LXer Weekly Roundup for 29-Apr-2007

LXer Feature: 29-Apr-2007 A weekly recap of the big stories concerning Linux and Open Source.

Microsoft's Coupon Dayz: Andy Updegrove pokes some fun at the Microsoft-Samsung cross license deal by imagining a few rather unlikely but maybe not so unlikely deals Microsoft has up their sleeves.

Installing CentOS 4.4 - Short-n-Sweet: Our own Don Parris takes us through installing CentOS 4.4 in an article that's well..short and sweet.

China says U.S. piracy case will 'badly damage' ties: An article on c-net.com about how U.S. complaints to the WTO over commercial piracy in China will "badly damage" cooperation.

Honda hearts Linux, wants cash: Linux is pretty good at harnessing processor speed, and Chastain Motorsports is hoping to snare some of that effect to propel their Panoz/Honda to victory. The distinctive Penguin logo, "Tux," has been affixed to the nose of the 200+ MPH car in anticipation of meeting a donation goal.

LXer cookbook: Convince your boss you need a new desktop: A recipe by our Senior European Editor Hans Kwint. "OK, that's it. You had it. When running a CAD-application, it takes more than 330 msec to move 30,000 polylines, compiling OpenOffice from scratch takes more than half an hour, Firefox won't open all existing 86,010 LXer stories at once in seperate tabs anymore, you can't run all OpenBSD versions from 2.2 to 3.9 in VMware at the same time anymore to look for differences, TuxRacer only makes 2 frames per day..."

The real cost of $3 Windows: From the article: "Leave it to Bill Gates. There’s a reason he’s the richest man in the world. The software isn’t great, but it’s good enough to do the job. Unfortunately, the “job” isn’t just personal productivity, it’s technology lock-in. It’s all about creating a new generation of computer users who are hooked on Windows and programs that run under the proprietary operating system."

Vector Linux - Chaucer's Beautiful Hag: Don Parris combines Linux and Literature in this great article about Vector Linux, "Chaucer fans will immediately understand when I say that Vector Linux is a modern retelling of the Wife of Bath's Tale - with a few twists."

All roads lead to Debian: Steven Rosenberg writes, "If most of the Linux distributions derive from either Slackware or Debian, why not just go to the source? Slackware looks way too hard to figure out, but Debian, which just released version 4.0, offers a net-install ISO -- and I've always wanted to install a distro over the Internet -- so I burned the CD this morning and am currently installing a Debian system over the Internet."

Tutorial: Better Wi-Fi on the Linux Horizon: An article by Carla Schroder on the bright future of Wi-Fi on the Linux platform.

$175 OLPC deals blow to open source, guarantees Microsoft’s continued dominance: In what is definitely the biggest heartbreaker article of the week Nicholas Negroponte, the head of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child project announced that the $100 OLPC is now the $175 OLPC, and it will be able to run Windows. I think I am going to go chug a bottle of Pepto-Bismol.

Qantas ditches Linux for AIX: The Australian airline Qantas decided this week to ditch Linux in favor of IBM's Unix-based AIX platform for its computer system.

Freedom of Speech vs. The Right to Remain Silent: An article written by LXer Lane Beneke (aka NoDough) about how the Tux500 campaign is an opportunity to have your voice be heard.

The Most Important Open-Source Apps of All Time: A list of Open Source program slide shows put together by the people at eWEEK.

Free, Open, Eating Its Young: Carla Schroder reminds us that you have to moderate the people who spread spam and hate not ignore them.

Debain WrEtch: review of an UnAmerican Linux system: In what is certainly the funniest article I have read in a while, a couple of Debian users poke some fun and write up a great parody of Debian and Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols.

Mac and Linux attacks set to rise: In our FUD of the week article the author attempts to make the case that there will be more security issues for Linux and the Mac because of their growing popularity. To bad he doesn't know what he is talking about.