11.30.09

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers
• Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day

GNU/Linux

• Eixil Group partners with Anustubh Labs

  Eixil Group division Eixil Technosoft Pvt. Ltd. being a Business Development and Online Promotion Company, ventures into high end software development on LINUX Platform by partnering with a new venture Anustubh Labs, launching soon by the Technology Experts.

• Questions and Answers About the Linux Operating System

  These are some basic answers to questions people ask me when I tell them I use Linux. It still seems strange to most of them that somebody nowadays can use an operating system that neither is Windows nor MacOs.

• [The Accent]

• Server

  • Mad Dog 21/21: The Fox in IBM’s Storage Henhouse

    The reason XIV just might be revolutionary, at least by IBM standards, is that it is a disk array that has some of the attractive characteristics of just about every kind of array in the alphabet soup of today’s storage industry. Basically, an XIV box has a front-end based on X64/Linux servers with software and interfaces that let the machine talk over Fibre Channel, Ethernet, iSCSI (which uses Ethernet), and if there were a need, any other fast hookup the market might want.

• Google

  • Let’s start with Chrome

    Google, after changing the way we look at the Internet, is now working on revolutionising how we see computers. As cloud computing and ‘computing as a service’ set the tech world abuzz, everyone is thinking of moving everything online. Gone are the days where your PC needed an Operating System with a multitude of applications, as most of what you need is already available for use online.

  • Microsoft and Firefox engineering a Chrome web OS rival?

    But we can say that only for self-defense, Redmond giant needs an alternative to Chrome OS to offer its customers.

  • Reducing UI clutter, docking bars removed

• Kernel Space

  • DRM Change Continues To Cause Debate

    Kristian Høgsberg on the 6th of November had wrote a message on the DRI development list regarding the libdrm repository. With so much of the Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) work going straight into the Linux kernel — thanks in large part to all of the work on memory management and kernel mode-setting — Kristian proposed that the DRM driver code be removed from the separate DRM Git tree. With this message, Kristian created a new DRM repository that dropped all of the linux-core, bsd-core, and shared-core code. Seems simple and straightforward, right? Well, three weeks later with dozens of replies, this change is continuing to cause debate.

  • GlusterFS performance tuning for small files, replication, distributed, NUFA

  • FreeBSD 8.0 Benchmarked Against Linux, OpenSolaris

    With the stable release of FreeBSD 8.0 arriving last week we finally were able to put it up on the test bench and give it a thorough look over with the Phoronix Test Suite. We compared the FreeBSD 8.0 performance between it and the earlier FreeBSD 7.2 release along with Fedora 12 and Ubuntu 9.10 on the Linux side and then the OpenSolaris 2010.02 b127 snapshot on the Sun OS side.

• Applications

  • Thunderbird 3 RC1 Review (Desktop Email Client)

    Thunderbird 3 is a great mail client, and I still prefer it to Windows Live Mail, OS X’s Mail application and Evolution on Linux – for me, it’s definitely an all round winner, and one you should definitely check out as soon as you can! Do you prefer web based email or desktop email clients? Let us know in the comments!

  • Alternative Linux web browsers

    You know Firefox like the back of your hand. You’ve heard tale of Chrome and you know KDE has tried to pawn Konqueror off as their default browser. In the distance you hear Opera calling your name and IE4Lin tries to woo you to the dark side. Browsers, the lot of them. You can’t go about your daily digital life without one, and sometimes it’s just hard to tell which is the best for the job. But did you know there were even more alternatives to choose from? Many of them are one-trick ponies and some of them will never see the light of day on the average (or even somewhat above-average users’ desktop). But that doesn’t mean that these alternatives shouldn’t get a brief spot in the limelight.

  • Top 2 iPod management tools for Ubuntu.

  • Instructionals

    • Stream music wirelessely using PulseAudio server

    • Music Album Covers And Picture Previews As Folder Thumbnails In Nautilus [Ubuntu / Linux]

    • The Perfect Desktop – Fedora 12 i686 (GNOME)

    • Get The ChromeOS Application Menu In Ubuntu

    • Sprites mods: Wiimote as X pointer / MAME lightgun – Introduction

    • Key sequence to kill the X server (Control + Alt + Backspace)

    • Simple Linux disk burning with Brasero

• Desktop Environments

  • KDE Community Forums Announce the Continuation of Klassroom

    Early on in the lifetime of the KDE Community Forums, the staff launched regularly-held courses for people willing to help KDE called “Klassrooms”. For each of these courses, a mentor (usually a KDE contributor, but not limited to them) guided a group of “students” towards a simple, definite goal that would improve KDE, for example fixing simple bugs in an application. However, the courses were not limited to coding: documentation, promo and other important areas were handled as well.

• Distributions

  • Noteworthy changes in Mandriva Cooker 15 November – 29 November

    * The QT and KDE development snapshots have been updated to the latest versions: QT 4.6 RC 1 and KDE 4.3.77. Desktop effects are now enabled by default in KDE and Nepomuk is now using Virtuoso as its back-end to store data, which should give faster tagging and indexing.

  • Red Hat Family

    • John Bryce Training announces the opening of an advanced course for Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administrators

    • How to make KVM virtual machines in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.4 is the first enterprise Linux distribution that natively supports Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtual machines (VMs). Previously, I covered how to set up RHEL as a KVM host. Here I explain how to create KVM VMs in a host. The easiest way to create a KVM virtual machine is through the virt-manager interface. Start this utility from a console window, and type the virt-manager command from an administrative account.

    • My Experience with Ubuntu

      Ubuntu is a great OS that has come a long way in a short time; it has brought open source software a good name and incorporates all programs nicely into “one box”. In the short amount of time that I used it I felt differently about Ubuntu and open source software. In my opinion, Ubuntu could rival Windows if it keeps being fresh and intuitive in the future. All in all, Ubuntu is great fun and I recommend getting a DVD even if you’re only going to boot from the DVD once to see how it is.

  • Debian Family

    • System76 Ubuntu PCs: Cyber Monday Sale

      System76, the Ubuntu PC maker, continues to offer special holiday pricing on selected systems through Monday evening, November 30. Here’s a look at System76’s Ubuntu PC and notebook discounts, which are part of an ongoing Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales promotion.

    • Lucid Lynx Timeline

      Perhaps you already noticed in my last post “Lucid Lynx – This Is The Plan” that I’ve created a Lucid Lynx timeline. As I mentioned with the Karmic Koala timeline, I was inspired by Andreas Nilssons graphical representation of the GNOME Release Process and wanted to create something similar for Ubuntu.

    • UbuntuSun – Ubuntu 10.4 (Lucid) Proposed Artwork (Updated)

    • Get Applications That Didn’t Make The Ubuntu CD Available In One Download Thanks To “B-Sides”

    • Ubuntu Extra Wallpaper Package

• Devices/Embedded

  • Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets

    Based on the Angstrom Linux distribution, this is by no means a commercial distro (no multimedia software) but since you’re taking it upon yourself to code the next great multimedia / social networking / productivity / time travel app anyways, you don’t really want to be bogged down by such pedestrian fare.

  • Archos 5 & Archos 7 Tablets Get New Developer Firmware [Archos Releases Special Developer Edition Firmware for Its Internet Media Tablets]

    The new special edition firmware is available as a “proof-of-concept” according to the press release and it “does not contain the traditional Archos multimedia software.” Developers interested in building native applications for the Archost 5 and Archos 7 platforms will surely enjoy the release and we’re definitely interested in their upcoming apps.

    In fact if you’re going to use this Angstrom Linux distribution-based firmware to create any fabulous app, then, by all means, let us know about it.

  • Nokia

    • Nokia N900 – Part tablet – part cell phone

      The biggest improvement in the Nokia smartphone design is the software – it runs on Nokia’s next-generation, open source operating system called Maemo 5 Linux – a big step forward from the n97’s and all previous Nokia phones which used the tried-and-true Symbian OS.

    • Nokia plans just one Linux phone next year: source

      Nokia’s Linux Maemo operating system is seen as a key for the top cellphone maker in its battle against Apple’s iPhone, and many analysts and industry players have expected the firm to roll out numerous Linux models already next year.

  • Phones

    • Data Collection Where It’s Needed The Most

      The biggest reason we use Android is because it’s open source. It’s not the first open mobile operating system, but it’s the first open and comprehensive system with the wide and viable device support that our users need.

    • Droid does, iPhone doesn’t: The porn app store

      MiKandi’s publicity material naturally avoids this term, referring to the more PC phrase “adult only.” However, there is a little kink in its offering. According to Android fanperson site, Phandroid, the MiKandi Market apps only work with Android phones and not with Apple’s more morally minded handsets.

Free Software/Open Source

• The Apache

  I know what most of you are thinking right now, and no it’s not the Apache helicopter. The “Apache” software foundation (ASF) is non-profit organization that has a community of software developers that develop free and open source software.

• Electronic Voting Machines and a New Era of Fixing Elections

  Perhaps in the future more secure, open source systems may be available to any country (similar to open source operating systems like Linux/Unix) but for the moment, Electronic Voting hardware and software is produced privately, without open access to what is going on in these machines. Should we then trust these private companies just because they say we should? You do the maths.

• Getting Organized With Tracks

  Tracks is based on David Allen’s Getting Things Done, which rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them externally. This method frees the mind from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and allows it to concentrate on actually performing those tasks.

• A Doctrine for Change – Lawrence Lessig Again

  Watch the video from Big Thinkers wherein Lessig explains his views on freedom our culture and creativity.

• How can you benefit from Open Source Software (OSS)?

  Huh? You can benefit from Open Source Software? This question usually paints a confusing scenario in the local IT community and brings about many misconceptions, The answer to this question will be approached from two different angles, from a developers point of view and then a business point of view.

• IT jobs will be slow to recover – OECD

  It has established an open source software competence centre to support the wider use of open source software within the public sector and has launched a “green IT” initiative to try to reduce energy consumption in the public sector by 40 per cent by 2013.

• Fracture risk tool built using QResearch

  The tool is available as open source software www.qfracture.org and users are asked to enter details including age, sex, weight, height and illnesses to determine the risk of a fracture.

• Sun

  • Open-source culture at heart of Oracle deal

    But like most open-source companies, MySQL’s sales, tied to support deals, never matched the astronomical number of downloads for its product, about 60,000 a day. In January 2008, the founders decided to sell the company for $1 billion to Sun Microsystems. And this year, Sun agreed to sell itself to Oracle, which makes database software aimed at larger companies and tougher jobs, for $7.4 billion.

  • Open Source as a Model for Business Is Elusive

    Now, disagreement over the value of MySQL — both as a stand-alone entity and as part of a big company — lies at the heart of a bitter public battle between Oracle and the European Union over the Sun acquisition. The fight illuminates a larger truth about open-source companies: their societal and strategic importance far exceeds their financial value as operating businesses.

  • Are open source programmers fools and suckers?

    Analyst and consultant Josh Greenbaum has criticised the European Commission’s view that Oracle should jettison MySQL. Part of his argument is that MySQL can’t die because it is open source – and, Greenbaum says, this means there is no end of suckers willing to maintain it for free.

    [...]

    In part, open source software isn’t about money. Young Finnish student Linus Torvalds certainly wasn’t thinking “how can I monetise this?” when he posted his now-famous Usenet post that he’d made a rudimentary Linux-like kernel.

• Openness

  • The Death of Journalism: David Eaves and Vancouver’s Open Source Era (part two)

    I’m not sure if it’s an explicit demand, so much as a behavioural shift. People don’t trust anybody anymore. People don’t see the Vancouver Sun as an authoritative news source that they should implicitly trust. And they certainly don’t see 24hrs or Metro that way. These things are rags that people get bits of information from. People are disappointed when they find out that these news sources have lied to them, but they aren’t shocked. Traditional media is no longer the authority. It’s not so much that people are organizing against the media, but they prefer more transparency. People want the opportunity to know what’s actually going on.

    In terms of the open data portal, there may only be a small percentage of residents who go and look at the data. But the fact that we have the option of knowing…that’s really powerful.

  • Open-source car firm proposes new business model

• Education

  • Online university of hope

    “The concept is great, and one we’ll see more and more,” says Peter Scott, director of the Knowledge Media Institute at Britain’s Open University, which provides free access to course materials through the OpenLearn website.

  • Contest drives genetic engineering advances

    MIT’s 2009 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition has yielded an open source, Internet-based cellular engineering program to assist in synthetic biology design, and software tools for creation and assembly of DNA-sequence parts.

  • Big advantages in schoolbooks going digital

    Digital textbooks are on the way to Texas public schools, perhaps as soon as next fall. As reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in our Nov. 23 edition, the state Legislature has already passed two bills allowing the Texas Education Agency to create a repository of online textbook content. The agency is seeking bids from both online and traditional publishers and planning to have the first open-source textbooks available to students in the fall of 2010.

Leftovers

• Budding authors publish own work online and in print

  Self-publishing on the internet has given many budding writers a platform where their work can be shared with the world.

• Amy Goodman Detained at Canadian Border, Questioned About Speech…and 2010 Olympics

  While traveling to Vancouver, Canada to speak at the Vancouver Public Library at a benefit for community radio stations, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman and her two colleagues were detained by Canadian authorities. Amy was questioned extensively about the speech she intended to give; their car was gone through by armed border guards, and their papers and laptop computers were scoured. The armed interrogators were particularly interested in whether she would be speaking about the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

• Policy

  • The SWIFT scandal of Lisbon

    The EU-Constitution, later rebranded as the Lisbon Treaty did not get a very warm reception.

    [...]

    Surprisingly the SWIFT debate does not receive much attention in the English news. In Germany it is big news. The Bundesrat, the Chamber of Federal States filed a strong resolution. The Libdems, among them Minister of Justice Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger are very sensitive to the issue. The German banking sector is alerted. In the middle of the month four nations blocked the agreement, among them also France, Finland and Austria. A fierce political battle happens behind the scenes. The current German position is abstention. Ironically Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger gets a lot of critical press now as if she was the driving force, not Chancellor Angela Merkel.

  • Analysis Mason spectrum report for the EU Commission

    I wonder how this report would take the Toia report from the European Parliament into account. It seems a bit upfront to claim that the Commission report would be based on the consortial study of Analysis-Mason. It makes the report vulnerable to attacks.

  • TACD Resolution on IPR Enforcement

    A colleague informed me that I completely overlooked the TACD recommendations on IPR enforcement (patents, copyright, trademarks etc.) measures. TACD stands for the transatlantic consumer dialogue and they officially represent “consumers” as stakeholders in the ongoing transatlantic Transatlantic Economic Council and ACTA negotiations as a counterpart to TABD, the transatlantic business dialogue.

• Intellectual Monopolies/Copyrights

  • Copyright Law Changes In India Could Gut Fair Use

    Well, here we go again. Reports are coming out of India about new draconian copyright law changes that were apparently decided on between the government and the recording industry with little to no input from everyone else the new laws would impact. Among the concerns? The new law would significantly strip fair use (fair dealing in India) rights, to the extent that they are effectively useless. This seems to happen over and over again in different countries.