Linux News for Feb 25, 2010

• Ubuntu goin' gray, like the Mac OS way? (2010-02-25 23:32:38)
  Tech Source: "A source from inside the Ubuntu team has informed a blogger that there will be an important announcement coming from Canonical regarding a possible rebranding of Ubuntu."


• Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 3 Released - What's new? (2010-02-25 23:02:38)
  OMG Ubuntu: "The third and final Alpha of the Lucid development cycle has been released this evening - but what can you expect to find inside?"


• Built to last (2010-02-25 22:32:38)
  The Linux Foundation: "As it turned out, git was almost immediately useful, and has only become more so since. Making the development process work is git’s main claim to fame, but, as a side benefit, git also makes it possible to learn a lot about how our kernel is developed."


• The Move to Linux – “Daddy’s a penguin!” (2010-02-25 22:02:38)
  Linux Journal: "It might come as a surprise that terms like Linux and Open Source and epithets like bloody Microsoft and it shouldn’t be this hard are fairly common in my household. And not always spoken by me!"


• EFL brings Ubuntu Netbook Remix to ARM (2010-02-25 21:32:38)
  Enlightenment.org: "Canonical developer Jamie Bennett announced in his blog post The New UI for ARM Based Ubuntu Devices how Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL) enabled rich graphical user interfaces even on non-3D-accelerated ARM devices."


• Linux 2.6.33 Boosts Graphics, Dumps Android (2010-02-25 21:02:38)
  Linux Planet: "A new kernel release makes its debut, with Nvidia and without Android, and top Red Hat and Novell kernel developers share their inside views."


• Why open source is not always the way to go (2010-02-25 20:32:38)
  Network World: "While open source offers great features and flexibility the total cost of ownership issue can still result in choosing a different path sometimes."


• Open Source Re-writes the Rules for Mobile (2010-02-25 20:02:38)
  Open...: "One consequence of open source's rapid spread in the world of mobiles is that you can now do the same in that market:"


• Kerberos Server Set Up (2010-02-25 19:32:38)
  Begin Linux: "Kerberos provides a secure network authentication model using secret-key cryptography. Kerberos can be used with multiple services to offer superior authentication security."


• An Update On The Boot & Power Performance In Ubuntu 10.04 (2010-02-25 19:02:38)
  Phoronix: "We've ran a new boot performance comparison on two laptops and a netbook as we see how the boot times are looking with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS when compared to Ubuntu 9.10. We have also looked at how the power consumption has changed in the Lucid Lynx for these mobile devices."


• Meet Git, the Version Control System for Developers Who Like Ease (2010-02-25 18:32:38)
  WDVL: "Meet Git, an open-source version control system that reduces rather than adds to the overhead of managing a software project."


• Microsoft Takes Down Whistleblower Site, Read the Secret Doc Here (2010-02-25 18:02:38)
  Wired: "Microsoft has managed to do what a roomful of secretive, three-letter government agencies have wanted to do for years: get the whistleblowing, government-document sharing site Cryptome shut down."


• Linux Howto: Cleaning up Your GRUB 2 Menu (part 2) (2010-02-25 17:32:38)
  Linux Planet: "The GRUB 2 boot menu is long, confusing, and ugly. Akkana Pecks reveals undocumented features and shows us how to weed out bogus entries, and make it look nicer and more readable."


• PC-BSD 8.0 Goes Gold (2010-02-25 17:02:38)
  OStatic: "Looking for a desktop-centric version of BSD? Check out the latest from PC-BSD, released on Monday. New in this release are improvements in ZFS, KDE 4.3.5 with a new theme, the ability to run 32-bit packages on 64-bit systems, and improvements to the software manager for PC-BSD."


• How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Google Buzz (2010-02-25 16:32:38)
  Datamation: "Everybody's first reaction to Buzz was: How do I turn this off? Most people sit on the brink of information overload, and Buzz seemed to push us all over the edge. But the more I use Buzz, the more I like it."


• GoDaddy store your passwords in clear-text and may try to SSH to your VPS without permission (2010-02-25 16:02:38)
  Sucuri Security: "I have been a GoDaddy user for a while and never had problems with them. In fact, differently than some people, I had great support and service from them. However, one recent situation is making me change my mind about them..."


• Open Source's Big Model Train Win - Interesting, but... (2010-02-25 15:32:38)
  Netstat -vat: "It's a big win for open source -- or is it? I'm talking about the Jacobsen v. Katzer dispute about open source code violation."


• Linux kernel R&D worth over 1bn euros (2010-02-25 15:02:38)
  The Register: "How much would it cost the European Union to cobble together the Linux kernel from scratch? The development costs would reach over a billion euros..."


• GNU/Linux: Server Upgrade Problem Solving (2010-02-25 14:32:38)
  ERACC: "Recently my company had the opportunity to upgrade a server to Mandriva 2010 that was running an old version of the Mandriva GNU/Linux distribution. The system had been in place running along nicely for a few years and had not been upgraded to a new release in all that time except for some security patches. Then it started hanging mysteriously..."


• Kate Puts Other Text Editors to Shame (2010-02-25 14:02:38)
  LinuxInsider: "It's runnable on both Gnome and KDE desktops. Kate's feature set goes above and beyond that of most text editors. It can display an index of files on a sidebar, check a document's spelling, and perform robust search-and-find tasks."


• Kindle blessed by Microsoft over Linux-related patents (2010-02-25 13:32:38)
  LinuxDevices: "The Microsoft/Amazon cross-license agreement provides each company with access to the other's patent portfolio, says Microsoft. In addition, Amazon will pay Microsoft an undisclosed amount of money under the agreement."


• CompuLab Fit-PC2 NetTop (2010-02-25 13:02:38)
  Phoronix: "The Fit-PC2 easily fits in the palm of your hand and it packs an Intel Atom Z530 processor with a Poulsbo graphics processor, a 160GB SATA HDD, and 1GB of system memory."


• Heros (2010-02-25 12:32:38)
  Linux Pro Magazine: "I have a few personal heroes whose lives have inspired me: Abraham Lincoln, Samuel Clemens, Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, Albert Einstein and Alan Turing. Recently I learned of another, and I would like to share their story with you, since in a lot of ways they had a major effect on Computers and Free Software."


• OpenOffice4Kids - Educating kids the right way (2010-02-25 12:02:38)
  Dedoimedo: "Office suites are mainly intended for adults. But sometimes, kids write too. And when they do, they work with tools intended for their parents, functionality and looks wise. This makes the chance of a child liking big, complex word processors and spreadsheet software less likely. But what if you helped them a bit?"


• How CloudLinux OS Intends to Compete with Red Hat, Novell (2010-02-25 10:02:38)
  The VAR Guy: "A few days ago, The VAR Guy openly wondered how CloudLinux OS — a new Linux distribution designed for hosting providers — hopes to stand out in a market dominated by Red Hat, Novell and several other emerging options."


• Intel alliance to invest $3.5 billion in U.S. tech (2010-02-25 08:02:38)
  CNet: "The head of Intel wants to see the U.S. more competitive and has proposed a $3.5 billion investment to help achieve that goal."


• Corporate IT won't run Linux desktops because of the 'Skype attitude' (2010-02-25 06:02:38)
  Improving IT: "Skype's attitude to Linux desktop users is frankly disturbing. Take a look at the chart of software issues for the Skype client:"


• HipChat Instant Messaging for Small Business (2010-02-25 04:32:38)
  Small Business Computing: "HipChat aims to provide a happy medium with its business-focused hosted instant messaging service that supports up to 100 people. Although the communication features are limited to text — there’s no voice or video as with many IM services — HipChat is simple to set up, easy to use, and the price tag shouldn’t make a serious dent in the company coffers."


• Nine Linux projects in 90 minutes (2010-02-25 03:02:38)
  TuxRadar: "...read on to discover just how versatile Linux is by trying nine easy projects that should take no longer than the kettle does to boil - learn how to run your own wiki, encrypt files, blog from home, create your own network wormhole, and more!"


• Arduino – the hardware revolution (2010-02-25 01:32:38)
  Linux User and Developer: "As we watched for signs of hope in netbook sales, Drupal sites and partly-FOSS Android phones, a revolution was taking place all around, in the physical world but not entirely away from the internet."


• Kernel Log: Linux and hard disks with 4-KByte sectors (2010-02-25 00:02:38)
  The H Open: "In future, fdisk will arrange partitions in such a way that the new hard disks with 4-KByte sectors can achieve optimum performance – although, for now, users will still need to select fdisk's appropriate mode of operation manually."