10.25.08

^{Gemini version available ♊︎}

Links 25/10/2008: Adoption Evidence and More Linux Numbers from the LF

Posted in News Roundup at 6:43 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Linux PC auction benefits charity

Want to combine your love for robots and strange mini-ITX systems with your interest in furthering educational opportunities for U.S. schoolchildren? You, too, can bid on this strange, one-of-a-kind Linux system available only through a charity auction on eBay.
[KDE:] the next battle lines
New Xfce beta focuses on usability
Puppy Linux 4.1 Retro ScreenShotsI

was very pleased with Puppy Linux 4.1! The interface was smooth and easy to use.
Three Linux Distros To Watch and Use
Research
- Open source Linux worth billions, Microsoft warned
  
  Can Microsoft compete with an billion dollar open source project which benefits from widespread collaboration?
- Linux Foundation: the kernel is worth $1.4 billion
Networking
- Linux wins big in ATCA “Best of Show” honors
- Sun, Cisco Vets Join Linux-Based Networking Play
- IPTV set-top runs Linux
  
  NeuLion is shipping a Linux-based IPTV set-top box (STB) as a complement to its IPTV encoding and streaming platform.
Preinstallations
- Mac Clone Maker Psystar Offers $299 Linux PC
  
  Psystar’s OpenLite system ships with the Ubuntu Linux desktop preinstalled, running on a 1.8-GHz Intel Celeron chip with integrated graphics support. Upgrading to a dual-core Pentium chip costs an additional $40. “With unparalleled affordability, this computer can bring Windows computing into every home and office,” Psystar boasts on its Web site, even though the system runs Linux, not Microsoft Windows.
- Dell readies small, cheap computer for small biz
  
  Speaking of the Mini 9, while Dell did begin offering the cheaper, Linux version of the SCC earlier this month, readers report it’s still taking the company around two weeks to ship orders. To be fair, the company warns buyers of the XP model that they face the same waiting period for their machines too.
Mobile
Robotics
- “Storage robot” gains community-built apps
- Data Robotics Aligns with Developers to Deliver 20 New Applications for Drobo and Droboshare
Embedded
- SYSGO Announces Support For Adobe Flash Lite In Embedded Linux Solution
- Renesas introduces µCLinux starter kit
*Ubuntu
- Ubuntu 8.10 Release Candidate Is Out
- Everything You Wanted To know About Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex
- Kubuntu 8.10 ‘Intrepid Ibex’ Beta Screenshots Tour
  
  I took these screenshots using a Kubuntu Intrepid Beta installation after performing a full dist-upgrade, at 1280×1024, with the nVIDIA 173 driver installed. I left all the settings in applications default, but I had to make fonts smaller and resize windows (in Konqueror for example), because they didn’t look very well as default. The default theme used is Oxygen.
- Newbies: 7 Useful Ubuntu Tips
Distribution Releases (Also BSD)
Applications
- Five accounting apps for Linux
  
  One of the most often heard complaints from users looking to migrate to Linux is that there are no good accounting applications. To be fair, there is a degree of truth in that concern. At least there was, until now.
  
  There are now a number of good accounting applications available for Linux, no matter whether you’re looking for a personal finance manager for your home budget or something to keep your small business finances in check. So, if you’re in the market for an accounting application that won’t break the bank, grab your bank statements and check out these five apps.
- Linux browser smackdown!
Games
Sub-notebooks
- Eight-year-old picks Linux XO laptop over Windows
  
  A recently performed informal experiment saw an eight-year-old American student pick the Linux version of the XO laptop over the Windows XP version. The eight-year-old, representative of the target audience for the educational notebook, spent an afternoon exploring each notebook, finally picking the Linux version mostly because it had more software that was not yet explored.
- Real-Life Linux: The ASUS Eee PC 1000
- In Search of the Smartphone Laptop
Red Hat
- Nigerian Bank Chooses Red Hat and JBoss SOA Solutions for Mission-Critical Banking Applications
- Red Hat unveils Premier level
Security
- Life in the trenches: an OpenSSH developer speaks
  
  For Miller to dip his toes in these waters is rather far from his roots – he is a self-taught developer, one who, like many others, had an interest in computers in his young days but then turned to other interests until some years had passed.
  
  “My parents got me my first computer when I was about eight,” he says. “Back in those days, owning a computer was very conducive to learning how to program because they didn’t do much unless you programmed them to do something or bought some software which wasn’t particularly widely available in Australia.
- Configuresoft Awarded Red Hat Enterprise Linux Benchmark Certification From Center for Internet Security