LXer Weekly Roundup for 24-Jan-2010

LXer Feature: 25-Jan-2010

5 Great OEM Linux Servers: Linux has long been popular in the datacenter, and various Tier 1 vendors have extensive server product lines mostly based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or SUSE Enterprise Linux. There are more OEM options than ever; here is roundup of 5 distinctly different OEM Linux servers.

Healthcheck: Mono: Moonlight was written in three weeks in June of 2007 by a group of Mono developers working round the clock to fulfil a promise made by Miguel de Icaza. Despite such heroics Moonlight continues to face resistance from the wider developer community...

IE is so secure we just had to build an OS out of it. : Microsofts new Gazelle concept is the greatest thing to hit Linux or the computer industry as a whole ever. According to Microsoft, Gazelle is a secure web browser constructed as a multi-principal OS. I never thought I would live to see the day that Microsoft announces its own suicide.

6 of the Best Free Linux Office Suites: An office suite is a collection of related software for business and other uses. The software is distributed together in a single package, with a consistent graphical interface, and with strong interaction between the different components.

A no-cost Windows killer: On Sale Now, only $26!: You just can't make this stuff up. This alleged news article at Technology Marketing Corporation (there is a clue in the site name) makes grandiose, breathless claims about Ubuntu..

Thoughts on Youtube 'abandoning' Firefox and Opera: A new test version of Youtube offers HTML 5 video support, meaning watching videos without Adobe Flash, but only when browsing with Chrome or Safari. While this might seem strange at first, and might sound like Google is abandoning its Firefox users, things are a little bit more complicated.

Ubuntu, you blew your chance to go mainstream: Obviously, I've spent a good amount of time trying to think of a suitable intro to this column. But I couldn't find anything appropriate to express my disgust and disappointment at Ubuntu's missed opportunity. So I'll state it plainly – Ubuntu, you got us this far and then, just when it mattered, you blew it for all of us. Unlike many, I'm not ranting about Karmic Koala's technical glitches. In fact, it's still one of the best options for the desktop, and it's technically superior to the new Windows OS that its release coincided with. But this is where it hurts. For the first time ever, the mainstream tech press mentioned an upcoming Linux release in a Windows preview article. And what did Ubuntu do to capitalise on this new-found exposure? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Why GNU/Linux is ready for the Average User: Linux is more than ready for the average user to be using, but just like any operating system it may be a bit much for the average user to get it setup and thats just fine if you ask me.

Five *nix Myths Busted: You probably believe at least one of these awesome *nix myths. I love mythology and there's nothing like hearing a technology myth to make my day complete. Just today someone applied one of the following myths in a conversation with me. I didn't say anything but it gave me the idea for this post. Here are the five myths related to *nix systems that I hear most often when dealing with technical and non-technical people alike. You'd be surprised as to how often even the most technical people spout these myths to each other and to the unsuspecting and unknowledgeable bystander. I have to bite my tongue when I hear them. And now that you know them, I hope it ruins your day too when someone slips into mythland with one of these gems.