IT Management Linux News for Oct 16, 2007

• A visual stroll through the world of KDE 4 Beta (3.94) (Oct 16, 2007, 23:45)
  Rudd-O: "KDE 4 starts up half-drunk and half-broken. In my opinion, this beta is (judging from the developmental stage) not really a beta but rather closer to alpha quality. I don't mind. KDE has always rocked, and even in its utter brokenness, it's still awesome:"


• BBC embraces Linux at long last (Oct 16, 2007, 23:00)
  Inside Edge: "...until today it looked like only Windows users were going to be able to play, but the BBC has now announced a deal with Adobe which will add Flash video streaming to the iPlayer service and let Linux users get in on the act."


• Poll indicates GNOME the most popular desktop environment with KDE close behind (Oct 16, 2007, 22:15)
  All About Linux: "GNOME and KDE are neck and neck in the popularity front with GNOME being the favoured window manager by 361 people vs KDE by 335 people."


• Small Linux Distros For Every Occasion (Oct 16, 2007, 21:30)
  Enterprise Networking Planet: "This presents a wide array of useful possibilities: test new systems before purchase, every computer becomes your personal PC, or today's topic, portable rescue media for all the major platforms: Linux, Unix, Macintosh, and Windows. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of different rescue Linuxes, so we'll take a tour of my favorites."


• GIMPShop Review: GIMP Made Friendly (Oct 16, 2007, 21:00)
  OSWeekly: "What's really cool is that the author of this GIMP variation also seems to have removed usability errors from the Adobe way of doing things as well. Same features as before, yet with an improved naming scheme, I can honestly say that this would have a much better chance of turning a Photoshop user than GIMP ever had."


• OOXML Payback Time as Global Standards Work in SC 34 "Grinds to a Halt" (Oct 16, 2007, 20:20)
  Consortium Info: "The result is that a very important committee has, in the words of its Secretariat Manager in frequent pleas to the non-responsive members, "ground to a halt.""


• Linux vs. Windows Power Usage (Oct 16, 2007, 19:52)
  Phoronix: "...in this article are the first set of results from that testing. We've compared the power consumption of Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Fedora 7, and Ubuntu 7.10."


• Fit PC—A Tiny Linux PC that Fits Anywhere (Oct 16, 2007, 19:22)
  Extreme Tech: "The entire system, including hard drive and 256MB of main memory, uses 3-5W of total power. The built-in graphics can drive displays up to 1920x1440, but it's noticeably more responsive at 1280x1024 or less."


• Noncertified IT pros make more than certified skills, report shows (Oct 16, 2007, 18:00)
  Search Enterprise Linux: "A new report from industry research firm Foote Partners, LLC finds that the average pay for noncertified IT skills topped that for certified professionals while compensation for IT jobs increased again in the third quarter of 2007."


• All systems go for Ubuntu 7.10 Linux Desktop launch (Oct 16, 2007, 17:15)
  Desktop Linux: "Ubuntu, the incredibly popular desktop Linux distribution that seeks to deliver the best of open-source software every six months, will be out in a few days. Gutsy Gibbon Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop Edition includes improvements in advanced plug-and-play printing, enhanced browsing and the option of a smooth new user interface built on top of the latest GNOME 2.20 desktop."


• A Novell SUSE Linux shop surprised by Xen's polish (Oct 16, 2007, 16:30)
  Search Enterprise Linux: "First American has been pleasantly surprised by the performance and reliability of Xen, the open source virtualization layer included in the SLES 10 distribution."


• Installing LedgerSMB (Open Source Accounting Application) On Debian Etch (Oct 16, 2007, 15:45)
  Howtoforge: "LedgerSMB is a free (licensed under the GPL), web based double entry accounting system written in Perl which uses PostgreSQL for data storage. It is intended for small and medium businesses (SMB), and it can be used easily through a regular web browser like Firefox. This tutorial explains how to install LedgerSMB on a Debian Etch system."


• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Demo (Oct 16, 2007, 15:00)
  Linux Games: "id Software has released the Linux demo for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the multiplayer-oriented first-person shooter developed by Splash Damage set prior to Quake 2 during the Strogg invasion of Earth."


• Creating a Free Market for Personal Computer Platforms (Oct 16, 2007, 14:30)
  Club Troppo: "A few years ago, I ran through a couple of scenarios which showed that the reduced competition in the PC platform software space cost consumers worldwide over $10 billion per year. More recently, a court-case in Europe showed that an incredible 52% of the price of a new Acer laptop was constituted by the forced-bundling of Microsoft and other Windows platform software. Like it or not, consumers must pay this hidden price whenever they buy a new PC."


• Dell CEO says Linux server sales increasing faster than Windows (Oct 16, 2007, 13:30)
  TechRepublic: "Speaking at a Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Michael Dell says that his company is seeing Linux update on the server end increasing faster than Windows."


• GOSCON 07: An Open Balance (Oct 16, 2007, 12:45)
  Hoosier Penguin: "Interestingly, Zemlin told the government IT audience that in the course of adopting new technologies, the fact that any given application is open source should not be the main determining factor..."


• Desktop Stats: Linux Behind, But Moving Forward (Oct 16, 2007, 12:00)
  Linux Planet: "In sum, Apple claimed the largest number of new users, though it remains a distinctly niche player. Linux can boast of more than doubling its user base, yet its overall number is still minuscule. The dominant Windows holds on to its lion's share, but the adoption rate for the massively marketed Vista is merely respectable."


• How To Kill The Patent Threat Against Linux (Oct 16, 2007, 11:00)
  Raiden's Realm: "Now that the patent infringement genie is out of the bottle, is it time for Linux to start panicking?"


• Mandriva Linux 2008 One GNOME version released (Oct 16, 2007, 09:30)
  Mandriva: "The GNOME version of Mandriva Linux 2008 One has been released and is now available via BitTorrent or from the mirror sites. Featuring all the same great new features as the other editions of Mandriva Linux 2008, with a fully up-to-date GNOME 2.20 desktop."


• BulletProof-X: Windows Safe Mode Comes to Ubuntu (Oct 16, 2007, 08:00)
  MadPenguin: "I cannot tell you how many times I have found myself looking at that ugly and rather useless Xorg reconfigure screen that has never worked on Ubuntu for me. Generally, I would see something like this (not the exact image, but close) and then ask you to diagnose the problem from the x server output. This is fine for an advanced distro, but not for Ubuntu or its derivatives."


• Using Find to Locate and Report on Large Files (Oct 16, 2007, 06:30)
  Linux in Novell's East Region: "I use a simple (yeah, it really is), script before every backup to find all the files over a particular size, which I then can so anything I want with."


• When Bullies Rule: A Call For Patent Reform in America (Oct 16, 2007, 05:00)
  BlueGNU: "They get to choose between getting beat up, often on a regular basis, or constantly harrassed because they gave into the bully's demands. The bully convinces them to give in, then leads the harrassment in an effort to draw attention away from his own disgusting behavior."


• Restricting zone transfers with IP addresses in BIND DNS Server (Oct 16, 2007, 02:00)
  Cyberciti: "One of the simplest ways to defend is limit zone transfers between nameservers by defining ACL."


• ASRock 4Core1333-Viiv On Linux (Oct 16, 2007, 00:30)
  Phoronix: "While most of the rage these days for Intel hardware is about the P35 and X38 Chipsets, for those looking at an economically-minded motherboard that may not support all of the latest and greatest features but can still work well as a Linux desktop, Intel's P965 remains a great option."