Linux News for Sep 29, 2008

• Mounting ISO Images with Furius ISO Mount on Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop (Sep 29, 2008, 23:32)
  HowtoForge: "This guide shows how to install it on an Ubuntu 8.04 desktop."


• What Does the Economic Crisis Mean for the Tech Sector? (Sep 29, 2008, 23:02)
  Tech Treasures: "The last time we went through economic free-fall, it involved companies like Enron and WorldCom and Sarbanes Oxley, which called for strict SEC oversight of company accounting policies, was passed and gave rise to a whole new market for content management vendors."


• Gufw - Simple GUI for ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) in Ubuntu (Sep 29, 2008, 22:32)
  Ubuntu Geek: "Gufw is an easy, intuitive, way to manage your Linux firewall. It supports common tasks such as allowing or blocking pre-configured, common p2p, or individual ports port(s), and many others!"


• Verify Your Email Security With tcpdump (Sep 29, 2008, 22:02)
  LinuxPlanet: "...being an untrusting soul as all wise network administrators are, I can use tcpdump to verify that encryption is working. Here is what a plain unencrypted POP mail session looks like. This is an abbreviated example showing only the initial three-way TCP handshake. You can do this yourself by firing up tcpdump, then checking mail. Ctrl+C stops it:"


• MEPIS Linux 8.0 Nears Release (Sep 29, 2008, 21:32)
  DeviceGuru: "A new version of MEPIS Linux, one of my favorite KDE-based distributions, is nearing final release. Roughly a year after the arrival of version 7.0, distribution founder and maintainer Warren Woodford has just released MEPIS 8.0 beta 2, based on a Debian Lenny core."


• Are Ubuntu Server and Desktop Editions At Odds? (Sep 29, 2008, 21:02)
  WorkswithU: "Instead of concluding that Ubuntu is great on the desktop but not so good on a server, or vice-versa, businesses are using it in both environments."


• Four Expert Tips on Installing New Linux Apps (Sep 29, 2008, 20:32)
  IT Business: "Under Linux, installing new applications isn't a particularly hard task, but installations do come in several different varieties, so it's worth understanding the differences and what you'll need to know to make them work."


• Linux Distro to Newbies: Adapt or Leave! (Sep 29, 2008, 20:02)
  Datamation: "A uniform computing experience: is it really all that much to ask for?"


• New GNOME 2.24 is an Incremental Improvement (Sep 29, 2008, 19:32)
  Linux.com: "Last week marked the release of GNOME 2.24. Those who already use GNOME will appreciate the new additions, but there's nothing compelling enough in the new version to convince fans of other desktop environments to make a switch."


• Intellectual Property Bill Passes in the House (Sep 29, 2008, 19:17)
  CNet News: "The House of Representatives on Sunday cleared the intellectual property enforcement bill that would create an "IP coordinator" position in the White House."


• Another Reason for Open-Source in Web Apps: Data Flow and Syncing (Sep 29, 2008, 19:02)
  Linux Loop: "A recent Free Software Magazine article lays out the case for open-source and free software in web applications. I agree with the arguments, but I also want to add another one that I feel is important."


• Atheros Releases ath5k HAL Code (Sep 29, 2008, 18:32)
  LWN: "As part of our commitment to help support all of our Atheros devices under Linux we'd like to announce the release of our Atheros HAL for our 802.11abg chipsets under the ISC license."


• And Walmart Makes Three: Another Music Service Plans to Shut Down DRM Support (Sep 29, 2008, 18:12)
  Deeplinks Blog: "Walmart's been selling DRM-free music since February, but anyone who bought music before that date will not be able to transfer those songs to "unauthorized computers," or access the songs after changing operating systems."


• Who's Really Contributing to Linux? (Sep 29, 2008, 18:02)
  Cyber Cynic: "That, as Kroah-Hartman pointed out, means Canonical "did 00.10068% of all of the kernel development for the past 3 years." In other words: almost nothing."


• Improving Boot Time on a General Linux Distribution (Sep 29, 2008, 17:32)
  Frederic Crozat blog: "We have just just released Mandriva Linux 2009 RC2 (with GNOME 2.24 final version, among new features ;), as well as reduce boot time on a lot of systems. I thought it would be interesting to explain the various things we tried to save some seconds when booting, since it is a hot topic these days, with impressive results from various people"


• The Fastest OpenOffice.org Edition (Sep 29, 2008, 17:02)
  OpenOffice.org Ninja: "OpenOffice.org comes in several editions produced by different groups. Each edition has its own features, performance improvements, bug fixes, and new bugs. Go-oo in particular boasts performance as a feature with its the slogan, "Better, Faster, Freer," but is there truth in advertising? Let's pit four OpenOffice.org editions against each other in a scientific speed smackdown."


• Top 5 Linux References in Pop-Culture (Sep 29, 2008, 16:32)
  The Linux Distillery: "That ubiquitous Linux! It's on your computer, your mobile phone, your handheld GPS. What's more, it's also in movies, cartoons, comics and books around you too! Here are my top 5 Linux references as found in popular culture."


• The Most Important Open Source System: Voting (Sep 29, 2008, 16:02)
  Linux and Open Source: "The last two presidential elections proved that our system of voting is either broken or corrupt."


• Keyboards Must Die (Sep 29, 2008, 15:52)
  The computer of the future is almost here. It's a small handheld device with some pretty good built-in muscle and storage, and that depends on the network for most of its functionality. But it won't really be practical until the keyboard goes away and we can talk to our computers.



• The 14 Best Linux Distros (Sep 29, 2008, 15:32)
  Techradar: "Given the number of Linux distros out there, how did we pick just 14? Some were obvious..."


• Android -- It's not about Sex, Excitement, or Cool (Sep 29, 2008, 15:02)
  Tech Broiler: "Sex? Excitement? Cool? We are talking about digital convergence devices, not a week on tour in Amsterdam with Gene Simmons and his roadie crew."


• 21 of the Best Free Linux Financial Software (Sep 29, 2008, 14:32)
  Linux Links: "This article selects quality software that help individuals keep track of stock market movements, analyse the markets, and identify stock worth buying. In this article, we also feature the best personal finance software available for Linux, as well as covering the corporate end of the market with accounting software and business solutions."


• On-Line Applications "Just Work"; Why Worry About the Freedom of the Licence? (Sep 29, 2008, 14:02)
  Free Software Magazine: "If the software we are using is not run on the computer on our desk/lap/hand what does the licence matter? For some time now I've been reading predictions where the browser will be the computer. Does this future have space for free software?"


• Windows 7: Can Closed Source Really March Forward? (Sep 29, 2008, 13:32)
  The VAR Guy: "Does the old closed-source model of bug chasing and alpha, beta and gold product development releases still work?"


• Why I Choose Copyleft For My Projects (Sep 29, 2008, 13:02)
  Free Software Magazine: "Terry Hancock seemed to raise a few hackles when he presented case recently that "copyleft has no impact on project activity?!)". I'm not certain why, because it seemed he was just asking a question really..."


• 100 Reasons Linux Beats Windows (Sep 29, 2008, 12:32)
  The Linux Distillery: "That's right; you heard me. Here are â€" count 'em â€" one hundred reasons why Linux beats Windows."
  Link fixed--ed.


• Gettin' it done: Simple Instructional Video Creation on Linux (Sep 29, 2008, 12:02)
  JBCobb: "In this story I will share a simple process for creating instructional videos on a fairly common Ubuntu-ish desktop. They needed to be easily played on a variety of platforms and the creation process itself should require little research or new skills to accomplish."


• IBM's New "I.T.Standards Policy" - and a Call for Wider Reform (Sep 29, 2008, 11:02)
  Standards Blog: "The principles would also mean that IBM would push for more global participation in standard setting, work for rules reform to avoid undue influence by vendors, push for ensuring that open standards will be set under policies that will ensure that they can be implemented in open source software, and regularize and optimize IPR policies themselves."


• The Mother Of All Urban Legend Chain Emails, A Little Something For Star Trek Fans (Sep 29, 2008, 08:02)
  The Linux and Unix Menagerie: "The first joke is a fake chain letter which combines some of the finest elements of the Internet's most memorable legend and/or chain emails. If it doesn't make you laugh, it will scare you to death."


• Linux Kernel Magic SysRq Keys in openSUSE for Crash Recovery (Sep 29, 2008, 04:08)
  SUSE & openSUSE: "The Linux Kernel offers you something that allows you to recover your system from a crash or at the least lets you to perform a proper shutdown using the Magic SysRq Keys. The magic SysRq key is a select key combination in the Linux kernel which allows the user to perform various low level commands regardless of the system's state"


• Converting PI To Binary - More Linux/Unix Humor (Sep 29, 2008, 00:08)
  The Linux and Unix Menagerie: "So I leave you with this pun, that both begs to be written and, at the same time, put out of its misery: You can't have your Pi and eat it..."