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The Linux Foundation's MeeGo project announced the final release of the open source Linux-based MeeGo 1.2, including the first finished version of its tablet UX (user experience), plus updated netbook and in-vehicle infotainment UXes. MeeGo 1.2 features new telephony and wireless communications features, as well as location and sensor/haptic capabilities, says the project.

I've been following the open source OpenStack cloud effort since it was first announced in June of 2010. I mean come on, how many times does a tech journalist like me get to interview NASA about enterprise open source tech?

I've always been an advocate for using the packages supplied by the distribution/project you happen to be running as an OS. Rarely do I go outside the "official" repositories for something shinier and newer. That's changing, and swapping the Chromium browser in Debian Squeeze for the Google Chrome browser directly from Google is my latest shift in this direction.

Fedora is a Linux community project sponsored by Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) and is set to release Fedora 15 on May 24th. Security improvements are a key focus in the Fedora 15 release with a number of innovations. "We have better support for encrypted home directories that get mounted when you log in and that goes a long way to help people feel that their data is secure," Jared Smith, Fedora Project Leader told InternetNews.com.

The following article will present to Ubuntu fans all over the world, a few interesting features and facts for the next version of Ubuntu OS, the Ubuntu 11.10, dubbed Oneiric Ocelot.

Linux has an ever-expanding library of tens of thousands of free games, many of which are released under an open source license. Of course, a significant proportion of these titles are still in an early stage of development.

The Free Technology Academy (FTA), an advanced virtual campus which seeks to educate and promote the adoption of Free Software and other Free Technologies, just partnered with the Association of Greek Users and Friends of Free/Open Source Software.

The Desktop Summit is a joint conference organized by the GNOME and KDE communities, the two dominant forces behind modern graphical software on free platforms. Over a thousand international participants are expected to attend. The main conference takes place from 6-8 August. The annual membership meetings of GNOME and KDE are scheduled for 9 August, followed by workshops and coding sessions on 10-12 August.

We finally have a free software tool to extract RARv3 archives on Linux. The news comes from a post on the Free Software Foundation blog which presents a new tool that can extract archives in many different formats, including RARv3.

There is literally no dearth for music player applications in Ubuntu. Banshee, which is the new default music player for Ubuntu 11.04, is among the best you can get. Alternatives include Clementine, Rhythmbox, Amarok, DeadBeef among others. But MPD(Music Player Daemon) and NCMPC(an MPD client) combination opens up a whole new genre of music players for Ubuntu power users. Folks who like tools like Twidge Twitter Client are gonna adore this.

Linux Mint Debian Edition has proven to be a popular release for the Linux Mint developers. It’s certainly at the top of my list of favorite distros. Linux Mint Debian edition uses the GNOME desktop and, as good as it is, it’s just not right for some folks (especially those on older or slower computers). Enter Linux Mint 201104 Xfce version. Now you can get the benefits of a rolling Debian distro and the virtues of the lightweight Xfce desktop environment. Linux Mint Xfce runs on top of a Debian Testing base and makes use of the same repositories as regular Linux Mint Debian Edition.

This week's links look at disaster recovery in the cloud, Flash is still alive and well in training and programming skills you need to make more money.

This tutorial will cover how to install the well-known CUPS printing system, and optionally tell you how to have your Canon printer work. There are extra details about where to find Canon drivers and how to install the "Print to PDF" feature.

Sometimes in the world of free software, you have to make the best of what’s available. Sometimes what’s available isn’t all that great. When I suddenly lost some critical data as a result of a corrupted drive, I thought I’d have to shell out some potentially serious cash for a high-quality recovery utility. In my research to find the right program, I came across mention of TestDisk, an amazingly handy free utility which has saved me from the loss of a lot of data (not to mention a rather angry spouse). It’s a command line tool so there’s no fancy GUI, but the menu-driven interface makes the recovery process quite simple, and it can handle FAT, NTFS, ext2-4, and more.

LXer Feature: 20-May-2011

In recent years, Ubuntu Linux has become increasingly popular as a replacement for Windows. Ubuntu is an operating system which features a number of advantages that make it an appealing alternative for everyday users. Here are 10 reasons why Ubuntu beats Windows hands down.

All in all, "between Android/Linux, the rise of thin clients and Chrome OS, M$ is surrounded by competitive solutions it cannot mess with as it did with the 'PC,'" blogger Robert Pogson said. Microsoft, in fact, "will eventually become just another IT provider. After this year, the monopoly will be gone."

One of the mailing list messages making the rounds on the Internet today is concerning the GNOME project and whether they should no longer concern themselves with supporting non-Linux operating systems.

As expected, Red Hat has released its latest server business operating system: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.1. This is the first major update to the platform since RHEL 6 shipped in November 2010. RHEL 6.1 features optimized KVM virtualization, new hardware support, improved operational efficiency, and high availability (HA) improvements. It also includes improved development and monitoring tools such as an updated Eclipse development environment includes enhanced breakpoint and code generation for C/C++ and Java.

The latest Linux kernel offers drivers for AMD's current high-end graphics chips and ipsets that simplify firewall implementation and maintenance. The Ext4 file system and the block layer are now said to work faster and offer improved scalability. Hundreds of new or improved drivers enhance the kernel's hardware support.

Since Groklaw last visited Paul Allen's patent attack on Google and the World, the court has agreed to sever the omnibus complaint into eleven separate ones 229 [PDF]. There is really no great surprise here. The nature of the asserted infringements in the first amended complaint were so unrelated to each other that the court had little choice but to sever.