Showing headlines posted by the_doctor

The announcement has gone out. The gist? Flash will no longer work with Chromium on Linux. Many of you are probably wondering, "What is Chromium?" Essentially, Chromium is the open-source version of Google's massively popular browser, Chrome. The big Flash debacle is simple: the old way of handling Flash (within a browser) is insecure. It was driven by the Netscape Plugin API (NPAPI) -- an architecture that dates back to Netscape Navigator 2.0. NPAI that's insecure, obsolete, and doesn't work well on smartphones and tablets -- which is a death knell in and of itself.

The fuss over so-called net neutrality is quite odd and has turned into the kind of mass hysteria I've not witnessed in the tech world, ever.

The last time KDE released a major revision of its interface, users protested bitterly, and the project took several years to live down the reaction.

X2Go is a Remote Desktop solution which enables you to access a graphical desktop of a computer over a low bandwidth (or high bandwidth) connection.

Last month Google offered refunds to users who bought a fake antivirus app from Google Play, but the scam seems to be catching on and security researchers have recently identified similar apps in both the Android and Windows Phone app stores.

High fives are in order for Google's Gmail team, as Gmail is the first Android application to notch 1 billion downloads in its belt. The feat, which actually occured a few days ago, was announced today by Google VP Sundar Pichai, who posted the achievement on his Google+ page. It was a succinct (albeit excited) recognition, though crossing 1 billion downloads doesn't mean there are a billion people using Gmail.

For most video-watching aficionados, VLC is an essential piece of software. The open-source app is well known for being a fantastic movie and music player, but there are a few clever tricks that can help you get a lot more out of the media player. We gathered seven fun and useful VLC features, that will help you get the most out of the media player.

Linux Mint founder Clement Lefebvre announced an important decision taken on the Mint release cycles. Starting immediately with Linux Mint 17 “Qiana”, the Ubuntu-based operating system will be based only on the LTS releases.

I’m asked this all the time: is using Linux on the desktop more secure than Windows?

Linux distributions like Ubuntu are release based, which means when a new version rolls out, everyone rushes to upgrade. Many folks do this without a care in the world, believing that if the previous version worked great then the latest version should also be free of bugs.

The O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) is an annual convention for the discussion of free and open source software.

Tablets are not the end-all, be-all of computing and eventually the laptop will take over. Again.

Linus Torvalds, the principal force behind development of the Linux kernel and overseer of open source development for the Linux operating system, has been named the 2014 recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s Computer Pioneer Award “for pioneering development of the Linux kernel using the open-source approach”.

GNOME 3 is usually defended in terms of design excellence. However, while GNOME has been developed with close attention to design, that does not mean that its basic foundations are as grounded in design principles as you might infer.

"Open-source is not a free beer, it’s a free puppy," says Kenneth C. Green, who conducted the survey. "If I give you a free puppy, well, you have got some significant costs for that puppy in terms of attention, care, maintenance, and support."

In a rare move, the Homeland Security Department's Computer Emergency Readiness Team says to stop using Internet Explorer until Microsoft can plug a critical security hole.

The entire Silicon Valley tech scene is filled with ludicrous buzz phrases that are often decried by the media. Terms like "engagement," "disrupt," and "innovation" are commonly thrown around by those who want to be part of the Valley subculture.

Is the PC dead yet? No, but Microsoft-owned Nokia makes no bones about its increasing irrelevance.

Android is probably the most versatile mobile platform ever produced. It is so broad there are layers of features buried deep under the facade. These tips will help peel back those layers.

Earlier this month Canonical released a new, long term support, version of its popular operating system (OS), Ubuntu. Nicknamed Trusty Tahr, Ubuntu 14.04 comes pre-installed with tons of great software, but even more is available through the handy Ubuntu Software Center which users will find in the applications launcher. Popular video game Minecraft is also available for install on Ubuntu 14.04.