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Bash has had multi-processing for a long time, via job control, the $! environment variable, and the "wait" command. Judicious use of parentheses for sub-processes, and pipes where necessary, can put comparatively long-term procedures into the background. Bash 4 now provides a new multi-processing paradigm for shell scripting, via the "coproc" statement.

Even though most Android users are still waiting for Android 2.2, details about the next version Android 3.0, or Gingerbread are starting to emerge. Android 3.0 release date is looking like Q4 of this year, possibly around October. And Gingerbread may already be in some testers' hands - Phandroid has shown an unverified photo of a test build of Android 3.0 running in the wild.

NCR announced two compact POS (point of sale) devices that run SUSE Linux for Point of Service, as well as a number of Windows operating systems. The RealPOS 40 and RealPOS 60 use Intel Atom and Celeron processors, respectively, offer enhanced energy efficiency, and provide both four powered serial ports and up to eight powered USB ports, the company says.

The Linux Mint development team have issued the KDE Edition of version 9 of their Ubuntu-based Linux distribution, code named "Isadora". Linux Mint aims to be user friendly and to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience by including support for DVD playback, Java, and various plug-ins and media codecs.

Basket Note Pads is a multipurpose note-taking application for KDE. Business people can use it to keep track of important tasks and notes. Writers can use it to organize their thoughts. Students can use it for note taking. And generally anyone can use it as a virtual paste bin or clip drawer. Basket was one of the last KDE 3 programs to be ported to KDE 4. While the development appeared to have stalled for some time, it has picked up again, and the developers have released a beta version for KDE 4.

Let's catch up quickly in the Psystar/Apple situation, so we don't miss any of the action. When I read the new DMCA exemptions EFF won, I immediately started to think about Psystar, so I wanted to see what's new. Maybe you did too. So here's the latest I could find. The appeal is going forward. Presumably the next step in the appeal will be oral argument, although I can't swear to it, since Psystar filed its brief under seal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals back in May, so we can't read it, and that's when they would have made the request or not. I can't believe the entire document needed to be sealed, but that is what happened. Perhaps they'd prefer we not get a chance to analyze it?

The developers behind the GNOME project have gathered in the Netherlands this week for the annual GUADEC conference. During a meeting that took place at the event, the GNOME release team made the difficult decision to delay the launch of GNOME 3, the next major version of the popular open source desktop environment. The new version has been deemed unready for mass consumption and will need another round of refinements before it can achieve the level of maturity and robustness that is expected by the software's users.

Corporate backing and a large supportive community – almost all Linux distributions can boast of at least one half of that. Fedora, since its inception in late 2003 as Red Hat's community distribution, has nurtured around itself a devoted community. It has achieved this after providing, release after release, an innovative and complete distribution that demands attention and respect.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are helping the U.S. military analyze and develop the advantages of open-source software -- programs that make their source code open to others so it can be changed and improved. Bringing many minds to bear on a given program can lead to software that is both high quality and low cost, or even free. For example, the Linux operating system, which licenses its basic source code for free, is now used to run many servers in companies, government and academia. The U.S. military is interested in open source, too, because it offers the potential for increased speed and flexibility, among other advantages. Scientists and engineers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are working with military agencies to maximize the open-source potential.

It may seem like Python is just another scripting language, but know that when you are using Linux, the chances are there is some Python code working backstage helping you. Among other things, this article looks into the versatile nature of Python and its many uses…

If there was any justice in this world, there would be two cars parked in my driveway. One would be a 1977 Ferrari 308 GTS. The other would be a midnight blue BMW M3 convertible with all the amenities. I'd want the leather seats and power everything. When I'm in the BMW, I don't want to have to roll the windows down; I want to push a button and have a leprechaun come out and roll them down for me. I want to point the car in the general direction of where I want to go and have it drive me there. That's right, sometimes a guy just wants to be pampered.

You've got to love OpenBSD's install process. OK, you don't have to love it, but it has its advantages. Whether it's painless or painful (and that depends on your perspective and familiarity with it), it is over quickly. Very quickly. You can probably go from boot to Fvwm2 desktop in less than 10 minutes. Take that (fill in the blank)!

ALSA has been the default Linux sound system for many years, and it is a perfectly capable audio subsystem even in this modern era of fancy new things. Carla Schroder shows us how to to control Linux audio with ALSA.

The U.S. military and researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are putting their heads together to help the military adopt more open source software. The military wants in on the cost savings, speed and flexibility which OSS offers to users, as opposed to being stuck waiting on proprietary software vendors to modified their tools when changes are needed. If the open source model can be secured enough for the military, surely it can be secured enough for the enterprise.

Two years ago at GUADEC, the annual developer's conference for GNOME, it was announced that GNOME 2.30 would be released as GNOME 3.0. With GNOME's long-standing tradition of putting out major updates every six months, this put the GNOME 3.0 release to be in March of 2010. Last November it was then decided to delay GNOME 3.0 to September of 2010 to give developers more time to prepare on this first major overhaul to the GNOME desktop in years. It's just been announced though from this year's GUADEC conference happening this week that GNOME 3.0 will now not be released until March of 2011.

GENIVI, a nonprofit organization setup by car manufacturers and chip makers, has announced that MeeGo will be the platform for future In-Vehicle Infotainment devices. Before you wince at the word "infotainment," know that this announcement essentially means that MeeGo will be the de facto operating system for in-dash GPS devices, media players, and whatever else the member manufacturers of GENIVI can think of. This is a big move for the proliferation of MeeGo, especially considering the project hinted at further iterations of the Linux-based OS on TVs and mediaphones.

The best way to memorize all linux commands and techniques used in Linux administration to gain the Linux Professional Institute certificate ( LPIC ) is by practice. The following LPI sample exam should be taken as a middle way between reading a book and practice on command line. It includes questions from all topics required for LPIC 101.

More than one-fourth of defective implantable medical devices discovered this year were probably the result of bugs in the software used to control them, a group advocating open source software claimed in a report that argues against the use of proprietary code in the life-saving products.

If you need to automate, you can now automate your automation efforts, while your belly grows big.

A Norwegian startup is assuming responsibility for maintaining an open source web authentication technology originally developed by Sun Microsystems, and seemingly neglected by Oracle, which purchased Sun in January.