LXer Weekly Roundup for 12-Oct-2008

LXer Feature: 12-Oct-2008 In this week's Roundup Linux turns 17, Google releases their Linux repositories, a new Linux Broadcom driver arrives and Sean Michael Kerner asks if .NET on Linux is finally ready or not. Also, an introduction to free music production software, Debian leader Steve McIntyre says Lenny might be late and in what I would consider to be an extremely bad idea, the ISO offers to take over maintenance of the ODF standard from Oasis, stating that they are not dealing with defect reports fast enough.

In this week's Roundup Linux turns 17, Google releases their Linux repositories, a new Linux Broadcom driver arrives and Sean Michael Kerner asks if .NET on Linux is finally ready or not. Also, an introduction to free music production software, Debian leader Steve McIntyre says Lenny might be late and in what I would consider to be an extremely bad idea, the ISO offers to take over maintenance of the ODF standard from Oasis, stating that they are not dealing with defect reports fast enough.

Google releases Linux repositories: Search giant Google has finally launched a repository of its software for Linux users. The repository will house the latest Linux versions of its software and make it easier for Linux users to keep up to date.

Linux turns 17: Free minix-like kernel sources for 386-AT, was the subject of Linus Benedict Torvalds post to comp.os.minix on October 5, 1991 -- seventeen years ago today. it began.

Hibernating a Linux Laptop…FINALLY!: Recently I had to write an article on Linux green computing. During the writing of that article I was sent on yet another quest to get some form of hibernate and or suspend working on a Linux laptop. This quest had me digging through nearly every configuration file and every package I could find in an attempt to get an off-brand laptop (Everex Zonbook) running Mandriva Spring 2008 to either suspend or hibernate. I was surprised at what I discovered and the results I came up with.

Top 5 Torrent Clients for Linux: A list with the most used torrent clients for Linux. While a few other exists and are listed elsewhere, I think the software presented here represents the big players, and a wide range of interfaces and features. I’m just sharing, I don’t profess to be an expert. Anyway, I hope this list will be of help to you in choosing a better torrent client.

MontaVista Linux drives Dell's quick-boot feature: CEO Rusty Harris revealed MontaVista's role developing the quick-booting, ARM-based processor subsystem expected to ship this year in select Dell laptop models. The "Latitude ON" feature aims to give enterprise laptop users instant boot-up and access to select applications, with multi-day battery lifetimes.

Thoughts About Ubuntu 8.04 - Pseudo Root User: I have read a nuIn this week's Roundup Linux turns 17, Google releases their Linux repositories, a new Linux Broadcom driver arrives and Sean Michael Kerner asks if .NET on Linux is finally ready or not. Also, an introduction to free music production software, Debian leader Steve McIntyre says Lenny might be late and in what I would consider to be an extremely bad idea, the ISO offers to take over maintenance of the ODF standard from Oasis stating that they are not dealing with defect reports fast enough.mber of heated complaints about Ubuntu's default implementation of sudo privileges in preference to simple root access. While I have issues with some of Ubuntu's implementations and features, this is not one of my complaints. Indeed, I prefer it. I have an administrative account that has sudo rights that I do not normally use. My activities are primarily restricted to another user's account that lacks any machine administrative rights [1.]. However, I use a single command to gain full root access rights when I desire it. Perhaps those driven away from Ubuntu due to this one issue might reconsider.

New Linux Broadcom Wi-Fi drivers arrive: One of the most annoying experiences for any desktop Linux user is installing a Linux on a laptop, switching it on, and... discovering that the Wi-Fi chipset doesn't support Linux. That used to be a commonplace experience, but over the years it's gotten much better. Unless, of course, you were using a laptop with a Broadcom chipset; then, chances were, you were in for some trouble.

Linux ready to replace Windows? Not yet…: I have been impressed with the way that popular Linux distros like Ubuntu have improved with each new release; these days, Linux is a great choice for technically sophisticated users who don’t mind being far, far out of the mainstream. But for people who don’t have the time or the inclination to make fundamental changes, it’s a nonstarter.

When Linux does well: the e1000e Ethernet bug fixed: One reason I love Linux is that when there's a problem, it gets fixed. Usually, it gets fixed in a hurry and that's exactly what happened with the e1000e Ethernet bug.

Is .NET on Linux Finally Ready?: Even though Mono 2.0 is compatible with Microsoft's .NET 2.0, it's not in full compliance with the latest .NET releases from Microsoft. The Mono effort is important as it is intended to enable .NET applications to run on Linux. "We're certainly doing catch up in some areas," Mono project leader Miguel de Icaza told InternetNews.com.

Linux netbook returns higher?: A recent interview quoted an MSI executive as saying that returns of Linux netbooks were more than four times higher those of Windows XP netbooks. However, the quote may say more about MSI's Linux implementation than the suitability of Linux as a netbook OS.

ISO offers to take on ODF maintenance: The international standards body ISO has offered to help maintain the ODF document standard alongside its work on the rival Microsoft-originated OOXML specification, saying its creator Oasis is not dealing with defect reports quickly enough. At a meeting in Korea last week, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committee for document standards, SC 34, issued a liaison statement to Oasis, the body that created ODF. It requested an "alignment" of maintenance of ODF between the work done at Oasis and that within ISO.

Lenny might be late: Debian project leader Steve McIntyre has dismissed claims that the next stable version of Debian – codename Lenny – could be delayed until June 2009. Based on the number of outstanding release-critical bugs and the time it has taken to fix them on previous releases, Debian developer Bastian Venthur estimated it will take a further eight or nine months to bring Lenny up to release quality.

The 10 Best Linux Distributions: Here they are from bottom to top: The top 10 Linux Distributions from a long-time Linux nerd. I've had several people ask me what I think the best, top, most user friendly, ultimate, and so on distribution is--so now I'm publishing my Top 10 Linux Distributions in reverse order of preference. Ease of installation, commercial support, community support, updates, administrative tools, stability, performance, and to a lesser extent--their ranking on DistroWatch.com.

Free, Professional Music Production: A Linux Introduction: People who either dabble or work in computing enough are probably used to the idea that some operating systems are better than others as creative platforms; Mac OSX generally seems to be the preferred place for video editing, thanks to the likes of Final Cut Pro. They’ve also got the fantastic GarageBand program for audio production as part of their iLife suite, and with Windows, ProTools is often considered industry standard when it comes to audio production. But these popular, household names of programs come with a price; often a pretty hefty one, actually. If you’re thinking of getting SONAR 8 Studio for your audio needs, be prepared to shell out $369 for it. Today, we’re going to explore how with Linux we can make music, and from a software standpoint, it’s going to cost us nothing.