● 03.14.12

● Links 14/3/2012: Linux 3.3 Delayed, elementaryOS 0.1

Posted in News Roundup at 4:21 am by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

• That’s the percentage of Apple’s revenue generated by the sale of its iPod, iPhone, and iPad devices: what CEO Tim Cook refers to as their post-PC product line.

• Cook revealed this figure as part of the ramp-up pitch for the new iPad last week, and emphasized (as one might expect at an launch event for what has proven to be the most popular tablet in computing history) Apple’s commitment to a post-PC future.

• There has been a lot of attention paid to Cook’s statements, and not just because of iPad marketing hype. Just today, for instance, a report went over the wire about the analysts over at Gartner predicting that the “Personal cloud will replace personal computer”–with the idea that corporate data will be stored in the cloud and accessed through “smartphones, tablets, and other consumer devices.”

• I have a work-issued MacBook Pro running OS X, a laptop running Windows 7 and a desktop running Ubuntu 11.10. That makes me lucky enough to have the big three operating systems at my fingertips.

Desktop

Kernel Space

• Working with direct rivals may have been unthinkable 10 years ago, but Linux, open source and organizations such as The Linux Foundation have highlighted how solving common problems and easing customer pain and friction in using and choosing different technologies can truly drive innovation and traction in the market.

Applications

• Looking for a no-nonsense command-line tool for monitoring your GNU/Linux system? Glances might be right up your alley. This neat little Python-based utility provides an overview of all key system aspects, including CPU load, disk storage, memory consumption, and network activity. More importantly, the utility does a good job of presenting monitored data in an easy-to-follow manner.

Instructionals/Technical

• However, it’s a Linux administrator truism that you should run a GUI on a server only when you absolutely must. That’s because Linux GUIs take up system resources that could be better used elsewhere. So, while using a GUI program is fine for basic server health checkups, if you want to know what’s really happening, turn off the GUI and use these tools from the Linux command shell.

Wine

• In my previous blog, I mentioned that I was finally free of proprietary drivers. But that story wasn’t completely over. While basic 3D acceleration and things like glxgears worked fine, wine did not run Windows games yet. So here’s a report on the progress since then and some tips on how to get these things to work!

Games

Desktop Environments

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

• Last week, a group of Plasma Active hackers and designers met in basysKom’s office in Darmstadt. The officially dubbed “Plasma Active Three Sprint” had as its goals to plan the next release of KDE’s device-spectrum user experience, define work needed to accomplish this release, design user interfaces for new features and enhancements, and of course get cracking. Another point of focus was to work on a few things that need to be done before the launch of the SPARK, the first consumer device featuring a fully free and openly developed software stack, running KDE software.

GNOME Desktop

Distributions

New Releases

• Jose Antonio Calvo has announced the availability of beta version of Zentyal 2.3 on 9th Mar, 2012. Zentyal is server Linux operating system which is based on Ubuntu and this version is based on Ubuntu 12.04 beta 1 and beta version for Zentyal 3 which will be released in September.

Red Hat Family

Fedora

Debian Family

Derivatives

Canonical/Ubuntu

• There is something about Unity that separates it from all other free software projects I know. It is most likely the biggest marketing success in the history of Free Software, considering its base audience and limited scope. It has a unique edge that places everything else completely in its shadow. Having a background in marketing and sales myself, I thought I’d share my perspective on why Unity is such a gigantic success.

• GNU/Linux has a deep penetration in the government sector and big enterprises. More and more governments are now going for vendor-independent solutions. Ubuntu is seemingly making inroads into these markets.

• Ubuntu Governator Mark Shuttleworth says, “Lots of governments now buy PC’s from the world market with Ubuntu pre-installed. Several Canadian tenders have been won by companies bidding with Ubuntu pre-installed on PC’s. The same is true in Brazil and Argentina, in China and India and Spain and Germany. We’re seeing countries or provinces that previously had their own-brand local Linux, which they had to install build locally and install manually, shifting towards pre-order with Ubuntu.”

• These two desktop shells are the buzz words of many Linux enthusiasts these days. In fact, these two desktop shells deserve the credit since they brought the much needed public attention to Linux. Both have received their fair share of mixed reviews from the community. I have used both of them and I think that both represent the future of the desktop environment in their own way. However, which one is better? Well, read on to get to know the answer to that million dollar question.

• Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, is organising ‘Ubuntu Cloud Day’ to be held on April 4th, 2012. Tailor made for engineers and developers with a professional interest in using Ubuntu Cloud as a developer along with a keen interest for developing innovative applications for the Ubuntu user base.

Flavours and Variants

• We’ve introduced elementaryOS Jupiter earlier today. At the request of our users we’re presenting a screenshot tour of elementaryOS 0.1.

• elementaryOS is a Linux operating system based on Canonical’s Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) distribution, powered by Linux kernel 2.6.35 and the GNOME 2.32.0 desktop environment.

• Softpedia is once again proud to introduce today, March 13th, a new Linux-based operating system for the masses, called elementaryOS.

• elementaryOS is an operating system based on the Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) distribution from Canonical, offering a light, fast, clutter-free and smooth desktop environment.

Devices/Embedded

• As we’ve reported, the diminutive $25 Linux computer dubbed Raspberry Pi became available for purchase in its first incarnation only days ago, and the first devices sold out in mere seconds. Developers and tinkerers are putting numerous Linux distros on the devices, including Fedora, Debian and Arch Linux, and the next batch of Raspberry Pis is due imminently, and will probably sell out nearly instantly as well. ZDNet U.K. has gone so far as to say that “Raspberry Pi is the Linux punk ethic,” and the device has already drawn interest from educational system and technology industry leaders.

• The GNU/Linux OS the Raspberry Pi computer is designed to work with is all about “Free” software. But before you get to excited about getting stuff without paying, it’s free in a sense that’s not about money. Free software is designed to let users study and change it, but can sell for cold hard cash.

• We haven’t talked much about the Raspberry Pi for a while now, so it’s time for a quick update.

Phones

Android

• Android developers can now hack code on the move with the beta release of AIDE, the Android developer kit which runs on an Android device to create Android applications.

Free Software/Open Source

Events

Web Browsers

Mozilla

Databases

• They really should look into using PostgreSQL. It’s $0 per core, CPU, server, cluster etc. If they insist on support there are plenty of companies who will support PostgreSQL. e.g. EnterpriseDB would provide and support PostgreSQL for a fraction of the cost of M$’s database under the old pricing scheme.

BSD

Openness/Sharing

• Process over content. Aly Khalifa from Gamil Design and Designbox used this mantra to instill open source roots at SPARKcon—an annual event that showcases, celebrates, and influences the creative momentum naturally found in North Carolina’s Triangle region.

• Today, as we kick off the 4th Annual Open Government Hackathon at PyCon we’re extraordinarily happy to announce one of the most significant milestones in the history of Open States: as of today, all 50 states (as well as DC and Puerto Rico) are now supported via our API and bulk downloads. This makes Open States the first and only completely open, completely free resource for accessing legislative information in a uniform format across all 50 states.

• You might prefer to make the picks yourself based on your own basketball knowledge. Maybe you crowdsource your selections based on previous picks or expert opinions. Or are you one of those people that spends hours digging through all the data and stats available?

Programming

• Tiobe Programming Community Index reveals lack of usage of Go and Dart, while programming languages from Oracle, Microsoft, and Apple rank prominently

Leftovers

Security

Environment/Energy/Wildlife

• A product made by grinding up connective tissue from cows and beef scraps that used to be made into dog food is too disgusting to serve at McDonald’s, Burger King or Taco Bell, which have all dropped it due to public pressure, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) thinks it’s fine to serve in school lunches. The USDA plans to buy seven million pounds of the “Lean Finely Textured Beef” (LFTB) from Beef Products Inc. (BPI) and serve it to school children this spring.

Finance

• New York City’s police strategy embraced “broken windows.” The police increased the priority with which they responded to even minor offenses that upset the community – “squeegee men,” graffiti, and street prostitution. Reported blue collar crime fell in New York City. It also fell sharply in most other cities, which did not implement “broken windows” programs, but Wilson and the NYPD got the credit and popular fame for the sharp fall in reported blue collar crime in New York City. Wilson became one of the most famous blue collar criminologists in the world.

Intellectual Monopolies

Copyrights

ACTA

• The European Parliament may be about to side with the Commission in its strategy to stall the ACTA debate, and postpone by one year or two the vote that could kill it once and for all. It is urgent that citizens contact Members of the Parliament to urge them to continue working towards a clear and strong political position, leading to the unavoidable rejection of ACTA, rather than allow these technocratic manœuvres.

• European Digital Rights (EDRI) sent a briefing document to the Parliament, and Mr. Kamall relayed an item raised by the organisation to the European Commission by written question. The answer of De Gucht is remarkable on multiple levels. But there is more to it. The footnote issue from the leaked documents was openly discussed by Commission staff during hearings, in fact Luc Devigne argued about it with Canadian Law Professor Michael Geist. The key caveat below is the word mandatory. Again the Commission and Council cover up the negotiations as a result of confidentiality. Here is another video from the stakeholder hearing where Margot from XS4all did a bunny test for the snake on 3strikes.

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