LXer Weekly Roundup for 11-Jul-2010

LXer Feature: 12-July-2010

The Charge for Freedom: When we think of open source we normally think of software. We (freetards, freediots, open source fanboys) have often been described as a type of new hippie movement. In some ways this may be true. We favor open collaboration instead of top-down empiricism. This is somewhat liberal in nature. At the same time, this breeds fierce competition, this breeds explosive markets, this lowers the bar of entry into the market place, and more than anything it models the idea of a republic.

Rancid IE6 'more secure' than Chrome and Opera US bank says: Microsoft's creaking Internet Explorer 6 is more secure and popular than either Google's Chrome or Opera US banking giant Chase has determined. The bank's therefore decided its online baking services will continue to support aging the IE 6 but drop support for Chrome and Opera.

4 Linux Games You Probably Have Not Played: It is no secret that Linux is not a popular gaming platform. Despite that stigma, however, the open nature of Linux makes it easy, even for relatively inexperienced developers, to produce quality games. Therefore, while the number of high-rated Linux game titles may be small in comparison to Windows or gaming consoles, there are a number of quality free and commercial games out there. Most of the Linux sites that list games tend to highlight the same bunch; however, there are a few hidden gems that you may have missed but are still worth playing. In no particular order, here are four you might want to try.

Relationship Stress Test...Here Honey, Try This...: In the past, she has used a Windows XP machine to get this done. She is painfully aware of how user-unfriendly Windows Explorer can be...especially when she is dealing with hundreds of pictures to be renamed, sorted and moved to different folders. And yeah, there are third-party apps...but that only adds to the time and expense. She used to dread getting a call for contract work. Last week, we got the XP machine files transferred to the computer and I sat down with her to show her how the Linux file system works. ***hint...if you are in a troubled or stressed relationship, this might not be the time to do this....I'm just sayin...

Travels With Teo: Linux Netbook Hits the Road: I took ZaReason's Teo netbook, running Ubuntu 10.04, on a 2500-mile road trip. How practical is a tiny netbook? Does it make sense in real life, doing real jobs? Yessirree it does. A couple of months ago the nice ZaReason people sent me their Teo Ubuntu netbook to review. I was favorably impressed and gave it a positive review. Then they let me take it on my vacation, so little Teo traveled 2500 miles with us. This was the ultimate portability, performance, and battery test. How did Teo do? Splendidly.

Five and a Half Reasons I Prefer Linux (as a power user): While we all have our own reasons for liking Linux and open source, here are my top five (and a half!) reasons why, as a power user, I prefer to use Linux. You’ll notice that these reasons are quite a bit different from why I think Ubuntu makes a great operating system for Mom, which just goes to show how versatile Linux can be.

Could Free Software Exist Without Copyright?: The GNU GPL depends on copyright to work. So what would happen if copyright were abolished? Would that mean that free software also disappears? Richard Stallman thinks not - and has a plan.

A New Era of Compiz: Compiz is a compositing window manager that enables users to enjoy clever desktop effects and transparency. Compiz is included in many distributions' default installs and in many others' repositories. At one time its future was in question with new major desktop environments planning to incorporate their own effects. When those effects failed to materialize as publicized, the popularity of Compiz continued to grow. But with newer systems and desktop enviroments, Compiz needed to be rewritten. So, after a long developmental period, Compiz 0.9.0 was released.

LG, Samsung big on Android: It's a remarkable success story. Less than two years ago Nokia's Symbian and Windows Mobile ruled the smartphone market and Google was just a search engine, albeit a very popular one. Today Google's Android operating system is one of the most popular smartphone operating systems and has already taken a significant chunk out of Symbian's market share.

Linux Multi-Distro Package Manager Cheatsheet: Linux is blessed with several different package managers, so using a different distribution often means learning a different way to install, update, and remove software. Use Juliet Kemp's handy package manager cheatsheet to get going with a minimum of fuss.

Russian state-OS based on Linux: According to the publication “Kommersant”, the state enterprise “Russian Technologies” has almost completed the acquisition of shares LLC Alt Linux.

Point and click GUIs: why are we still stuck with them?: There's a delightful story that does the rounds regarding one of the founding fathers of Linux. It's said that during the early days of the opensource operating system's development, this fellow took to attending conferences in complete silence. All attempts to communicate via means other than hand gestures were refused. Instead, he pointed at things. Apocryphal or not, the tale remains highly relevant today. Our hero's beef was with the windows-based graphical interface metaphor and its knack for turning us into mouse-pointing morons.