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Linux in the newsCompanies HP joins the Ubuntu Linux bandwagon (betanews)betanews covers HP's new support for the Ubuntu distribution on its servers. "HP's Linux support will no longer be limited to Red Hat and SuSE Linux. Through a new partnership with Canonical, HP is becoming one of the latest in a series of huge IT players to hop aboard the Ubuntu Linux bandwagon. More specifically, HP and Linux distributor Canonical are now working toward full certification of Ubuntu on HP Proliant servers, according to Mark Murphy, Canonical's alliances manager."
Business An open source to a brighter future? (TimesOnline)TimesOnline looks at the business success of open source software. "Martin Michlmayr, a former project leader for Debian, an open source operating system, argues: "Open source is not a lawless frontier at all. There are clear license terms that have to be followed, even though open source generally offers more freedoms than proprietary software. It's true, that many organisations are still struggling to understand open source and its license terms. That's why Hewlett Packard, together with other partners, started a open source governance community, FOSSBazaar, to share best practices.""
Linux Adoption Can Cellphones Grow Up to Rival PCs? (New York Times)The New York Times analyzes the changing computer landscape. "What about Linux, which many users found hard to use and not compatible with all the programs they want to run? There has not been a substantial incentive for a user to choose Linux before, Mr. Burchers answered. If you say a netbook is almost half the thinness, the battery life is four times, and it costs 100 bucks less, but I have to use Linux, that is an incentive. Linux, he added, is improving. This has been the first generation that is for non-geeks."
Interviews Mozilla interview: Opening up mobile browsing (The H)The H (formerly known as Heise) talks with Mozilla VP Jay Sullivan about mobile browsing. "One of the reasons that the browser that comes out of the Fennec project will be called Firefox, rather than Firefox Mobile, is that there are far fewer differences between the desktop and mobile world than you'd expect. Location on the PC might come from a Wi-Fi service, rather than GPS or cell tower location, but it's still useful for searches, and cameras are becoming common on notebooks. Beyond telephony and SMS, Sullivan says there are few unique mobile features. 'As we look into it, every time we think we've found a feature, that's kind of a mobile feature, we say that should be in Firefox too.'"
Interview with Jimmy Wales (ODBMS Industry Watch)Marco Dettweiler and Roberto V. Zicari interview Jimmy Wales, President of Wikia, Inc.; Board member and Chair Emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation. "Q. How does it compare Wikia with Wikipedia? I would say, it's the rest of the Library, it is everything that does not belong to an Encyclopedia. For example, Uncyclopedia is a humor site, it is a parody of Wikipedia, it is not a serious site, it is all a joke. Another example, we have a site about Wikia Green , which is all about sustainable living, it is not a neutral site, it is specifically advocating for specific prospective in the world."
Resources Anatomy of ext4 (developerWorks)developerWorks has posted a detailed look at the ext4 filesystem. "One of the first visible differences in ext4 is the increased support for file system volumes, file sizes, and subdirectory limits. Ext4 supports file systems of up to 1 exabyte in size (1000 petabytes). Although that seems huge by today's standards, storage consumption continues to grow, so ext4 was definitely developed with the future in mind. Files within ext4 may be up to 16TB in size (assuming 4KB blocks), which is eight times the limit in ext3."
OpenOffice.org Base: Creating basic databases and tables (Linux Journal)Bruce Byfield introduces OpenOffice.org Base on Linux Journal. "When databases became available for the personal computer in the mid-1980s, they quickly gained a mystique as the ultimate productivity applications. Despite their widespread use, in some ways they have never lost that mystique -- so much so that many desktop users will stretch the use of spreadsheets to cumbersome lengths rather than consider setting up a database. Fortunately, OpenOffice.org Base makes setting up a database easy, giving you a more efficient way of handling data than a spreadsheet."
Reviews ACCESS Linux Platform 3.0 unveiled (ars technica)Ars Technica covers the release of the Access Linux Platform 3.0. "ALP was developed by PalmSource, a software company that split from Palm in 2003 and was subsequently acquired by ACCESS in 2005. ALP's PalmSource legacy makes it sort of a spiritual successor to the original PalmOS, but it's important to note that ACCESS is not related to Palm and that ALP is not related in any way to the Linux-based platform that Palm is developing today."
A developer's introduction to Google Android (ars technica)There is a lengthy introduction to the Android platform on ars technica. "A look at the Dalvik source code reveals that it is largely derived from the Harmony project, an open source Java implementation that is distributed under the Apache license and is maintained under the umbrella of the Apache Foundation. Android also leverages Harmony's class library. Google optimized various components of Harmony in several key ways. In addition to adapting the Harmony VM to support Dex, Google also rewrote parts of the stack to use faster native libraries-such as ICU for character encoding and OpenSSL for encryption."
HP's Mini 1000 Mi Takes Netbooks a Big Step Forward (Business Week)Business Week takes a look at the HP Mini Mi. "The Mi doesn't try to replace a standard PC. It is not aimed at people who use Microsoft Outlook for corporate e-mail, create documents in Word, run spreadsheets, edit photos or video, or prepare presentations on their computers. Like all netbooks, it is designed for Web browsing and consuming information, not creating it. When you fire it up, the initial screen gives you a summary of your e-mail in-box, favorite Web links, and access to photos and music stored on the computer. A button at the bottom of the screen lets you use other installed programs, which are displayed as big icons sorted into tabs such as "Internet" and "media." The designers were careful not to cram lots of unnecessary information onto the home screen. They also kept navigation simple and made sure the choices are presented clearly."
Marvell's Plug Computer: A tiny, discrete, fully functional 5 watt Linux server (TG Daily)TG Daily takes a look at a really small computer. "Marvell announced today a new type of computer. It's about the size of an AC to DC converting wall outlet plug, but is really a full SoC with a 1200 MHz CPU, built-in 512 MB Flash, 512 MB DRAM, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0 support. It runs small versions of Linux, consumes about 5 watts max while allowing remote users (presumably those authorized by the owner) to access data stored on the device from remote locations including local intranets or over the Internet. The $49 device opens up a wide array of extremely low-power, low-volume, always on applications."
X Server 1.6.0 Has Been Released (Phoronix)Phoronix notes the X server 1.6.0 release. "X Server 1.6 introduces the server bits for Direct Rendering Infrastructure 2 (the 3D bits can already be found in Mesa and the Intel driver), X Input 1.5 with device properties, Predictable Pointer Acceleration, and RandR 1.3. Beyond those key features, there are also a number of bug-fixes, EXA improvements, and various other improvements."
Miscellaneous Could the Linux Foundation get too big? (ZDNet blog)Dana Blankenhorn wonders if the Linux Foundation could get too big, just as MIPS Technologies joins the group. "[MIPS] said most of its developers are already using Linux. Fair enough. But this got me wondering whether it's possible for the Linux Foundation to get too big. Oracle is already a platinum member, Cisco a gold, Dell a silver. What if Microsoft wanted in? Or Apple?"
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