● 08.20.09

● Links 20/08/2009: KMyMoney 1.0 is Out, New i3 Window Manager

Posted in News Roundup at 8:48 am by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

• Don’t be turned off by the fanboys, fanatics and others who want to sway your mind into their respective camps–just ignore them, laugh at them and enjoy your awesome new computer. As you learn more about Linux, you might find that Ubuntu doesn’t work for you as well as another distribution–so be it. Choose another. Change monthly if you want.

• It’s reminiscent of Microsoft CEO Ballmer’s Australia tantrum over mod chips for the Xbox:

• Translation: Make everything that threatens our business model illegal, or we’re outa here. No, we cannot possibly try to make attractive, fairly-priced products that people want to buy because we never knew how and aren’t going to learn now.

• Secondly, have posted two videos of wild Brazilians saying “Linus we love you, Linus we need you”. The first video is also part of the closing of FISL10, where I declared that FISL10 was the best conference that I have ever attended. The cooperation of the volunteers that put it on, the sponsors, the government, the attendance of President Lula, and the low cost to attend, the value of the conference and the enthusiasm of the (approximately 6000) attendees made it spectacular.

• And of course we chanted “Linus we love you, Linus we need you” in an attempt to attract the architect of the Linux kernel to the next FISL conference.

• Most of you know what this is all about…some won’t. Brian Henry, Tech Guru at Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg Indiana contacted me a while back and said that he wanted to support The HeliOS Project. He stated that the various computer labs were being refreshed and that he wanted to donate the decommissioned computers to us. He explained that about half the machines were Pentium 4′s and the other half was comprised of Xeon Desktop units. He wanted to know if we would be interested in these machines. And by the way…there were about 30 LCD flat screen monitors included.

• Back in 2007, Canonical launched Ubuntu Live — a one-time conference hosted in Portland, Ore. Since that time I’ve been looking for another Ubuntu-centric conference where I can meet key sources from across the Ubuntu ecosystem. Fast forward to September 2009, and I think there might finally be a conference that fulfills my Ubuntu educational needs.

• According to Mr Jeffrey Xing, One Laptop per Child volunteer, when children have access to this type of tool they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future. “By giving children their very own connected XO laptop, we are giving them a window to the outside world, access to vast amounts of information, a way to connect with each other, and a springboard into their future,” Mr Xing said.

Kernel Space

• When Linux.com first launched, we knew that as feature-packed as the site was, there were some additional features we wanted to add to the site when the time came to make Linux.com even better.

• That time has come.

Applications

• Several months ago, Google launched Chrome Experiments to feature some of the most innovative uses of JavaScript. Designers and programmers from all over the world are encouraged to submit their own experiments using the latest open standards that include HTML5, Canvas, SVG, and more. At the moment, more than fifty impressive JavaScript experiments have been submitted. The apps are apparently intended to highlight the speed and power of Chrome since they run faster with it than with any other browsers.

• The KMyMoney development team is pleased to announce a major step forward for what has been described as “the BEST personal finance manager for FREE users”. KMyMoney 1.0 has been released. With over 3 years of development, this new stable release has many new features and a refreshed user interface.

• It’s hard to believe that people will actually believe the new NSS Labs report that claims Internet Explorer is safer than other Web browsers at blocking “Socially Engineered Malware” (PDF Link), but I have to remind myself of two things. One, not everyone reads the fine print, which reveals that Microsoft paid for this report. And, two, not everyone is an IT professional who follows this stuff for a living.

• [...]

• I see it as a toss-up. If you like a lot of add-ons and extras for your Web-browsing, you want Firefox. If you just want the basics and speed and more speed, Chrome is the browser for you. In either case, you’ll be a lot safer than with any of the current competition.

Audio

• In this episode: There was a hole in the kernel for eight years. Dell announces that its Linux netbook returns are a non-issue and we look at Ubuntu One. We report on our two weeks with the KDE desktop and our open ballot asks whether open source licences should be viral.

• On this week’s show: The big Microsoft XML/Word lawsuit, the Ubuntu multisearch kerfuffle, Kernel bug undiscovered for 8 years, Foresight moving to Fedora?, Civilization 4 in Wine and a kinda big announcement.

Desktop Environments

Distributions

• Gordux’s first version (0.2) was based on MandrivaLinux distribution, current version (1.0) is LFS .Gordux contains a Linux Kernel (this low level software provides control on the hardware) and a great diversity of GNU tools (These tools do that GNU/Linux is an extremely robust development platform).

• For some time, I’ve been working on adding Plymouth support for our next Mandriva Linux 2010 release, as graphical boot splash and I thought it could be interested to do a recap of the various solutions we used in our distribution over the years.

• I recently found out about a new Linux distro that has not yet been released: Canabix. Like UNIX, this name seems to be a play on words, like “What have you been smoking”?

• http://usalug-org.blogspot.com/2009/08/canabix-linux-distro-starting-up.html

Debian Family

• Step 4- Experiment with your system. The only sure fire way to be a Linux geek is to practice, and what better practice is there than to experiment with your own system. Always have a backup of your system and experiment with other ways of using Ubuntu. Do not just settle for the default setup of your installation. Apply the skills and tips you learn in the above books as much as you can, read about other methods of getting things done and apply them. Read wide and apply more. Be sure to always backup your system though. Try using other utilities like Compiz and a host of others. Experiment with how to make your system unique and you will be surprised at how much you get to learn by doing.

• Canonical also continues to build its channel partner network — formulating close relationships with training centers that specialize in Ubuntu Server Edition and Desktop Edition.

• Meanwhile, Linux rivals aren’t resting on their laurels. Red Hat this week announced channel partner specializations focused on infrastructure (Linux), middleware (JBoss) and virtualization. And Novell is enhancing its ISV (independent software vendor) relations with new SUSE Linux appliances.

Red Hat Family

• Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) is trading 0.6% higher (up $0.12 to $20.96) today on volume of 250,516 shares. The stock has traded within a 52-week range of $7.50 and $23.72.

Devices/Embedded

• Actually, it was not a live emperor penguin, but a scaled down replica that doubles as a Bootable Linux USB (BLU) thumb drive. Linux, Penguins, USB drives, it’s all good as far as we are concerned. I made a promise to myself to refrain from using words like adorable or cute when describing this product. However, the female visitors in the lab used both words around 27 times when playing with, err, using the drive today. If that was not bad enough, the fact that 5% of the retail purchase price of the Penguin Drive is donated to the World Wildlife Fund means that I foresee more of these drives ending up in my home.

• The eagerly anticipated and awaited Maemo 5 OS has been laid down in a screen capture thanks to Eldar of Nokia’s new Linux beauty. As we know the Maemo is destined for a lot more than just Internet Tablets, a whole range of next generation handsets are waiting in the pipeline, and expected in due course to be fuelled by the Maemo 5.

Phones

• This presents another opportunity for Google, offering Chrome OS to serve the same need in PC devices that Android hopes to deliver in smartphones. If successful, Google could inherit the DOS throne, becoming the mass market operating system vendor without actually making any of the money Microsoft has extorted throughout its reign as the PC software platform monopoly.

• For now, only the Palm Pre smartphone can run the company’s vaunted webOS platform, but an industry analyst recently said he believes the Palm Eos (codename: Pixie) phone will be the next one in the pipeline and arrive in October 2010.

Sub-notebooks

• I’m sure there are lots of other more unusual uses for a Netbook running some version of Linux. The machines keep getting better as does the software. And, many of the available applications under Linux give the user capabilities that other operating systems simply can’t match, at any price. I can hardly wait to see what the next year brings with new technology.

Free Software/Open Source

• A presentation from the Afrobotics team was to inspire more African students to pursue studies in engineering, science and technology, and African computer programmers working with the open-source Mozilla Foundation — creators of Firefox and open-source email client Thunderbird — came to promote their projects (http.

• The faire was timed to coincide with the International Development Design Summit.

• Cloud Foundry expands SpringSource’s product line to building, deploying and managing applications based on Java, Spring, and Grails on a cloud environment. Clearly VMware had an idea of service when it announced the intention to purchase SpringSource for $362m to get its vSphere hypervisor cooperating with cloud applications.

• Greg Luck, founder of distributed Java caching technology Ehcache, is to join US start-up Terracotta. Ehcache will now find itself under the umbrella of Java specialist Terracotta, whose eponymous Java clustering application is available both as an open source edition and as a commercial edition with maintenance and support.

• The system that Midland adopted is based on software originally written by doctors for doctors at the Veterans Health Administration, and it is what’s called “open source,” meaning the code can be read and modified by anyone and is freely available in the public domain rather than copyrighted by a corporation. For nearly thirty years, the VA software’s code has been continuously improved by a large and ever-growing community of collaborating, computer-minded health care professionals, at first within the VA and later at medical institutions around the world. Because the program is open source, many minds over the years have had the chance to spot bugs and make improvements. By the time Midland installed it, the core software had been road-tested at hundred of different hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes by hundreds of thousands of health care professionals.

• RiverGlass now offers RiverGlass® EssentialScanner, an Open Source web and file systems scanner, to the Lucene developer community under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).

• Other industries with high open-source adoption and needs for modern technology included financial services and business services.

• With information technology at the heart of all businesses and government agencies delivering efficiency, productivity and competitiveness, decision makers would do well to pay attention to changes in the IT landscape.

• ProcessMaker was recently selected as a Finalist for two SourceForge Community Choice Awards and has experienced increasing downloads globally and strong international presence, supported by a network of 16 partners in 13 countries.

• So far they’ve already signed some big names, including the daddy of the internet: Tim Berners-Lee.

Education

• Edu1world, an online professional networking site for higher education technology professionals and practitioners, announced today the launch of an “Open Source Community” on edu1world.org.

• Opengear (www.opengear.com), a leading provider of next-generation console server and KVM over IP solutions, today announced that the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Campus Information Technology and Educational Services (CITES), is using the Opengear CM4148 to manage all of the equipment in its data center.

• After a sort of beta earlier this year, Flat World is set to announce on Thursday that over 40,000 college students at more than 400 colleges are going to be using their digital, DRM-free textbooks in the Fall semester, up from 1,000 in 30 colleges in the Spring.

Pseudo Open Source

• Really, there’s room for as many different business models around open source as people can manage. Some companies that clumsily move into the open source arena genuinely mean well but don’t entirely understand the options. Or they want to move toward open source but are too afraid of their ability to make ends meet that they don’t want to stray too far from what they know.

• There are companies that use open source components, but sell a commercial product based on those open source components. So where’s the line and is there an official definition?

Events

• On October 2nd, during the Open World Forum in Paris, twenty open source hopefuls will each have an opportunity to take the stage and promote their company and projects to venture capitalists and major systems integrators. Participants will also compete for the “Open Innovation Awards” which will be awarded by an international jury of experts to the most promising businesses, and presented during the closing keynote address.

• No open source conference is complete without the healthy participation of dot org projects. But here at OSW they were invisible! Well almost. After asking around at the FreeBSD booth which was surprisingly located on the main show floor, I found the projects tucked away in a separate room at the back of the showcase hall. This (mis)placement was unfortunate and doesn’t represent the open source world which thrives on technology from all sectors, commercial and non-commercial alike. Hopefully, IDG will consider having all exhibitors in the same area next year.

Government

• National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) is pouring Bt180 million to promote the production of open-source software, as part of the “Strong Thailand” programme.

• However, he added, the apathy of the government is ironic, which is keeping us far behind than the other nations of the region in this important arena. He expressed these views while speaking at the closing ceremony of three day extensive training of Open Source Operating Systems (OS O/S), which was held here by the Pakistan Computer Association (PCA) in collaboration with Pakistan Software Export Board.

Hardware

• Open-source hardware is about sharing work with others for everyone’s benefit. It is acceptable if you never meant for the product to be open. You need not make your changes available to the community. In the spirit of open-source hardware, however, it’s beneficial for all parties to provide upgrades and additions to the community whenever possible so that the next user can add other enhancements. When you add a function to hardware, it affects the software, which adds a reason to enhance and improve the overall performance of the software to take advantage of the new feature. As developers design products based on this design, another community member has perhaps added the function with the already-completed software work to help make it a better product.

• In the future, more companies will offer varying levels of open-source hardware to their customers and the community at large, creating an environment in which developers spend most of their efforts on improving rather than re-creating the design. The community can benefit from this common goal, so keep your eyes open for the next entrant in the world of open-source hardware.

• Huynh and his team are no strangers to experimenting with new ideas. Earlier this year, Huynh and his partner Matt Stack created the Open Source Hardware Bank, a peer-to-peer borrowing and lending club that funds open source hardware projects. Stack first started working on the X Machina idea about 10 months ago.

Programming

• Amarok is a great music player for KDE when judged by both its capabilities and it’s size. But it’s hardly a quick point and click music player – it takes several clicks and some careful GUI navigation to listen to your music collection and that takes a toll on both your CPU and your head. We’re going to offer an alternative by building the most simple and straightforward music player we could think of.

Standards/Consortia

• The Free Software Foundation’s Holmes Wilson is just back from Berlin, where he participated in the Ogg Theora book sprint put on by FLOSS Manuals. Here is a broad look at Ogg Theora and how it fits into the push for free formats: where we’re winning, what works, and what could be improved.

Leftovers

• A four-year fight to keep the contents of the country’s national library in French hands ended in defeat yesterday as it was announced that Google would take control of the archive.

• The Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) was reported to be on the verge of a deal with the Californian giant under which Google’s digital library would get even larger. “Google has won,” said the front-page headline in La Tribune.

• After receiving six-figure grants from the pharmaceutical company Merck, three medical associations promoted the company’s Gardasil vaccine, “using virtually the same strategy that Merck employed in its marketing campaign.” That’s according to an analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which warned that Gardasil’s marketing campaign presents “important challenges to physician practice and medical professionalism.”

Censorship/Web Abuse

• Last week, we wrote about the launch of RECAP, a neat little tool for making sure that more public domain court rulings are actually accessible to the public (what a concept). Apparently, the tool is already useful. Thomas O’Toole points us to the news of someone who used RECAP to point to rulings that were vacated and then (oddly) ordered to be removed from various databases.

Intellectual Monopolies

• From my very first encounter with the Internet, ie collective mailing lists combining experts from around the world, I knew this was a technology that would change the very fabric of our world. Never before had there been such real-time possibilities for human cooperation and collective intelligence on a global scale. From now on, the privileged communication infrastructures that were only in the hands of multinationals and the State, would be distributed and democratised, a shift at least as important as the effect of the printing press.

• At the same time, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the corporate world, seeing how the neoliberal system not only created increased social inequality, exacted a terrible psychic cost from even its privileged managerial layers, while also creating havoc in our natural world. I started seeing the system as a giant Ponzi scheme (a scheme in which the profit of those who invest earlier comes from those who invest later), so what surprised me was not the meltdown of 2008, but why it took so long to actually manifest itself!

• Can either of you name a single legislative or regulatory instance (in any country) when the concept of copyright has been challenged successfully — or the scope of its restrictions (in time or any other dimension) has ever been reduced? I can’t, but I’m not a lawyer.

• In 1976, Congress made substantial changes to the Copyright Act, and these changes would have a great and profound affect on Siegel and Shuster and their grant of rights to Detective Comics. The 1976 Act expanded the duration of the renewal term for works like Volume One of Action Comics that were already in their renewal term at the time of the Act’s passage. Additionally, the Act gave artists and their heirs the ability to terminate any prior grant of rights to their creation where the grants were executed before January 1, 1978.

• But, Olubowale Victor Folarin, who goes by the name Wale (pronounced wah-lay) understands the importance of “free” within a business model. After all… it’s how he got discovered:

• But, wait… wasn’t the RIAA telling us that mixtape makers were criminals who needed to be thrown in jail while having their homes raided by SWAT teams? Looks like Wale understands the lessons of free music:

• But Mr. Colting’s book has nevertheless become a literary cause célèbre, with a number of legal experts, including one from The New York Times, seeking to overturn the judge’s decision. The argument is that the Colting text is “transformative”: that instead of being a mere rip-off, it adds something original and substantive to Mr. Salinger’s version.

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