LXer Weekly Roundup for 07-Sept-2008

LXer Feature: 07-Sept-2008 The big news this week was the release of 'Chrome' the new browser from Google. It is only available on the Windows platform as of right now. I tried it and it has some cool features, it has some things that need a lot of work too. Also Microsoft's new Vista ads start to show up on T.V., a self professed "Windows Guy" decides to takes Open SuSE 11 for a spin, some advice on mailing list etiquette and how to get the younger generation into Linux.

The big news this week was the release of 'Chrome' the new browser from Google. It is only available on the Windows platform as of right now. I tried it and it has some cool features, it has some things that need a lot of work too. Also Microsoft's new Vista ads start to show up on T.V., a self professed "Windows Guy" decides to takes Open SuSE 11 for a spin, some advice on mailing list etiquette and how to get the younger generation into Linux

How To Get The Younger Generation Into Linux: A while ago, Apple sold heavily discounted Macs to schools, hoping to get students to choose the Mac. Obviously, the same technique will not work for Linux, but it is important to get students interested in Linux.

Open Source Etiquette: I follow a lot of mailing lists…all of them either Linux or open source in nature. Some of these lists I have been following for years. And from those lists I have seen trends come and go. I have seen technologies blossom and die. I have met a lot of people, some wonderful some not so wonderful. But the one constant that I have noticed throughout this journey is that the Linux and open source community hold some common bonds. One of those common bonds is etiquette.

21 of the Best Free Linux Productivity Tools: One of the essential ingredients to running a successful business is maintaining an advantage over your competition. Many different types of computer software can significantly enhance performance at the workplace, or in the home. A polished office suite, a reliable backup system, an intuitive desktop environment, even a welcome break from reality with an immersive game all have their part to play in helping users achieve their maximum potential. However, this article focuses predominately on software that helps individuals organise their day, capture and retrieve information, assist them fulfilling their various roles in life (whether as a parent, employer, employee, good neighbor etc), as well as streamlining the desktop.

Six Nations "Just Say No" to ISO/IEC: In the latest twist in the OOXML - ODF document format story, ISO and IEC, two of the most venerable standards organizations In the world, have been dealt a slap by government IT agencies in six countries.

Why Google's Chrome Isn't a Threat to Firefox: Many people see Google's new Chrome browser as big trouble for Firefox. Here's why Mozilla needn't be shaking in its boots - and why maybe Microsoft should.

First impressions: Google Chrome on Vista: With 90+ percent of my desktop computing conducted from within Firefox, and half the Internet services I use supplied by Google, the opportunity to test Google’s new 'Chrome' browser was irresistible. Here are my first impressions.

Google builds a better browser: The initial beta product is available in 122 countries and 40 languages but for Window (XP and Vista). Google says Mac and Linux versions are now high priority but these are still months away. However Google's vice president product development, Sundar Pichai, said that, with the launch of the Windows beta, development resources had been redeployed to accelerate the Mac and Linux versions. Chrome is completely open source and Google says it will remain that way. Its rationale being that, because every one of Google's services is delivered through a browser it is in its interest to engender competition and innovation in the browser market to ensure users' experience of Google services is optimal.

Is Windows Vista really driving people to Linux?: Last year, curious over the hype that was flooding the internet in the wake of the release of Windows Vista, I decided to turn masochist and inflict a 14-day Vista trial on myself. I found the operating system much worse than even its worst critic. I earned some flak for the review I wrote but many people also agreed with my experience. Those were early days as far as Vista was concerned - since then there has been tons of criticism, some of it pure vitriol.

Windows Guy Tries Open Suse 11: I’m a Windows Guy. I work on a Windows network for a living. I’ve been a network engineer for over a decade. It’s not that I’m opposed to Linux or OSX, I’m just more familiar with XP and Vista so I tend to use it for everything. Some of you might be laughing already, but I like Windows. It gets the job done for me and for millions of other people. It’s fairly easy to use, fairly easy to upgrade with new hard ware, there is a plethora of software and I can do all the things I want to do on it. That said I have no loyalty to Microsoft either. I don’t like several things, like Vista. What the f*** was Microsoft thinking when they released it? I’ve wanted to see if I could walk on the Linux side for a while now. I wanted to see if I could really switch over and do all the things I need to do easily. So I decided to give it a try

Microsoft's First Seinfeld Ad is a Total Dud: If this is the best Bogusky and his team can do to compete with the highly successful, and should I say, really funny, Get a Mac Campaign, Microsoft is truly throwing its $300M down the toilet because this is ad is pure crap.

Dude, I'm Wantin' a Dell: A review of Dell's new Inspirion Mini 9 with bells, whistles, and Ubuntu 8.04 to boot. Portable notebook goodness for under $350.

See Chrome's inner workings--and an Easter egg: Google's Chrome browser has as Spartan a user interface as possible, but the browser's Omnibox also turns out to be a window into a much more elaborate view of the browser. That's because Chrome users can type several commands into the browser's address box to uncovers a wealth of nitty-gritty detail and an amusing Easter egg.

Another Ubuntu install bites the dust: I always seem to have trouble with Ubuntu. On the $0 Laptop — the Gateway Solo 1450 — there comes a time in every Ubuntu install when the thing either won't boot or runs so slowly that I have to wipe the thing off the drive and start over. It could be something particular to this laptop, the hard drive in it, or my constant dual- and triple-booting of Linux and BSD operating systems in a constantly shifting array.

Why OLPC should be a for-profit business: The One Laptop per Child program is a nonprofit, philanthropic organization, so how can Intel, a 500-pound gorilla, compete against a philanthropic project like OLPC? This competition would barely be newsworthy if OLPC was a for-profit company… competition is just a standard part of doing business in the corporate world. As I said in Part 1 of my series exploring the ongoing “battle” between Nicholas Negroponte’s OLPC laptop project and Intel’s Classmate PC, my philosophy (shared with many Intel execs) was to embrace OLPC and win them over, and to not trash them in the press, especially given OLPC’s philanthropic mission.