LXer Weekly Roundup for 15-Jul-2007

LXer Feature: 15-Jul-2007 In the latest LXer Weekly Roundup we have, Mark Shuttleworth announcing that Gobuntu is a go, Confessions of a Linux Fan, a review of Siag Office, Turbolinux signs a deal with Microsoft, IBM Pledges Free Access to Patents for use in Open Standards, my interview with Sebastian Kügler of KDE, 16,000 Linux computers delivered for free and Paul McDougall tries to put words in Linus Torvalds mouth. All this and more, plus the FUD article of the week.

In the latest LXer Weekly Roundup we have, Mark Shuttleworth announcing that Gobuntu is a go, Confessions of a Linux Fan, a review of Siag Office, Turbolinux signs a deal with Microsoft, IBM Pledges Free Access to Patents for use in Open Standards, my interview with Sebastian Kügler of KDE, 16,000 Linux computers delivered for free and Paul McDougall tries to put words in Linus Torvalds mouth. All this and more, plus the FUD article of the week.

Dell's Linux desktop line keeps expanding: SJVN catches us up on Dell's announced expansion of their Linux line of offerings and where outside of the U.S. they plan ro expand to first.

15 minutes to using your existing Windows install & apps in Ubuntu: Here’s a simple guide to using your existing Windows install inside Ubuntu - and still being able to start it from your hard disk if you need. Unlike previous guides, it takes around 15 minutes and doesn’t require any terminal use.

Confessions of a Linux Fan: 10 Things You Might Want To Know Before Switching Over To Linux: The author states "Linux fans (myself included) love to argue to Windows users how much better the Linux's are than Microsoft Windows. However (and there's always a however) we tend to be very selective on what we tell you when it comes to the minor details. Take this as a confession, as an admission of those details you might not necessarily like about Linux."

Puppy, Damn Small Linux don't let me down: Steven Rosenberg tells us his trials and tribulations in trying to get, FreeBSD, DesktopBSD, Xubuntu, OpenSUSE, Scientific, DeLi, Puppy and Damn Small Linux to install on his laptop. Not all at once I hope. :-)

Siag Office is far from pathetic: The self-effacing name for the Siag Office Word Processor, Pathetic Writer, might leave you thinking that this office suite is a mere plaything, a university student's cobbled-together programming assignment. But don't be fooled by first impressions. Siag Office is a lightweight suite of applications which might be just the right set of office tools for you, especially if you have older hardware.

Gobuntu is… go: In an announcement on his blog, Mark Shuttleworth states "This is a call for developers who are interested in pushing the limits of content and code freedom - including firmware, content, and authoring infrastructure, to join the team and help identify places where we must separate out pieces that don’t belong in Gobuntu from the standard Ubuntu builds."

Microsoft Makes Another Linux Friend: Turbolinux: Microsoft announced that Asian Linux distributor Turbolinux is the latest Linux company to join its Ecma Open XML-Open Document Format Translator Project. Unlike the earlier Microsoft/Linux partnerships—Novell, Xandros and Linspire—there's no patent agreement or any other technical partnerships.

NoMachine NX 3.0 improves remote access to Linux boxes: Nathan Willis reviews NoMachine's NX 3.0, "As a whole, I found NX 3.0 to be very capable software, and faster than VNC, which for a free solution is reason enough to earn a place on my network."

IBM Pledges Free Access to Patents Involved in Implementing 150+ Software Standards: IBM announced that it is granting universal and perpetual access to Patents that would be needed to implement more than 150 standards designed to make software interoperable. The commitment not only applies to the distributors, developers or manufacturers that are implementing the specifications involved, but also extends to their users or customers. It is valid as long as adopters are not suing any party, not just IBM.

The LXer Interview: Sebastian Kügler of KDE: If you ever want a glimpse of how much Sebastian Kügler does around KDE just subscribe to the kde-promo e-mail list which is as busy as it is effective, and that is just one of the many tasks that he is charged with. In his time with KDE, Sebastian has witnessed and helped facilitate some of the most sweeping changes the organization has ever seen. In our Interview we talk about those changes and more.

16,000 Linux computers delivered - for free: James Burgett is a great guy. He is collecting old computers from companies and individuals, checks and in some cases repairs them, and then gives them away to those who cannot afford to buy. He does it since 12 years, and each system is delivered with a free OS.

Linux Creator Calls GPLv3 Authors 'Hypocrites' As Open Source Debate Turns Nasty: In our "let's try to create a controversy" story, Information Week tries to put these words into Linus's mouth, "Linux creator Linus Torvalds said the authors of a new software license expected to be used by thousands of open source programmers are a bunch of hypocrites and likened them to religious fanatics.."

Misleading InformationWeek GPLv3 article: A lobbyist for FSF Europe, Ciaran O’Riordan picks apart the Linux Creator Calls GPLv3 Authors 'Hypocrites' As Open Source Debate Turns Nasty article piece by inaccurate piece.

Linspire releases Open XML translator: In our "empty" article of the week we have the Linspire announcement that the new "Open" XML bi-directional translator is now available for use in its latest Freespire and Linspire distributions. Besides being told this before, just where is this translator that you and Microsoft are so proud of anyway?

The Apple way and the Linux way: Jem Matzan goes off on "the Apple way" vs. "the Linux way" and makes a valid point or two but did not do his homework on some configuration basics that really hurt his argument.

Why Most Businesses Still Use Windows: In our FUD article of the week we have all the usual suspects in a nice list to help make you feel insecure about whether Linux is right for you and your small to medium sized business. The main thread throughout comes down to this, Windows is a known, your employees won't like change and that's all that is really important.