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Linux in the newsRecommended Reading Ten ideas about Ideas (Linux Journal)Doc Searls has some ideas about ideas and venture capital. "Which has more leverage in the marketplace -- A) disclosure or B) secrecy? Which is more supportive of growing markets -- A) public infrastructure or B) private platforms? Which is better for inventive entrepreneurs -- A) sharing one's great ideas to drive development and adoption, or B) patenting and keeping secret one's "intellectual property"? 'm sure most Linux Journal readers would answer "A" to each of those questions, plus other questions like them. Yet I suspect that most venture capitalists would rather fund the "B" choices."
Red Hat downplays Novell/Microsoft deal (ArsTechnica)ArsTechnica looks at Red Hat's response to the Novell/Microsoft announcement. "In response to a recent agreement between Microsoft and Novell, Red Hat's corporate secretary Mark Webbink has predicted that Red Hat "will be the dominant player in the Linux market" a year from now, and that "by that time there won't be any other Linux players." In light of Microsoft's partnership with Novell and Oracle's ambitions of Linux support dominance, Webbink's statement doesn't seem all that realistic."
Linux on More Dell Client Systems? (Direct2Dell)The Direct2Dell blog discusses the topic of Linux on client systems. "If you buy a Dell notebook and run Linux on it, does Dell's hardware warranty still apply? Absolutely. You'll need to demonstrate you're having a hardware problem using the Dell Diagnostics CD. Will Dell (today) provide full Linux software support for that system? No. You'll be counting on a community support model for software issues, but many people are already a part of that global community and it suits them just fine." (Found on Don Marti's blog.)
Trade Shows and Conferences 2006 Italian Linux Day: A nationwide success (Linux.com)Linux.com covers the 2006 Italian Linux Day. "The 2006 edition of Italian Linux Day on October 28 was the first in the six-year history of the event to be celebrated in more than 100 cities in every corner of the country. The prime-time news program on the main national TV channel TG1 spent almost two minutes on a story about the event ("and they didn't even make mistakes!", a LUG activist said)."
Companies Motorola picks home for its open-source Java (ZDNet)ZDNet looks at Motorola's plans for their Java Micro Edition. "Motorola plans to build an open-source version of Java for gadgets such as mobile phones within the framework of the Apache Software Foundation. The work to develop the Java Micro Edition (ME) software will use the Apache License, Motorola said Tuesday, inviting others to participate in creating "a complete Java ME software stack." The move follows the company's pledge in May to release its software relating to a cell phone variant of Java ME called MIDP (Mobile Information Device Profile) 3.0."
Novell and Microsoft partnering on Linux? (Linux-Watch)Linux-Watch discusses a possible deal between Novell and Microsoft. "Sources close to Novell indicate that a deal with Microsoft concerning Linux will be announced today, Nov. 2, at 2 PM Pacific time in San Francisco. While this may sound as likely as George Bush and John Kerry singing a duet together, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft Corp. will be announcing it will offer sales support for Novell Inc.'s SUSE Linux family."
Why Microsoft won't assault Linux (ZDNet)John Carroll - who happens to work for Microsoft - talks about why he thinks Microsoft will not go after Linux in this ZDNet posting. "It sure looks like Microsoft is working very hard to achieve a detente with open source. They are working with Zend to improve the PHP developer experience atop Windows. They are granting full access to the source code for Windows CE 6.0 (though that benefits Microsoft as much as programmers). They just blessed Mono, an open source version of the .NET runtime, through their Novell agreement. What's the point of all that if they are just going to light the world on fire with a subsequent legal bombs on Linux?"
Linux Adoption Behind the upsurge in Chinese open source communities (NewsForge)NewsForge takes a look at Linux in China. "When Novell and Red Hat set up open source communities in China last year, most Chinese companies merely watched. Recently, however, China-based software companies have begun to show a greater interest in creating communities of their own. TurboLinux and Red Flag have created Whitefin and Linux-Ren, respectively. Red Flag also plans to create two additional open source communities -- UMPC (with Intel) and OpenAsianux -- before the end of this year. Why have Chinese companies suddenly changed their tunes?"
LiMux The Penguin: Deep into Munich's Linux F/OSS migration (LinuxWorld)LinuxWorld Magazine looks at the city of Munich and its move to Linux. "Munich's Linux migration has been a publicity frenzy, a software patent poster child, and the subject of a debate on the role of government in technology mandates. Now it's a real-life IT project, and the key to success is training, management, and replacing 170 non-Linux applications."
Legal JPEG Patent Claim Surrendered! (Groklaw)The JPEG patent claims are over, according to this article on Groklaw. "Here you go, straight from the Public Patent Foundation's press release: Forgent Networks has stopped asserting its patent against JPEG, has dropped all its pending cases that were asserting the patent, and says that it won't file any other infringement claims based on the patent. You'll recall that PubPat challenged the patent last year and the USPTO reexamination led to rejection of the broadest claims."
Interviews KDE and Distributions: MEPIS Interview (KDE.News)KDE.News has posted an interview with Warren Woodford. "The MEPIS distribution has been one of the bigger KDE-centric distributions around for some years now, created to make desktop GNU/Linux easier to use. As part of our KDE and Distributions series founder and main contributor Warren Woodford talks to KDE Dot News about the history and current vision of the distribution."
Inside the Hacker's Profiling Project (NewsForge)NewsForge has an interview with Stefania Ducci, co-founder of the Hacker's Profiling Project (HPP). "Imagine being able to preview an attacker's next move based on the traces left on compromised machines. That's the aim of the Hacker's Profiling Project (HPP), an open methodology that hopes to enable analysts to work on the data (logs, rootkits, and any code) left by intruders from a different point of view, providing them with a profiling methodology that will identify the kind of attacker and therefore his modus operandi and potential targets."
Resources Setting Up a Game Server with BZFlag (Linux Journal)The Linux Journal has a lengthy article (a book chapter, actually) on setting up a BZFlag server. "BZFlag is a fun 3D tank battle game, designed to be played against others over a network. After you set up a BZFlag server, you can have players battle each other over the network using clients on other Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, or Windows systems."
Scaling Enterprise Java on 64-bit Multi-Core X86-Based Servers (O'ReillyNet)Michael Yuan and Dave Jaffe discuss the implementation of Enterprise Java on 64 bit systems in an O'Reilly article. "Today's enterprise server--indeed, the environment--isn't what it was when Java was born. Slow networked machines have been replaced by fast, 64-bit multi-core servers that can house all your tiers in one box or even virtualize servers within the server. This has a significant effect on the design and deployment of your Java enterprise application, and Michael Yuan and Dave Jaffe show you how to get the most out of your hardware."
Linux Gazette #132 is out!Issue #132 of the Linux Gazette has been announced. "Linux Gazette is a volunteer-run monthly web magazine dedicated to two simple ideas: making Linux a little more fun, and sharing ideas and discoveries."
Mathematics on a UNIX workstation (IBM developerWorks)Bill Zimmerly discusses a number of UNIX compatible mathematics tools in an IBM developerWorks article. "Mathematics is the King of Science. Commercial uses for mathematical workstations are vast: From basic engineering to designer drugs and from gene therapy to celestial navigation, mathematics rules the world. And there is no lack of computer programs to assist people in solving mathematical problems in their chosen field. The remainder of this article describes several commercial and open source systems that might prove valuable in your field of endeavor."
Remotely Manage Machines Using VNC (Debian Admin)Debian Admin is running a tutorial article on the use of VNC software under Debian. "VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It is, in essence, a remote display system which allows you to view a computing `desktop environment not only on the machine where it is running, but from anywhere on the Internet and from a wide variety of machine architectures."
Reviews Of Macros And Drum Machines (Linux Journal)Dave Phillips looks at two very different software drum machines. "This week in my random survey of activity on the mail-lists for Linux sound & music software I'll look at two very different software drum machines and a keystroke macro that enters LilyPond music notation into an Open Office text document. And if that isn't enough I've included four thrilling screenshots and links to three entertaining audio files to entice and maintain your interest. Read on for more..."
Review: GnuCash 2.0 (Linux.com)Linux.com reviews GnuCash. "GnuCash is a personal and small business accounting package that provides true double-entry accounting, the ability to set up automatic recurring transactions, and simple budgeting. The application does not try to hide the complexities of managing your money from you with pretty screens. It does show you where (and how much) you're spending your money. If you're prepared to learn a subtly different way of doing things, you will find GnuCash a very powerful alternative for home or small business use."
Downloading bliss with Metalink (Linux.com)Linux.com looks at Metalink. "Getting popular software off the Internet can sometimes be a struggle, even with all the mirrors and BitTorrent Samaritans out there. When the Fedora project released Fedora Core 6 last month, for instance, even several dozen mirrors weren't enough to serve everyone, and torrent speeds weren't good enough because of a scarcity of seeders. But thanks to Metalink I was able to sleep while my FC6 ISOs were downloading."
QBrew: Home-brewed software for home brewers (NewsForge)NewsForge reviews QBrew. "When I'm not hacking or writing about hacking, I'm brewing beer. When I say I'm brewing beer, I don't mean that I'm taking some syrupy stuff and adding it to boiling water and hoping for the best. I mean I'm buying various types of grains, various types of hops, some yeast, and potentially some other additives to help balance my brewing water or the pH levels at some point in my brewing process. Now, you can't go throwing all of this stuff together in random quantities and expect to hit your target flavor or style of beer. You need a recipe. This is where QBrew comes in. QBrew is an open source application to aid you in developing a recipe for home brewed beer."
Righteous Software Releases Linux-based Backup Server (W3Reports)W3Reports looks at Righteous Backup Server from Righteous Software, a commercial application. "The new product, which offers nearly continuous backups for Linux serversa technology that remains unmatched in the industryruns on a standalone server and can provide disk-based backup services for up to three hundred Linux servers simultaneously. The solution also includes open file backups, point-in-time snapshots, and requires no 3rd party applications."
Smart Boards Get Linux Support (EFYTimes)EFYTimes reviews a Linux-compatible electronic white board from SMART Technologies Inc. "Linux, which is increasing in popularity around the world, provides a highly functional operating system for SMART product users, says Nancy Knowlton, SMARTs president and co-CEO. The release of SMART Board software 9.5 for Linux demonstrates SMARTs commitment to meeting the ever-evolving needs of our customers worldwide. SMART Technologies Inc. develops software to control the interaction between smart board and a computer system. Smart Board is an electronic whiteboard writing surface which can capture writing electronically in group presentation situations such as teaching."
VMX Builder: Create virtual machines in minutes (Linux.com)Linux.com takes a look at VMX Builder. "While VMware Player is not designed to create virtual machines from scratch, other tools can help you to build your own VMs in a matter of minutes. You could use VMware's free VMware Server software, but it's overkill if you only need a quick-and-dirty way to build a VM. Instead, consider VMX Builder, an easy-to-use desktop tool for creating VMware virtual machines."
Miscellaneous Liberating iPods in Cambridge (NewsForge)Benjamin Mako Hill covers an iPod Liberation event in Cambridge. "Last month, the MIT Media Lab Computing Counter Culture Group and the Harvard Free Culture Group held an "iPod Liberation event" -- a RockBox and iPodLinux "installfest" for Apple iPods. The event was held as a response to the fact that Apple installs iPods with an operating system -- a "firmware" -- that conflicts with the ideals of free and open source software and free culture and treats users parternalistically and adversarially. During the event, dubbed iRony, users were walked through the process of installing flexible and featureful free/open source software firmware -- without DRM -- onto their digital audio players."
Can open source methodology make a movie? (NewsForge)NewsForge looks at the creation of the film "Digital Tipping Point" using open-source techniques. "However, only about 220 minutes of film have been posted online. The film segments are being made available on the Internet Archive under the Creative Commons Attribute-ShareAlike license. The project also has a four-minute proof of concept video on the Internet Archive and YouTube, but it's far from a completed film. At this point, the project is soliciting help from the open source community in doing post-production work on the film -- including transcription of scenes in the archive, edits of the footage, translations, and providing plot suggestions for the film."
Researching Web Science (PC Magazine)PC Magazine covers the launch of the Web Science Research Initiative, one of the founders is Tim Berners-Lee. "This morning, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT and the University of Southampton announced The Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI) , basically a group designed to set a research agenda for understanding the scientific, technical and social challenges underlying the growth of the Web. WSRI will be headquartered at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT and at the School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton. Initial plans call for joint research projects, workshops and student/faculty exchanges between the two institutions."
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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