.) One topic that elicited much comment was why the public sector has singularly failed to deploy open source. As well as political issues (Tony Blair was and presumably still is manifestly in awe of (Sir) Bill Gates), there's another important issue to do with a fear of failure.


  • Wikipedia Co-Founder: Openness Is Not the Enemy of Quality
    Wikipedia is NOT about crowdsourcing: Jimmy compared crowdsouring to tricking people into free labor. Instead, he compared Wikipedia to bowling. Yes, bowling. “It’s about providing a nice bowling alley for people,” he stated as he explained that when people enjoy contributing rather than being tricked in free labor, it’s not crowdsouring.

    The world is information dense: Culture has become smarter. He compared the plots and jokes of I Love Lucy to Seinfeld and just how much more complicated storylines have become. TV has become a more engaging experience because there are so many more characters and storylines. He then pointed out Lostpedia, a wiki for the TV show Lost which has over 5,700 articles. Yes, that’s how complex TV shows have become.


  • Brian Behlendorf, Founding Member of the Apache Software Foundation Speaks on How Open Source Developers Can Save the World
    Q: Please tell us a bit about your history with with Web

    Brian Behlendorf: I have been on the ‘net since I started at UC Berkeley as an undergrad in 1991. While working at a new magazine called Wired in 1993, I helped them launch the first major publisher’s website, then later one of the first ad-supported sites, called HotWired. I left that in 1995 to co-found a company named Organic which built commercial websites, then launched another company in 1999 named CollabNet, which creates open source development tools and communities. I spent 2007 and 2008 doing quite a bit of public speaking and travel to promote Open Source software collaboration practices across the tech sector, and then since February I’ve been in Washington DC helping the Federal sector understand where Open Source software can help address some big challenges.


  • Mozilla augments Firefox's plug-in check
    Mozilla is testing the page, which pings the company servers, then returns a list of plug-ins, noting those that are up-to-date and ones that should be updated. Links to the plug-in download pages are also available so that users can obtain the most current versions of software from the likes of Adobe, Microsoft, Sun and Apple.


  • Some of Maryland's open source heroes
    Could this be a more instructive metric of Maryland technical vitality than statistical measures such as number postgraduate degree holders?


  • Single-window mode progress report
    When the news of the introduction of a single-window mode in GIMP 2.8 hit the net it became clear what an incredible desire for something like this there was. The reactions have been overwhelmingly positive, and this really helps to motivate you to hack on it. The news also revealed an interesting but previously rather anonymous group of people: multi-window zealots despising the idea of a single-window mode in their beloved multi-window application. I suspect they don't realize that single-window mode is going to be optional...


  • New Chart features in OpenOffice.org 3.2
    The behavior of the Insert menu within charts now is selection dependent. In case a single data series is selected or an element belonging to a single data series the additional elements ( like error bars, data labels, trend lines or mean value lines) are only inserted for this single series. Otherwise the additional elements are added to all existing series.


  • Making Corporate FOSS Successful
    I'm a community guy. In a company that has lots of products, both open source and commercial, I'm lucky enough to get paid to work on open source projects. What I've learned in my work with the community is that building a successful project takes more than many people think.


  • Open Source Enthusiast To Advise Conservatives
    Tom Steinberg, co-founder of mySociety, the site behind online tools such as TheyWorkForYou.com has agreed to help the Conservative party

    The co-founder of an organisation that has campaigned for smarter use of the Internet and open source software as a way to increase visibility in government has agreed to help advise the Tory party on its web strategy.


  • NSF considering a repository
    In addition to the $20 million grant announced today, the Libraries received a $300,000 grant from NSF to study the feasibility of developing, operating and sustaining an open access repository of articles from NSF-sponsored research. Libraries staff will work with colleagues from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), and the University of Michigan Libraries to explore the potential for the development of a repository (or set of repositories) similar to PubMedCentral, the open-access repository that features articles from NIH-sponsored research. This grant for the feasibility study will allow Choudhury’s group to evaluate how to integrate activities under the framework of the Data Conservancy and will result in a set of recommendations for NSF regarding an open access repository. ...




Leftovers

  • Internet turns pet peeves into social movements
    Finally, the American people are burning with overdraft anger and starting a revolt against outrageous credit card interest rates, and it looks as though their elected leaders in Washington and the state capitols might actually do something about these parasitic practices by the bailed-out banks.


  • Man Arrested for Twittering Goes to Court, EFF Has the Documents
    Over the past day, Everyone has been reporting about the arrest last month of Elliot Madison for twittering about police movements to protesters during the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA.


  • Hardware Hacker, E-Voting Investigator, and Public Domain Advocate Win Pioneer Awards
    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2009 Pioneer Awards: hardware hacker Limor "Ladyada" Fried, e-voting security researcher Harri Hursti, and public domain advocate Carl Malamud.


  • Intel Promotes Its OpenSim Project as "3D Internet" (Second Life Not Included)
    "Is Intel trying to steal Second Life though an expensive advertising campaign?" (Reverse engineer, DD, it's called reverse engineer.) Lack of credit aside, it's probably the most publicized showing of an OpenSim project from a Fortune 500 company. Unless they're planning to adopt Linden Lab's sea of troubles, I doubt they intend Science Sim as a mass market product directly competitive with SL, or for that matter, consumer-oriented OpenSim products.




  • AstroTurf

    • Government Watchdog Says Treasury and Fed Misled the Public on Bailout
      SIGTARP Neil Barofsky, the independent inspector general for the TARP bailout program, issued a report highly critical of the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and other federal agencies for comments made to the public last fall. Last October, the federal government was deeply enmeshed in the attempt to stem the worst financial crisis in decades. On October 14, 2008, the Fed and Treasury announced capital injections worth $125 billion for nine of the largest financial institutions: Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, State Street and the Bank of New York Mellon.






  • Censorship/Web Abuse

    • Cambridgeshire cops get coy with FOI
      Cambridgeshire Police has emerged as the latest force that prefers not to explain itself to the public – and then not to explain why it won’t explain itself.


    • Memo - Amendment 138: Debunking the Council's arguments
      The European Parliament's second reading version of the Telecoms Package has yet to be formally rejected by the Council of the European Union, but closed-door negotiations are already taking place as a run-up to the upcoming conciliation procedure.








  • Intellectual Monopolies

    • Another Author Notes That Giving Away His Book Increased Sales
      I'd actually heard about his book, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization a few months ago when someone pointed out that he was giving away his book for free, but I hadn't heard much more about it.


    • Postcodes: Royal Fail
      Here's a perfect example of why intellectual commons should not be enclosed.

      The UK Postcode data set is obviously crucial information for businesses and ordinary citizens - something that is clearly vital to the smooth running of everyday life. But more than that, it is geographic information that allows all kinds of innovative services to be provided by people with clever ideas and some skill.










Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day



Internet Video Celebrity Caitlin Hill 11 (2007)

[an error occurred while processing this directive]



Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Dances With Wolves, Wakes Up With Fleas
Small minds say "td;dr" whereas the rest say, "give me information, give me time to study it"...
Garrett Does Not Just Try to Cover Up for Himself, He's Clearly Covering Up for His Mates From Microsoft (and Admits Third Parties Fund His Litigation, With Their Legal Bills Estimates Already Approaching $1,000,000)
They have already sent us about 75 KG of legal papers. How is any judge supposed to keep up?
Richard Stallman in the United States - Part IV - Back to Switzerland
The "cancel mob" tried to "finish off" RMS 5 years ago
Dr. Richard Stallman in Ada Lovelace Lecture Series 20 Hours From Now in Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology (Rotkreuz)
Well-connected and affluent corporations want everything to be controlled by them, ranging from culture to words and news
GNU/Linux Seen as Rising to 20% in Eritrea, But That's statCounter Identifying "Unknown" as GNU/Linux
What if statCounter managed to figure out what all those "unknowns" are?
 
Under IBM, Some Fedora Blog Posts Have Become LLM Slop! (Red Hat is Doomed by Slop Fanaticism)
Who would even bother reading such trash?
Lots of People Leaving IBM Today
IBM cannot be trusted
LLM Slop Rare and Scarce This Friday
We still hope that by the end of this year slop will become nearly extinct
Defending British Democracy From American Predators
We stand united and strong in the face of predators
Links 06/03/2026: LLM Prompt-injection Vulnerability in Microsoft's Proprietary GitHub, "260,000 Federal Jobs Lost"
Links for the day
It's Friday and Many People Publicly Announce Leaving IBM (Which is Engineering 'Willful' Departures to Mask RAs' Scale)
We understand from whistleblowers that IBM already destroyed Red Hat's culture
Dr. Richard Stallman (RMS), the Man Whose Mind Scares GAFAM et al, Began Speaking in Switzerland
His ideas and ideals are not obscene
Gemini Links 06/03/2026: "Setting up the Feed" and Using Molly Brown
Links for the day
Links 06/03/2026: Can't Copyright Slop in US, Microsoft Became Slop Provider for Militarism
Links for the day
Threats Issued to Daniel Pocock Having Launched the JuristGate Web Site Which Covers Financial Fraud in "Legal Insurance" Clothing
Is our world governed by laws or by rich corporations (or nations/superpowers) with well-connected lawyers/politicians?
International Women's Day: At the EPO, for Women to Become Managers They Need to Sleep With Well-connected Men and Mingle With Corrupt Men
Sunday is International Women's Day
Dr. Richard Stallman Starts His Talks in Switzerland in 8 Hours
They try to assess how many people plan to attend to ensure everyone gets a seat (without compromising the privacy/identity of those attending)
IBM Red Hat Layoffs: It's Not About "AI"
"Automation" is not "AI", it's just a generic term which can describe jobs left for machines to do, sometimes computers
Microsoft Windows Used to be Identified on Over 99% of Web Requests From Benin. Now It's Around 50%.
Or a lot less
Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' Has Severe Financial Problems, Version Inflation ("GPT-5.4") is Mindless Hype and a Misleading Distraction
In practice, both users and sponsors of ChaffGPT are fleeing
The Techrights Static Site Generator (SSG) Turns 5 Next Year
It's still under active development in our Git servers
New XBox Boss (Sharma) Implicitly Confirmed XBox (the Console) is Now Dead
Vista 11 is now also known as "XBox"
Murder as a 'Joke' to GAFAM People (Sociopathy)
When it comes to Microsoft and Salesforce, they profit from this mentality
Microsoft ‘Project Helix’ is Just a Tweet in MElon's "X"
Some "tweet" is easy, as words are cheap
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 4 Out of 200: Rianne’s Version of Events and Narrative
today we tell Rianne's experience
EPO Staff to 'Meet' This Coming Tuesday to Plan Industrial Actions Including Upcoming Strikes
using Microsoft spyware to organise this can be an own goal because Microsoft serves the dictators, not the union that tries to topple them
Thousands of EPO Workers Rally Against EPO Management
The staff is furious to see what became of the EPC and the EPO. This is not sustainable.
In Argentina Firefox is Measured at Only 1%, Google Chrome (Proprietary) at About 90%
And it has long been that way
IBM's March 2026 Layoffs Already Happening (to Accelerate Soon in Europe and America)
We're probably seeing some of the last years of IBM and it's anything but certain that IBM can survive the coming decade
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 05, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, March 05, 2026
Gemini Links 05/03/2026: Industrial Panettone, Cancel, and LLMs
Links for the day
It's Not "AI", IBM is Collapsing Due to Financial Difficulties, "All Small Country Offices Will Close"
IBM is in trouble. Insiders know it.
"AI Companies" Running Out of Money, GAFAM Layoffs Are Signs of Weakness, Not "AI Efficiency" or Novelty
In the past, this term ("AI") had another meaning and connotation
Libel/Defamation Law Does Not Exist to Cover up Crimes
The projection tactics are nothing new
Myanmar/Burma: Growing Acceptance of GNU/Linux, Big Losses for Windows
GNU/Linux has come close to 5% there
Without IBM, Microsoft Would Not Have Taken Off. Both Companies Need to be 'Taken Down'.
Maybe it's time to boycott IBM as well
'Former' Red Hat Staff Upset That Techrights Covers IBM Accounting Problems
Are we touching a sensitive subject at IBM?
Ubuntu is Controlled by a Youngster From the British Army (Background in Mass Surveillance), So One Can Expect Ubuntu to Not Respect Privacy
"Canonical is aware of the legislation and is reviewing it internally with legal counsel"
IBM Hates Computer Freedom. This Means Red Hat Too is an Enemy of Software Freedom.
A summary of Fedora's position when it comes to "attestation"
IBM Union Says Many IBM Layoffs in Europe, With Netherlands and Belgium Confirmed, Allegedly Italy Soon (200 Layoffs)
IBM's demise will harm Red Hat and already harms Red Hat, according to whistleblowers
Microsoft and Microsoft's 'Open' 'AI' Seeking Bailout From the Pentagon Means Brand Erosion
Microsoft and its offshoots growing more and more dependent on military ("defence"; "Department of War") budget
Another EPO Strike a Fortnight From Now, Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN) Shares 127-Page Document Explaining How Policies Impact EPO Staff
The Office is circling down the drain
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 3 Out of 200: A More In-Depth Breakdown
presents the narrative in a less chronological and more logically coherent fashion
2026 Seems Like (Potentially) the Last Year of Slop Drowning News Sites
Sites that do so perish [...] It's getting hard to find slop in news sites which cover "Linux" because many gave up
Links 05/03/2026: New LexisNexis Data Breach Confirmed, "Goldman Sachs Head During Financial Crisis Says He “Smells” a Similar Crash Coming"
Links for the day
"Silent Layoffs" or "Forever Layoffs" at IBM and Red Hat (After Bluewashing)
Like every day (all day long) we can see people who leave IBM and say something that's based on a 'script'
Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Others Promoting String of RMS Talks, Starting Tomorrow in Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology
Well done, FSF!
Links 05/03/2026: A Bet Against Substack, American Government Openly Hostile Towards Environment
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/03/2026: Greed and Sentiments Shifting Against Slop
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 04, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 04, 2026
FSF Promoting Richard M. Stallman (RMS) Talk in Switzerland in Just Over a Day From Now
RMS may have more talks on the way
Why Slop Will Flop - Part IV - We've Seen the End of It
Some years ago they insisted blockchains would revolutionise everything
Android is Proprietary 'Linux' and It Becomes More Malicious Over Time, Google Only Delayed What It Planned All Along
Google is a proprietary software giant, GSoC is only a distraction and confusion
Links 04/03/2026: Scam Altman Causes Chatbot Sub Numbers to Plunge, "Stocks Drop as Inflation Risk Emerges"
Links for the day
Why Slop Will Flop - Part III - Our Relationship With Slop (and Yours)
I never - except inadvertently - "used" an LLM-based chatbot
Why Slop Will Flop - Part II - Devil in the Details
News sites or social control media sites which tolerate slop are digging their own grave
Simpler Means Faster
Do you know your bottlenecks?
Gemini Links 04/03/2026: About a Missing Symbol and "Good Manners"
Links for the day
The Register MS Takes Money From Chinese Surveillance Threat to Promote a Ponzi Scheme
"Sponsored by Huawei."
Nicaragua's GNU/Linux Usage Measured at Over 8% by statCounter
Nicaragua is a poor country, but it also has rich culture
Why Slop Will Flop - Part I - Slop Fatigue Prevalent
See, sooner or later people (audiences of colleagues) find out and as soon as they find out you are slopping, they will lose interest
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 2 Out of 200: Detailed Timeline From 2012 (Attack on Reporters That Question Restricted Boot) to 2024 (Lawsuit Against Reporter and His Wife in Another Continent)
we reproduce a document produced 2 years ago to give people more context and more facts
Links 04/03/2026: "The EU moves to kill infinite scrolling" and a call to "Nationalize Amazon"
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Evidence of Abuse in Our IRC Network
IRC's freedom can sometimes be its 'weakness' if not properly guarded
High GNU/Linux Adoption in Brunei Darussalam
It's worth noting (or at least noticing) that Microsoft loses ground in some of the countries where the government contracts paid the most
Media Blackout Reducing or Preventing Press Coverage of Microsoft Layoffs in 2026
Worse yet, there will be gaslighting and deceit
GNU/Linux in Laptops/Desktops Still Matters, It's Likely the Only Way to Achieve Software Freedom
Software Freedom requires all sorts of things at the "OS level"
Gemini Links 04/03/2026: The Garnet Star, The Hunt, The SYN Attacks
Links for the day
The EPO's General Consultative Committee (GCC) Discussion Illuminates How Much Worse Things Have Gotten ("on Strike and Participated in the 'Meeting'")
a videoconference - not a physical meeting - discussed EPO policies
Free Software Foundation Supports Its Founder, Advertises His Talks in Switzerland
When you suppress voices, assuming the reasons for suppression are bunk, it is always bound to backfire very badly
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 03, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 03, 2026