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Like many so-called “power users”, the first thing I do after installing Linux is customize it. I set it to my preferred desktop settings, applications and configuration because I know what I like, and I normally go to great lengths to get it just right. Recently, after setting up a new Ubuntu Maverick install for my wife, I began to wonder what it would be like to run a system on the defaults. To try things their way – to use Ubuntu’s desktop settings, Ubuntu’s preferred applications and configuration. This meant I could not install any of my favorite applications (Chrome, VLC, Exaile…) if Ubuntu already provided an equivalent (Firefox, Totem, Rhythmbox…). How did it turn out? Frustrating, but with some surprising results. (Note: This is not your usual Ubuntu review, but my miscellaneous ramblings, and some praises. Read on for details.)

Yesterday I reviewed AssaultCube, a realistic shooter game based upon the Cube engine, so today it’s time to have a look at Sauerbraten, another game in the series of games based on this engine. The version which I’m going to talk about is the latest available at the moment, “Justice Edition”.

In this HowTo I will describe how to prepare a Fedora 14 server for OpenVZ. With OpenVZ you can create multiple Virtual Private Servers (VPS) on the same hardware, similar to Xen and the Linux Vserver project. OpenVZ is the open-source branch of Virtuozzo, a commercial virtualization solution used by many providers that offer virtual servers. The OpenVZ kernel patch is licensed under the GPL license, and the user-level tools are under the QPL license.

Who doesn't like some eyecandy for their desktops, definitely not me. Compiz has enthralled Ubuntu users for years now. When GNOME officially ditched Compiz for Mutter for its next version, Ubuntu decided to stick with Compiz for its Unity Shell. Compiz is actively being developed now and we can expect a lot of surprises for next major Ubuntu release, Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal". Here is a collection of Compiz experimental plugins that does not come with the default package and which is definitely going to blow you away.

Google is to release as open source the developer tools WindowBuilder Pro and CodePro Profiler, both of which were acquired as part of its takeover of Instantiations. The code for the two tools is to be donated to the Eclipse Foundation. At the time of the takeover there was much speculation that the Eclipse-based tools could become Eclipse projects – this speculation has now proven to be correct. Other products which Google has made available free of charge since September, include GWT Designer, WindowTester Pro and CodePro AnalytiX, retain their proprietary status.

Is there a role for writers, illustrators, animators, musicians and voice-over artists to support FOSS mobile devices by the creation of collaboratively produced media -- donated for free preinstallation on those devices? There might be.

Now here's a special Christmas present for all of you Linux enthusiasts out there, as Mandriva announced the availability of its portable USB Mandriva Flash Drive. It is based on the KDE4 Edition of the Mandriva Linux 2010 distribution (released on July 8th, 2010) and it's available as an 8GB USB flash drive.

When CPTN Holdings appeared out of the blue to snap up Novell’s patent portfolio, the only thing anyone knew about them was that Microsoft was behind the group and that’s all Microsoft had to say about its Novell intellectual property (IP) purchase. Now, thanks to Germany’s anti-trust body, the Bundeskartellamt, we know that Microsoft’s CPTN Holdings partners were Apple, EMC, and Oracle.

Previously known as Wormux, WarMUX is a free, open-source clone of the popular game Worms, with completely new, free-licensed graphics and music/sounds, available for Linux, Windows and Mac. Starting with version 0.9.0, WarMUX introduced single player games versus AI too. The available game modes are single player (vs AI) and multiplayer on the online server.

Yes, it’s that time of year. Eggnog, fruitcake, tangled lights, crowded stores, bad weather — and the annual industry retrospectives. You can’t argue with tradition, though, and 2010 was a very interesting year for Linux and open source. Let’s take a look back at 2010 and see whether it was naughty or nice.

Ubuntu takes a lot of punches from time to time for its marketing and even its interface. Some feel Ubuntu is dumbed down and oversimplified, while many others think it's innovative and user-friendly. Where ever you fall in the debate, one developer thinks some elements of Ubuntu should land into openSUSE. In fact, he has packaged up and pushed them to openSUSE:Contrib.

NVIDIA 260.19.26 Driver for Linux is Released, the new NVIDIA 260.19.29 driver adds support for new NVIDIA GPUs, nvidia_logofixes a bug that causes some OpenGL applications to become unresponsive, adds support for NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro, and adds a new 3D Vision Pro configuration file option to the xorg.conf. For installation in Ubuntu follow the instructions in this post.

recordMyDesktop - This is a powerful command-line screencasting application which uses open formats to save the obtaining video (Ogg Theora for video and Ogg Vorbis for audio). recordMyDesktop also provides GTK and Qt frontends, for both GNOME and KDE (the Qt version is not included in Ubuntu's repositories, but it can be downloaded from SourceForge).

So far the Linux presence at CES 2011 looks to be mostly in the form of Android and other Linux-based operating systems appearing on new tablets and other mobile devices. Though there should be the assortment of usual companies innovating atop of open-source software / Linux, like SplashTop and others. There will also be the release of Intel's Sandy Bridge, which already has open-source Linux support, among other PC hardware happenings at this event.

In the past two decades, the open source community has evolved from an obscure grass-roots movement of wild-eyed crusaders, indigent grad students, and spare-time hobbyists to an unprecedented worldwide collaboration of full-time professionals and extraordinarily committed volunteers. We pride ourselves on our openness to new contributors, from any country or social background, and most often describe the power structure of open source projects as a meritocracy. Many of us believe that open source is inherently progressive - a way to level the playing field that operates across all social categories and class boundaries.

ZevenOS is a German-born project that offers Debian-based and Ubuntu-based versions of their BeOS-like system. ZevenOS is based on Ubuntu (Xubuntu) and ZevenOS-Neptune is based on Debian Testing. The main purpose is to preserve some of the features of BeOS in a modern, capable operating system. Neptune 1.9.1 was recently released to bring the latest Linux goodies to users.

Recently I discovered a new kind of Linux: DoudouLinux. It is not a new distribution, but a version of Debian tailor-made for children, the designer Jean-Michael says that is usable by children two years old and above. By starting this live meta-distro you get a rich and colorful menu from which childrens can choose what to play. Intrigued by the project, I asked Jean-Michel for an interview and he very kindly accepted, this is also a good chance for him to introduce his project in Italy and other countries where it still is not widely known.

Robotis is shipping an 18-inch, humanoid robot developed as an open source research platform by Virginia Tech’s Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa). The Linux-ready Darwin-OP can walk, kick a ball, and pick itself up after falling over -- thanks to an Intel Atom-based FitPC2i SBC (single board computer), an ARM Cortex-M3 based management controller, 20 actuators, and audio/video sensors.

Google isn’t telling me any secrets about its plans for Chrome OS. Indeed, I’m not even one of the 60,000 or so people that Google has given a Cr-48 Chromebook prototype to play with. Even so, unlike my good friend Mary Jo Foley, I think I know exactly who Google has in mind for its Chrome OS Linux desktop system.

If you have used Gnome-Do in Linux, you will find some resemblance in Synapse. The user-interface is the same – activate the launcher, type the search term, press Enter to execute. The only difference is that Synapse makes use of the Zeitgeist engine to display your search result. An appropriate description would be: Synapse is the launcher for your recently used files/folders/applications while Gnome-Do is the launcher for any file/folder/application.