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One of the best things about a Linux system is its flexibility. Even though I’ve been a heavy Linux user for years, I still come across features in the OS a related applications that surprise me. A while back I learned to run multiple desktop environments at the same time, using nothing but the features of the software already built in to my distribution, and it’s been very useful for me. It may not sound like much, but it can be VERY useful to be able to run Gnome, KDE, Window Maker, and any other desktops all at the same time. You can flip from Gnome to Window Maker in seconds without having to log out or stop applications or use any kind of virtualization software. X already has everything you need.

The Symbian Foundation, established under a Nokia initiative, has released the first part of its Symbian Platform Security package under the free Eclipse Public License (EPL).

What happens when One Laptop Per Child has an international internship program but without the deep funding from a One Here One There donation scheme? You get the forgotten South America internships of Peru and Uruguay.

Many of you who did not come to Akademy might be wondering how this meeting compares to the previous years' conferences. After all, aside from being in a sunny location, there are many different animals around here besides the usual trolls and dragons. Gnomes might be small, but they are noticable and they certainly make for interesting company. Read on for an impresson of Akademy at the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit.

There are a number of simple games I like to play when waiting for a package to download or compile. Often the available themes don’t really suit me, and in any case I like to make themes or skins when I can. One of the easier packages to create an alternate theme for is KDE Mahjongg (kmahjongg), which I will demonstrate here using Inkscape and Gimp. With the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing coming up, a space exploration theme seems appropriate. Read the full howto at Free Software Magazine.

"Author’s Choice of Terminology License. Rationale, hardly, but a few points I’d like to write about. I originally thought it was all about restricting the user to call the operating system GNU/Linux. ... I found interesting. Because section 4 of the GNU GPL version 3 doesn’t restrict sub-licensing with the GPL."

This was a real breakthrough, because for the first time little notebooks were actually priced small. Put Linux on them and you had an inexpensive, acceptably-performing, very portable machine plus the vast world of Free and free-of-cost software at your fingertips. But then the rot set in, as it so often does in the commercial, proprietary computer world, and especially when Microsoft is involved...

Back in May, the proposed "no long file names" patch got a hostile reception on the linux-kernel mailing list. This patch, presumably aimed at working around Microsoft's VFAT patents, made the kernel unable to create long file names on VFAT filesystems. It was seen by many as a reduction in functionality without any sort of well-explained justification, and it was not merged. Now there is a new patch which takes a different approach on both the technical and political fronts. Its fate remains to be seen, but it demonstrates a method for dealing with patents which is worthy of wider consideration.

Linux Mint 7 "Gloria" was released a little while ago, so before it became too old of news, I thought I'd take a whack at experimenting with it for the sake of netbookers everywhere (and for myself, naturally). As I type this on gedit after about two weeks' use, let's just say that the system on my EeePC 1000 HE is, for the most part, rather glorious-- pun intended. As a bonus, I also got Google's Chromium browser to run on it, so keep on reading to find the section on that.

There's always next year, right? If you're eager for the day of the Linux desktop to dawn, and you don't have the patience of a Cubs fan, here are some suggestions for community action that might be worth consideration. With Microsoft stumbling, the time just might be ripe to make an audacious move into the mainstream.

Ubuntu Release Manager Steve Langasek has announced that Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (code named Dapper Drake) Desktop Edition will reach its end-of-life on Tuesday the 14th of July, 2009. Ubuntu 6.06 LTS was originally launched on the 1st of June, 2006 and included the 2.6.15 Linux kernel.

The tech world is full of zealots and fanboys who will say pretty much anything to draw attention to their OS/browser/etc. of choice. Let's look at this logically, level-headed.

It's official: Intel is working with Google on the development of the Mountain View ad broker's new netbook operating system, Google Chrome OS. Word of the world's largest processor manufacturer's involvement with the world's largest internet searcher's purportedly virus-free OS first came by way of a comment by an Asia-Pacific Intel spokesman.

804. That's how many versions of Linux there are now, according to the definitive guide, DistroWatch.com. And yet people complain that six versions of Windows 7 is far too many. When it is released open-source later this year, Google's Chrome OS will only add to what DistroWatch acknowledges is a "bewildering choice and ever increasing number of Linux distributions [that] can be confusing for those who are new to Linux."

Today's Tip from Juliet Kemp shows us how to run multiple remote sessions from the Linux console using GNU screen without needing to run an x terminal, and how to attach to an existing session on a remote computer for remote helpdesk chores.

Recently I asked readers for suggestions regarding Linux audio topics they'd like to read about in my articles. One response suggested a survey of the various Internet communications channels for Linux-based musicians. I liked the idea, so I considered my traditionally preferred channels, searched for and found interesting new connections, and wrote this guide to lead you on a tour of notable communications channels focused on Linux sound and music topics.

For the last few months my Thinkpad has been, and still is, the host of several wonderful Linux distributions, all of them based on the new KDE 4 desktop environment. So, today, in mid summer 2009, is there still a reason to run a KDE 3 desktop? Well, if it wasn’t for PCLinuxOS I would have to say no.

Akademy is continuing here in Gran Canaria with many talks, BoFs and announcments. One of the big announcements was for Qt Labs America. The team at OpenBossa are working with Qt Software to promote Qt development in Latin America, starting with Brazil. They want to find students to work on KDE as a means to learning development, similar to the methods tried by the university in Toulouse. They will sponsor KDE developer sprints, and are looking for KDE teams to invite out to Brazil.

A recent report from Black Duck Software suggests there has been a five per cent decline in the use of GPL licences since 2008. The Software Freedom Law Center's Aaron Williamson has called the figure "meaningless" pointing out that the methodology and mechanisms behind Black Duck's statistics are not available for scrutiny.

From its initial creation out of what was once the Red Hat Linux distribution, Fedora has always been a fast moving distribution. As part of that fast moving approach, older releases don't live all that long. The current policy is that releases will live only until one month after the N-2 (next two) release is out. Fedora 11 came out one month ago and now its time for Fedora 9 to go away. Only problem is - there are still 3 million users of Fedora 9.