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Links 30/11/2009: KDE 4.4 Preview, VirtualBox 3.1 Released



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Contents





GNU/Linux

  • One More Turkey? 'Fired for Using Linux'
    It's still not uncommon to find sites that don't work with Firefox, Slashdot blogger Barbara Hudson told LinuxInsider.

    "My first response is to try with Opera; sometimes it works," she said. "After that, I boot my laptop into Windows, do the updates that have accumulated in the six months since the last time I booted Windows, then go to the site."


  • Linux rescues a failing hard drive
    Over Thanksgiving, I had to deal with a Windows XP laptop, belonging to a relative, that blue screened during startup. Normal startup failed, as did safe mode, safe mode with command prompt and Last Known Good.

    The first question that always needs to be answered in these situations is whether the problem is hardware or software. To that end, I booted the computer using my favorite rescue disc, the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD4WIN).

    The CD started, from the main menu, I chose to run UBCD4WIN, but it eventually hung on a totally blank screen.

    [...]

    I do travel with a copy of Linux on a USB flash drive, but the computer was too old to boot off a USB connected device.

    So I removed the hard drive from the laptop and took it home. That the hard drive rattled when shaken did not make me optimistic.




  • Google

    • Ubuntu, Google, and the Future of Linux. And rsync too.
      Chrome OS is a cloud-based application delivery platform, built for a very specific purpose, namely those little netbooks. Your data and the heart of the applications in Chrome OS live in Google's cloud. A lot of people will be very happy with that. There are, however, countless other applications that aren't suited to the cloud-based model. Applications that can only realistically live on the desktop (at least for the foreseeable future). Desktop Linux, and Ubuntu by extension, will continue to thrive there and to evolve into something even greater than what it is today. Chrome competes with Microsoft where Microsoft is, er, softest. The cloud.


    • Google chart shows which netbooks run Chrome OS best
      The chart details which systems have been “officially” tested by developers and reveals what hardware works and what doesn’t. Several models are listed, but I’ve simplified things a bit. Listed below are models on which everything works – 802.11 wireless, ethernet, touchpad, and suspend/resume.


    • Make my OS Faster
      Google certainly has the clout to market this OS to the masses, and brand recognition that won’t make people run for the hills. It’s still Linux, but people won’t know about it, and therefore won’t be scared of trying it. Could chrome be the first user friendly, mainstream Linux distro tailored towards non-geeks using legacy hardware?

      It’s certainly interesting. I’m anxiously awaiting the release of the OS to see if it will follow the same high quality design as most other Google products. I’m also very curious as to how it will be received by mainstream, non-technical population.


    • Chrome OS Gains Open Source Home








  • Kernel Space

    • AMD R600/700 DRM Interrupts Support Pushed
      One of the underlying features that has been lacking from the ATI R600/700 DRM / kernel mode-setting driver on Linux has been support for interrupts, which is needed for the sync-to-vblank operation and other important areas.








  • Instructionals







  • Desktop Environments



    • GNOME







    • KDE

      • KDE 4.4 dev: What’s new?
        I have managed to find some time to cover the recent changes in the development version of KDE 4.4. The number of changes is not impressive but they are interesting enough to write an article.

        [...]

        To my great surprise, the whole thing works fast and the system is responsive. I haven’t encountered a single crash when playing with KDE 4.4 r1055000. This makes my hope that the next release of my favorite desktop envoronment will be a great success.












  • Distributions

    • Mandriva Linux 2010 GNOME – Solid and Sweet
      After running Mandriva Linux 2010 GNOME for a couple of days, I could say, Mandriva Linux 2010 GNOME edition is as stable as its predecessors with newer versions of popular software and makes a great desktop experience.




    • New Releases

      • Release: Debris Linux 2.0 Final
        After a long time of development, we finally present Debris Linux 2.0.


      • Macpup Foxy 3
        Macpup Foxy 3.0 is the latest from the Macpup team. Macpup Foxy 3.0 is based on puppylinux 4.31.1 (k2.6.30.5) a bug fix version by Ttuuxxx. It also includes all the updates from the 4.3.1 servicepack.Fox 3 has all the apps from 4.3 plus Firefox (updated to 3.5.4) and Gimp 2.6.3. Fox 3 also Has Dbus 1.2.16 & Sakura 1.2.3 compiled and installed from source. The Enlightenment e17 window manager version .062 was also compiled and installed from source.You can also use jwm. Use the exit menu to change window managers, In e17 that is the exit icon on the desktop. Please note that not all the options in the e17 system shutdown menu work with puppy linux. That is why the exit menu was added.


      • Musix 2.0


      • PUBLICACIÓN DE MOLINUX-NETBOOK 5.0 "DOROTEA"








    • Red Hat Family

      • 5 Fun things in Fedora 12 (Video)
        I recently got a Kodak zi8 video recorder. It works great in Fedora 12 so I was inspired to create a 15-minute video highlighting five fun things in Fedora 12.


      • RedHawk Linux 5.4 Advances Real-Time Functionality and Performance
        Concurrent (Nasdaq: CCUR), a leading provider of time-critical Linux€® operating systems, integrated software and computer solutions for mission-critical applications, today announced RedHawk Linux 5.4, a new version of its popular real-time operating system. RedHawk Linux is widely used in time-critical applications in simulation and training, data acquisition, imaging, financial services and process control. RedHawk guarantees that a user-level application can respond to an external event in less than 15 microseconds on certified platforms.


      • Real-time Linux distro boosts multiprocessor support
        Concurrent has revised its Red Hat-based real-time Linux distribution, adding support for Intel Nehalem and AMD Opteron processors with up to 48 cores, among other enhancements. RedHawk Linux 5.4 also improves NUMA performance and provides enhanced Nvidia drivers that support Nvidia's "Cuda" parallel computing technology, says the company.


      • rPath Expands Operating System Coverage with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5
        rPath, an innovator in automating application deployment and maintenance, today announced a management solution for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux(R) operating system. The move expands the rPath release automation platform beyond operating systems such as Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise and Ubuntu to include Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5. This provides Red Hat customers a solution for low-overhead, compliant system provisioning and maintenance across physical, virtual and cloud environments.






    • Debian Family

      • Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 170
        Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #170 for the week November 22nd - November 28th, 2009. In this issue we cover: Jono Bacon: Introducing Lernid, Mackenzie Morgan Interview, New Developers, LoCo News: Maryland, Massachusetts, Chile & Nicaragua, Ubuntu Forums Tutorial of the Week, The Planet: Laura Czajkowski, Andres Rodriguez, Amber Graner, & Harald Sitter, Full Circle Magazine #31


      • My 14 Days With Ubuntu
        I can’t believe it has been two weeks already that I’ve used Ubuntu Linux exclusively. If I had to sum up the experience 100x100ubuntuin one word, that word would be “satisfying.” And my regular readers/listeners know that I can’t sum anything up in one word, so I will use this format to provide a complete synopsis of my Ubuntu thoughts.

        [...]

        Will I continue to use Ubuntu? Absolutely, as my primary laptop? Will I give up my Windows PC? Not until all the support that I give lies only in Linux, which unfortunately won’t be any time soon.


      • Linux Mint 8 (Helena) Released
        So far I have only installed Linux Mint 8 on my two HP 2133 Mini-Notes - but they are probably two of the most difficult systems. I will add a short note here once I have it installed on all of the other systems, with notes and comments as necessary.

        By the way, I have already confirmed that Linux Mint 8 does not have the irritating 60-second delay on Logout/Reboot/Shutdown (Hooray!).












  • Devices/Embedded

    • HMI PCs move to the Atom
      Kontron has enhanced its family of thin-client HMI (human-machine interface) devices. The fanless "Micro Client IIA" devices feature touchscreen displays from seven to 15 inches, CompactFlash storage, and 1.6GHz Intel Atom processors, the company says.




    • Phones

      • Google Phone: What's it gonna be?
        Rumors of a 'Google phone' are almost as frequent as those of an Apple iTablet, but the search giant may indeed release some form of hardware platform in January.

        Despite blog speculation, and even 'leaked photos', of full-blown Google smartphones, it is unlikely that the company will compete with its own licensees. Instead, we would expect it to release a series of reference designs that can be used, in particular, by low end or white label suppliers, to extend Android's reach - and that of Google's web services - beyond the smartphone.


      • Nokia ditching Symbian for Maemo?
        The world's largest mobile phone maker Nokia is reportedly contemplating of moving all its N-series devices to open source Linux-based Maemo 5 platform from the current Symbian platform by 2012. But is it a good idea?


      • Nokia "not prepared" for smartphone onslaught; could sell its handset business
        In an interview published this morning in the German magazine Wirtschaftwoche, Mr. Vanjoki, who is also Nokia's head of marketing, admits too that his company needs to work harder to improve its mobile Internet products if it is to to stay in contention with the likes of Apple, Google and Research in Motion - the manufacturer of the increasingly popular Blackberry PDAs.


      • Nokia plans one Linux phone next year -source








    • Sub-notebooks

      • First look at Kubuntu Netbook Edition 9.10 Technology Preview and the KDE Plasma-Netbook 4.4 interface
        By now almost anyone who keeps up with Ubuntu knows about the Ubuntu Netbook Edition (formerly Ubuntu Netbook Remix). What many people are not aware of is that there is now a Kubuntu Netbook Edition and an Ubuntu Moblin Remix in development as well. By the time Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" is released next April netbook users will have three Ubuntu variants customized for their smaller systems. Development versions of the forthcoming Kubuntu and Moblin variants were released simultaneously with Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" in September. This week we take a look at the Kubuntu Netbook Edition 9.10 Technology Preview. Since the name of the release is more than a mouthful I'll refer to it as KNE from here on.


      • Lenovo IdeaPad S12
        Price: 276 Tech Specs: OS: Ubuntu for Netbooks Remix CPU: Intel Atom (1.6GHz) RAM: 1GB HDD: 160GB Dimensions: 292mm x 216mm x 22-28.9mm


      • Relaxing the netbook laws
        Meanwhile, Acer has given us a return to Linux on the netbook.










Free Software/Open Source

  • What Will We Use on June 30, 2011?
    customer: I upgraded from Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate. When I did, Microsoft Mail program disappeared. I called Microsoft who told me to do this and that to bring it back but it still is not there. Do you have any suggestions for me?

    manager: That’s Microsoft for you.

    customer: Is there a separate Microsoft product I can buy to bring back Microsoft Mail?

    manger: No. Sorry. I don’t carry anything like that. Sorry I can not help.

    ble: Mind if I make a suggestion?

    (exit stage left store manager)

    customer: Sure.

    ble: I am writing down a website were you can get a free mail program called “Thunderbird.”

    customer: Yes! I have heard of that. I use Firefox too. I do not know why I never thought to use Thunderbird for my mail.


  • Announcement: VirtualBox 3.1 released
    Today Sun released VirtualBox 3.1, a major update introducing the following major new features:

    * Teleportation (aka live migration); migrate a live VM session from one host to another

    [...]


  • VirtualBox 3.1.0 arrives, adds teleportation support
    More details about the release can be found in the Change Log. VirtualBox 3.1.0 is available to download for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris. VirtualBox is released under version 2 of the GNU General Public License (GPLv2) and VirtualBox binaries are released under the VirtualBox Personal Use and Evaluation License (PUEL) licence.


  • I am the very model of an open source sensational


  • Latest Open-Xchange Makes Webmail and Social Network Integration Easy
    Open-Xchange, a leading provider of open source groupware, today announced enhancements that simplify the aggregation of e-mail and contact information, giving users access to their data anywhere, anytime and with any device.


  • Orange launches open source NFC application developer toolkit
    Mobile network operator Orange has developed an NFC Application Developer Toolkit and made it available as open source software. IzyNFC is designed to enable the development of mobile NFC applications based on a SIM-centric architecture and Java platform.


  • Terracotta Acquires Quartz Job Scheduler
    Java clustering infrastructure provider Terracotta has acquired the popular Quartz open-source job-scheduling software, filling a gap in its ability to support scaleout in virtualized environments.


  • Open-Source's HighTower Announces New Hires
    Chicago-based HighTowers, an advisor-owned financial services firm described by company officials as serving "high net worth clients," reportedly announced that it has "deepened" its open-source platform and services with the addition of new international capabilities and advisory talent.


  • Ten Top Tips For A Successful Website
    The range of options has grown dramatically in recent years, and the relative merits of Software as a Service, Open Source and proprietary solutions can be difficult to understand. While it is tempting - especially in the recession - to buy purely based on cost, businesses should be cautious of low price points and consider the long term implications of an e-commerce solution.


  • Mozilla Sea Monkey
    SeaMonkey is available for free download for all platforms, namely Windows, Mac and Linux. As it is built on the open source Mozilla Gecko rendering engine – the same one as used in Firefox, Camino and other browsers released by the Mozilla team – SeaMonkey renders pages in the same manner in which Firefox does. Let’s take a look at each of the components of SeaMonkey.




  • Management

    • Hosted Version of the Drupal CMS is Taking Shape
      As a hosted version of one of the most popular open source content management systems, Drupal Gardens promises to speed up how quickly content owners can produce useful sites, and more. Many newspapers and other types of sites are switching to Drupal, and a cloud-based Drupal service could also help facilitate workers contributing content from distributed remote locations. According to Rodrigues' post, Dries Buytaert refers to the project's promise as "design to online in hours."


    • Alert: What's Coming for Open Source CMS in December 2009
      In late November, the Japanese version of Movable Type 5 (news, site) was released. The rest of the world's Movable Type 5 is expected in early December.


    • rSmart Adds Support for Open Source Kuali Financial System
      rSmart, which develops open source applications for the education sector, has launched a new professional services offering to support the Kuali Financial System (KFS). KFS was launched earlier this year by the Kuali Foundation, with new deployments at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins; the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA; and San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA. The latter two institutions are also the first two customers for the new service offering.








  • VoIP







  • FSF/FSFE/GNU

    • Linux: Freedom or Freakdom?
      What I found was a man who is profoundly dedicated to a cause. RMS is the type of person you see on TV, mostly in shows about lawyers and crime-fighting who give the long, inspiring and fictitious* speeches in the courtroom spouting dialog about freedom, what it means to be free and our Founding Fathers' original purpose.








  • Government

    • Rafael Martín Espada, CIO, Government of Extremadura. Spain Says Open Source Is Critical For Development
      The use of open source software is fundamental to a sustainable and technologically independent development, says Rafael Martín Espada, Director General of ICT, regional government of Extremadura.

      "We have a long list of recommendations that we are willing to share with all administrations that are considering open source", Espada said last week Thursday at a seminar in Brussels.

      The region for instance advises to take fiscal measures to promote the creation of open source business. "Make its adoption a priority for public administrations. Use open source when you are organising electronic polls, stress its use in your development strategy and build demo centres to increase the trust in this type of software."








Leftovers

  • Gov targets boozers as Manc ID card scheme launches
    And it does seem odd that the government has been reduced to encouraging youngsters to sign up for the ID card, so that they can continue to binge drink. Then again, this is the same government that brought in round the clock drinking, so they can't be all bad.




  • Intellectual Monopolies/Copyrights

    • More ACTA Leaks; Still Looking Really Bad
      Yet again, despite all the secrecy and bogus claims of "national security," the details behind what's being proposed in ACTA have leaked, and they don't look good at all. It's basically an attempt to force the worst of the DMCA on much of the rest of the world, with a few carefully chosen modifications. While there are lots of issues, it's worth noting the most basic of all, found in the first paragraph that contains the "general obligations" of participating countries.


    • EU ACTA Analysis Leaks: Confirms Plans For Global DMCA, Encourage 3 Strikes Model
      The European Commission analysis of ACTA's Internet chapter has leaked, indicating that the U.S. is seeking to push laws that extend beyond the WIPO Internet treaties and beyond current European Union law (the EC posted the existence of the document last week but refused to make it publicly available). The document contains detailed comments on the U.S. proposal, confirming the U.S. desire to promote a three-strikes and you're out policy, a Global DMCA, harmonized contributory copyright infringement rules, and the establishment of an international notice-and-takedown policy.


    • One Misguided Tweet Is 'Indisputable' Evidence That Piracy Harms Movies?
      From this, Captain Kibble alerts us to an accurately described "rant" at ScreenRants.com about how this is "indisputable" evidence that piracy harms movies. The basis of that claim? Reese's heat of the moment claim that this could impact the making of a sequel. According to the ScreenRants folks, this suggests it's a fact that movie piracy is harming movies. Of course, there's no actual evidence that there is any decreased interest in making a Zombieland sequel. In fact, since the highest grossing movies almost always correlate to the most shared movies online, it seems that being a top pirated movie also likely has extremely high correlation with movies that get sequels.


    • Mininova pulls in its shell, but is it down for the count?
      I keep reading about the big brother of copyrighted content going all gun ho on doing whatever it can to shut down torrent web sites. The latest victim is the www.mininova.org torrent site which has been forced to limit itself to content distribution serviced according to a recent court ruling.










Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day



Michael Shaw, community reporter for Assigment Zero 07 (2007)

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

Recent Techrights' Posts

António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
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Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
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Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
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Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
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IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
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Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
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Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
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Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
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