LXer Weekly Roundup for 05-Sept-2010

LXer Feature: 05-Sept-2010 There is nothing quite like a good conversation and we have a plethora of articles that started many a good one in our forums this past week including Abiword has smart quotes, what technology has Microsoft ever been the first to market with? Another "There are too many Linux's" article and look out, your Linux system fell down and it can't get up. Enjoy!

What does Paul Allen think he's doing!?: For years, decades, the big companies didn't tend to wage patent wars on each other. The reason is simple. Major patent holders don't tend to target other major patent holders because of MAD (mutually assured destruction). Or, in other words, if you sue me, I sue you, and we can both burn potentially hundreds of millions per year in legal costs just to conduct a business fight. Well that was the case until Oracle went after Google and now Allen is suing the world.

Abiword has smart quotes!!: I haven't run the AbiWord word processor in an age. I barely ever run OpenOffice, or MS Office, or any office software outside of Google Docs. I decided to fire it up, and while I was looking for the word-wrap settings (still don't know if these exist ...) instead learned that AbiWord now offers SMART QUOTES. Now if you read entries from this blog in 2007, you could glean that I was somewhat obsessed with smart quotes in word-processing documents.

Retired joint chiefs chairman dons a Red Hat: What do you get when you cross a Red Hat with a Green Beret? I don't know, but the commercial Linux and Java application server markets are about to find out. Retired General Henry Hugh Shelton — a native Tarheel born in Tarboro, North Carolina, and a former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg — was named chairman of the board of directors at Red Hat on Monday.

27 good reasons to love Linux: Operating system not pay $ 400 The operating system is the set of programs responsible for the management and control of basic computer operations. A computer to function, it needs an operating system (there are several: Windows, Linux, Mac, etc. ..). If you take away the operating system, the computer serves only as an ornament. The most common is Windows and we have two options: buy or illegally copied (pirated). Windows Vista Prices range from $ 299 to $ 599, depending on version (Microsoft Official List).

A good trivia question: What technology has Microsoft been the first to market?: I am currently employed with a large global company, working in a division that strictly focuses on embedded Linux development. Earlier this week, during our lunch hour, as one would expect with a predominantly Linux crowd, we had engaged in a conversation on the following question: What technology has Microsoft been the first to market? And of those technologies, which was developed by Microsoft?

2010 Linux Graphics Survey: For the past three years we have hosted an annual Linux Graphics Survey in which we ask tens of thousands of users each time their video card preferences, driver information, and other questions about their view of the Linux graphics stack. This year we are hosting the survey once again to allow the development community to get a better understanding of the video hardware in use, what open-source and closed-source drivers are being used, and other relevant information that will help them and the Linux community.

Apple's Relationship to Open Source: Despite being one of the most tightly controlled technology companies on the market, Apple has a surprisingly complicated relationship with open source. Both of Apple’s flagship operating systems, OS X and iOS are based on Darwin, which is in turn based on FreeBSD. Apple has also contributed a large amount of code back to the open source community, most notably WebKit, which is used as the browsing engine in nearly every mobile platform. Considering the recent popularity of Apple’s systems, and since there was a big Apple event happening today, their involvement in open source is worth a look.

The trouble with Linux: there's too much choice: Those of you not familiar with Linux won't be familiar with the way it lets you install new software. After 12 years with Linux, neither am I. And I think this highlights a serious problem with the way that open-source software has developed and how it can grow. The problem is choice – one of the most touted and noble reasons for using Linux in the first place. For general use, there's too much of it. It's often overwhelming, needlessly complicated and an easy excuse for change. Choice goes hand-in-hand with redundancy and duplicated effort.

Microsoft Patents Operating System Shutdown: Microsoft just received confirmation of a patent that hands the company the intellectual property of shutting an operating system down. I can’t quite recall how often Microsoft ha stalked about a faster way to shut down its operating system. It is part of the pitch of virtually every new operating system and it has remained an annoyance that it can take quite some time until the software in fact closes running applications and the operating system itself.

Your Linux system keeps falling and it can't get up: Once in a while a Linux PC technician will encounter a system that has problems with lockups (a.k.a. hanging or freezing). Sometimes it is failing hardware but other times it's a software problem. Here are the common causes for this and how to identify which is the source of your problems. While I predominantly use Ubuntu (and some Mandriva) these tests are valid for most any distribution.

Are You Intimidated By Breakfast Cereal?: An article by Graham Morrison for Tech Radar UK this past week struck a bit of a raw nerve for me. It was one of a type we see periodically in the tech press and the title pretty much tells the story: ?"The trouble with Linux: there's too much choice." To Mr. Morrison and all the others who have written articles like this one I say: Hogwash! I pose the following questions to Mr. Morrison and to all the others who share his views. Are you ?intimidated by the breakfast cereal isle in his supermarket? After all, there are so many choices. Isn't it confusing? Should we all just eat corn flakes?