LXer Weekly Roundup for 19-Aug-2007

LXer Feature: 19-Aug-2007 Another big week in Open Source news including, 50 reasons to dump Windows, MySQL defends paid tarball decision, Part 3 of Carla Schroder's "Adventures in Digital Photography With Linux", Debian turns 14, The LXer Interview: Bob Sutor of IBM and Rob Enderle can't decide where Open Source is headed in the LXer Weekly Roundup.

Another big week in Open Source news including, 50 reasons to dump Windows, MySQL defends paid tarball decision, Part 3 of Carla Schroder's "Adventures in Digital Photography With Linux", Debian turns 14, The LXer Interview: Bob Sutor of IBM and Rob Enderle can't decide where Open Source is headed in the LXer Weekly Roundup.

"Every second apprentice fails on using computers": A study from TNS Infratest, paid by German Microsoft CEO Achim Berg and published in the German BILD am Sonntag found that although most of the 500,000 learners of "The Google Generation" can play and surf with computers, they don't know how to use "important business software" like Microsoft's Word.

Envy - ATI and NVIDIA drivers installation made easy: “Envy” is an application for Ubuntu Linux and Debian written in Python and PyGTK which can detect your graphics hardware, download the appropriate drivers from the official websites, download all their dependencies and finally build, install and configure the driver for you.

Tutorial: More Than HPLIP Service for Linux: HP's Linux Imaging and Printing subsystem brings parity to the penguin where previous printer purveyors have punted. Hewlett-Packard has the most extensive line of well-supported Linux printers, scanners, and multi-function devices of any printer manufacturer. It even make it easy to find them (unlike the others).

Torvalds attacks Microsoft over open source: In desperate need of getting his article attention, the author decides to give a controversial title to an otherwise uneventful article.

50 reasons to dump Windows: The author writes, "I wanted to write 5 reasons to dump windows over linux, but soon I was so overwhelmed by rush of reasons that I could find, that I ended up making a list of 50 reasons. So here it goes..."

Runes of Avalon - an enjoyable game for Linux: This game is the brain child of Roman Budzowski the founder of Anawiki Games - a professional game developing firm based in Poland. "Runes of Avalon" game has been released for the Linux platform apart from that for Windows and MacOSX.

Adventures in Digital Photography With Linux, part 3: Printing: Our own Carla Schroder presents part 3 of her continuing series, "Adventures in Digital Photography With Linux"

MySQL defends paid tarball decision: MySQL has defended a decision to end free community access to the latest source code for its popular database in an attempt to snag paying customers. Chief executive Marten Mickos said MySQL remains in full compliance with the principles of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), adding the company's decision will help build a "well-funded business model" capable of producing yet more GPL software.

To Groklaw's 'Pamela Jones': Get Your Facts Straight: Paul McDougall writes, "A misleading article appeared Monday on an anti-SCO Web site called Groklaw run by a blogger who calls him or herself 'Pamela Jones.' Jones tried to pick apart a story I wrote about SCO v. Novell. I need to set the record straight because virtually everything 'PJ' said about my article is wrong. 'PJ', or whatever this person's real name is, claimed that a number of specific points I made in the 565-word story were inaccurate, and spent more than 3,000 words trying to prove it. But 'PJ' is wrong on every count except for one, minor numerical detail that I'll get to later."

Microsoft and Xandros Expand Collaboration: Microsoft and Xandros announced a messaging protocol license and collaboration agreement that will enhance the interoperability of Scalix email servers with various mobile and personal computer-based email applications that utilize Microsoft email protocols. This agreement expands on the ongoing Microsoft-Xandros collaboration.

Buying an HP Pavilion laptop for GNU/Linux: Bruce Byfield begins his article, "A corporation is not the person the legal fiction makes it so much as a collection of different interests. I was reminded of this fact a couple of weeks ago when I went shopping for a laptop. Remembering that Hewlett-Packard almost singlehandedly solved the basic problem of laser printer support for GNU/Linux, I ended up buying one of the company's laptops."

Debian turns 14 today!: Debian, one of my long time favorite Linux distributions turned 14 today. Without the Debian project there would be no Ubuntu. Debian was begun in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution which would be made openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. Debian is pronounced /ˈde.bi.ən/. It comes from the names of the creator of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra. Happy 14th birthday Debian!

What *NIX has wrong for the desktop: Top 12: The good part of *NIX-like systems is that some basic concepts are extremely well designed, starting with the filesystem philosophy and the security metaphor. Therefore, using Linux or BSD on your home desktop or on your laptop instead of Windows is not only a question of ideology or price — it's a matter of good taste. There are however a few places where something is under-optimal, not because GNU/Linux or *BSD are following "ancient *NIX principles", but simply because *NIX operating systems were designed in the times of the mainframes and minicomputers, where everything was a server, and usability issues like those raised by nowadays desktop/laptop computers were not considered.

Linux Journal: the Last Idiot's Club: Once again, Linux Journal leads the way in idiotic, pointless misogyny. And they wonder why they have no women subscribers.

The LXer Interview: Bob Sutor of IBM: An interview with IBM's Vice President of Open Source and Standards about their Open Source Strategy, the recent pledge of its patents for more than 150 open software standards, his take on the ODF vs. XML issue, and much more in The LXer Interview of Bob Sutor.

Windows Is Free: Since Linux, Windows and Mac are effectively equal, why doesn't the "Free as in Beer" of Linux trump the $200 price tag of Windows like a free offer does in every other marketing situation? Because Windows Is Free. The impact of pirated software on free software, by Dave Gutteridge on August 15, 2007, is an excellent exploration of the marketing effects of pervasive software piracy.

Why 'Windows Is Free' doesn't cut it for me: One of the great, liberating things that comes with using GNU/Linux and other free, open-source software is the moral high ground. I don't think what Microsoft is doing is right -- abandoning old products so we'll all buy new ones every other year or so. Most respond by using pirated software, but it's better to reject the Microsoft model outright and use free, open-source applications as much as you can.

Is it time to exit from Windows?: The offer of pre-installed Linux by mainstream PC makers doesn't mean the open-source operating system is poised to sweep aside Microsoft’s; but while its cost advantages may never be compelling, finance departments must prepare to consider the merits of switching their own operations to Linux – and to hear a stronger case for its company-wide adoption.

"You Know Linux? Marry Me!" Doesn't Fly: The author writes, "Three times so far, I've had that aimed at me. There was also the time when a man much more than twice my age asked me to dinner after a brief computer-related conversation in a book store (note that I was jailbait). It gets old, and it gets old fast. I've heard from plenty of women before about the annoyances of men at tech events who think it appropriate to have a come on be the first (or one of the first) things they say to any lady there. So, this is for all the obnoxious straight men (and lesbians too, I suppose) at tech events: STOP IT! We don't come to these things to be hit on, I swear."

SCO: What Difference Did It Make?: In our FUD article of the week, Rob Enderle once again steps up to the plate to provide yet another article in which he vacillates on just which direction Open Source is headed.