Linux News for Aug 26, 2010

• Google adds phone calling to Gmail (Aug 26, 2010, 23:35)
  Washington Post: "Google's Gmail isn't just a mailbox -- it now doubles as a phone. Users of Google's Web e-mail service can now call any phone in the U.S. or Canada for free (and make international calls for almost free) from within their browser."


• Linux on the Cloud: The Ubuntu Way (Aug 26, 2010, 23:05)
  IT Expert Voice: "Ubuntu Linux is best known as the most popular desktop Linux distribution, but it's developing a reputation as the easiest Linux for enterprises to deploy on the cloud."


• Prosecutors: Mortgage worker got drunk, shot computer server (Aug 26, 2010, 22:35)
  Salt Lake Tribune: "A Salt Lake City mortgage company employee allegedly got drunk, opened fired on his firm's computer server with a .45-caliber automatic, and then told police someone had stolen his gun and caused the damage."


• A very grumpy editor's thoughts on Oracle (Aug 26, 2010, 22:05)
  LWN.net: "Your editor is somewhat reluctant to contribute to the flood; at this point, the amount of real information which is available is minimal while the amount of speculation is high. This will be an important case, though; the world will be watching to see how it turns out. So here are a few thoughts to add to the pile."


• Bcache Testing: Throughput (Aug 26, 2010, 21:35)
  Linux Magazine: "Get your wetsuit on, we're going data diving. Throughput benchmarks using IOzone on a common SATA disk, an Intel X25-E SSD, and Bcache, using the SSD to cache a single drive."


• Stupid tar Tricks (Aug 26, 2010, 21:05)
  Linux Journal: "One of the most common programs on Linux systems for packaging files is the venerable tar. tar is short for tape archive, and originally, it would archive your files to a tape device."


• keyboard shortcuts for a better workflow (Aug 26, 2010, 20:35)
  Abhi Blog: "One thing I love about Linux is the ability to customize it in every way possible, and one such ability is the possibility of changing keyboard shortcuts."


• Leveraging proprietary software at the expense of customers (Aug 26, 2010, 20:05)
  ZDNet: "...they are essentially punishing customers for not upgrading by a certain date. This to me is bad practice."


• 11 Apache Technologies for the Enterprise (Aug 26, 2010, 19:35)
  IT Expert Voice: "The Apache Software Foundation, best known for the self-named popular open source Web server, has a variety of other technology that can help enterprises with databases, search, development, and more. Here's an overview of the best."


• Painless Panorama Stitching in Linux with Hugin (Aug 26, 2010, 19:05)
  Linux Planet: "A previous article described how to make small panoramas with fotoxx. But when you get serious about panoramas on Linux, there's really only one answer: Hugin."


• My Linux Computer is Acting Weird (Aug 26, 2010, 18:35)
  Mandriva Linux Chronicles: "A few days ago, thanks to one student, I realized that something funny was happening with my Linux netbook."


• Marten Mickos defends honor of Ubuntu's Koala food (Aug 26, 2010, 18:05)
  The Register: "Marten Mickos – the former MySQL chief executive who now heads build-you-own-cloud outfit Eucalyptus Systems – has defended the Eucalyptus platform against recent criticism of both its "open core" model and its ability to scale beyond a relatively small number of servers."


• Single vs. Double Quotes in Bash (Aug 26, 2010, 17:35)
  Serverwatch: "In Bash, whether to use single or double quotes depends on exactly what you want to do, and the differences can trip you up if you're not concentrating. Here's a quick rundown of what each does and when to use them."


• Bordeaux 2.0.8 for Linux Released (Aug 26, 2010, 17:05)
  Wne-Reviews: "The Bordeaux Technology Group released Bordeaux 2.0.8 for Linux today. Bordeaux 2.0.8 is a maintenance release that fixes a number of small bugs."


• Is packaging new software hard? (Aug 26, 2010, 16:35)
  Ubuntu Linux Tips & Tricks: "A common answer to my question about why people aren't packaging is that packaging is hard and the wiki is kind of lacking. Debhelper 7 and Source Version 3.0 (the new Debian packaging format) make things a lot easier"


• Devastating Military Security Breach Exposed Combat Data (Aug 26, 2010, 16:05)
  eSecurity Planet: "A foreign intelligence agent in 2008 managed to pull off the "most significant breach of U.S. military computers" in history by using a cigarette-lighter-sized portable flash drive to infect computers used by Central Command to oversee combat activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a U.S. defense official."


• Windows, Linux servers grow at Unix's expense (Aug 26, 2010, 15:35)
  Techworld: "Demand for Windows and Linux servers is increasing at a rapid pace, at the expense of Unix servers and other non-x86 machines, according to IDC."


• 58 Open Source Replacements for Small Business Software (Aug 26, 2010, 15:05)
  Datamation: "Many small business owners have never heard of open source software. That's unfortunate because in many ways small businesses are ideal environments for open source applications."


• The Made-To-Order revolution: custom flexible manufacturing is here (Aug 26, 2010, 14:35)
  Free Software Magazine: "The mass production barrier has fallen, so that today, it's possible for a home inventor, hobbyist, or crafter to create almost anything by assembling one-off manufactured components, either from a service or from affordable home-fabrication equipment (or a combination of these)."


• 2 Task Manager Apps: Choose the Features You Can Live Without (Aug 26, 2010, 14:05)
  Linux Insider: "Both gToDo and Tasque task manager apps feature to-the-point, simple interfaces for helping you keep track of your busy to-do lists."


• Kernel Log: New X Server, 3D drivers for Radeon 5000 and new stable kernels (Aug 26, 2010, 13:35)
  The H Open: "While the new kernel versions mainly correct minor bugs, X.org's next generation X Server offers a range of improvements."


• Microsoft Open Source Strategy is Upside Down (Aug 26, 2010, 13:05)
  Martin Iturbide: "Last April (April-29-2010) there was a local event in Ecuador organized by AESoft, the Ecuadorian Software association.... On this conference Microsoft sent a message saying that they are Open Source friendly and they support Open Source development."


• Red Hat heads into the clouds, not into an acquisition (Aug 26, 2010, 12:35)
  Cyber Cynic: "Get over it people. Red Hat is not getting acquired anytime soon. I know, I know, you'd heard all the rumors. Here's the truth as I see it: If Red Hat gets acquired anytime soon, I'll eat my fedora. It's not happening."


• USB 3.0: Everything You Need to Know (Aug 26, 2010, 12:05)
  IT Expert Voice: "After a lengthy gestation period, the third generation of the Universal Serial Bus is making its way to the market. But is it already obsolete?"


• Upgrading OpenCart (Aug 26, 2010, 10:35)
  Packt: "It is wise to update our OpenCart environment to the latest version regularly. It protects our system against security vulnerabilities and allows us to use new features."


• Open-Source 2D, 3D For ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series GPUs (Aug 26, 2010, 09:05)
  Phoronix: "AMD continues to abide by their commitment to provide open-source support for their graphics cards and as proof of that this afternoon they have released their initial hardware acceleration code that supports the ATI Radeon HD 5000 "Evergreen" family"


• Hacking for change (Aug 26, 2010, 07:35)
  The Hindu: "In what is now known — often pejoratively — as the 'back office of the IT world', the once quaint operating system Linux is not so niche anymore."


• The Technology Behind the OpenStack Cloud Computing Project (Aug 26, 2010, 06:05)
  Developer.com: "Rackspace (a noted high-end hosting provider) and NASA recently announced a joint open source endeavor called OpenStack. The project aims to merge cloud computing technologies from both organizations into one common, open cloud computing platform."


• HTC Files Answer with Counterclaims to Apple's Patent Infringement Suit (Aug 26, 2010, 04:35)
  Groklaw: "This could get interesting. HTC has filed its answer to Apple's complaint [PDFs] against them for patent infringement, with affirmative defenses and counterclaims."


• Learn Linux, 101: Maintain the integrity of filesystems (Aug 26, 2010, 03:05)
  IBM Developerworks: "Learn how to check the integrity of your Linux® filesystems, monitor free space, and fix simple problems. Use the material in this article to study for the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) 101 exam for Linux system administrator certification—or just to check your filesystems and keep them in good working order, especially after a system crash or power loss."


• Ubuntu drops support for ia64 and sparc (Aug 26, 2010, 01:35)
  LWN.net: "Earlier in the Maverick release cycle the Tech Board had posted an announcement [1] that we'd decommission support for the Ubuntu sparc and ia64 ports at Feature Freeze (ie Thurs Aug 12)"


• Remotely Accessible Virtual Desktops (Aug 26, 2010, 00:05)
  KP Weblog: "Virtual desktops in Linux are great for remote working (accessing the office from home) and for administering and supporting remote computers. A single server at the office can host virtual desktops for several remote workers."