Linux in the news
Recommended Reading
Linux and The Indianapolis 500 (LXer)
Scott Ruecker looks at the Tux500 campaign. "The idea to have the Open Source community sponsor a car in the Indianapolis 500 put forth recently has more than just the Open Source Press taking notice. Here is my take on it. First a disclaimer: I am in not in any way, shape or form involved with the Tux500 campaign. I happen to know several of the people involved but other than that I have no connection to it whatsoever. With that said I am free to express any opinions I may have on the subject, which I plan on doing right now.."
Blizzard: OLPC and open source
Worth a glance: Christopher Blizzard's posting on the OLPC project and Microsoft. "For once Microsoft is getting the reverse Linux laptop experience: little support and little documentation for the hardware. The result will be a platform that doesnt include any of the really novel features that were building in, bad power management, no systems management via the firmware and apps that will randomly crash because they cant fix the virtual memory problem in the same way were approaching it. A second class citizen, to be sure."
Companies
Novell Linux desktop architect goes to Google (DesktopLinux)
DesktopLinux reports that Robert Love has resigned as chief architect of Novell's Linux desktop efforts. "Before serving as Novell's Linux desktop architect, Love worked -- and still does -- as a Linux kernel and GNOME developer. He also worked with MontaVista, the well-known embedded Linux company. While working for MontaVista, Love spearheaded the project of improving Linux's real-time capabilities via a "preemptible kernel patch" that is now a standard feature in the mainstream kernel." Robert Love will be working at Google's Open Source Program Office.
Oracle, IBM, NEC to market Linux in Japan: Nikkei (KPLC-TV)
KPLC-TV reports on a commercial consortium that plans to promote Linux in Japan. "Major information technology firms, including Oracle Corp. (ORCL.O), IBM Corp. (IBM.N) and NEC Corp. (6701.T), will set up a consortium to sell servers and systems running the Linux operating system in Japan, a financial daily said on Thursday. It would be the first time in the world that major IT firms join hands to market equipment running the free software, the Nikkei newspaper said."
What's a Linux Guy Doing at Sun? (eWeek)
eWeek takes a look at what Ian Murdock is doing at Sun. "What's a Linux guy doing at Sun? That's the question Ian Murdock, chief open source platform strategist at Sun Microsystems Inc., posed in a session he chaired at Sun's CommunityOne Day on May 7 prior to the opening of the JavaOne conference. "Why am I here? 'What's a Linux guy doing at Sun? Have you changed sides?'" Murdock said people constantly ask him. "No, that's not how I look at it.""
Sysgo tops embedded Linux survey (Electronicstalk.com)
Electronicstalk.com looks at the rise of Sysgo, a commercial embedded Linux supplier. "Sysgo has received top ranking among commercial Embedded Linux suppliers in the recently published LinuxDevices.com seventh annual Embedded Linux Market Survey. This survey also showed Linux continuing to grow as the dominant embedded OS for 32 and 64bit designs (approaching 50%), and that over 60% of developers surveyed look to commercial suppliers for support and service."
Interviews
OpenBSD 4.1: Puffy Strikes Again (O'ReillyNet)
O'ReillyNet has an interview with several OpenBSD developers. "OpenBSD 4.1 has just been released. Federico Biancuzzi interviewed several developers to discuss some of the new features for networking, active porting efforts (landisk and UltraSPARC III), work on SMP, and the improvements in spam fighting."
Daniel James interview (Linux Format)
Linux Format has an interview with Daniel James. "Daniel James is the project directory of the audio distro 64 Studio. He set up 64 Studio Ltd to provide development services to hardware OEMs, and support to users in studios. James also runs a Linux-based recording studio near his home on the Isle of Wight."
Mozilla CEO speaks out on future of Firefox (APC)
APC (Australian Personal Computer) has an interview with Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker. "According to Mozilla Foundation CEO Mitchell Baker, Firefox is just at the beginning of its life cycle. In this one-on-one interview with APCMag.com, she talks about where Firefox came from and where it's going."
Interview with Simon Phipps (Linux Journal)
Glyn Moody talks with Simon Phipps about the open-source roots of Sun and the GPL-ization of Java. "Before joining Sun in 2001, Simon Phipps spent ten years at IBM, where he was Chief Java and XML Evangelist. He first came across free software in the late 1980s, when he was selling freeware from home as a sideline while working at Unisys. Today, Phipps is Sun's Chief Open Source Officer, and he plays a key role as the company moves its entire software portfolio to open source."
Interview with Flavio Castelli, A Strigi Developer (KDE.News)
KDE.News talks with Flavio Castelli. "We are here today to talk about the Strigi project - the indexing and search technology of KDE 4 - and to interview Flavio Castelli, a key developer of Strigi. Read on for the interview."
Interview with Tim Bray: Atom, JRuby, and the Ecumenical Sun (O'Reilly)
O'Reilly's ONJava.com has an interview with Tim Bray. "If you've ever written a system to parse or generate XML, you owe something of a debt to Tim Bray, he co-authored the initial specification XML 1.0 published in 1998. And, nearly a decade after the introduction of XML, it is a concept familiar to all programmers and many non-programmers. Given this achievement, one might be content to rest on one's laurels, but in talking to Bray you get the sense that, while he might be best known for his contribution to XML, he is singularly focused on the development of the next generation of participatory technologies. Bray is focused on the Atom publishing protocol, contributing to open source, and helping to push Sun toward a more "ecumenical" approach to web development. Most importantly, you get the sense that Bray is trying to use technology to create an Internet that is more transparent and inclusive Internet."
Resources
Real-time Java, Part 4: Real-time garbage collection (developerWorks)
IBM developerWorks continues a series on real-time Java with a look at garbage collection. "RT applications must be able to respond to real-world stimuli within deterministic time intervals. A traditional GC can't meet this requirement because the application must halt for the GC to reclaim any unused memory. The time taken for reclamation is unbounded and subject to fluctuations. Furthermore, the time when the GC will interrupt the application is traditionally unpredictable. The time during which the application is halted is referred to as pause time because application progress is paused for the GC to reclaim free space. Low pause times are a requirement for RT applications because they usually represent the upper timing bound for application responsiveness."
Top 7 Things System Administrators Forget to Do (O'ReillyNet)
Tom Adelstein presents seven tips for system administrators in an O'Reilly article. "Do system administrators really forget to do basic tasks because they're lazy or do the pressures of the job keep them from getting everything done? Tom Adelstein explores the top seven tasks system administrators forget to do."
Reviews
Metasploit 3.0 doesn't pwn systems, black hats pwn systems (Linux.com)
Linux.com reviews the Metasploit Framework v3.0. "Metasploit LLC released version 3.0 of the Metasploit Framework (MSF), the popular penetration testing project, late last month. Version 3.0 is a complete rewrite of the previous tools using primarily the Ruby programming language; versions 1 and 2 were written primarily in Perl. Also new are an experimental GUI, and perhaps the crowning jewel of the release, the db_autopwn module, which automates exploit discovery and execution."
Mono developers to bring Silverlight to Linux (Ars Technica)
Ars Technica looks at the Mono Project's plans for a Silverlight browser plug-in. "Mono project lead developer Miguel de Icaza says that the Mono development community plans to have an experimental Linux-based Silverlight browser plug-in ready for testing by the end of the year. Silverlight, Microsoft's new .NET-based technology for rapid development of interactive rich media applications, is currently only supported on Windows and Mac OS X. The Mono developers intend to use the documentation published by Microsoft to create a plug-in that is compatible with Silverlight 1.1, which is currently still in early stages of development."
Miscellaneous
Certification on the upswing again (Linux.com)
Linux.com reports on the upswing in Linux certification. "After several years of decline, the demand for certification and training in GNU/Linux and other free software areas is stronger than ever. That's the general opinion of experts in the field, as they discuss where certification has been, current course offerings, customer services, and trends for the future. GNU/Linux certification emerged in the late 1990s as recognition of the operating system first became widespread. However, Jim Lacey, CEO of the Linux Professional Institute (LPI), notes that certification was "overmarketed and oversold," and its demand declined in the first years of the millennium."
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