Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

GNOME enthusiasts have a couple of good options when it comes to searching, launching, and otherwise manipulating and accessing files, applications, and information right from the desktop: GNOME-Do, and the GNOME Deskbar applet. GNOME-Do is a desktop search and application-launching applet similar to the now-defunct GNOME Launchbox. It's inspired by Quicksilver, an applet for Apple's Mac OS X operating system. Do was built for the GNOME desktop but also runs on KDE. Developers call Do an "intelligent launcher tool" because it uses predictive technology to guess what you want to do when you start typing the first few letters of the name of an application, file, or contact.

In recent years, Linux distributions have successfully made the transition from being the exclusive domain of technical users to being suitable for even brand new computer users. However, unlike with proprietary software and operating systems, GNU/Linux is built mainly on the efforts of users who volunteer their time and expertise to write programs. The result is that the success of free and open source software (FOSS) depends on feedback and contributions from its users. New users, or users without programming skills, may not understand how to contribute, or even see the need for contributions. But non-programmers can contribute a great deal to FOSS projects, benefiting not only other users but also themselves in the process. Even you can help.

Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to release the code for its open-source server virtualization software Wednesday, and will make a commercial version of the xVM Server available next month. XVM Server can virtualize Windows, Linux and Sun's own Solaris operating system on x86 hardware from such vendors as Sun, Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM and Dell Inc., said Steve Wilson, Sun's xVM vice president. Previously, Sun's server virtualization strategy focused on its own operating system and the Sparc chip set, he said.

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced that Black Duck Software has joined as a Foundation member. Black Duck provides solutions for software development teams and legal counsel to manage the hybrid software development process, which involves the assembly of internal software, open source software and other third-party code.

Linden Lab, creator of the online virtual space Second Life, recognized the accomplishments of outstanding individuals in its open source community this week at its Linden Lab Innovation Awards. Seven winners were announced at a "mixed reality" ceremony held both at a convention center in Florida and simultaneously within the Second Life system. Linden's head of open source development Rob Lanphier emceed the awards ceremony at the Second Life Community Convention (SLCC). It was the second such annual event, initiated last year at the 2007 SLCC following the release of Second Life code as open source. A panel of six judges selected winners in five categories, with each winner receiving a "Hippo Award" prize package.

Citadel provides plenty of groupware functionality in a scalable, easy-to-deploy package. This week, learn how to manage users, set up an e-mail server and provide RSS feeds.

As the fields of computational biology and bioinformatics become more important, not only to the economy, but to our understanding of the natural world and ourselves, Linux is becoming a better platform on which to build and deploy the software scientists will rely on. A few groups have even gone so far as to create entire distributions geared for computational biology, such as BioBrew and Debian-Med. One of the more prominent comes from Oxford's National Environmental Research Council's (NERC) Environmental Bioinformatics Centre (NEBC). Bio-Linux does not sell itself as your average distribution, but it does not measure up to an average distribution either.

It has been a couple of weeks since Akademy 2008 finished. KDE's contributors are now back home, more enthusiastic than ever about our future. If you missed the talks videos are now online. This article covers what happened during the week and outlines some of the results.

The Ohio LinuxFest Free and Open Source Software Conference and Expo in Columbus, Ohio October 10th and 11th 2008 list of speakers.

Speakers include:

Paul Ferris - Managing your Free Software career

Jon"maddog" Hall - Sustainable Computing

Peter Salus - Where Next? - Ohio LinuxFest

In my job as a systems engineer, I have handled various storage implementations for our enterprise clients. These may be in the form of direct-attached storage (DAS), network-attached storage (NAS), storage area network (SAN), or Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) systems. In these implementations, clients generally use proprietary storage products from vendors such as EMC, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and EqualLogic. Many of these devices work just like ordinary servers with multiple hard disks and an operating system. Some use Unix and Linux as base operating systems, so I began to explore the possibility of using that kind of operating system on ordinary servers to turn them into storage boxes.

A new high-tech soap opera kicked off last week in Silicon Valley as Google, long a supporter of the Mozilla Foundation and its open source browser Firefox, jumped into Mozilla's turf with its own browser, Chrome. Will the sexy new Chrome catch the eye of those early adopters who helped Firefox get started and eventually grab nearly 20 percent of the browser market once dominated by Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

Well, well, well! We seem to be going on a crusade here at iTWire - the old W vs L battle. The Windows is better than Linux creed - which I think is another way of proffering reasons why marketing is better than technology. Ten reasons to run Vista? There are far more reasons than that to run GNU/Linux. And it doesn't take as long to enumerate them because the reasons are simple and you do not need ten paragraphs to outline each argument. When it comes to GNU/Linux, the KISS principle applies.

Desktop Linux reported that Lenovo seems to have quietly exited the desktop Linux business. Unfortunately for desktop Linux users, that news has turned out to be correct. Lenovo, in a note to Practical Technology, confirmed that it was exiting the pre-installed desktop Linux business.

In my ongoing quest to take over the world with Linux as my OS of choice, I've noticed that simply handing someone an install CD doesn't really do the trick. I've also noticed that formatting their Windows 95 install with a fresh version of Linux tends to make angry faces as well. The more tech savvy the user is, the more resistant to change they tend to be. As with most worthwhile endeavors, it takes time and patience for a person to learn to love Linux. The problem is that hating Windows isn't enough. Most people hate Windows, but feel trapped into using it. That's where my 3 step approach comes in.

Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth has announced that the next major version number of Ubuntu (Ubuntu 9.04) will be codenamed "Jaunty Jackalope." In a posting to the Ubuntu Developer's list today, Shuttleworth outlined a number of parallels between the mythical beast and the release's goals.

The iTWire Vista Vs. Linux battle has been great fun to watch unfold, however it does seem to have missed the point that Apple Mac OS X is better than them both...Forget 10 reasons why Vista is better than Linux, or 20 reasons why Linux is better than Vista. All you really need to know is that there is one single reason why Apple Mac OS X is better than them both.

Reading WorldChanging's "editorial retrospective" by Ethan Zuckerman on the article on the OLPC XO he posted in June, 2006 really made me wish that the project had, well, worked out better. Articles like Ethan's remind me of the good work and ideals that have gone into the OLPC XO, which both refreshes me and frustrates me further. This post begins a four-part series on the One Laptop Per Child project, some of the key problems it has faced, and the amazing promise that it still holds for international development and global education.

The Servico Federal de Processamento de Dados (SERPRO), (a US$ 1 billion annual revenue Brazilian government owned IT enterprise), announced during the Debian Day Brasil 2008 Porto Alegre that it has selected Debian GNU/Linux as the preferred distribution for its hundreds of GNU/Linux development and production servers. Future SERPRO tenders and public hearings will include clauses requiring Debian GNU/Linux compatibility. Recent SERPRO tenders have already encouraged participation by small FLOSS regional companies, as well as Debian support services.

Jeff Elkner teaches high school students in Arlington, Va., about Linux and other Free Software. He's serious about helping budding computer scientists understand what FOSS is and what it can do for them, and he's one of those guys who always seems to be sharing his knowledge with others. One of Elkner's latest efforts, the Open Book Project, is a good illustration of his philosophy about sharing ideas and knowledge, which he says is similar to that of one of his heroes, Free Software advocate Richard Stallman.

Browser developer Opera Software has signed up with the Symbian Foundation, a Nokia-led consortium that was set up in June to turn the Symbian mobile operating system into an open source platform.