Linux in the news

Recommended Reading

Jon Maddog Hall on Linux, saving money and ruling the world (ComputerWorld)

ComputerWorld has an interview with Jon 'maddog' Hall. "Customers will realize that return on investment (ROI) overrules total cost of ownership (TCO), and they will tell Microsoft that they, as customers, will not buy any more software from Microsoft unless it is 'free'. Then Free and Open Source Software will blossom overnight."

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The NZ "Get the Facts" Style Report (Groklaw)

Groklaw covers a new anti-FOSS FUD campaign in New Zealand. "Slashdot has posted an article about a report to the New Zealand State Services Commission regarding FOSS: Gavo writes "Law firm Chapmann Tripp advises New Zealand State Services Commission that the New Zealand Government should be wary of using 'infectious' open source software. They claim 'While the use of open source software has many benefits, it brings with it a number of legal risks not posed by proprietary or commercial software.'" Here's the scoop, although I don't know if the New Zealand government is aware of it. Chapman Tripp works for Microsoft."

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ODF Alliance Announced (Groklaw)

Groklaw covers the newly formed Open Document Format (ODF) Alliance, an international group of industry partners, associations, NGOs and academic/research institutions. "Members include corporations you would expect to be part of this push, such as IBM and Sun and Novell and Red Hat, and some you'll be happy to see on the list, like Corel and Oracle and Opera Software, and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for the City of Vienna, and quite a collection of educational and library associations, such as the American Library Association, the Indian Institute of Technology, the Technical University of Denmark and tarent GmbH."

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Trade Shows and Conferences

Gadgets on parade at CeBit (ZDNet)

ZDNet looks forward to CeBit. "CeBit is huge, and thousands of technology companies will cram into almost 30 halls, bringing everything from fax machines and printers to smart phones and dual-core chip-based notebooks. We can't predict everything that will grab the headlines and get people talking at the show, but it's clear that there are some key themes and products to watch out for."

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A Report from LinuxForum 2006 (Groklaw)

Groklaw has coverage of LinuxForum 2006, in Copenhagen, Denmark. "LinuxForum runs over two days: Friday (today) is more business-minded and Saturday is for the geeks... er... I mean... the more technically minded. Thus, today's program was definitely of more interest to the wider Groklaw audience. Tomorrow will be exciting too, but only for some Groklawians. Also, it will be harder to report, so you will have to make do with my report from today." Day 2 coverage is also available.

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Companies

Chip startup adopts Linux, open cores for PMPs, DTV (LinuxDevices)

LinuxDevices looks at new microprocessor offerings from Vivace Semiconductor. "A fabless semiconductor startup focused on "multi-function video processing chips" has adopted Linux and an open-source RISC core. Vivace Semiconductor's roadmap, unveiled at a venture capital event today in San Francisco, includes a VSP200 chip targeting portable video players, and a VSP300 chip targeting high-definition integrated digital TVs (DTVs)."

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Israeli Software Company Faces U.S. Probe (Forbes)

Forbes is carrying an AP article saying that a US governmental panel (the same one which happily declined to worry about the sale of several US ports) is doing a full review process on the sale of Sourcefire to an Israeli company. "The objections by the FBI and Pentagon were partly over specialized intrusion detection software known as 'Snort,' which guards some classified U.S. military and intelligence computers." ...and which is free software.

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Linux Adoption

'Academy' builds business case for Linux in gov't (Silicon.com)

Silicon.com covers the successful deployment of Linux in Birmingham, England. "Birmingham City Council is the lead authority on the project which began last year. It has embarked on one of the most ambitious projects, replacing the software on 300 PCs - at its central library and 39 local libraries - with open source. The spokesman told silicon.com: "Nine months ago our library infrastructure was in need of updating and what we've done is look at open source as an alternative to conventional desktop software. We've implemented a refresh of the desktop which uses open source software throughout." Now the desktops have OpenOffice 2, Firefox and Gimp image software. The spokesman said: "These are all powerful applications. What we have is a very stable, very secure desktop."

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Linux at Work

Planetary lab's research orbits around Scyld cluster (NewsForge)

NewsForge looks at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Lab (LPL) and its Scyld Beowulf cluster from Penguin Computing. "The lab is home to almost a dozen separate research groups, each with five to 12 researchers, each with his or her own computing needs. The groups conduct research on various topics such as space physics, planetary occultations, and spacecraft missions. Sometimes LPL researchers study material that has gone into space or been brought back from space by NASA, trying to be the first to publish findings in scientific journals."

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'World's largest' Wi-Fi network keeps Linux under wraps (Computerworld)

Computerworld looks at the use of Linux for setting up a large wireless network in Victoria's Department of Education. ""We are aware that the modules used in EduPass are open source already, and so is Red Hat Linux, but we have erred on the side of caution," Meadows said, adding her team has "thought long and hard" about it. "There are big security companies that build on Linux and don't release the code [and] we give credit to Openssh, Freeraduis, Squid, and Linux which are all open to scrutiny. The bits that are proprietary concern how all servers are randomly set to check updates and a lot of advanced proxy features." Even without releasing EduPass's code, DET is being a good open source citizen by remaining in "close touch" with and contributing "issues" back to the Freeraduis and Openssh projects."

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Legal

Rivals: Microsoft offer is a 'poisoned honeypot' (ZDNet)

ZDNet covers the latest twists as the European Commission looks into Microsoft's compliance with sanctions imposed in an antitrust decision. " The Commission said Microsoft failed to properly document the interconnections and rivals could not use them. Microsoft offered in January to open portions of the secret source-code for its servers, a solution neither sought nor welcomed by Commission experts. The Free Software Foundation Europe and Samba rejected the idea. Microsoft would require FSFE/Samba to change its license, which requires source code be openly distributed and freely available."

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Interviews

Mr. Dell opens up about Desktop Linux (DesktopLinux.com)

DesktopLinux.com talks with Michael Dell. "Dell emphasized that his company is not leading Linux, it's tracking Linux. So, it's not going to pick one desktop distribution and try to make it number one. Thus, while 'Ubuntu is now the most popular desktop distribution on Dell PCs, it may not be a year from now.'"

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Resources

CLI Magic: Securely deleting files with shred (Linux.com)

Linux.com takes a look at destroying data with shred. "While shred might not work on bad sectors, it is one of the best tools available to securely erase data from your hard disk. It is always more secure to run shred on a complete partition rather than a file, because some filesystems keep backup files and shred makes no attempt to delete these. For the extremely paranoid, however, no command works better than concentrated sulphuric acid."

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Linux and smart phones (Linux.com)

Luigi Paiella communicates between a Linux laptop and a smart phone in a Linux.com article. "So you want a cell phone that's also a PDA? Smart phones can make calls, synchronize your calendar with your PC, act as data storage devices, and connect your PC to the Internet. You can use your Linux PC to connect with and even program some mobile phones using some of the following tools. In testing these open source applications I used a Nokia phone running Symbian OS v8.0 and the Series 60 Platform second edition user interface, with USB, Bluetooth, and Internet connectivity."

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OOo Off the Wall: That's Your Version--Document Control in OOo Writer (Linux Journal)

Bruce Byfield looks at OpenOffice.org Writer tools that help with version control. "OpenOffice.org has multiple Undo levels. You can set the levels as high as you like from Tools -> Options -> OpenOffice.org -> Memory -> Undo. However, if your files receive extensive revision or if more than one person writes or edits them, you need more sophisticated tools to handle changes. OpenOffice.org Writer provides three such tools: Changes, Compare Documents and Versions. All share some common interface features and are quick to learn, although possibly confusing for users unfamiliar with version control."

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Reviews

First look: KOffice 1.5, part 1: The major applications (Linux.com)

Linux.com reviews KOffice 1.5. "As I examined KOffice's major applications, a pattern started to emerge. In KWord, KSpread, and KPresenter, basic functions are available, but only a few advanced features. At a rough estimate, each has about three-quarters of the features that you would find in an equivalent commercial product or in OOo. This status is a mixed blessing. On one hand, it suggests that KOffice is not rushing its development by trying to be all things to all users. Instead, KOffice seems to be gradually perfecting existing functions a little more with each release. This tactic is particularly evident in the steady improvement of the user interface."

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Review: MythTV 0.19 (Linux.com)

Linux.com has a review of MythTV. "MythTV describes itself on its home page as a "homebrew" personal video recorder (PVR), but thanks to its many available plugins, it's actually a complete open source home entertainment system that lets you to watch and record TV programs, watch movies, view photos, listen to music, play games, and more."

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Virtualization in Xen 3.0 (Linux Journal)

Rami Rosen reviews Xen 3.0, a virtual machine monitor, on Linux Journal. "After much anticipation, Version 3.0 of Xen recently was released, and it is the focus of this article. The main goal of Xen is achieving better utilization of computer resources and server consolidation through paravairtualization and virtual devices. Here, we discuss how Xen 3.0 implements these ideas. We also investigate the new VT-x processors from Intel, which have built-in support for virtualization, and their integration into Xen."

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Miscellaneous

Open Season On Open Source? (Business Week)

Business Week says that the open source community has been "thrown into a tumult" as a result of acquisitions; it looks like an article which could have been written in 1999. "The fear is that a round of buyouts could undermine the ethos of open source. Many coders volunteer their time, spending nights and weekends testing bugs and writing patches because they see themselves as part of an important, grassroots movement. Will that motivation remain if they're just helping to fill the coffers of Oracle or other tech giants?"

Comments (6 posted)

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