Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

More people than ever are using wireless networks as their primary networking medium. Great programs are available under X11 that give users a graphical interface to their wireless cards. Both GNOME and KDE include network management utilities, and a desktop-environment-agnostic utility called wicd also offers great functionality. But, what if you aren't running X11 and want to manage your wireless card?

Many of us are hoping for an eBook reader under the tree. A Kindle, a Nook, or perhaps just an Android device that runs eBook software. But if you don't get the gadget of your choice, or if you want to create content to fill one, you'll find plenty of eBook software for Linux as well as open source software to publish your own. The best of the lot? Calibre, a one stop solution for all your e-book needs.

Numerous changes to the network and storage code are to increase processing speed and improve the system's hardware support. Among the new additions are a PPTP stack, various drivers for Wi-Fi hardware by Atheros, Broadcom and Realtek, and code for hard disks with a logical sector size of 4 Kbytes.

Hulu Plus is the subscription based big brother to Hulu's free video streaming platform. It costs $7.99 a month, and really does open up the catalog of available titles. In fact, for subscribers, there are many shows that have the complete catalog of episodes from every season. (The Office, Family Guy, and many others)

Linux server admins are well-acquainted with its many sophisticated, secure remote administration tools. The Linux-based Android is the hot new mobile platform -- can it do remote server administration? Lugging a laptop around is preferable to commuting, but why not go even more portable with a smartphone or tablet? Can Android serve as a capable remote server administration platform? Android is based on Linux and is open source, so it seems it should be a natural for portable administration.

Like many so-called “power users”, the first thing I do after installing Linux is customize it. I set it to my preferred desktop settings, applications and configuration because I know what I like, and I normally go to great lengths to get it just right. Recently, after setting up a new Ubuntu Maverick install for my wife, I began to wonder what it would be like to run a system on the defaults. To try things their way – to use Ubuntu’s desktop settings, Ubuntu’s preferred applications and configuration. This meant I could not install any of my favorite applications (Chrome, VLC, Exaile…) if Ubuntu already provided an equivalent (Firefox, Totem, Rhythmbox…). How did it turn out? Frustrating, but with some surprising results. (Note: This is not your usual Ubuntu review, but my miscellaneous ramblings, and some praises. Read on for details.)

Google is to release as open source the developer tools WindowBuilder Pro and CodePro Profiler, both of which were acquired as part of its takeover of Instantiations. The code for the two tools is to be donated to the Eclipse Foundation. At the time of the takeover there was much speculation that the Eclipse-based tools could become Eclipse projects – this speculation has now proven to be correct. Other products which Google has made available free of charge since September, include GWT Designer, WindowTester Pro and CodePro AnalytiX, retain their proprietary status.

When CPTN Holdings appeared out of the blue to snap up Novell’s patent portfolio, the only thing anyone knew about them was that Microsoft was behind the group and that’s all Microsoft had to say about its Novell intellectual property (IP) purchase. Now, thanks to Germany’s anti-trust body, the Bundeskartellamt, we know that Microsoft’s CPTN Holdings partners were Apple, EMC, and Oracle.

Yes, it’s that time of year. Eggnog, fruitcake, tangled lights, crowded stores, bad weather — and the annual industry retrospectives. You can’t argue with tradition, though, and 2010 was a very interesting year for Linux and open source. Let’s take a look back at 2010 and see whether it was naughty or nice.

Ubuntu takes a lot of punches from time to time for its marketing and even its interface. Some feel Ubuntu is dumbed down and oversimplified, while many others think it's innovative and user-friendly. Where ever you fall in the debate, one developer thinks some elements of Ubuntu should land into openSUSE. In fact, he has packaged up and pushed them to openSUSE:Contrib.

So far the Linux presence at CES 2011 looks to be mostly in the form of Android and other Linux-based operating systems appearing on new tablets and other mobile devices. Though there should be the assortment of usual companies innovating atop of open-source software / Linux, like SplashTop and others. There will also be the release of Intel's Sandy Bridge, which already has open-source Linux support, among other PC hardware happenings at this event.

In the past two decades, the open source community has evolved from an obscure grass-roots movement of wild-eyed crusaders, indigent grad students, and spare-time hobbyists to an unprecedented worldwide collaboration of full-time professionals and extraordinarily committed volunteers. We pride ourselves on our openness to new contributors, from any country or social background, and most often describe the power structure of open source projects as a meritocracy. Many of us believe that open source is inherently progressive - a way to level the playing field that operates across all social categories and class boundaries.

ZevenOS is a German-born project that offers Debian-based and Ubuntu-based versions of their BeOS-like system. ZevenOS is based on Ubuntu (Xubuntu) and ZevenOS-Neptune is based on Debian Testing. The main purpose is to preserve some of the features of BeOS in a modern, capable operating system. Neptune 1.9.1 was recently released to bring the latest Linux goodies to users.

Robotis is shipping an 18-inch, humanoid robot developed as an open source research platform by Virginia Tech’s Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa). The Linux-ready Darwin-OP can walk, kick a ball, and pick itself up after falling over -- thanks to an Intel Atom-based FitPC2i SBC (single board computer), an ARM Cortex-M3 based management controller, 20 actuators, and audio/video sensors.

Google isn’t telling me any secrets about its plans for Chrome OS. Indeed, I’m not even one of the 60,000 or so people that Google has given a Cr-48 Chromebook prototype to play with. Even so, unlike my good friend Mary Jo Foley, I think I know exactly who Google has in mind for its Chrome OS Linux desktop system.

If you have used Gnome-Do in Linux, you will find some resemblance in Synapse. The user-interface is the same – activate the launcher, type the search term, press Enter to execute. The only difference is that Synapse makes use of the Zeitgeist engine to display your search result. An appropriate description would be: Synapse is the launcher for your recently used files/folders/applications while Gnome-Do is the launcher for any file/folder/application.

The Southern California Linux Expo is happy to announce that Leigh Honeywell has been chosen as the first keynote speaker for SCALE 9X. Honeywell will be speaking on the topic of “Hackerspaces and Free Software,” and how the two communities are mutually beneficial to each other. Honeywell is co-founder and current president of HackLab.TO, a hackerspace in downtown Toronto. She currently serves on the board of advisors of the SECtor security conference, has served as a Google Summer of Code mentor, and is one of the Tres Chix leading the Ubuntu Women project.

Part of the free software experience is having the freedom to setup your workspace the way you want it. KDE, the popular free software compilation for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, offers a plethora of configuration and customization options. Among those options are a number of methods for accessing files quickly and easily.

Google's 'Net-centric Chrome OS platform challenges conventional notions about what constitutes an operating system. It puts the cloud front and center, eschewing the familiar desktop paradigm and native applications in favor of a browser-only environment. It's an audacious and intriguing experiment, but it's not clear yet if it will resonate with a mainstream audience.

On the occasion of the presentation of Google's Chrome OS operating system, Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation (FSF), has reiterated his criticism of cloud computing. As Stallman told the Guardian newspaper, people are being taught "careless computing"; they are simply not as careful when their documents and other information are stored on third-party servers instead of on devices under their own control. He says there are also legal risks, for instance when users in the US lose access control to their data in the cloud because authorities have stepped in.