Top 5 iPod Alternatives for Linux Users Learning Ubuntu: "Why support a company that doesn't support what you use?
The iPod is a great MP3 player, but there are several other MP3 players which are better then the iPod, and support all of the major operating systems as well." (Nov 15, 2009)
Linux Today Features
Linux Today Sticky Page On this page we'll maintain links to important articles and documents that pertain to Free Software, Linux, and the tech industry. Please submit your suggestions to editors@linuxtoday.com. Thank you! (Jun 15, 2009)
Small Features
Editor's Note: Cloud is Just Another Word for "Sucker"
We might warn about privacy, security, and reliability problems in cloud computing, but it's coming and we can't stop it. So do we join the cloud party? Heck no. Nov 14, 2009
Microsoft, other rivals slam Google Chrome OS (Nov 21, 2009, 08:02 UTC) (282 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Computerworld: "Microsoft Corp. is, predictably, not all that impressed by Google Inc.'s demonstration of its upcoming Chrome OS today, but neither were potential rivals who make Linux and instant-on operating systems."
Intel Linux Graphics Shine With Fedora 12 (Nov 21, 2009, 04:02 UTC) (653 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Phoronix: "Intel's Linux graphics driver stack is often at the forefront of X.Org / Mesa innovations, from Intel being the first driver having in-kernel video memory management to being the first driver with mainline kernel mode-setting support to even being the driver that often first receives support for new OpenGL extensions in Mesa."
Editor's Note: Do It Yourself "Cloud" (Nov 21, 2009, 00:02 UTC) (1237 reads)
(2 talkbacks)
(feedback) Last week I wrote "Cloud is Just Another Word for "Sucker". My objections to buying into this whole "cloud" services fad are three-fold: trust, reliability, and performance. But why not do-it-yourself? Linux has everything you need.
Google Chrome OS: First looks, first impressions (Nov 20, 2009, 23:33 UTC) (1918 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Ghacks: "The very early stages of the REAL Google Chrome operating system has been released (and done so fully open sourced). It’s not an operating system you can (and should) be putting on a stand alone machine. Actually what has been released are VirtualBox and VMware images that can be booted in their respective virtual machines."
Kernel Log: Coming in 2.6.32 (Part 3) - Storage (Nov 20, 2009, 23:03 UTC) (974 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Kernel Log: "The kernel development team have enhanced various aspects of Btrfs, one effect of which is to significantly improve the experimental file system's write performance."
Enhancing openSUSE 11.2: Adding Repositories and Packages (Nov 20, 2009, 22:03 UTC) (655 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Linux.com: "So you've got that shiny new openSUSE 11.2 system up and running. Now what? The default repositories have plenty of software, but there's much more for openSUSE in community and semi-official repositories that you might find useful."
A Northwest Nobel option? (Linus for the Nobel Peace prize) (Nov 20, 2009, 21:33 UTC) (613 reads)
(3 talkbacks)
(feedback) Ridenbaugh Press/Northwest: "It would be fitting to honor that international effort by giving a Peace Prize to Linus Torvalds, perhaps in 2011 on the 20th anniversary of the August 1991 Linux announcement, or in 2012 on the 50th anniversary of Pauling’s award."
SECURITY: Cloud Computing Security Benefits, Risks and Recommendations (Nov 20, 2009, 21:03 UTC) (500 reads)
(1 talkbacks)
(feedback) Help Net Security: "ENISA's report is the first to take an independent, in-depth look at all the security and privacy issues of moving into the cloud, outlining some of the information security benefits of cloud computing, as well as 35 key security risks."
Keeping score in test-driven development with Python, PyLint, unittest, doctest, (Nov 20, 2009, 20:33 UTC) (622 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Free Software Magazine: "Programming is more fun when you keep score. The extreme programming (XP) development model popularized the idea of test-driven development (TDD) with professional programmers in mind. But TDD turns out to be even more useful for lone amateur programmers, because it provides much needed motivation in the form of more visible rewards for your work."
Win a CodeWeavers Linux Gaming Rig (Nov 20, 2009, 20:03 UTC) (643 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Wine Reviews: "Any customer purchasing CrossOver Games or CrossOver Professional until November 25th will be automatically registered to win this loaded CodeWeavers Gaming PC."
Intel Linux Graphics Shine With Fedora 12 (Nov 20, 2009, 19:03 UTC) (1136 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Phoronix: "Intel's Linux graphics driver stack is often at the forefront of X.Org / Mesa innovations, from Intel being the first driver having in-kernel video memory management to being the first driver with mainline kernel mode-setting support to even being the driver that often first receives support for new OpenGL extensions in Mesa."
Zero-Day Vulnerabilities in Firefox Extensions Discovered (Nov 20, 2009, 18:33 UTC) (954 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Help Net Security: "One of the reasons behind Firefox's popularity is the availability of a vast library of extensions. Users use them to modify the browser to their liking and make their browsing experience easier and more pleasant. The problem is, unbeknown to them, these extensions are exposing them to risk."
Eva's Useful Guide to Ubuntu 9.10 (updated!) (Nov 20, 2009, 18:03 UTC) (1634 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Johannes Eva: "Welcome to the third edition of Eva's Useful Guide to Ubuntu!
This guide contains many tips to enhance and customize a fresh Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" installation."
Heard at the Ubuntu Developer Summit: Goodbye GIMP, hello ... nothing (Nov 20, 2009, 17:33 UTC) (1754 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Click: "The OMG!Ubuntu blog reports on the decision, however preliminary, at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Dallas to remove the GIMP image editor from the 10.04 Lucid LTS release of the wildly popular Linux distribution."
Installing Google's Go Language on Ubuntu (Nov 20, 2009, 16:33 UTC) (1207 reads)
(1 talkbacks)
(feedback) Experimenting with GNU/Linux: "GO language promoted by google is a new system programming language said to be expressive, concurrent, garbage-collected. The language is still very young and there is no ready made package available for ubuntu. You can install it and try out the features from the version control repository of go."
A tiny cloud in Android (Nov 20, 2009, 16:03 UTC) (926 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) IBM Developerworks: "Cloud computing minimally requires two components: the client software that runs on the portable device and the server software that normally runs on a network server. Put a tiny cloud in your Android handset and experience the usefulness of a local Web server."
Qualcomm sees big bucks in China's smartbook market (Nov 20, 2009, 15:33 UTC) (646 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Shanzai: "It's almost as if Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs took a deep breath and looked the vast expanse that is Mainland China and said to himself; 'There be money in them there hills...'"
Amarok 2.2.1 (Nov 20, 2009, 15:03 UTC) (1125 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) ItRunsOnLinux: "Only 6 weeks after the launch of Amarok 2.2.0, the Amarok team is proud to present the next release in the 2.2 series: Amarok 2.2.1. This audio-player can play various audio-file formats & audio-streams. While the developers have focused on fixing bugs and polishing existing features, a few new features make their appearance as well."
10 Years of SourceForge.net (Nov 20, 2009, 13:33 UTC) (868 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) OStatic: "Most people think of SourceForge.net these days as another huge web site with lots of ads, but very few understand its humble beginnings or how challenging it was to even launch the darn thing without the powers-that-be at VA killing it off in a fit of well-intentioned hari kiri."
Droid Could Bring Motorola Back From Dead (Nov 20, 2009, 12:47 UTC) (1620 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Ron Miller: "Until Motorola came out with the Droid, they were the forgotten cell phone company, but it wasn't that long ago that everyone wanted one of their phones: the Razr. This was in 2004, in the days before the iPhone when smart phones were found only in the pockets of executives and sales people."
Nokia N900: First Look (Nov 20, 2009, 12:03 UTC) (2521 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Linux Journal: "I've had the opportunity evaluate a pre-release N900 for a few weeks now, and while you can expect a full review in an upcoming issue of Linux Journal, I wanted to give you a quick look into what the N900 is like from the perspective of your average Linux geek"
Fedora 12 boasts enhanced performance, improved reporting, better graphics (Nov 20, 2009, 11:03 UTC) (1654 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) TechRepublic: "Today, Fedora 12 was released (November 17, 2009). This is perhaps one of the most significant Fedora releases to date, for a few reasons. A lot of performance enhancements under the hood make this a much more tightly optimized release for x86 (32bit) systems."
EVO Game Console Goes Live (Nov 20, 2009, 09:03 UTC) (1292 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Envizions press release: EVO Open Source Game Console Goes Live: Game On
Nov. 20 streaming event: Derrick Samuels debuts the final version of EVO
Cooperative Bug Isolation for Fedora 12 (Nov 20, 2009, 07:33 UTC) (867 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) LWN.net: "We distribute specially modified
versions of popular open source software packages. These special
versions monitor their own behavior while they run, and report back how
they work (or how they fail to work) in the hands of real users like
you."
What Applications Should be in the Standard Installation? (Nov 20, 2009, 06:03 UTC) (1603 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) I Been to Ubuntu: "You may have heard that GIMP and F-Spot aren't safe for inclusion in 10.04. 700MB isn't much space to work with Why not question all the applications in Ubuntu, then? What should be in the default installation?"
Linux Bug #1: Bad Documentation (part 2) (Nov 20, 2009, 03:03 UTC) (1194 reads)
(1 talkbacks)
(feedback) LinuxPlanet: "In Part 1 I talked about the messy state of Linux documentation, and how telling users to rely on Google is not documentation. Good documentation is equally important as good code. Today we look at the different types of documentation, from man pages to glossy books."
Haiku OS Alpha 1 Screenshots (Nov 20, 2009, 00:03 UTC) (2435 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Nuxified: "As you may or may not know Haiku OS Alpha 1 was recently released. It is a full featured and improved clone of the old BeOS. OSNews has a nice review starting with a bit of history."
Ubuntu's Canonical and Google partner to create Chrome (Nov 19, 2009, 23:47 UTC) (2801 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Cyber Cynic: "Some people may see Google's Chrome operating system as competing with existing Linux desktop distributions. Canonical, the company behind popular Linux distribution Ubuntu, isn't one of them. They're working with Google to make Chrome."
Liveblog: Google Chrome operating system arrives (Nov 19, 2009, 23:33 UTC) (2604 reads)
(1 talkbacks)
(feedback) Computerworld: "Today, November 19th, we're finally going to get a good look at Google's Chrome desktop operating system. Join me as I give a live overview."
What Does a User Cost? (Nov 19, 2009, 23:03 UTC) (906 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) OStatic: "Godin writes today about embracing the "lifetime value" of a customer. Open source projects may not have customers, but it pays to think about the lifetime value of users as well."
SECURITY: 64-bits of protection? (Nov 19, 2009, 21:33 UTC) (1746 reads)
(2 talkbacks)
(feedback) Sure, It's Secure!: ""64-bit Windows [does] has some of the lowest reported malware infection rates in the first half of 2009.""
Open messaging for the Open Web: Installing and configuring Mozilla Raindrop on (Nov 19, 2009, 21:03 UTC) (994 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Free Software Magazine: "I was intrigued by Raindrop and having used other Mozilla lab experimental software I was determined to see what all the hype was about. If you like the idea of combining a tool for aggregating Twitter, e-mail, RSS and other social Web 2.0 stuff with free and open standards then read on."
Storage Vendors Cut Costs With Open Source (Nov 19, 2009, 20:33 UTC) (941 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Enterprise Storage Forum: "Two data storage vendors are out with new products this week that they claim can save users a bundle over more traditional storage systems.
Nexenta and ParaScale both use open source software and commodity hardware to lower storage costs for enterprises."
Making your mixed KDE and GNOME desktop look cool (Nov 19, 2009, 20:03 UTC) (2126 reads)
(0 talkbacks)
(feedback) Frederik's Blog: "Here’s a howto for Debian and Mandriva which explains how to make your desktop look nice if you’re using a mix of KDE and GTK+. Because Ubuntu is based on Debian, this howto might also apply to Ubuntu, but I have not verified this."
