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ubuntu-system-panel is a simple launcher for the GNOME desktop, providing easy access to Places, Applications and common configuration items for your computer. This guide shows how to install and configure it on an Ubuntu 8.10 desktop.

What is open source hardware? Briefly, these are projects that creators have decided to completely publish all the source, schematics, firmware, software, bill of materials, parts list, drawings and "board" files to recreate the hardware - they also allow any use, including commercial. Similar to open source hardware like Linux, but hardware centric. This is one of the new and emerging trends we've seen really take off over the last few years. Each year we do a guide to all open source hardware and this year there are over 60 projects/kits - it's incredible! Many are familiar with Arduino (now shipping over 60,000 units) but there are many other projects just as exciting and filled with amazing communities - we think we've captured nearly all of them in this list. Some of these projects and kits are available from MAKE others from the makers themselves or other hardware manufacturers - but since it's open source hardware you can make any of these yourself, everything is available.

[Too much cool stuff on this list! - Scott]

Linux has been doing pretty well in China, with recent year-on-year sales going through the roof. However, there can be no escaping the global economic crisis, not even for Chinese Linux.

A month ago NVIDIA had introduced the Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (VDPAU) that brought PureVideo-like features to Linux. Our initial benchmarks of this video decoding API within NVIDIA's binary driver were quite favorable as it was able to dramatically cut down on the CPU usage when playing H.264 video files. To see how well NVIDIA's VDPAU really is though, we have carried out some more thorough testing now and our hardware consists of a CPU we purchased for $20 USD and a NVIDIA GeForce graphics card that retails for just $30. Can this very low-end hardware manage to play high definition videos under Linux?

GameLayers' Passively Multiplayer Online Game (PMOG), which allows users to immerse themselves in a virtual world of adventures, challenges, and intrigue, has been picking up traction thanks in part to its robust open source framework. Underpinning the popular online game is Ruby on Rails, a full-stack framework for developing database-backed Web applications that works with a variety of Web servers and databases.

Last year, when Australia went to the polls, one of the major promises held out by the Labor Party - which ultimately returned to government after 11 years - was the provision of computers to school-children, one for each child in grades 9 to 12. A year has gone by and it has become apparent that the costing of this programme wasn't exactly spot on. The projected support costs and the electricity costs are prohibitive, to the extent that some states are reluctant to join the programme. And as with any delayed initiative, the cost has blown out, some say by as much as two-thirds. The original estimate was that it would cost $A1.2 billion.

How does traceroute work? After a lengthy rant on knowledge and intelligence, we'll figure it all out ;) Today we're going to start a new random thread of posts dealing with common commands and how they work. The meat of today's post is near the end, as the explanation, when I get around to it, is fairly simple and easy to both convey and understand. The majority of this page will be an introduction to this series of posts, with some philosophy mixed in (which may upset certain people) and a brief discourse on knowledge (what it means to have it and why it's probably the worst measure of a person you could ever use).

The latest version of Fedora, the Linux-based operating system, gives users a peek at what they can expect to see in future Linux distributions from Red Hat and other vendors. Fedora 10 offers a broad security framework and new audit capabilities, and gives Linux enthusiasts a good way to upgrade from Fedora 9. However, those who use the Linux-based OS shouldn't expect any support from Red Hat.

And it seems as if another minor, barely-alive operating system will become encumbered by legal bickering between two small companies. The RISC OS scene, which is already a tangled and complicated mess of companies, version number teasing and incompatible versions, might be torn apart even further because RISCOS Ltd might take legal action trying to prevent RISC OS Open Ltd from releasing a RiscPC compatible ROM from the RISC OS 5 shared source project. Should you feel confused, you needn't worry: so does everyone else.

There is a great deal of activity around Linux filesystems currently. Of the many ongoing efforts, two receive the most attention: ext4, the extension of ext3 expected to keep that filesystem design going for a few more years, and btrfs, which is seen by many as the long-term filesystem of the future. But there is another project out there which is moving quickly and is worth a look: Daniel Phillips's Tux3 filesystem.

Slackware 12.2 has been released.

While you won't find any Firefox extensions designed specifically for mobile users, there are a few add-ons you might find particularly useful when you are on the move. Here are five of them.

KDE4Daily is an attempt to lower the barrier to entry for people who would like to test KDE trunk in the run-up to 4.2, consisting of a Qemu VM image containing a Kubuntu 8.10 base and a comprehensive set of a self-compiled KDE4 modules from KDE trunk (all at r888587, initially), along with an updater system inside the VM itself. After an unusually rocky round of development, it is time to (finally!) announce the release of KDE4Daily 4.2!

Novell and Hewlett-Packard have introduced a SUSE Linux desktop PC, and the companies are also promoting specific Linux applications to school administrators and students. Here's the scoop from The VAR Guy.

Though the majority of companies have policies pertaining to responding to speculation, sometimes it just gets to a point they have to. For instance, say a rumor makes the rounds (with at least some supporting evidence) that Google has something up its sleeve that might possibly have to do with an operating system. Google can keep mum for a while, but it obviously has to be formally addressed, sooner or later.

Linux Defender includes facilities for peer-to-peer patent review, post patent review as well as defensive publications for patents. With Microsoft alleging, or just hinting strongly in some cases, that open source technologies infringe on over 200 Microsoft patents , the new effort might potentially help open source and Linux vendors to defend themselves should the need arise.

Two Oregon educators who founded the K12Linux project seven years ago are glad that they have been able to hand that project over to Fedora, the home they always meant for K12Linux to have. Paul Nelson and Eric Harrison met online when Nelson, a classroom teacher and technology director at a small school in Portland's Riverdale School District, went looking for Linux help. "We were doing everything on the back end with Linux, but I was spending a lot of time keeping the Windows desktops running. I thought how nice it would be to use Linux on the front end too. I posted a notice on the local user group mailing list." Harrison, then a Multnomah County IT Services support tech, befriended Nelson, and the two had an idea: make a specialized Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) distribution that would allow schools to use thin clients running Linux on old, inexpensive hardware.

After two years of intense development, Amarok 2 has become a reality! Some of the highlights that are included in the 2.0 release are a completely redesigned user interface, tight integration with online services such as Magnatune, Jamendo, MP3tunes, Last.fm and Shoutcast. There is an overhauled scripting API and plugin support to allow better integration into Amarok. Much of the work has gone into migration from the KDE 3 to KDE 4 framework using core technologies such as Solid, Phonon, and Plasma. Read more about the new release in the release announcement and start Amaroking!

For years now, HP has been slowly edging towards releasing a pre-installed Linux for general users. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reports that today, December 10th, HP finally took the big plunge.

Want something cool for Christmas that runs on Linux? Got a geek to buy for? Here's 10 cool gadgets that run Linux.