● 09.25.09

● Links 25/09/2009: SystemTap 1.0 is Released, Irex Uses Linux

Posted in News Roundup at 12:31 pm by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

Desktop

• Nothing really, as it presents a clear picture of IBM’s attitudes in regards to Linux.

• Let’s start with a little trip down memory lane. IBM Thinkpads were favorites amongst Linux users for years and years. What did IBM ever do to to show its appreciation for its loyal Linux Thinkpad users? Who paid the Microsoft tax even when they didn’t want to use Windows, and jumped through all kinds of hoops to install Linux and get all the hardware working? Not much, some information pages but never official support. Which shows once again that it is a mistake to support vendors that treats its Linux customers as second-class citizens; the “if we be nice to them they’ll be nice to us!” tactic does not work.

• IBM is claiming a series of competitive wins against Microsoft. Big name companies are said to be choosing Lotus products over Microsoft’s collaboration software.

Server

• While CentOS and Debian Linuxes have supported the z implementation of the Linux kernel, the mainframe variants of Linux from Red Hat and Novell are what nearly all mainframe shops use, and this code is available for free even if the installation and technical support for it is not.

Kernel Space

• I attended the first LinuxCon this week and saw firsthand evidence of a growing, thriving Linux community. Notice I did not call it the Linux kernel community nor Linux development community since it’s much more than the kernel that is key to the fate and progress of Linux, with an increasing role for users as well.

• Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst disagreed with Linus Torvalds’ contention that Linux has become bloated. Whitehurst said that Linux is growing and becoming more full-featured. The bloat will come when features are added that no one wants.

• Earlier this month we shared that X-Video and EXA support were coming to Gallium3D in the form of a state tracker to accelerate these X.Org APIs across any Gallium3D driver.

• The SystemTap team has announced the release of SystemTap 1.0; SystemTap is a dynamic tracing tool for Linux.

Applications

• After featuring some of the best Free and Open Source 3D animation software, it’s time to take a look at some 2D computer graphics program for Linux users who are into creating two-dimensional models. These free 2D animation software is as capable as those that are commercially available so do take time to try them first before emptying your wallet.

• I must admit, even though I will be 50 years old next March I still like down time playing games. Over the past several years I have enjoyed playing games that run natively on my Mandriva GNU/Linux system. I wrote an article earlier this year with some of my thoughts on the matter of gaming on GNU/Linux: GNU/Linux and Commercial Game Developers.

• Quickly is a new utility to simplify Linux application development by bootstrapping repetitive project setup, user interface, packaging, and release chores. It targets both new application developers and those who simply want to speed up recurring tasks. Quickly is a product of the Ubuntu project, but is flexible enough to be used in other distributions and for other types of tasks — the real power of Quickly lies in the templates that automate different aspects of project configuration and maintenance.

Distributions

Red Hat Family

• Three brokerages raised their price targets on Red Hat Inc, a day after the world’s biggest provider of Linux software posted better-than-expected results.

• Red Hat was one of the few standouts during the day, its shares up 12 percent on better than expected earnings and sales.

• The software distributor earned $28.9 million or 15 cents per share. In the same period last year the company earned 10 cents per share

Debian Family

• How to achieve that goal is a pretty complex question, and I’m not qualified to give a good answer. A blog post by Elizabeth Krumbach of Ubuntu Women offers some good suggestions for raising the profile of female contributors to Ubuntu, but none of those suggestions has yet been acted upon, as far as I know. Nonetheless, this is an issue that can’t be ignored if bug #1 is truly to be eliminated.

• Canonical head and Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth said over the past weekend that the Lucid Lynx, or Ubuntu 10.04, desktop would still be based on the Gnome 2 desktop environment and that the release following Lucid Lynx would use the Gnome 3.0 desktop.

Devices/Embedded

• Although the handheld reader will connect to Windows PCs through the USB port, its underlying platform will be built on Linux for “open development,” he said.

Sub-notebooks

• The Emtec Gdium Liberty 1000 netbook is made from a different mold than most of the mini-laptops available today. I mean sure, it has a 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display and it’s about the same size and shape as every other 10 inch netbook. But it shuns the usual Intel Atom processor for a 900MHz Loongson CPU and instead of a hard drive the computer has a removable USB key called the G-Key. Not only can you store files on the removable key, but the entire operating system runs off the USB flash drive, making it easy for multiple users to share the same netbook without getting their settings and data crossed.

• Moblin 2.1 is expected for release in the fourth quarter of this year, which should place it in time for the next round of new Intel-powered mobile devices to hit the market and ahead of what we will see next January at the Consumer Electronic Show. Moblin 2.1 will hopefully be a nice Linux-based operating system for mobile phones and handheld devices while continuing to excel on Atom-powered netbooks and nettops.

Leftovers

• The next GLOW (Greater London Open source Writers) meetup is coming up on Monday September 28th, from 6pm.

• Lawyers for Texas Instruments are taking aim at a group of calculator enthusiasts who posted the cryptographic keys used to modify the devices so they run custom-designed software.

AstroTurf

• Doctors have been agreeing to be named as authors on studies written by employees of the pharmaceutical industry, giving greater credibility to medical research, according to new evidence.

• The Guardian has learned that one of Britain’s leading bone specialists is facing disciplinary action over accusations that he was involved in “ghost writing”.

• The wider phenomenon has come to light through documents disclosed in the US courts which have revealed a culture in which doctors agree to “author” studies written by employees of drug firms. The doctors may have some input but do not have access to all the evidence from the drug trial on which the paper’s conclusions are based, the documents showed.

• The proof is in the role that Whole Foods has played in opposing the two most critical domestic agenda items of the Obama Administration. On the Employee Free Choice Act, the most critical labor law reform in over 50 years, Whole Foods has been in the vanguard of the corporate charge to kill the bill and keep unions on the ground. This is hardly surprising, as Mackey absolutely loathes labor unions:

• Mackey dresses his feelings up a lot prettier than Lee Scott, but he ultimately will do whatever he can to kill unions at Whole Foods and beyond.

Censorship/Web Abuse

• The Obama administration said Wednesday that it would maintain President George W. Bush’s state secrets position when it came to lawsuits leftover from that administration.

• Poll

• Why does the Obama Administration insist on secrecy of the draft ACTA text?:

• Civil law injunctions and damages for infringement are national security hot spots

• ACTA negotiators don’t want people asking informed questions about the substance of the agreement

• No one in the Administration cares enough about transparency to change the policy set by the Bush Administration.

• I don’t know, but there must be a good reason

• A fast-growing FBI data-mining system billed as a tool for hunting terrorists is being used in hacker and domestic criminal investigations, and now contains tens of thousands of records from private corporate databases, including car-rental companies, large hotel chains and at least one national department store, declassified documents obtained by Wired.com show.

• MI5 has hired 50 computer-savvy hackers – some of them still teenagers – to work in a newly formed top secret Cyber Operations Command.

Intellectual Monopolies

• Poor Kelly Corrigan, first-time author, didn’t get invited to this weekend’s National Book Festival on the Mall to plug her 2008 memoir, “The Middle Place.” She won’t be rubbing shoulders with heavyweight authors such as Sue Monk Kidd, John Grisham or Pulitzer winner Junot Diaz. No major newspaper bothered to review the California mom’s tale about cancer and family and recovery when it was released. Her publisher didn’t send her on tour. All the old-school staples of book promotion — the book festival, the tour, the glowing newspaper review — Corrigan got none of them.

• What was a newbie author to do?

• She cobbled together a trailer for her book on her home computer, using iMovie software, downloading a free tune off the Web for background music, and stuck it on her Web site.

• The term “frugalista,” which is so widely used that even the Oxford English Dictionary defines it, has now been trademarked by Natalie P. McNeal, a Miami Herald blogger, causing a brouhaha in the world of personal finance bloggers. McNeal’s lawyer has been sending letters to other bloggers who call themselves “frugalistas,” informing them that they must immediately stop doing so.

• The music industry’s battle to have persistent internet pirates disconnected was dealt a huge blow last night after leading musicians including Lily Allen settled their differences and agreed that plans to suspend internet access were too draconian.

• Instead, they released a statement saying persistent offenders should have their bandwidths “squeezed”.

• Artists including Allen, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason signed the statement.

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