Linux and Unix Forum

Do any of the following sound familiar? Intel is not only driving but actually creating the USB 3 specification, while at the same time refusing to share the full spec with the industry, oh and don't forget that it has 'borrowed heavily' from the PCI Special Interests Group. They all …

RedHat settles its patent infringement lawsuit filed by Firestar Software and DataTern in Federal Court for an undisclosed amount. Part of the settlement that RedHat made was made on behalf of the Open Source Community--indemnifying users and its customers from future infringement suits by said parties. RedHat's corporate opinion is …

Acer is the latest company to jump on the ultra-portable bandwagon with Aspire one, a 2.2-pound unit that sports a near-full size keyboard and can yield as much as six hours of battery life per charge, according to claims by the PC maker. Rival Asus last month began shipping [URL=http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2339.html] …

Welcome to another edition of Crystal Ball Sunday! This week my predictions center around system builders and integrators and their use of Linux to lower costs, standardize hardware offerings, and provide a new systems to buyers that are ready to go to work. Acer has already discussed Linux being the …

Channel Insider has [URL="http://www.pr-inside.com/channel-insider-names-red-hat-enterprise-r619668.htm"]announced[/URL] that [URL="http://www.redhat.com"]Red Hat Enterprise Linux[/URL] has beaten off the competition in the 2008 Product of the Year awards to scoop the server operating system award. This is important for two reasons: firstly the fact that awards are given to products which "exemplify attributes of high importance …

It's unsurprising that a [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7431336.stm"]report in the UK[/URL] says that there are gross variations in the speed picked up by broadband customers in different areas of the UK. I have no doubt this is the same in the US and elsewhere. The major population centres get the faster broadband, if …

Forget the One Laptop Per Child project hyperbole, there seems to be another contender emerging which is deserving of the title 'cheapest Linux laptop on the planet' despite having very little in the way of publicity when compared to the OLPC machine. The Linux lappy in question is the [URL="http://www.elonexone.co.uk"]Elonex …

VIA Technologies, Inc., maker of innovative and power-efficient processor platforms, announced today that they have released an open source laptop design to the public. Formally known as the VIA OpenBook Mini-Note Reference Design, VIA is responding to global demand for ultra-portable notebook computers. The VIA OpenBook is based on the …

Yet another victory in the open source vs. all takers (well, one taker for sure) battle for world dominance--London's Oyster system is now Linux-powered. Oyster is a RFID (Radio frequency identification) card recognition and payment system for London's Tube (Subway) and bus network. The old system needed a serious upgrade …

Although the overall market for Linux in China is relatively small on the global scale, at around $5.4 million for the first quarter of this year, the China-based [URL="http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/63112.html"]CCID Consulting group reports[/URL] that the actual sales value has shot up by a whopping 22.6 percent during the last year. This …

According to a news story published at [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/199221/linux-set-for-mobile-boost-says-nokia.html"]IT Pro[/URL] it would appear that Nokia is predicting that Linux will play an increasingly important role within its Internet enabled device line up. Nokia spokesperson Kari Tuutti is quoted as saying that while the mobile phone giant has used Linux already in …

Mozilla Corporation, Red Bend Software, Sagem Mobiles, SFR, SK Telecom and Verizon Wireless have joined the LiMo (Linux Mobile) Foundation in order to expand and deliver wireless choices to mobile phone users. Verizon's choice to join LiMo further creates a rift between them and Google's OHA (Open Handset Alliance) over …

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and many other financial institutions run their most critical services and applications on Linux. The NYSE specifically uses RedHat Enterprise Linux because of its stability and support. Linux is the most-chosen operating system in the U.K, France, Germany, and other European countries due to …

[URL="http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/197442/intel-not-ruling-out-shortages-after-chinese-earthquake.html"]PC Pro is reporting[/URL] that Intel hopes that its Chinese manufacturing plant is back in production by next week, but following the earthquake disaster has to admit that the situation could best be described as being 'dynamic.' The chip packaging plant in Chengdu, some 60 miles away from the earthquake …

The highly-anticipated release of Fedora 9 is here! It has the new KDE4 desktop that I [URL="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/6464/"]reviewed[/URL] on LinuxPlanet which makes some big improvements in user experience and speed. It also includes the hot new [URL="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/6467/"]FireFox 3[/URL] web browser with some new security features that are sure to impress even …

I’ve found myself using online apps more and more lately. Whether it’s Google Reader, the Daniweb blogging tool, my online calendar or Facebook, I’m spending more time in my browser and less time using desktop applications. This got me thinking if more and more of our work is moving online, …

Welcome back to Crystal Ball Sunday. This week in the Crystal Ball are my predictions for OpenSolaris vs. Linux. The release of OpenSolaris on May 5th has caused quite a stir. Many say that it will replace Linux on the Desktop and in the Data Center. My first prediction is …

ASUS announced that their new EEE 900 PC sporting Windows XP (Vista won't run on it) will cost $50 AUD less than its Linux counterpart. I am no economist but I can figure out quickly that a computer that comes with Windows XP Home and Microsoft Works pre-installed is going …

Microsoft has launched a new add-in, designed specifically to simplify the process of creating content that is accessible for visually impaired and what it refers to as 'print disabled' individuals. The new [URL="http://www.openxmlcommunity.org/daisy"]Save as DAISY XML[/URL] add-in is open source, being developed in conjunction with the [URL="http://www.daisy.org"]Digital Accessible Information System …

Sun Microsystems on Monday was giving away packaged copies of [OpenSolaris](http://opensolaris.org/index.html) in an effort to seed the development community with a Linux alternative and boost the number of available applications for the platform. The news came at [CommunityOne](http://developers.sun.com/events/communityone/), Sun’s free developer conference collocated with JavaOne this week at the Moscone …

Yesterday Sun Microsystems officially released OpenSolaris and suggested that it's going to go head-to-head with Linux as a Desktop Operating System. Solarisx86 is nothing new and has been around about as long as Linux but it is historically proprietary and closed source. It was also very hardware-finicky and performance was …

Just when you thought it was safe to forget SCO and their ridiculous notions about suing IBM and others for infringing on their copyright ownership of UNIX, it isn't. It's been 5 years since SCO sent out its threatdown letters to large companies telling them that they may owe money …

Rather aptly located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the [URL="http://www.computerhistory.org"]Computer History Museum[/URL] will open its doors to the Charles Babbage Difference Engine Number 2 on May 10th. One of only two such working devices in existence, the first being housed within the Science Museum in London, the Babbage Engine …

Hans Reiser, creator of the ReiserFS, is found guilty of murdering his ex-wife, Nina. Described as odd, strange, and narcissistic by the prosecuting attorneys and having Asperger's Syndrome by his attorney; the jury decided against him. Unfortunately, the evidence against him was significant and damning. The prosecutors gave Reiser's ongoing …

This is the first post in my new series called Crystal Ball Sunday. These Sunday posts are where I take out my Linux, and related technology, crystal ball and give you my predictions for the coming months. This week I am focusing on corporate conversion to Linux. I foresee companies …

Can it really be 4 years back that Microsoft produced that always destined to fail product the datacasting SPOT watch? Yep, apparently it can, and apparently it has finally been killed off once and for all. Heck, how could it have succeeded? Cast your mind back to 2004 and think …

I am disappointed to hear that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative may be changing its original focus of providing a low-cost laptop to the world’s poorest children. Originally, the small device was to enter the market at $100 USD but had a production release price of $188 USD. …

The Fedora project team on Tuesday posted a [URL="http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease"] preview edition of Fedora 9[/URL], its final stage of development during which users and contributors can provide feedback about bugs missed during beta testing. The latest Fedora distro is based on kernel 2.6.25; more on that later. General release is set …

Last night on Craig Crossman’s [URL="http://www.computeramerica.com"]Computer America[/URL], America’s longest-running nationally syndicated radio talk show about computers, Craig and crew interviewed Jason Perlow (rhymes with Merlot) about all things Linux. You may recognize Jason from his long-running stint as a regular columnist for [URL="http://www.linux-mag.com"]Linux Magazine[/URL], his popular food blog site [URL="http://www.offthebroiler.com"]offthebroiler.com[/URL], …

According to [URL="http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com"]Fujitsu Siemens Computers[/URL] the days of simply upgrading to faster processors in order to squeeze extra performance out of legacy applications are rapidly coming to an end. In a press release distributed today the company warns that the increasing use of multi-core processors, and the simple replacement of …

There is a recent trend amongst those who’ve implemented virtualization solutions: Complaints about the costs. Why, they wonder, have they spent more on virtualization when it's supposed to be cheaper? Virtualization is greener in terms of power consumption, space, and cooling but don’t look for a lot of green to …

There is an old saying that goes something like this: If you put 1,000 monkeys in a room with 1,000 typewriters (the things people used before computers), they would come up with the works of Shakespeare. Could the same be true of a great Desktop OS? No, but give me …

[URL="http://usa.asus.com"]Asustek Computer[/URL] on Saturday unveiled the Eee PC 900, a beefier version of the ultra-mobile PC it introduced late last year. The new unit is available with Xandros Linux or Windows XP, and is scheduled to begin shipping on May 12 with a sticker price of US$549. Last year’s model …

New Scientist magazine has compiled a pretty darn interesting list of what it says are the [URL="http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13656-ten-weirdest-computers.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news1_head"]top ten weirdest computers[/URL] ever. Some are weirder than others, like the chap at the University of Illinois who has developed a method of creating 3D optical waveguides out of photonic crystals, with the …

[URL="http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/04/08/hp.mini.note/"]Word is[/URL] that HP will debut the new Mini-Note micro-notebook PC next week, with the $500 base model shipping with a SuSe Linux OS. With an 8.9 inch display and a spill-resistant keyboard which somehow only manages to be around 8% smaller than a standard notebook device, the aluminium encased …

Remember those X-Ray Specs you could order as a kid from the newspaper classifieds that promised the ability to see through clothes to the undergarments below? I do, and I can report that they most certainly did not work - much to my disappointment as a 10 year old kid. …

According to an [URL="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hVyPFIJPx8NKAzElk21Isx-zQxvgD8VAQTSG0"]Associated Press story[/URL] just hitting the wires, Wal-Mart is to stop selling computers running the Linux operating system after less than 5 months because, to quote Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien "This really wasn't what our customers were looking for."

Epson is making a play for the green printer market by launching a laser toner cartridge [URL="http://www.epson-europe.com/environment/collectandrecycle"]return and recycle programme[/URL] as part of a long term commitment to be more environmentally friendly in its dealings with customers regarding printing solutions. The new scheme, here in the UK at any rate, …

According to a story in, of all the unlikely places, the [URL="http://www.nzherald.co.nz"]New Zealand Herald[/URL] IBM is to start ditching Windows and introducing Red Hat Linux on a range of computers aimed at the Eastern European market. The newspaper reports that IBM is working with Red Hat software distributor VDEL of …

So it would appear that the long and bloody war between the next-generation of high definition DVD formats is coming to a close, with word on the grapevine suggesting that the HD DVD commander-in-chief Toshiba is ready to surrender. While there will be the inevitable continuation of small skirmishes, mainly …

[URL="http://www.azingo.com"]Azingo[/URL], a specialist Mobile Linux outfit which used to go by the name of Celunite, has announced what it claims to be the industry's first Mobile Linux platform based on LiMO Foundation software in the form of a comprehensive suite of open software and services designed to help deliver web …

CES always provides plenty of great news, and plenty of juicy gossip, but I love it best when it mixes the two and you end up with a nice big fight. This would appear to be what is happening right now after the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project announced …

Things are not looking good for KDE, following the news that KDE will not be getting long term support (LTS) whereas GNOME will according to Canonical. The Hardy Heron will be assured of LTS status it seems, making Ubuntu 8.04 the second version of this Linux distro to get the …

With Xmas fast approaching, one almost expects the unexpected. It would not come as a shock, for example, if a clip of a dancing cat were to be the most viewed video on YouTube this month, or for that matter one of some rather pathetic Harry Potter puppets, or even …

Although it could be argued that your average fanboy has already got the present they wanted this xmas in the continuing growth of Linux in terms of both actual deployment and media popularity, or maybe the arrival of the [URL="http://www.beyondunreal.com/daedalus/singlepost.php?id=11383"]Linux server for Unreal Tournament 3[/URL] or even the fact that …

There has been much debate over the last week as to how the forthcoming Windows Server 2008 release from Microsoft will embrace Linux, specifically with regard to the interoperability between Windows and Linux as evidenced by Release Candidate 1 code. The two sides of the story seem to be either: …

Whenever I see a press release that includes words such as monetize, world's largest and unique position I have to admit I get a sudden urge to reach for the delete key. However, on this occasion I decided to read on simple because it came from the direction of SourceForge.net …

Want a sneaky peek at Ubuntu 8.04? Then you are in luck as the [URL="http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/alpha1"]Hardy Heron Tribe 1 Alpha[/URL] pre-release has just been made [URL="http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/alpha-1/"]available for download[/URL]. This will, in time, morph into 8.04 and is the first in a series of milestone CD images that is slated for distribution …

Although the [URL="https://www.linux-foundation.org/en/2007ClientSurvey"]Linux Foundation 2007 Desktop/Client survey[/URL] does not actually finish until the 30th November, there would seem to be little point adding your opinion to the thousands who have already done so as the results appear to have escaped. The web is already buzzing with reports that participation levels …

[URL="http://www.tincantools.com"]Tin Can Tools[/URL] has announced a new fully functional embedded Linux platform in the shape of a 40-pin DIP package. The Hammer board, based upon the Samsung S3C2410 ARM920T processor, is designed from the ground up to be very modular and easy to interface. Tin Can Tools suggests it is …