Showing headlines posted by Sander_Marechal

Based on his experience at a recent scientific convention, Jaron Lanier suggests that the modern scientific community seems to be wanting to model itself after the Open Source software model. Unfortunately, he adopts the position that this progression is ill advised and bases his reasoning on the mistaken belief that the Open Source model is incapable of the level of innovation required by science. Although he builds an interesting case, I believe his conclusions are based on a faulty premise and an overall misunderstanding of the real strength of the Open Source approach as well as the true nature of the proprietary model.

The recent fine levied on Microsoft by the European anti-trust authorities has reminded people just how dominant Microsoft is in the industry. We’re often being told to consider Linux and open-source applications as a viable alternative to what Microsoft and other Windows developers have to offer. But just what’s involved if you do decide to go down the Linux route for some or all of your small-business IT?

Just in time for the holidays, Wal-Mart has re-stocked a Linux-based PC that sells for $199. A check of the retailer's Web site Tuesday revealed that the Everex TC2502 Green gPC -- which had temporarily been sold out -- is now listed as "In Stock." Wal-Mart introduced the gPC earlier this month but it quickly sold out online. It's "been one of the top performing desktop computers on Walmart.com," a spokesman for the company told InformationWeek last week.

There are a legion of developers with a strong desire to improve their cell phones any way they can think of. If only they had a platform that was open—source code and all—and that actually encouraged them to come up with new applications rather than limit them or forbid them outright. That's the promise of open-source cell phones. With open-source operating systems, developers have both the right and the support for modifying their cell phones and that's a benefit for them and the rest of us too.

One of the most fascinating stories in the technology sector has been the challenge posed by open-source giant Linux to Microsoft's dominance of the market for operating system software. One of the key players in the rise of Linux is Bob Young, co-founder of Red Hat Software, the largest distributor of the Linux operating system. Young's creative resolution of a crucial strategic dilemma was the event that put Red Hat – and Linux – on the path to profit and power in the marketplace.

"We absolutely and fundamentally believe we are right in this case, and we believe in the justice system. But we also know that things don't always happen the way they're supposed to, and we're realistic about that point. We don't believe that this latest ruling was a reflection of the facts that were involved in the case. And the way the system works, we get a chance to put up an appeal," said SCO CEO Darl McBride.

A few days back I was exultant over the fact that I had helped a man whom I believe to be balanced in his assessment of operating systems - iTWire editor Stan Beer - and assisted him in taking his first steps on the road to experiencing the myriad benefits I've enjoyed by moving from Windows to Linux. But Stan has had far too many problems with instability on his Ubuntu system. Finally things came to the stage where the box just wouldn't get past the stage where it enters the GRUB boot menu. Hence he has had to put his Linux plans on hold. Damn!

The Free Software Foundation published the GNU Affero General Public License Version 3 on Nov. 19. This new license, based on the GPLv3, enables those who use AGPLv3 software over a network to receive the source code for that software. The AGPL was created to deal with the so-called ASP (application service provider) loophole in the GPLv2. With the approval of the GPLv3, the AGPL was also incorporated, but that version was oriented toward papering over the ASP loophole. This new version makes it explicit that developers can use GPLv3 and AGPLv3 code in common projects. By publishing this license, the FSF aims to foster user and development communities around network-oriented free software.

Music fans, recording artists, journalists, the RIAA, and digital rights activists have at least one thing in common right now. I’m speaking of the intense interests some people from each group have in the outcome of Radiohead’s recent experiment in business models for musicians, of course. The point is that security is, among other things, a matter of picking your battles well. There are some things that just cannot be protected in the long run and ultimately, if your business model depends on protecting such things, either your business model will change or your business will fail. It’s really that simple.

[Not Linux related, but interesting nonetheless - Sander]

I used to receive around 5,000-7,000 spams daily on my email which is publicly available on the internet. It was consuming too many productive hours daily to fight spam. I decided to fight back. To reduce the spams I first made changes to my postfix configuration with the aim to stop most spams upfront. With 6 simple changes to my postfix configuration my spams dropped from 5,000 - 7,000 to a manageable 5-20 spams daily, often less. Let’s look at these 6 simple postfix changes in details to drastically reduce your spam count too. I am consistently getting over 99% spam reduction after implementing these changes. The changes proved to be safe and without false positives. In several weeks of manual browsing through the log file, I couldn’t spot a single false positive (a case where legitimate mail is rejected).

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #66 for the week November 11th - November 17th, 2007. In this issue we cover the LoCo teams up next for official approval, the welcoming of a new MOTU, some news from the good folks in Ubuntuforums, and, as always, much much more.

Free and open source software (FOSS) advocates need to stop obsessing about Microsoft. But, just as clearly, many of them won't, if the reactions I received when I blogged about the subject are any indication. Never mind that FOSS is a necessary fixture in modern business, or has evolved defenses that ensure its survival -- or that paranoia and juvenile gestures like talking about "Micro$oft" and "Windoze" only hurt the cause. For many, hatred of Microsoft is a way of life, and they'd be lost without it.

My parents currently use Windows ME (believe it or not) on a fairly old computer. According to them, their computer crashes quite often, which is not a surprise at all. In fact, I'm surprised it's still in a usable state. The only thing that would have prevented them from using Linux before is that they use a windows only genealogy program called Personal Ancestral File. Since Ubuntu 7.10 worked so well for my printer, scanner, and pretty much everything else, I decided to try and install PAF using Wine.

The Oxygen team is happy to present the final selection of 15 wallpapers that will be released with KDE 4.0. It took longer than expected to manage the contest due to the large number of entries (around 1900), but it was our first time organising such a contest. The Oxygen team are overjoyed at the response and want to thank everyone who took part. Every wallpaper will be available in several screen resolutions for both wide and regular display. The selection have been made to provide a beautiful, colorful, peaceful yet not distracting collection of free wallpapers. We're sure you'll find one you like.

Last weekend I posted an article called Comparing Linux Distributions where I reviewed eight different Linux distributions on five different machines. I had used the freshly released Beta version of Linux Mint and kept getting read errors on the disk. This weekend I downloaded the real version of Mint 4.0 and was able to install it on my Dell Dimension 4300S.

The Fedora Project builds a world-class Linux operating system, consisting of entirely free (meaning both zero-cost and full source code available) software, that is used by companies, organizations and individuals worldwide. Fedora emphasizes the importance of transparency at all levels of hierarchy. From top-level decision making to the source code that goes into our packages and build systems, we continue to ensure that Fedora is as open as possible.

On October 28th, Intel released the reviews on the new "Penryn" Core 2 processor, specifically the Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core QX9650. The QX9650 has a lot of new features and welcomes a new generation to the Core 2 processor family. So what are these features and how will they equate into benefits to the consumer and, more specifically, Linux users? That's what Linux Hardware is here to unravel. In this review I'll cover all the high points of the new "Penryn" core and talk to a couple Linux projects about the impact on end-user performance.

Let’s lighten things up with a gadget post. You may have seen that Everex launched a $200 computer that runs Linux. It looks like Wal-Mart sold out of them, but not to worry: more are on the way. Why should you be interested? Well, instead of Windows, it comes installed with gOS, which is a version of Ubuntu that is customized to work well with web-based tools from Google, Flickr Facebook, and Skype. When I heard that, I had to order one of these PCs to check it out for myself.

Red Hat plans to begin a private beta test of new open-source messaging software next month, hoping to shake up a section of the server market currently dominated by proprietary rivals and give the Linux seller a new revenue source. Server messaging software's purpose is--bear with me here for a moment--sending messages. That may sound obvious, but doing it reliably and in high volume is essential to large-scale networked business tasks such as trading stocks, where a brokerage that can place buy and sell orders faster than a rival can make real money.

Desktop customization in Linux is very flexible; from the ultra-modern KDE and GNOME window managers to with the likes of Fluxbox and AfterStep, there's a Linux desktop to suit everyone. Jack Wallen covers some of your Linux desktop options.