LXer Weekly Roundup for 12-Jun-2011

LXer Feature: 12-Jun-2011 For the LXWR this week we have the parting of Linux and Mono, a FOSS hacker reverse-engineers Skype, Larry The Free Software Guy gives us his top 10 Linux Lists as well as our own Carla Schroder talks about Ubuntu's contributions to Linux. And last but not least we have yet another doozy of a piece by Ken Hess that Caitlyn Martin just couldn't stop herself from responding too. Enjoy!

The parting of Linux and Mono: So now, there's a whole lot of .NET developers out there who are wondering what they are going to do with all their experience. If I were a smart aleck, I would suggest they come to the Dark Side of Linux and work on Mono (and yes, we also have cookies). True, that is indeed my standard mode of operation, but in this case I must suppress my natural smart-assery because I am not sure where Mono stands with Linux.

Ubuntu's Contributions to Linux: Ubuntu and Canonical attract a lot of praise and a lot of criticism, and are characterized as angels and devils and everything in between. Love 'em or loathe 'em, Ubuntu has been an energizer all across the Linux world, especially desktop Linux.

One Year Later: Adobe Abandons 64-bit Linux Again: ...once again there are known security vulnerabilities in the now eight month old beta and no patches are available. In addition, the community forum page for discussing Flash Player "Square" has been deleted from the Adobe Labs website. If Adobe is continuing development on a 64-bit version of Flash Player they are not sharing any information with the public at this time. For the time being Adobe has effectively abandoned 64-bit Linux.

FOSS Hacker's Reverse-Engineering Has Skype Seething: Skype is hopping mad after a hacker reverse-engineered part of its code and posted the results on the Internet. Efim Bushmanov says he intends to make Skype open source, but company officials have implied he may be threatening the security of their product. It's unclear whether any legal action is in the works.

Will your next PC be running Android?: Recently, I predicted that the future of the PC may not be powered by the x86 processor architecture. With ARM chips assimilating everything from smartphones to cars, and companies like Nvidia working on high performance CPUs based on the ARM architecture, the assumption that x86 will continue to dominate the PC no longer looks iron-clad.

Dear Ubuntu: The netbook is toast: Open...and Shut. In the tech industry today, and particularly in mobile, you can make lots of money as a premium innovator (Apple's iOS) or as a mass-market commoditizer (Google Android). But it turns out that there's little room for more than one company in either category, That's why Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and RIM are struggling to compete with Apple, while Canonical, MeeGo, and others are falling behind Google.

The Top 10 Linux Lists: Lists: We all make ‘em and, judging by what appears on LXer.com, we all read ‘em. Not only this, a great majority of them are worthwhile and informative. Larry the Free Software Guy takes 10 of the best from the last few months and makes his own list.

Kernel Log: Coming in 3.0 (Part 1) - Networking: A Just-in-Time compiler promises to provide fast network packet filtering. The Wi-Fi stack now supports the Wake-on-Wireless-LAN standard, and unprivileged users are allowed to "ping". New and improved drivers enhance the kernel's support of network components by Ralink and Realtek.

Don't Throw Away Your Physical Servers Just Yet: You’ll need to keep some physical systems around for those workloads that can’t go virtual. And, be sure to keep a horse and buggy around when that whole automobile thing doesn’t work out too.

On Virtualization and The Cloud: The Most Ridiculous Article I've Read in a Very Long Time: Ken Hess, wrote a piece that ridicules and derides anyone who doesn't virtualize literally all, as in every last one, of their servers. No, I'm not exaggerating. Here is a particularly striking part of this gem of technical writing. It's the summary for the entire article, no less: "You'll need to keep some physical systems around for those workloads that can't go virtual. And, be sure to keep a horse and buggy around when that whole automobile thing doesn't work out too."