Showing all newswire headlines

In recent weeks there have been a lot of AMD Linux benchmarks of the latest-generation Bulldozer processor, namely the eight-core FX-8150. The latest unique look at the first-generation Bulldozer CPU under Linux is the KVM virtualization performance.

Barnes & Noble has done the world a tremendous favor, by pulling aside the curtain and revealing Microsoft's patent campaign tactics against Android in lurid detail. It reveals the assertion of "trivial" and "invalid" patents against Barnes & Noble and some shocking details about an "oppressive" license agreement that would have controlled hardware and software design features that Microsoft presented, thus limiting to what degree Barnes & Noble could offer upgrades and improved features to its customers if it had signed it, features it says none of Microsoft's patents cover. Microsoft worked so hard to keep it all secret, and I think you'll see why. It's ugly behind that curtain.

Firefox 8.0 has just been released and we will see how to install or upgrade to latest Firefox 8.0 in Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot below. Meanwhile, nightly builds of Firefox 10.0 is already available for installation in Ubuntu Oneiric via PPA. Firefox 10.0 Alpha 1, as expected, scores a perfect 100 in Acid 3 tests and is visibly more faster than its previous iterations.

After routing its RISC competitors, the x86 architecture is suddenly facing an unexpected and potent challenger: ARM -- What makes ARM attractive to vendors is its low energy consumption, simple RISC architecture, and large installed base. To truly challenge x86, the architecture must make the leap from the small devices it favors now to PCs and eventually servers.

Oracle is in an interesting position. It is now a supporter of both Linux and Unix with their own Oracle Enterprise Linux and Solaris Unix operating systems. This past week, Oracle released Solaris 11 their first official Unix release and it made me wonder if the new Solaris is changing Oracle's position on Linux.

The first Release Candidate (RC 1) for PHP 5.4 is now out, marking the end of the feature development phase of the next generation of PHP.

"Has Linux dropped off the face of the Earth?" The answer is obviously no. Linux is still around, stronger than ever, but the desktop OS does seem to be disappearing. Of course this is true of Windows and Mac OS, at least from the average user's perspective. Desktop Linux is strong with those who use it; those who have been using it, but the buzz seems to be gone.

A list of FLOSS for science related books released during the month of October 2011.

Red Hat proudly announced that the upcoming Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 operating system will fully support the power saving features of the AMD Bulldozer Opteron CPUs.

The ColorHug is a small device which can measure the displayed colors very accurately. It is extremey portable as you can plug it to the USB port of the computer and hold it against the display. The device will help you caliberate the colors of your screen, thus showing the 'true' colors of the objects that you see on your screen.

Shuttleworth's gamble is that users will change their minds as they gain familiarity, that Unity will gain traction as a universal interface, scalable across all devices, and that it will be as attractive to a certain class of user as Apple claims to be. Only time will tell whether Oneiric Ocelot, and the advent of Unity as the only choice for the Ubuntu desktop, marked the moment when Ubuntu began to scale the heights of universal acceptability, or fell back to earth with a bump.

Another dangerous bill is winding its way through Congress, this time it's the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) by Texas representative Lamar Smith. Smith's bill would establish a system for taking down Web sites that the Justice Department "determines to be dedicated to copyright infringement."

This guide explains how to password-protect web directories (with users from a MySQL database) with mod_auth_mysql on Apache2 on a Debian Squeeze server. It is an alternative to the plain-text password files provided by mod_auth and allows you to use normal SQL syntax to create/modify delete users. You can also configure mod_auth_mysql to authenticate against an existing MySQL user table.

AwOken along with Faenza icons theme are surely among the most feverishly updated icon themes for GNOME. With the arrival of Unity and GNOME Shell though, all these popular icon themes needed to adapt in order to stay relevant. AwOken icons theme 2.3 update does just that. Latest iteration of AwOken comes with a number of updates which makes it look more integrated with Ubuntu's Unity and GNOME Shell desktops.

Gaming within a Linux environment, particularly the flagship distros, may not take your breath away yet. Is it on a long journey ahead?

Unknown Horizons is a city building/real time strategy game inspired by classic strategy games Anno and Settlers. In the game you have to expand your small settlement to a strong and wealthy colony, collect taxes and supply your inhabitants with valuable goods and have to increase your power with a well balanced economy with strategic trade and diplomacy. The developers are always hard at work. They have released third major update in the year bringing in lots of new features and improvements.

A Linux kernel security vulnerability was discovered in the Linux kernel for OMAP4 packages, affecting the Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) operating system.

Quite unexpected Google released their source code of Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Google has just released source code for the latest version of Android, that is Ice Cream Sandwich. According to this Google Groups post by Jean-Baptiste Queru a.k.a JBQ, the code for Android 4.0 is currently being pushed to the servers and will take some time to complete. The release, which also includes the source code for Honeycomb, will enable manufacturers to start prepping their own devices for the big upgrade.

Web-based desktops. A concept so dirty that it has to be associated with The Cloud. It’s even dirtier to think that you can save a lot of money by embracing that concept.