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Linux in the newsRecommended Reading A pair of small Linux system reviewsThere appears to be a lot happening in the area of tiny systems running Linux. One of them is the Linutop, examined by Digital Reviews: "Running a customised version of xubuntu Linux, this little box could replace your desktop for most common tasks, including what you're doing right now. And if this wasn't impressive enough in a box slightly larger than a Nintendo DS, the Linutop does it all drawing a maximum of 5 watts - That's less than an energy saver light bulb!Then, Tectonic has a brief look at a different system: "Living in Africa we have abundant sun, a power source we rarely consider when we buy yet another gadget. Along comes the Aleutia E1, an ultra low power computer setup that can be run from a roll up solar panel or car battery and runs Puppy Linux."
Likewise Open-Sources Active Directory Authentication for Linux (eWeek)eWeek reports on the release of Likewise Open. "Like it or lump it, Microsoft's Active Directory is a very popular network directory, and thus, management system. It's been possible to use AD for Linux, but it was never easy. Now, Likewise Software, formerly Centeris, a leader in mixing and matching Windows and Linux network solutions, has announced the first open-source version of release of version 4.0 of its cross-platform authentication software: Likewise Open."
Trade Shows and Conferences First KDE Education Meeting a Great Success (KDE.News)KDE.News covers the first KDE Education Meeting. "Last weekend the members of the KDE-Edu team met in Paris for a meeting about the Education project. The meeting took place at the Mandriva office, where the members got to know each other and started vivid discussions about their applications, life in general, as well as the future and vision of the Edu module."
Companies SourceForge adopts eBay-like sales model for open-source software (Linux-Watch)Linux-Watch covers the launch of SourceForge.net Marketplace. "SourceForge.net, with millions of monthly visitors, is already one of the world's largest Web sites for open-source development and distribution. What it didn't have, though, was any way for its uses to cash in on their open-source projects. On Dec. 6, that changed forever. Today, SourceForge launched an online marketplace for technology professionals to buy and sell service and support for open-source software."
Sun brings Niagara 2 chip to open source (eWeek)eWeek reports that Sun is releasing the specifications of the new UltraSPARC T2 processor. "When Sun announced the release of the eight-core UltraSPARC T2 chip in August 2007, company executives said it would move to bring the specification to the open-source community through Sun's OpenSPARC initiative. The goal of releasing Niagara 2 into the open-source community through the General Public License is to create a larger community around the chip and increase the number of operating systems and applications that can use the processor, said Shrenik Mehta, senior director for Fronted Technologies and the OpenSPARC Program at Sun."
Interviews Bringing one SimCity per child to the OLPC (LinuxWorld)LinuxWorld talks with Don Hopkins, the developer who ported Micropolis (GPL-licensed SimCity) to the OLPC XO system. "It's brilliant code to read and learn from, which is why I'm so happy to get it released as GPL Open Source code. People don't usually write programs as simple and efficient as SimCity any more, but it's still important to write code for the OLPC as small and fast as possible because of its limited memory and CPU power. The OLPC is an amazingly powerful machine, compared to home computers at the time SimCity was originally released."
Resources First Linux phone standard ships (LinuxDevices)LinuxDevices covers the completion of the 1.0 Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) specification. LiPS is a forum created in 2005 to create standard APIs for Linux-based cell phones. "In theory, standard APIs for Linux-based mobile phones, if widely adopted, could enable operators to roll out services faster, while enabling handset manufacturers to produce compatible new phones faster. Other beneficiaries could be ISVs (independent software vendors), mobile phone software stack providers, and of course, phone consumers, who after buying a new phone could re-install purchased applications and continue with existing services."
Using a Bluetooth phone with Linux (ars technica)ars technica has a tutorial on using a Bluetooth phone with Linux. "Once the pairing is complete, it becomes possible to access files on the phone directly through Nautilus, the GNOME file manager. You can open any Nautilus window and type obex:// into the path bar to get a list of paired phones. Double-click the phone you want to access, and you should see a regular directory listing. You can now transfer files between your computer and your phone simply by dragging and dropping files. With this method, I was able to access the sounds, pictures, and videos stored on my phone."
Introducing Raven: An Elegant Build for Java (O'ReillyNet)O'Reilly's OnJava.com looks at Raven, a build system for Java. "Raven is based on the Ruby dynamic language and its most prominent build tool, Rake. Don't worry, you don't have to know either to read this article or start using Raven, you can learn little by little, starting simple. Rake itself is a little bit like Ant, it lets you define tasks and the dependencies between them. Only its syntax is much sweeter."
Programming for the Eee PC with wxWidgets (wxBlog)wxBlog covers the porting of the wxWidgets GUI toolkit to the Asus Eee PC. "There has been a lot of fuss about the Asus Eee PC in the last few months and Asus have clearly pressed the right consumer buttons with their cheap Linux subnotebook. No doubt there will be many more machines in this format in the future, representing a market of many millions, so its an attractive target for developers. Fortunately for wxWidgets programmers, its pretty straightforward to adapt wxGTK applications to the requirements of the Eee PC. This consists mainly of two tasks: fitting windows and dialogs onto the 800x480 screen, and distributing the application in a Xandros-friendly package (a .deb)."
Reviews Low-cost PPC chips gain Linux dev kits (LinuxDevices)LinuxDevices takes a look at some developer board kits for PPC chips. "AMCC today announced a pair of evaluation kits targeting prospective customers of its new Power 405EX and 405EXr processors. The Kilauea and Haleakala kits include boards, software tools, sample apps, benchmarks, and a Denx Linux BSP, with MontaVista Linux BSPs and tools optionally available separately from MontaVista."
Commercial Sound And Music Software For Linux, Part 1 (Linux Journal)Dave Phillips is at it again, this time reviewing the state of commercial audio software for Linux. In part one of his Linux Journal article, he reviews a sequencer program, a program to create rhythm patterns and loops, as well as a transcription tool. "Before we begin this whirlwind tour I must declare that I am not at all opposed to the notion and practice of commercial Linux software of any kind. The user is still free to decide that he or she can live without a commercial product, nor do I believe that commercialism will somehow inevitably corrupt the world of FOSS Linux audio software. Personally I welcome more such software, especially if it addresses some glaring lack in the current free software armory. I prefer free solutions, but if a commercial tool exists that does the needed job, then I'm all for using that tool until a free alternative exists."
Miscellaneous EMF changes tune, hails embedded Linux (LinuxDevices)LinuxDevices notes a change of direction in an EMF report on embedded operating systems. "Embedded Market Forecasters has issued a report claiming that embedded Linux is just as dependable as other real-time operating systems (RTOSes). The independently funded report appears to recant EMF's controversial Microsoft-funded report in 2003 that claimed that embedded Windows OSes were far faster and cheaper than embedded Linux. The updated report now claims that projects using embedded Linux have achieved design parity with commercial RTOSes for most projects, offering the same level of design outcomes."
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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