Linux News for Jan 28, 2009

• Are we really wasting $1 trillion dollars a year on proprietary systems? (Jan 28, 2009, 23:34)
  Michael Tiemann's blog: "... judging by the various blog postings that have been generated in reaction to that, I estimate that fewer than 20% have any quibbles at all with that number."


• Small Universe: Lincity-NG 2.0 (Jan 28, 2009, 23:04)
  Linux Magazine: "Lincity-NG (the NG means Next Generation) is a graphical and game-oriented city planning simulation, now updated in version 2.0, that not only includes graphic enhancements but provides entire ecosystem simulation."


• Systems administrator's role changing via the cloud (Jan 28, 2009, 22:34)
  ZDNet: "The uptake of cloud computing was rendering many traditional systems-administrator functions obsolete, tech author and Google sysadmin Tom Limoncelli told attendees at Linux.conf.au (LCA) in Hobart this week."


• Reading Compressed Files With less (Jan 28, 2009, 22:04)
  Tip of the Trade: "A straightforward alternative is zless, which will deal seamlessly with gzip, compress, or pack files, allowing you to page through them without having to unzip them."


• Adventures In External Media With Kubuntu (Jan 28, 2009, 21:34)
  LinuxPlanet: "Uncertainty over hardware support is a perennial Linux bugaboo--even when vendors claim to love the penguin, it isn't always true. Rob Reilly risks his own money and peace of mind testing various external storage devices on his Asus Kubuntu laptop, including an antique Zip drive, and reports his findings."


• OpenOffice 3.0.1: Bug Fixes and Grammar Checking (Jan 28, 2009, 21:04)
  Linux Magazine: " With a bug fix release the OpenOffice team has enhanced its free open application suite and added a few features in the mix."


• A New Day, A New Dot (Jan 28, 2009, 20:34)
  KDE Dot News: "As I am sure many of you know, although the old KDE Dot News has served the KDE community very well, it was beginning to show its age. Because of that a number of people including myself took it upon ourselves to modernise the Dot."


• OpenOffice.org Impress: Preparing a Slide Show (Jan 28, 2009, 20:04)
  Linux Journal: "Slide transitions are the bits of built-in animation that play when you switch slides during a presentation. You can set transitions any time you want, but leaving them until you've finished adding slides helps you to focus on content instead of diverting your attention to format."


• Why Windows is winning the netbook war (Jan 28, 2009, 19:34)
  TechRadar: "In the beginning, there was the Asus Eee PC. And the masses looked at it, and they found that it was good. Verily, they said, this Linux thingy isn't half bad."


• I am Linux (and so can you!) (Jan 28, 2009, 19:04)
  Community, Incorporated: "...the Linux Foundation is sponsoring a "We're Linux" video contest to drum up videos from Linux users about what Linux means to them. The grand prize is a trip to Tokyo for the Japan Linux Symposium in October 2009."


• Motorola ditching Windows Mobile? (Jan 28, 2009, 18:34)
  Bit-tech: "Rumour has it that Motorola is ditching the Windows Mobile platform for its smartphone handsets in favour of Google's new Linux-based Android."


• Knoppix 6.0 released (Jan 28, 2009, 18:04)
  Heise Online: "Knoppix 6.0 has now been released with several new features and updates. The last update to Knoppix was in March of 2008 with version 5.3.1."


• Australian University Migrates IT Systems to Red Hat Solutions (Jan 28, 2009, 17:34)
  TMCnet: "Their existing HP Tru64 UNIX system was not able to cope with the increasing needs of the University as it expanded and demanded more from its technology infrastructure."


• Say goodnight, Geode (Jan 28, 2009, 17:04)
  Linux Devices: "The story quotes AMD spokesman Phil Hughes as saying "There are no plans for a follow-on product to today's available AMD Geode LX products, but we expect to make this very successful processor available to customers as long as the market demands.""


• Emtec debuts Linux-based Netbook with removable SSD (Jan 28, 2009, 16:34)
  CNet: "Emtec, a supplier of laptop peripherals, is setting up a new Netbook based on Madriva's flavor of Linux called the Gdium."


• Intel Moblin V2 Core Alpha: It Boots Fast! (Jan 28, 2009, 16:04)
  Phoronix: "Intel has been at the forefront of producing hardware for netbooks and other mobile devices thanks to their Atom processor family, but they are also looking at being a key part of the mobile software ecosystem. Back in 2007 we witnessed the launch of the Moblin project, which is Intel's open-source venture for creating a complete stack of software for these mobile devices."


• Microsoft's metered pay-as-you-go patent: Trusted Computing Mark Two (Jan 28, 2009, 15:34)
  Free Software Magazine: "When you first read about Microsoft's proposed patent you are suffused with the glow of righteous anger but before you get carried away, stop. Stop and think. This patent might just be, to mix my metaphors, a Trojan Horse and the straw that breaks the Camels' back."


• Linux vs. Unix Values Evident in Red Hat, Sun Market Valuations (Jan 28, 2009, 15:04)
  ServerWatch: "Sun sells more than $13 billion of goods and services per year, while Red Hat sells a little over $600 million. So which is worth more?"


• If Open Source Doesn't Succeed, Don't Blame the Teachers (Jan 28, 2009, 14:34)
  OStatic: "Datamation's Matt Hartley has a completely different take on why open source can't get a foothold in American classrooms, and he claims it's largely because teachers and school IT professionals are "misinformation junkies.""


• Kuki Linux 2.0 for the Acer Aspire One (Jan 28, 2009, 14:04)
  EeePC: "Kuki Linux (pronouced "cookie") is a new Linux distribution, optimized for the Acer Aspire One netbooks"


• Healthy Goals for 2009 + Must-have Geeky Exercise Machines (Jan 28, 2009, 13:34)
  Tech Source From Bohol: "Sure you can accomplish plenty of tasks if you spend most of your time in front of the computer and never ever care to have some physical workout. However, if you keep on doing this, you will become less and less productive and may end up being dumb and lazy. Believe me because this is happening to me right now."


• KDE 4.2 Is The Answer (Jan 28, 2009, 13:04)
  IT News Today: "It's surely been a long time coming, but KDE 4.2 (code named "The Answer") is finally here, and I was absolutely floored by the number of improvements it contains. Of course, I found some minor issues, but no desktop is perfect, right?"


• Apache Security: A Watched Bot Never Spoils (Your Server) (Jan 28, 2009, 12:04)
  Enteprise IT Planet: "In my last article I introduced the idea of having robots.txt be a dynamic document, rather than a static text file. The reason for this was to allow it to respond in real-time to the particulars of the robot that was making the request..."


• Users Turn To Grid Computing for Performance (Jan 28, 2009, 10:34)
  Grid Computing Planet: Interactive marketing services firm Acxiom is using Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the standard operating system for its grid processing environment"


• What is JavaScript? The Javascript Chronicles (Jan 28, 2009, 09:04)
  Web Developer's Virtual Library: "Welcome to The JavaScript Chronicles where we'll cover JavaScript from A-Z. So strap-on your thinking cap and open your favorite text editor, because it's time to get started."


• Excellent Linux Hardware: Liteon External DVD Writer, Kill-A-Watt (Jan 28, 2009, 07:34)
  Linux Today Blog: "At any rate both dogs gave me their best "You can complain, or you can do something constructive. Like come outside and throw the ball a few thousand times" looks. So I threw the ball a few dozen times, and then came back inside and decided to write about some of my Linux hardware experiences."


• 10 ways to help users transition to Linux (Jan 28, 2009, 06:04)
  TechRepublic: "There’s no reason why switching to Linux should be traumatic for your users (or stressful for you). As Jack Wallen explains, you can set them up to succeed if you approach things the right way."


• Google I/O 2009, Developer Conference (Jan 28, 2009, 04:34)
  Google Code Blog: "I'm excited to announce Google I/O 2009, our two-day developer event that will take place May 27-28, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Last year, over 3,000 developers participated in I/O and they attended 90+ sessions across all of our developer products"


• Asterisk Gateway Interface Scripting with PHP (Jan 28, 2009, 04:04)
  Packt: "In this article by Nir Simionovich, we will develop our first ever AGI script using PHP scripting language. This article deals with the most basic elements of AGI scripting and the information contained within. So, take time to familiarize yourself with this article, especially if you intend to use a language different from PHP."


• The Proper and Improper Use of Versions (Jan 28, 2009, 03:04)
  Linux Loop: I think it is important that we think about when multiple versions make sense and when they don't, so that open-source projects don't fall down the same hole that Windows has."


• Armchair Quarterbacking the OLPC (Jan 28, 2009, 01:34)
  OStatic: "Four years on, many are analyzing the choices the OLPC made, and some contend it was a bad idea all around."


• Essential Java resources (Jan 28, 2009, 00:04)
  IBM Developerworks: "In this article, the author (a solid contributor to that overwhelming sea) tacks through the vast tides and presents a list of the key resources any up-and-coming Java developer should have."