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Open Source is still a disruptive idea. It has moved beyond that in server operating systems, of course, with Linux on 20% of servers shipped these days. That’s known as being “mainstream.” But the effects of open source development and business models continue to be heavily disruptive as they spread into new technology markets. Disruption often benefits consumers directly. Cell phones are the next device that will move to open standards. Whether the big providers like it or not.

We're saved! Or rather, Windows XP is -- at least for the time being. Microsoft announced this week that it is extending the cut-off date for sales of the older edition of Windows until 2010, specifically to serve the needs of customers who are planning to buy one of the new wave of low-cost laptops due to arrive this summer. It's not hard to see why. The mini-laptop that started it all, the Asus Eee PC, shipped with Linux pre-installed, and many of the new machines are likely to take the same road. In fact, some PC makers are reportedly so enamored with Linux that the news of an XP option might fall on deaf ears. This is a fascinating development, and with any luck it could be the start of a promising new trend.

Hans Reiser, the Linux programmer facing a mandatory 25-to life term for killing his wife, might disclose the location of Nina Reiser's body in exchange for a reduced term, Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff told Threat Level on Friday. "There's been some overtures," he said. "But everything is in its preliminary stage." Another source familiar with the proposal, speaking on condition of anonymity because no deal has been struck, said Reiser, the prosecution and Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman would have to sign off on the proposed deal. Under the plan, Reiser's cooperation could reduce his April conviction from first-degree murder to second degree.

Constantine Murenin offered a history of the OpenBSD hardware sensors framework during his talk at BSDCan 2008, describing how it was originally based on a port from NetBSD, then evolved and was eventually ported to all the BSDs. He also discussed his own involvement with the framework, having ported it from OpenBSD to FreeBSD as a Summer of Code project, and how his port was merged into DragonFly BSD. At the end of the talk, there were some interesting ecxhanges between Constantine and Poul-Henning Kamp, the latter explaining why he'd had the code backed out of FreeBSD and why he continues to oppose it being merged back in.

By popular demand, a guide to writing a Gnome app: Find some reasonable app from another platform (Windows, Mac, KDE, whatever, but preferably, Mac). Bonus points if there are already 3 other gtk-based alternatives who don't want to integrate with Gnome...

[A hilarious guide to writing a Gnome application, very funny. - Scott]

Despite the title, I think my experiences could be useful guide for others. Should you need to replace a printer quickly, my choices of criteria could be instructive. I should note too, much of the information I had was based upon faulty inputs and mis-diagnosed problems. Nonetheless, my criteria yielded a decent unit, just more than what was needed. In part that was due to my daughter needing a quick replacement. Moreover, the printer had to function on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Given those constraints and misinformation, I could have done much worse.

LXer Feature: 08-Jun-2008

In this week's Roundup we have Essential Thunderbird add-ons, Microsoft Free - One year later, Google Gadgets for Linux, 42 More of the Best Free Linux Games and Could the eeePC end up being Microsoft's trojan horse? We have two LXer Features, a review of the EeePC entitled "Wow! It's PINK!" and the continuation of Herschel Cohen's HTML series "Web Input - Securing Data, Second Level of Defense", also Ken Starks finds out that his Linux box is infected. To wrap things up, in our FUD section we have the SourceForge.net 2008 Community Choice Awards brought to you by Microsoft, at least it sure seems that way, and Novell joins Microsoft in Anti-Linux FUD. Enjoy!

I’ve been a KDE user for many years. Maybe it’s just me, maybe the UI world is changing, but the newest incarnation of KDE sucks big time. All was fine until the 4.x series, then suddenly, the switch was made and what do we have now? All glitter, all bloatware. And what’s with the desktop icons? Where’s the simplicity? Do you want to confuse new users to death?

After Hillary Clinton spoke last night I listened closely for what the loudspeakers would play. It was Tom Petty’s hit “I Won’t Back Down.” (UPDATE: Clinton did back down Wednesday, with the official announcement now expected in two stages Friday and Saturday. OOXML opponents, meanwhile, fight on.)

[I love the spin this headline gives to the subject. - tracyanne]

These is a review of 20 essential KDE applications, plus several additions. Included are Amarok, KTorrent, Akregator, K3b, Konqueror, DigiKam and all the others. Screenshots are included.

Mike Beltzner has created a screencast introducing some of the new features in the forthcoming Mozilla Firefox 3. The overview, which is in Adobe Flash SWF format and lasts three minutes and forty-six seconds, covers the new Location bar autocomplete functionality (dubbed the "awesomebar" by its fans), one-click bookmarking using the new star button, bookmark tags, the site identity button (personified by Larry the passport officer), malware protection, improvements to the file download user interface and the built-in Add-ons browser.

I was at another meeting of the Editorial board of the Skibbereen Eagle yesterday. Hopefully you read the outcome of the last one. Some clever clogs suggested that it might be a spiffing wheeze to write something about the possible implications of the much mooted singularity (is that a proper noun, with a capital S?) and what it might mean for the future of both free and proprietary software. Read the full story at FSM

Fifty years ago scientists were restricted to the use of ink and graph paper to assess and compile their data. The first computer revolution of the seventies and eighties vastly enriched the possibilities. But the second revolution in computer technology that has taken place over the last decade has transformed the work of most scientific establishments.

Wind River is readying a vertical-market Linux distribution specifically for MIDs (mobile Internet devices). Wind River Linux Platform for Mobile Internet Devices is the company's second "Platform" product to target Intel's Atom processor, and its second developed in collaboration with Intel, it says.

In this article we will be covering all of the changes in and around the package management stack in the upcoming openSUSE 11.0. There have been a plethora of both visual and behind-the-scenes changes. We’ll also be talking to Duncan Mac-Vicar, YaST team lead, ZYpp and KDE developer, to find out a little more later.

Finland's Movial unveiled a Linux-based toolkit which enables software developers to use web-based technologies to program mobile user interfaces, aiming to cut development times. Movial is a small Helsinki-based software firm, which has mostly been working as a subcontractor for telecom operators.

For web developers, when it comes to debugging the web applications, tools like Firebug for Firefox, Safari Web Inspector and the recently introduced Opera Dragonfly can be handy and very useful. These kinds of tools offers the possibility to trace the DOM, verify the corresponding (computed) CSS, check network usage and resource loading performance, debug JavaScript, etc.

DOSBox is a freely available, cross-platform PC emulator. Rather than attempting to be the technology leader as a business-orientated virtualization environment like VMware or Qemu, DOSBox instead offers a rich set of features aimed at closely recreating the behaviour of a retro gaming PC. To this end, it offers a selection of accurate sound card emulations and facilities to throttle the emulation speed back to vintage PC levels, along with other features designed to make sure that the old games run properly and accurately within a protected environment. Read the full story at FSM

In April, Canonical had a major, Long Term Service (LTS) release of its Ubuntu Linux distribution, both for the desktop and the server, code-named Hardy Heron. There was quite a bit of hype on the Net about the new features and how good it was. I had also previously blogged about how I believed servers to be the entry point for Linux into the small and solo law firm, as it provides the ability to have a powerful, stable server for not a lot of money (especially since you can always retask as the server an older desktop machine in your office).

Linus Torvalds - a classic example of the love-it-or-hate-it type of person. Brilliant programmer, of course, and the father of one of the most extraordinary software projects in the world, but sometimes, he can be utterly arrogant any annoying, yet the other moment completely sensible and utterly spot-on in his statements. CBR listed the ten best Linus Torvalds quotes.