● 09.25.11

● Links 25/9/2011: Kernel.org Status, OpenShot 1.4

Posted in News Roundup at 5:34 am by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

• Elizabeth Krumbach is the kind of Linux person I find fascinating. She’s very strong on the technical side, with lots of Debian contributions to her name, but she’s also very active socially, in all kinds of Linux-related outreach. But even more impressively, Elizabeth seems to be using her ideal Linux desktop setup, which is always a cool thing to read.

Server

Audiocasts/Shows

• Fab loses his hair, the Pirate Party scores big time in Germany, Google+ gets an API, identi.ca gets upgraded and Microsoft goes completely insane with Windows 8.

Kernel Space

• As you know, we’ve been working very hard on building a new kernel.org infrastructure from the ground up. This new infrastructure will no longer have shell access to the git repositories; instead we will be running git using the gitolite web glue.

Graphics Stack

• Jeremy Huddleston released xorg-server 1.11.1 a few hours ago. This release was done since two “brown-bag” issues were found in X.Org Server 1.11.0, which was released just one month ago.

• Back in January I heard from VIA that their open-source Linux strategy / support was basically dead. They don’t have the resources or justification to do the work any longer, and their Linux TODO list was basically shot. In the years since they announced they were trying to become open-source friendly (and follow the steps of ATI/AMD), they only managed to push out some partially open-source code and some chipset documentation. But could they be playing around with open-source graphics drivers again?

Applications

• OpenShot, one of the most popular video editors for Linux has reached version 1.4, getting a many improvements and bug fixes:

• * New video and audio effects * New 3D animations * New transitions * Timeline improvements

• After more than seven months of development, the OpenShot project has announced the arrival of version 1.4 of its open source video editor for Linux. According to the developers, the latest release of the non-linear, timeline-based video editor “represents a huge investment by our small and dedicated team”. In addition to “tons of bug fixes and speed improvements”, a number of new features have been added.

Instructionals/Technical

Wine

• It’s time for another bi-weekly development release of Wine… This new release, Wine 1.3.29, has noteworthy changes when it comes to Visual Basic Script (VBScript) and X Render support.

Games

• After releasing couple of tech demos and final version for Linux, indie game studio Swing Swing Submarine has released a new demo of their game Blocks That Matter for users to get their hands on.

• Remember a year back when those Linux Steam builds leaked, everyone went crazy, and then nothing happened? Yeah. Well, it’s happening again, except this time with Desura, and the Linux client actually exists…

Desktop Environments

GNOME Desktop

• I gave Gnome themes a whirl, but ultimately decided that I like the default Gnome 3 desktop. Except for one thing: all windows are grey. The active window is grey with black text as the title, and inactive windows are a slightly different shade of grey with dark grey text as the title.

Distributions

• A new maintenance release of Linux Portable Security LPS has been released, this release added more support for RealTek wireless drivers; added additional broadband cellular drivers; added additional SmartCard drivers; revised About Box to show licensing info; removed GMail S/MIME add-on, which no longer works with GMail; updated Flash to 10.3.183.7; updated Firefox to 3.6.22; updated DOD Configuration add-on to 1.3.3; updated Java to 6u27; updated OpenSSH to 5.9p1; updated DOD Root CAs. Find more info in the chagelog

New Releases

• Summary: · Announced Distro: GeeXboX 2.0 · Announced Distro: Pardus Linux 2011.2 · Announced Distro: Kororaa Linux 15 · Announced Distro: Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 2

PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family

• I am an active member of the German Mandriva community MandrivaUser.de, I was a Mandriva translator since about 2007 and I was one of the packagers creating the mud third party packages.

Debian Family

Derivatives

• Tails, version 0.8 has been released 2 days ago, with some updates on his main packages.

Canonical/Ubuntu

• If Canonical had its way, OEMs would make sure Ubuntu ran well on their hardware before shipping it. But most OEMs don’t, so Ubuntu developers have resorted to the next best thing: crowd-sourcing hardware validation to users via the Ubuntu Friendly program, which is almost ready for prime time. Here’s the scoop.

Flavours and Variants

• This fantastic distribution is not merely another Ubuntu derivative. Bodhi delivers a smooth installation process, and an utterly perfected desktop environment that surely left developers locked in dark basements for weeks on end. Enlightenment may be exactly what all the other distributions are missing. The Enlightenment desktop is lightweight and highly customizable making this distribution a top choice for new or old systems. Bodhi comes with a minimal list of pre-installed applications as well, perfect if you are picky about what you like. So if you are ready to try something new Bodhi will leave you breathless.

• The new Ubuntu release (Oneiric Ocelot) comes out in about three weeks. Since the Linux news feeds I peruse have been filled with all the great improvements being made to the Unity interface in Ubuntu, I thought I’d download the new Ubuntu 11.10 beta 2 and check it out. It comes with new Linux Kernel version 3.0.4 and Gnome 3.1.92 along with an upgraded Unity.

• An almost-overlooked addition to the upcoming Kubuntu 11.10 is the new Kubuntu Low-Fat Settings package. With this set of new default settings for various KDE bits, it is quite possible to reduce memory usage by as much as 32% and reduce KDE’s start up time by 33%, according to our intrepid apachelogger. This is a boon to those of us with older and slower hardware.

• In the vast world of GNU/Linux distributions it can be difficult to choose one that suites all of your needs and still remains true to the core values of the Free Software Foundation. Although there are several distributions that have been branded 100% Libre, many of them seem to have lost steam and support.

• I am pleased to report that Trisquel 5.0 was released this month. Trisquel is based on Ubuntu so users who are familiar with that distribution will feel right at home. Originally released in 2005 with the support of Richard Stallman and FSF, this installment of the 100% Libre distribution is well polished and a pleasure to use.

Devices/Embedded

Phones

Android

• Stallman summarised by saying that Android devices are a major step towards free smartphones that are fully controlled by their users, but that there is a long way to go yet: “Even though the Android phones of today are considerably less bad than Apple or Windows smartphones, they cannot be said to respect your freedom.”

Free Software/Open Source

• In late August, Marcin Jakubowski, Open Source Ecology founder and director, posted the GVCS Rollout Plan for 2011-2012 on the project wiki. In his post, Jakubowski explained that the project’s 2010 budget was US $1,500 per month, and the current budget is $10,000 per month. He projects the project budget will be up to $100,000 per month within six months, with financing coming from True Fans (financial supporters) and production earnings.

Web Browsers

Chrome

• Google’s rapid development pace shows no signs of slowing as it rolls out a new stable version of Chrome, this time version 14.

• Unlike Firefox, which also has an accelerated release process, Chrome appears to be benefiting from the high turnover, while Firefox seems to be suffering because of it.

Mozilla

• The accelerated Firefox release cycle may be great for many users, but enterprise IT folks were not thrilled. To their credit, the folks at Mozilla eventually took the complaints seriously and founded a working group to address enterprise desktop needs. However, it seems clear that the Extended Support Releases (ESRs) will be second-class citizens.

Oracle/Java/LibreOffice

• The judge can order Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Google’s Larry Page to talk in closed court all he wants, they’re not going to settle Oracle’s lawsuit over Android and its alleged infringement on Java.

BSD

Public Services/Government

• The Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development used ‘Subversion’, an open source version control system, to publish online the first part of the source code for the government’s eVoting system.

Programming

Standards/Consortia

• Third, benefits for science. Because research in genomics, pharmacology or the fight against cancer increasingly depends on the availability and sophisticated analysis of large data sets. Sharing such data means researchers can collaborate, compare, and creatively explore whole new realms. We cannot afford for access to scientific knowledge to become a luxury, and the results of publicly funded research in particular should be spread as widely as possible.

Leftovers

• Of all the priorities Meg Whitman now must face as Hewlett-Packard’s CEO — and HP has many priorities — deep and long commitment to open-source technology must be near the top of the list.

• HP’s software business is simply not a strength for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company — whether it’s on the desktop, the server, the data center or in the cloud. Perhaps the best piece of software that comes from HP is its Universal Print Driver, which is actually a powerful piece of software but not exactly positioned in the IT industry’s growth areas.

Finance

• Growing concerns about the weakness of economic growth around the world are increasingly dimming prospects for American financial institutions, amplifying risks of spiraling troubles.

• Even Goldman Sachs, the well-known investment bank, now could be headed toward recording its second quarterly loss in a dozen years — its first quarterly loss since the financial crisis — according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The bank’s lower earnings prospects have been taken by experts as a sign that Goldman is pulling back from taking risks. In the immediate term, a cutback in financial activity by Goldman and other banks is likely to drag on the struggling American economy, as more businesses and consumers find it harder to secure credit needed to make purchases.

• Lack of government regulation; easy lending in the US housing market meant anyone could qualify for a home loan with no government regulations in place.

• Also, London was competing with New York as the banking capital of the world. Gordon Brown, the British finance minister at the time, introduced ‘light touch regulation’ – giving bankers a free hand in the marketplace.

• Meanwhile, over the same period, the income of the very rich, the top 100th of 1 percent of the income distribution, rose by 480 percent. No, that isn’t a misprint. In 2005 dollars, the average annual income of that group rose from $4.2 million to $24.3 million.

Intellectual Monopolies

Copyrights

• There has been plenty of concern recently about companies sneaking their own marketing material or one-sided corporate propaganda into schools. And while some may differ on how big a problem this is, I think most people would agree that a local government shouldn’t be aiding the process — especially without revealing the corporate sponsor. And yet, that appears to be exactly what New York City is doing. And, to make it even more ridiculous, they’re doing so by putting forth a corporate-sponsored contest about the importance of copyright… and hiding in the fine print that by entering the contest, you may be giving up your own copyrights.

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