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Jordi Mallach details in a post I found via Google Plus why GNOME should remain the default desktop environment in Debian Jessie despite the usual switch to Xfce prompted by a desire to keep the ISO image at CD size. You might be surprised at how I arrive at the same conclusion despite not using GNOME due to my own personal technical issues.

In today's Android roundup: Some in the media fear that Apple is poised to rule the smartphone market again. Plus: Will Android Wear give wearables credibility? And Google releases new Android L images.

UniPi is seeking Indiegogo funding for a Raspberry Pi add-on for building automation with analog and digital I/O, changeover relays, and 1-Wire interfaces. The Raspberry Pi has found its way into many a home automation project, from lighting controls to automatic sprinkler systems, and is often used as a prototype for commercial systems. But is the modest RPi up for managing an entire building? No problem, says Czech startup UniPi, which is offering Indiegogo funding packages of 99 Euros ($133) and 109 Euros ($146) for its UniPi building automation add-on board.

Open source news for your reading pleasure. August 2 - 8, 2014 read more

The introduction of the mouse was a wonderful innovation in making computers more accessible to average people. But for programmers and sysadmins, moving our hands off the keyboard while working on a computer can be distracting. As a sysadmin, I spend most of the time working in the terminal environment. Opening tabs and moving around.

"Code is the next resume." These words by Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation tell profoundly about how our technology industry, and the many businesses that depend on it, are transforming. The unprecedented success of open source development methodology in the recent past raises some fundamental questions about the way the businesses are designed, the structure of the teams, and the nature of work in itself. read more

Ubuntu has been spotted aboard the International Space Station and it seems that it was used to control a rover back on Earth.

Version 7.4.0 of KNOPPIX is based on the usual picks from Debian 'Stable' and newer desktop packages from Debian 'Testing' and 'Unstable'. It uses Linux kernel 3.15.6 and X.Org 7.7 (X.Org Server 1.16.0) for supporting current computer hardware. In addition to the 32-bit standard kernel, the 64-bit edition of the same kernel is installed on the DVD edition, supporting systems with more than 4 GB of RAM and chroot to 64-bit installations for system rescue tasks. In the DVD edition, the bootloader will start the 64-bit kernel automatically if a 64-bit capable CPU is detected (unless manually specified otherwise). New, experimental version of 3D window manager Compiz 0.9.11.1. Partial integration of systemd.

Canonical has just announced that Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS (Precise Pangolin) has been officially released for its Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core flavors.

Over a month ago I embarked on my own personal challenge to use GNOME Shell (otherwise just known as GNOME 3) for an entire week. That week happened and went, I wrote some thoughts I had after that initial week, but did not officially end my usage of the Shell. Fast forward to now... I'm still using GNOME Shell and here's why.

Another day, another abuse of the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions to stop things that have nothing whatsoever to do with copyright. As pointed out by Slashdot, the Hackaday site recently had a post about how to clone some Tektronix application modules for its MSO2000 line of oscilloscopes. The post explained a simple hack to enable the application module to do a lot more. And... in response, Tektronix sent a DMCA takedown notice demanding the entire post be taken down.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140806/07155928127/tektro...

This Friday is the third day of Flock, the Fedora Contributor Conference, in Prague, the Czech Republic. As you could on day 1 / Tuesday and day 2 / Wednesday, you still can attend – no matter where in the world you are. If you cannot watch the videos live for whatever reason, you may watch them afterwards at the same links posted below.

I, a Microsoft user since DOS 5.x was introduced to Linux in the late 90's when a friend gave me a copy of Novell Linux. I was in awe that you could get a "free" operating system without having to pay for it. The system didn't hold my attention long because there were not a lot of applications for it that were similar to the Windows programs I was accustomed to.

Stephen Gallagher bravely embraced his spot as one of the first talks of the day, after a Flock pub night. As a representative of the Fedora Server working group, he presented an overview and status report on the Fedora Server, one of the new products that makes up the Fedora.next initiative.

In today's Android roundup: Google updates Android Device Manager to include a callback button. Plus: Four open source productivity tools, and the top five Android antivirus utilities.

At the Flock 2014 conference in Prague, Aditya Patawari delivered a talk on the Fedora Project’s use of Ansible for orchestrating its services. System administrators face many challenges today, as new servers, applications, and updates to these systems are constantly needing to roll out. Deciding whether to deploy virtually or on bare metal; configuring and managing systems and their access credentials is also a continuous and repetitive challenge which Patawari calls the “sysadmin loop.”

Botnets are becoming more sophisticated and White Ops' Michael Tiffany spells out what that means for the advertising campaigns they've been targeting

When I was at school, computers were only really just beginning to show their promise and few people had Internet access. I remember begging my Mum for a ZX Spectrum and using it to write basic code to draw things on the screen. From then on I was hooked, but didn’t really know if there were careers programming computers, and it wasn’t at all clear whether this was of any use if I wanted to do scientific research. As I moved to a much faster Amiga 500 Plus, I continued to enjoy programming as a hobby and loved writing simulations to understand mathematics and physical phenomena.

If, like me, you work on terminals connected via ssh to remote computer/server you are probably used to tmux and screen and so it’s not a problem if you have to close your session, as you’ll be able to easily re-connect when you need it, but sometimes you could forget about using one of these utility.

The Russian government is considering the replacement of Microsoft and Oracle products with Linux and open source counterparts, at least for the Ministry of Health.