LXer Weekly Roundup for 13-May-2007

LXer Feature: 13-May-2007 A weekly recap of the big stories concerning Linux and Open Source.

Who are the Linux desktop users?: A typical Linux desktop user is a guy in his twenties who's computer savvy but may very well not be an IT professional. Those are some of the conclusions you can draw from the just-released openSUSE survey results.

Dell Joins Microsoft and Novell Collaboration: In the first article of our Dell theme this week, this is the press release that kicked it all off.

Creating A DNS Cache With djbdns: Building a local DNS cache will speed up your internet connection since the time for the translation job (converting domain names into IP addresses) will become negligible with the assumption that the DNS cache gets the information from the parent DNS.

The 2007 Rave Awards: The Wizard of OS - Mark Shuttleworth: Used to be, Linux was easy to champion but hard to use. That was before Ubuntu. The free open source operating system is elegant, secure, and intuitive. For that, we can thank South African tech entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth.

Is brand name Ubuntu over hyped ?: Check out any technology related site and you will find at least one or two articles which praise Ubuntu Linux - a distribution which has grown in popularity by leaps and bounds over the rest of the brood. This author had a different experience with the latest version of Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn which prompts him to question whether there is some over hype involved as far as the brand name Ubuntu is concerned....

Linux and The Indianapolis 500: 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.

Dell's Linux Problem: Dell became a hero to Linux fans worldwide when it announced last week that it would begin selling PCs loaded with the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft's Windows.

Novell Linux desktop architect goes to Google: On May 4, Robert Love resigned as chief architect of Novell's Linux desktop efforts. He has since announced that he has accepted a position at Google.

The empire strikes back: With one stroke, Microsoft has reasserted its number one position as deal maker and decision maker in the computer industry, reminding all wannabes that they are just that - wannabes.

So Dell Said No...Big Deal: The actual email was nothing spectacular. Just no...our budget has already been set for the year...yada, yada, yada. Then yesterday, the entire thing crystalized before our dis-believing eyes. Now I think I understand.

Indianapolis Star Brands Tux500 Project a Winner: Getting anything into the mainstream news cycle is tough. The old adage "If it bleeds, it leads", has proven to be an apt proverb in the case of the Tux500.com Project. While the only thing that may be bleeding in this effort are a few egos, that sort of injury isn't enough to get the attention of the big guys in the mainstream press.

Gentoo's Graphical Installer is Unnecessary: Gentoo has long been a distribution aimed towards the power Linux user. It allows users to foray into the inner workings of their computers, and is not for those who need an operating system immediately. With this year's first Gentoo release, 2007.0, comes an updated LiveCD featuring a completely rewritten GTK+ based installer, but isn't a graphical installer defeating some of the purposes of Gentoo?

Top 5 Linux Distros: This is an article, showing some of the most popular Linux Distros, and also the versions of the packages that comes with its last stables releases.

Google finally admits to going after Microsoft.: Google today officially confirmed what many analysts have been saying for months: the Mountain View, California-based search leader is going after the software market in direct competition with Microsoft.

Dell Listens to GNU/Linux Community - Will It Pay Off?: A scant two weeks after Michael Dell returned to the company he founded in 1984, to help repair it, Dell launched its IdeaStorm project and several others in an effort to listen to their customers. The GNU/Linux community has spoken loud and clear. Time will tell how well Dell is listening.

Tux500: Why This Matters: In an article by Bob Moore he states, "I've been at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, covering action for Tux500 for the last several days. I've seen the crowd that is walking around the garage area, the crowd that is milling around on Pit Lane, the fan that is sitting in the stands. I'm here observing the reaction to Tux and to Linux."

Ubuntu versus Vista comparison: In our FUD of the week article submitted by an LXer reader sander, the author decides that Ubuntu just isn't enough like Vista for him.