12.29.08
Links 29/12/2008: Linux 2.6.28 Benchmark, TomTom Only Exploits Linux
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GNU/Linux
- KDE Forum: Kourse 1 in Progress!
KDE Forum Klassroom Kourse 1 is in progress! This kourse is being led by msoeken & the topic for this is “Fixing KSnapshot bugs”. The Kourse started with 5 bugs as aim. Students would be required to fix them and will be guided by msoeken while doing so.
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Kernel
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Distributions
- Hands-on Linux: New versions of Ubuntu, Fedora and openSUSE push the envelope
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New Releases
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Ubuntu/Debian
- “Random Developer” Interviews
- A Review of Linux Mint 6: Felicia
Linux Mint is a bit of a dark horse when compared with the big distros like Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat or Gentoo. Don’t overlook it – it provides a great deal of polish that the Linux world has been looking for for a long time. I just put it my old desktop system, so here’s my impression.
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Devices
- Visa Takes a Ride on G1
- Linux vs Windows . . . TomTom GPS
So, here you go, TomTom. Get your PR department out of the Service department, and start thinking of where you get your money. Do you REALLY want to forego the income you could make by supporting the very operating system that you use?
[...]
TomTom uses Linux. But TomTom doesn’t want to acknowledge that, and therefore ignores potential customers. Or, perhaps it’s more than ignoring potential customers. For example, there is the publically demonstrated behavior of Microsoft. Microsoft is noted for its anti-competative contracts with companies, its “buying off” companies, organizations and even political entities, and its subversion of even standards organizations. (Oh, don’t believe me. Go see for yourself. Search for the lawsuit by the DOJ [such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft] and the record of what happened at ISO with their “Office Open XML”, or their behavior in third world countries with the advent of the XO computer.) Such behavior in an individual would be considered unethical at best and criminal at worst. But because Microsoft has money they manage to get away with it. If some combination of the above is the reason that TomTom has so ignored Linux as an operating system then their shame is complete, and they deserve to be known as “that navigation company that USED to be a contender in the market”.
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Sub-notebooks
- New toy or new best friend?
It also isn’t a speed demon, but so far with web browsing and using OpenOffice, I haven’t found myself waiting for anything. One thing to note is that I requested a Linux version of the netbook. It runs “Linpus Lite Linux”, a customized version of Fedora with a very useful dashboard for everyday applications.
- 2008 year in review: Netooks
- Larry Magid: Looking back on eventful year for tech
- New toy or new best friend?
F/OSS
- What’s in a Number?
The figure of less than 60% for Internet Explorer is certainly impressive, given the fact that it held close to 100% of the market a few years ago. One question is: what is the breakthrough point for Firefox? The current 30%? 50%? Something else? For me, an important psychological moment will be when Internet Explorer dips below 50%, and Firefox above 40%. At that point, both will be in the 40-50% range, and it will be clear that they are essentially on a par.
- Yo Frankie! – Free Open Source Platform Game
- The Year in Allies
- EFF’s 18th Birthday Party with DJ Spooky
Media
- Linux Outlaws 70 – The Year 2008 in Review (Everything’s Nineteen)
- After Newspapers – Who’s Next?
- BBC World Service: ‘jobs for the boys’
Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day
Markos Moulitsas, creator of the Daily Kos on-line political magazine 08 (2005)
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Jan Stedehouder said,
December 29, 2008 at 3:17 pm
The TomTom news is old again. The company isn’t hiding it’s use of Linux, but offers the source code of the various components on it’s website:
http://www.tomtom.com/page.php?Page=gpl
In 2004 this was already settled in a case with GPL Violations:
http://gpl-violations.org/news/20041024-linux-tomtom.html
It’s desktop software is Windows- and Mac-only, which is a shame actually.
Roy Schestowitz said,
December 29, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Thanks a million, Jan! We were just discussing this earlier in IRC. I couldn’t quite recall the details about the GPL case.