● 05.03.10

● Links 3/5/2010: Lubuntu 10.04 Released; Peppermint OS Reviewed

Posted in News Roundup at 6:56 pm by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

• These companies spend millions on staffing and paid programmers in the course of a year, so why couldn’t some of that money be set aside for some advertising. When was the last time we saw a commercial advertising Linux? And not on youtube but on actual television programming.

• You get what you pay for…?

• We have all experienced the truthfulness of this at one time or the other. Sometimes when you get something at a low cost it does not turn out to be a quality product. People need to see Linux in action. They need to see how well it runs and the many features that is available to linux users such as compiz fusion etc that are not available to Windows users. The truth is that some times the old you get what you pay for expression simply is not the case. Sometimes the best product is also the lowest priced. And this is something that many have not yet learned is the case with many versions of Linux.

• So, I wanted to use Linux again and decided to give it a try. I first tried to install Mandriva 2010.0 on it but it would hang on booting after the installation was successfully completed. Looking around I found many people having the same problem but no solution as it’s a bug in this release. I found the hint of using 2009.1 instead and tried that and it worked.

Desktop

• While Linux based systems drive some cell phones and can be found in ordinary PCs, the primary competition between Red Hat and Novell has been in the “enterprise space,” that segment of the software universe which focuses on linking business users to databases. Now, Red Hat has announced its intention to move into the “business desktop” market with a new series of adaptations. According to Red Hat, “This will be a more comprehensive offering that will target markets like the small and medium-sized business [SMB] sector and emerging markets. Part of this strategy is to get the desktop more to the masses than our existing client is getting today.”

• [...]

• It’s a great operating system, but plug-and-play functionality for home computers isn’t there yet. And neither Red Hat nor Novell have any intention of invading the home consumer “space.” For now, they’re content to battle it out by expanding their business-based products.

• Lynn Bender called a meeting Saturday at the Triumph Cafe in Austin to begin organizing the Linux Against Poverty 2010 event.

• I wonder why windows cannot, or does not do their updates in this manner. After all, as with most Linux distributions, all an update is doing is replacing one or more binary files with another. It should be a no brainer to just download the latest files, install them and be done with it. If a “hobbyist OS” such as Linux can do this simple yet important task then why can’t a “professional OS” do this? What do you think?

Routing

• Here we’re going to take a look at the most popular open source or Linux-based router projects.

Ballnux

• Milestone 6 (of 7), a snapshot of the Factory “work in progress” build, leading up to openSUSE 11.3 release in July, is now available for download.

Kernel Space

• In testing the Phenom II X6, Linux Magazine noticed that AMDs new processor doesn’t have the full performance under the current Linux kernel. A bug in Linux power management throws a wrench into the six-core processing.

• The main developer of Upstart, Scott James Remnant, commented on Systemd shortly after it was presented in his own blog. Remnant admits that Upstart is by no means perfect and that he cannot argue with the points of criticism that Poettering brings up. But now that Ubuntu 10.04 has been released, he says he plans to spend more time on Upstart and focus on a number of the criticised elements. He adds that it is too early to tell which of the two approaches will be better in the long term.

Graphics Stack

• They basically wrote a driver for an incredibly complicated piece of hardware, completely through memory trace dumps, with no help from nvidia whatsoever and can operate the 3D engine so well that one of the world’s most awesome pieces of software runs on it. So from now on, I will no longer be using the binary nvidia driver, but instead nouveau, since it offers exactly what I need + next gen linux graphics technologies such as KMS, XRandR1.2 and G3D. Win Win Win.

• What these results do show is that Ubuntu 10.04 LTS “Lucid Lynx” is very capable of being a comparable gaming platform to Microsoft Windows at least as far as the quantitative performance is concerned. This is good news as Valve’s Steam client and the Source Engine come to Linux and the first of the Unigine Engine games (likely Primal Carnage) are released. The exception to this, however, is if using Intel graphics.

Applications

• Empathy replaced Pidgin as Ubuntu’s default messaging client in 9.10. Overall, I’m happy with this decision; I use Empathy daily for instant messaging, and love the way it integrates into the new indicator applets in Ubuntu 10.04. However, there is one major problem I’ve seen over the last year: it’s difficult to set up Empathy to do IRC, and once it’s set up, Empathy is a poor IRC client. I feel this is a significant problem, because IRC is widely used in the Ubuntu community for support and for interacting with Ubuntu’s various teams. Ubuntu not shipping a usable IRC client by default is an unacceptable hurdle for new users trying to get help with Ubuntu or participate in the Ubuntu community.

• The current version is 0.7.

Proprietary

• Bitdefender is designed for any Linux/FreeBSD user who values their data and the data they submit to others. Although many Linux/FreeBSD users claim absolute immunity to viruses, the minute they lay eyes on the Bitdefender anti-virus they will know a company is finally taking Linux seriously enough to predict that Linux will continue to grow in acceptance and usage.

Instructionals

Games

• A proverb that often springs to mind during the day is that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Breaking up the monotony of the daily grind (also known as work) cannot be underestimated. Computer games are a great form of entertainment, less passive that watching the TV, just as challenging as completing the Times crossword, but much more fun.

Desktop Environments

K Desktop Environment (KDE SC)

• The growing diversity in our community brings more fun and more creativity, so I welcome it. I’m awaiting a few GSoC students from Nigeria – after reading the final report from Ade about the conference there I have high hopes… But for now, I think we’re looking at a very successful Summer of Code, and those who aren’t in yet: you can join the Season of KDE project, where despite the lack of financial compensation you will get the same guidance and some cool (Kool?) gear! Lydia is also still looking for mentors, btw. If you would love to do KDE Promo things, I hereby offer my services as mentor!

• My series of articles covering text editors wouldn’t be complete without a collaborative tool. I have already covered (some time ago) Gobby (see my article “Collaborate in real time with Gobby“) and now it’s time to re-visit this topic from the KDE perspective. The KDE equivalent of Gobby is, to no surprise, Kobby. Kobby is a tool that allows users to to collaborate on text files either with another Kobby instance or even an instance of Gobby.

• So why did Ubuntu do this? Either they are not aware of kdenlive and its capabilities – which can’t be true, because it’s available in their repositories, or they have an aversion to including anything in the default install that requires the KDE libraries. While I can understand that approach – there is only so much space on the CD – why substitute for a clearly inferior application. In my view this is both a poor technical and marketing choice. They would have been better leaving PiTiVi off the default CD rather than tainting user’s impression of the readiness or otherwise of Linux for the desktop. Whilst I’m not saying that video editing for Linux is as healthy as on other platforms, I am saying it is a hell of a lot more advanced that Ubuntu and PiTiVi would lead the average person to think.

• Today, the 3rd of May 2010, KDE SC 4.4.3 has been uploaded to Debian Sid (Unstable). This is the first of the 4.4.x series that Debian has had (outside of the Experimental repository and an unofficial repository), and so far the whole of it is awesome.

GNOME Desktop

Distributions

Mandrake/Mandriva Family

• Truth be told, you probably could not go wrong with any of the distros I listed. For raw speed I would definitely recommend Fedora 12. It is just crazy fast. The rest of the distros are perfectly fine in their own right, but were simply not what I was looking for. If your favorite distro is not listed, it does not mean I have not seen or tested it. As stated before, the above is just a small sampling of my most recent adventures. So if you have no social life, and there is nothing good on TV, grab yourself a bunch of Linux distros and get to it! If an idiot like me can do it, so can you!

Debian Family

Ubuntu

• Never clean out your closet. I did, and finally found the three original Ubuntu 6.06 ShipIt disks I ordered years ago, hiding under an empty CD spindle. And of course, having those in hand, I started thinking about the Ubuntu of four years ago, and the Ubuntu of now, and wondering. …

• [...]

• I also mention this because the 10.04 system I run in that photo is also exceptionally chunky — chunky to the point of grinding to a halt if I try to do too many things at once. This is obviously an issue of available memory and I don’t necessarily fault Gnome for it, but I do know that if I use Firefox and try to transfer large files across USB, the system more-or-less freezes until one or the other is finished. Network transfers are likewise sketchy, when the memory load is high.

• With the development of Ubuntu 10.10 (codenamed the “Maverick Meerkat”) getting started and the Ubuntu Developer Summit coming up in just a matter of days, we have re-launched the Ubuntu Phoromatic Tracker to monitor the performance of Ubuntu 10.10 on a daily basis.

• We originally launched the Phoromatic Ubuntu Tracker back in March that began tracking Ubuntu’s performance on a daily basis late into Lucid’s development cycle, but a package upgrade a few weeks into it had borked the installations. We have now loaded up clean installs of Ubuntu on the test systems that are now tracking the Ubuntu Maverick repository, albeit so far is just some updated GCC packages.

• The Ayatana Indicators work has given us a crisp, clean basis for indicators in the panel. We’ve said they will all look a particular way, and behave a particular way. And we’ve said they will be placed on the right of the panel.

Variants

• You get Peppermint OS, that’s what! Brought to you by the same developer responsible for Linux Mint 8 LXDE Community Edition, and for resurrecting Linux Mint Fluxbox CE as well, Peppermint OS is a lightweight, fast, stable implementation of what Kendall Weaver’s vision of the perfect Linux distro might be for speed and the web.

• [...]

• Peppermint OS is among the first to try a lot of what it’s doing, and I think it does a great job of that. The sheer speed, respect for old hardware and minimal resources, and stability alone make it a standout, but the smooth way the Peppermint team (I’m looking at you, Kendall!) implemented the webapps seamlessly with the other native client-side applications makes this distro feel like it’s something that’s taken the next step toward a larger universe. That universe has the personal computer not being simply confined to running its code all by itself, but being embedded and a part of the web and the rest of the world as a whole.

• And that’s something I find exciting.

• My feelings about using Peppermint are overwhelmingly positive. It’s intuitive and user-friendly and I can honestly say that I’m going to leave it on this laptop for a while and see how things go. So far I’m very impressed, so I want to keep using it!

• Great job, Peppermint team! I look forward to what’s coming next!

Devices/Embedded

Tablets

• FUSION GARAGE has announced the availability of its Joojoo tablet in the UK, and The INQUIRER went along to the launch for a walk-through of the Linux handheld device and obtained an exclusive demonstation video.

• Then there is multi-tasking. Yes. You can do more than one thing at a time on the JooJoo. Browse and listen to music simultaneously. It’s up to you. It also supports high-def videos out of the box. Watch your favorite videos on the device in crystal clear high definition using the JooJoo player.

Free Software/Open Source

Mozilla

Databases

• A new company called Riptano recently launched to provide support and services for the Apache Cassandra project, a nonrelational open-source database designed for high performance that has a strong presence in Web shops like Twitter, Digg, and Reddit. I recently had the chance to chat with Matt Pfeil, founder of Riptano, and he provided some insight into the project and the new world of NoSQL database approaches.

Standards/Consortia

• Seriously when I can’t even watch TV shows anymore online because I am using the “wrong” OS is when I draw the line. HTML5 … please like yesterday. Of course Adobe would have fixed it if it didn’t stream on “cancel or allow” Vista or Windows 7 or even OSX .. but no since it’s linux we get the shaft.

Leftovers

• A couple of weeks ago a stalwart of the IT writing business died. It got me thinking about the craft of writing and, after much gestation, we decided to come up with a list of the top writers who had explained and expanded our knowledge of science and technology, from a factual basis.

Security/Aggression

• The number of wiretaps authorized by state and federal judges in criminal investigations jumped 26 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to a report released Friday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Environment

• Back in July, 2000, British Petroleum launched a high-profile, $200 million public relations ad campaign designed by Ogilvy & Mather to position the company as environmentally-friendly. The company introduced a new slogan, “Beyond Petroleum,” and changed its 70 year-old logo to a new, cheerful green and yellow sunburst. To many, the “Beyond Petroleum” campaign has always been ludicrous.

• [...]

• Spill, Baby Spill

• Despite, or maybe because of, its history of fatal accidents, environmental disasters, fines and public deceit, BP is still trying to greenwash its image. Its Web pages are filled with bogus statements, like “We try to work in ways that will benefit the communities and habitats where we do business — and earn the world’s respect.”

• [...]

• If they haven’t already, BP’s disingenuous words of support for developing low-carbon, renewable energy sources will increasingly fall on deaf ears as the country’ attention remains riveted instead on the desecration of one of the country’s most beautiful and valuable natural resources: the beleaguered Gulf coast.

Finance

• Between the SEC charges and the congressional panels, the government is finally doing its job going after Goldman Sachs, right? And this last week in April ends with the Justice Department picking up the baton, which puts Goldman under threat of criminal prosecution. Things have suddenly gotten serious.

• Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet approved legislation on Monday that would give Greece euro22.4 billion ($29.6 billion) over three years as part of a wider bailout, as the German government acknowledged that letting Greece go bankrupt could send the euro into a tailspin and hurt Germany’s own economy.

• And one reason for that, according to Weissman, is a particularly well-connected group of lobbyists. More than half the 83 lobbyists registered last year to work for the industries’ two trade groups, the Private Equity Council and the Managed Funds Association, have served in government — from Capitol Hill to the Treasury Department.

• The US turned in a fairly robust quarter in Q1 2010, with real GDP growth meeting expectations at 3.2% annualized. This comes on the back of a very robust annualized 5.6% growth in the previous quarter. This is the best growth two-quarter growth we have seen since 2003.

• There are many other issues in the financial reform bill, most of which will lead to improvements in the regulatory structure. However, without these three changes, the industry will not look very different the day after financial reform than it did the day before. Given what the industry has done to the country, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect some serious changes. After the next couple of weeks, we will know what we get.

• The financial services reform bill is on the Senate floor this week. The recently announced criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs, the bumbling testimony of Goldman’s “Fabulous Fab” and the rocking Wall Street protest last Thursday show that momentum is with reformers.

Intellectual Monopolies

• In its comments to Victoria Espinel, the American IP enforcement czar, AT&T calls on the government to hold tribunal in which accused infringers will lose their internet access. It doesn’t want a full court to evaluate claims of infrigment, just a high-speed, traffic-court-style process by which entire families will lose their lifelines to the electronic society.

• Researchers have devised a way to monitor BitTorrent users over long stretches of time, a feat that allows them to map the internet addresses of individuals and track the content they are sending and receiving.

• Many people in today’s society believe in the right of the individual to have freedom of speech and expression, free access to information, free access to our cultural commons, to be free from undue government and corporate interference in our lives and affairs, and for each individual to exercise these rights as they see fit.

• Unfortunately, there are also groups of people in society who, motivated by profit or control, would rather this not be the case. These groups believe that the collective arts which we all share should be guarded by a small group of cultural gatekeepers only to be released as they see fit, and entirely on their own terms. They believe that information of great mutual benefit to all of society such as pharmaceutical innovations and paradigm-shifting inventions, should be encumbered by preferential laws and patents, and they are are often vigorous and vicious in invoking the legal process to maintain this status quo. They believe that people should be unduly punished and barred from inclusion in modern society, especially regarding the right of Internet access, simply for doing what comes naturally to all of us and what makes us human: sharing. They believe that the right of the individual to proclaim the truth about a situation or share information that everyone should have a right to know should be subject to their approval, and if they don’t like what they hear, then that individual’s message should just vanish.

Digital Economy Bill

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