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The Problem With The Linux Community

By Caitlyn Martin
November 20, 2009

While I'm very positive about the openSUSE team I must say that I am a lot less sanguine about some in their community. Some fans (or really fanatics) came out in force ready to attack the reviewer (me), to question my skills and even my sanity, to attack Ladislav Bodnar for posting the review, to blame the hardware, anything at all but the distro code which is, according to some, "the best release ever".

Four short links: 6 November 2009

By Nat Torkington
November 6, 2009

Red Laser -- "impossibly accurate barcode scanning". Uses Google Product Search to identify products that you scan using the camera on the phone. I remember Rael and I talking to Jeff Bezos about this years ago, before camphones had the resolution to decode barcodes. The future is here and it's $1.99 on the App Store ... (via Ed Corkery...

Announcing O'Reilly Answers - Clever Hacks. Creative Ideas. Innovative Solutions.

By Allen Noren
November 4, 2009

We're launching the beta of O'Reilly Answers, and I'm inviting you to be part of it. In brief, O'Reilly Answers is a community site for sharing knowledge, asking questions, and providing answers that brings together our customers, authors, editors, conference speakers, and Foo (Friends of O'Reilly). O'Reilly is at the center of an amazing exchange of knowledge sharing and idea generation, and we want you to join us in changing the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators.

Linux Netbooks: They're Still Out There

By Caitlyn Martin
October 23, 2009

I found a wide variety of systems with Linux available from mainstream outlets and factory direct, at least here in the United States where I live. While I don't have updated market share figures it's clear, despite claims by Microsoft and their supporters, that Linux remains entrenched in the netbook market and is spreading out from there.

Four short links: 8 October 2009

By Nat Torkington
October 8, 2009

Linux Baby Rocker -- inventive use of a CD drive and the eject command ... (via Hacker News) I Like Unicorn Because It's Unix -- forceful rant about the need to rediscover Unix systems programming. Reminds me of the Varnish notes where the author explains that it works better because it uses the operating system instead of recreating it...

The Day The Netbook Died

By Caitlyn Martin
October 7, 2009

On that Friday, with no warning, the little netbook failed to boot up. I couldn't even get to the BIOS. For the third time a Sylvania netbook I owned had suffered a premature hardware failure.

Seeking information on free Linux online training

By Andy Oram
September 29, 2009

I'm interested in hearing about good open-source training materials for GNU/Linux use and administration.

Four short links: 14 September 2009

By Nat Torkington
September 14, 2009

WTF Is A Supercolumn? -- Cassandra is a NoSQL database, a triplestore that scales superwell. Because it's not the usual relational thing we're accustomed to, the language can be a barrier to learning: ColumnFamily, SuperColumns, and more. This post explains what's what, with examples. (via joshua on Delicious) Gov 2.0 Summit Videos -- When I grow up, I want...

The Future of CentOS and Criteria For Choosing a Business Distribution

By Caitlyn Martin
August 6, 2009

The whole time the dispute between the CentOS developers was in the news development moved forward and patches were released. CentOS was never a one man show. It was perhaps in danger of forking or a name change but it never really was anywhere near point of death.

Is Oracle Getting Ready To Kill Unbreakable Linux?

By Chris Josephes
July 14, 2009

Will Unbreakable Linux be pushed to the sidelines by another open source operating system?

Find your Bay Area Linux User Group

By Marsee Henon
July 13, 2009

Our local Linux groups are getting ready for OSCON and have put together a flyer for the Bay Area LUGs. Regions include the North and South Bay, Sacramento, San Francisco, Peninsula, Santa Cruz, and more.

Jono Bacon on the Value of Good Communities

By James Turner
July 9, 2009

Ubuntu has enjoyed fantastic success over the past few years, becoming one of the dominant Linux distributions, and the distribution of choice for netbooks. Jono Bacon's job is to make sure that that success continues, by keeping the huge Ubuntu developer community happy and productive. We caught up with Jono in advance of his appearance at OSCON, the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, and he was more than happy to talk about the efforts underway to not only improve the Ubuntu community, but also bring together other communities, such as Gnome and KDE, to help them work better together. Jono officially works for Canonical, a company founded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth for the promotion of Ubuntu and other free software projects.

Low End Linux Netbook Prices Continue To Drop

By Caitlyn Martin
June 29, 2009

It almost goes without saying that you won't find anything that runs Windows at anywhere near these prices. Oh, and no, that doesn't mean that Linux is somehow inferior as Windows fans would want you to believe. It is, however, free of charge.

Four short links: 12 June 2009

By Nat Torkington
June 12, 2009

New Media Challenges: Legal and Policy Considerations for Federal Use of Web 2.0 Technology (Center for American Progress) -- report on the issues around Web 2.0 use in Government, which include privacy, security, Public Records Act, advertising, etc. See also It's Not the Campaign Anymore: How the White House Is Using Web 2.0 Technology So Far from the same...

Linux To Regain 50% Netbook Market Share

By Caitlyn Martin
May 21, 2009

Stephen Lim, the General Manager of Taiwan based Linpus Technologies, made the surprising prediction that Linux will regain 50% market share from Windows on netbooks by next year.

Favorite Linux Book of All Time: Linux in a Nutshell

By Kathryn Barrett
May 1, 2009

The Linux Journal's annual Readers' Choice Awards take the pulse of the Linux community, allowing readers to choose their favorites in a number of categories, and write-ins also are accepted. This year, more than 6,000 individuals voted for their favorite Linux solutions—one of the biggest turnouts in in Linux Journal history. And Linux in a Nutshell won the award for Favorite Linux Book of All Time. Our thanks to everyone who voted for this book. We think it's a classic and we're glad that you do, too!

Data chef: SPSS Tripe Consomm�

By Uche Ogbuji
May 1, 2009

The data chef discusses translation of data from SPSS format, for those who don't have a licensed copy at hand.

A Linux Netbook Done The Right Way: the Sylvania g Netbook Meso

By Caitlyn Martin
April 1, 2009

In just over two months of use so far I have been very impressed with the Sylvania g Netbook Meso. None of the issues, hardware or software, that I encountered with the original g Netbook, are seen in the somewhat newer model. The Meso has proven to be an upgrade in performance, in reliability, and most definitely in the area of software.

Linux Performance: Different Distributions, Very Different Results

By Caitlyn Martin
March 9, 2009

I almost invariably get a comment to the effect that all Linux distros are essentially the same: running the same kernel, the same libraries, the same filesystems. Performance should be essentially the same, right? The answer is a resounding no. The performance results of different distributions, even ones running the same kernel version, the same core libraries, and the same filesystem can be very, very different.

Improved Linux Screen Space Management With PekWM

By Caitlyn Martin
March 7, 2009

PekWM offers an additional solution: window grouping. It allows a variety of different applications to be grouped together in a single window. Most everyone is familiar with tabbed browsing by now. Window grouping takes this one step further. When window grouping is used in PekWM the title bar in the window manager is segmented with each section effectively acting like a tab.

Windows or Linux? A case of machine ignorance

By Andy Oram
March 1, 2009

Our artist at O'Reilly was spell-checking the text in a drawing and got a strange recommendation. Perhaps Adobe is little behind the times, not recognizing Linux as a word, but where did the recommendation for Windows come from?

Interview with Infoworld's Paul Venezia on the Terry Child's Case

By Timothy M. O'Brien
February 26, 2009

If you are a network engineer, you might want to pay attention to the continuing case of Terry Childs in San Francisco. In this 15-minute interview, Paul Venezia discusses the inconsistencies in the case, and why every technologist should be paying attention to the outcome of the Childs case.

Southern California Linux Expo: freedom in a service economy, and more

By Andy Oram
February 22, 2009

This evening's SCALE blog covers Bradley Kuhn's keynote on Software as a Service, Jono Bacon on security, Red Hat's counsel on patents, and much more (with ample indulgence for my own opinions).

VL-Hot: A Non-polling Alternative To HAL

By Caitlyn Martin
February 21, 2009

VL-Hot is an automounter which provides an alternative to the HAL daemon that provides some but not all of the functionality of HAL without continuously polling hardware.

libproxy tries to fix what sucks about proxies--and other news from first day of Southern California Linux Expo

By Andy Oram
February 21, 2009

Application support for proxies is inconsistent. Nathaniel McCallum and his colleagues have done a pretty exhaustive study of application support for proxies. This is a classic problem crying out for standardization, and libproxy tries to fill that gap. Existing applications would have to be rewritten, but for an interface that provides only three calls, how much trouble can that be?

Love and UNIX: An Undying Affection

By Allen Noren
February 13, 2009

Youthful indiscretions, trysts, dalliances? Programmer and writer Thomas Scoville has had them with every OS from VMS, MVS, and CP/M. He even admits to a short-lived infatuation with Windows. But he's always returned to his one true love, UNIX.

Netbook Nightmare: My Experience With the Sylvania g Netbook

By Caitlyn Martin
February 13, 2009

I would have rated the hardware in this unit highly if it hadn't failed on me on two consecutive systems. I understand that two units is hardly a scientific sample and that I may just have had really bad luck. Unfortunately the software proved to be a disaster as well.

Novel Releases Moonlight 1.0 (Silverlight for Linux)

By Andrew Trice
February 12, 2009

Today, Novell officially released Moonlight version 1.0, the open source Silverlight implementation for linux.

Making Slackware and Slackware Derivative Linux Distros Speak Your Language

By Caitlyn Martin
January 29, 2009

...if you're willing to edit one or two configuration files and install a few packages you can make Slackware speak your language, working in whatever language you are most comfortable with.

O'Reilly Week in Review for January 26, 2009

By James Turner
January 28, 2009

This week's podcast has excerpts from interviews with Craig Newmark of Craigslist and Linux Device Driver Guru Greg-Kroah Hartman. There's also a audio tour of the O'Reilly web site, and a new podquiz that can score you a book from...

Installing Silverlight on Linux

By John Papa
January 7, 2009

The SIlverlight install experience on Linux is progressing ...

MadTux Closes Its Doors

By Caitlyn Martin
January 1, 2009

After eight years in business California-based MadTux, an online retailer specializing in systems preloaded with Linux, has closed.

VirtualBox 2.1.0 Released: A Look at the Mac Version

By Todd Ogasawara
December 24, 2008

VirtualBox 2.1.0 adds Intel VT-x hardware virtualization support as well as the ability to run 64-bit Guest OSes on a 32-bit host OS. I installed Xubuntu (based on Ubuntu 8.1.0) and brought in the previously built Windows 2000 Guest OS for testing. The results look good so far.

My Netbook Took Me Back To Windows

By Brady Forrest
December 15, 2008

When I left Microsoft I switched to a Macbook Pro and didn't look back. I never thought that I would use a Windows machine regularly again. Then I got an Asus Eee PC 1000h (10.2 in screen, 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, upgraded to 2GB RAM; I judge it to be on the larger end of a netbook)....

The Lawsuit Ain't Over Til the Fat Lady Sings

By James Turner
December 1, 2008

Last week, the final judgment was issued in the SCO v. Novell lawsuit. No big surprise, Novell took the day, with SCO ordered to fork over around 3.5 million dollars. This lead many to declare SCO dead, that truth and...

How Linux Supports More Devices Than Any Other OS, Ever

By chromatic
October 29, 2008

Greg-Kroah Hartman discusses why he believes the Linux kernel supports more devices than any other operating system ever has, why binary-only drivers are impractical, immoral, and illegal, and how the kernel development process contributes to the inevitable world domination of free software.

An array of embedded Linux expertise

By Andy Oram
October 26, 2008

Most potential buyers of Building Embedded Linux Systems don't know about the contributors' impressive credentials. Here are some of the people who brought you the second edition.

First Impressions of My New Android Phone

By Brian Redfern
October 23, 2008

I got myself an ipod touch a while back, but I avoided the iphone. I didn't like dealing with ATT, and am glad I waited. The android isn't the same as the iphone. Its got a different philosophy behind it....

Linux Kernel Worth $1.4 Billion

By Allison Randal
October 21, 2008

The Linux Foundation has released a report estimating the Linux kernel to be worth $1.4 billion, and the Fedora 9 distribution to be worth just over $10 billion. The report is an update of a 2002 report estimating the worth of Red Hat Linux 7.1 (Fedora is the community edition of Red Hat Linux, renamed in 2003). The report doesn't...

The Sine Qua Non of the Free Desktop

By chromatic
October 16, 2008

Pundits of all kinds love to preach that the free desktop needs this feature or that software to succeed. They may be right for certain audiences, but they often miss the single essential feature which gives free desktops an amazing evolutionary edge.

oVirt, Open Virtualization Done Right

By Mike McGrath
October 9, 2008

One thing that most people don't realize with virtualization is that its not the actual virtualization layer that is important. It works, they all do. The important part is in the management tools and that's something that's been sorely missing from the Open Source arena for too long.

Vector Linux SOHO Is Free Again

By Caitlyn Martin
September 28, 2008

After stripping away the marketing hype the net result is that SOHO is once again free. I also have to wonder if there was some push back from the community when SOHO, which was free for download when version 5.8 was current, was moved to a paid-only status.

How PowerTOP, LatencyTOP, and Five-Second Boot Improve Desktop Linux

By chromatic
September 24, 2008

Arjan van de Ven is a Linux kernel hacker and the author of PowerTOP and LatencyTOP. His goal is to fix problems in the Linux desktop to save power, respond more smoothly, and to run faster. This interview explains how.

Is Linux the New Unix?

By Brian Redfern
September 24, 2008

Some people are predicting the death of Solaris. As a multimedia, client-side guy, I find Solaris to be pretty uninteresting, I find Ubuntu's attempt to compete with Mac osx more compelling. Solaris used to be a huge player on the...

Avoiding Downstream Eddies in Free Software

By chromatic
September 23, 2008

Recent discussions about who contributes to the Linux ecosystem have singled out certain companies as freeriders. That almost makes, but misses a greater point: it's their responsibility to contribute to the health of upstream projects.

Theodore Tso: How the LSB Helps You Behind the Scenes

By James Turner
September 22, 2008

The Linux Standard Base (LSB) is the Rosetta Stone for Linux distributions, it establishes a common set of libraries and tools that any Linux application can use safely, and be assured of running correctly. The Linux Foundation is the keeper of the LSB, and recently we spoke with Theodore Tso, who helps tend the LSB, about what goes into keeping it healthy, and how it benefits ISVs, distribution maintainers, and end users alike.

Free as in ...?

By James Turner
September 16, 2008

Everyone seems to be in a huff about the EULA that Mozilla is displaying when you start Firefox under Ubuntu. There are even calls to pull Firefox out of the distribution altogether. But in reality, it's a tempest in a teapot,a waste of valuable energy, and harmfully divisive. Here's why.

Finding Linux Systems Where They Never Were Found Before

By Caitlyn Martin
September 10, 2008

Up until very recently every system, desktop and laptop, in their catalog ran Windows and sported a Windows logo in the ad. While the majority still do a half a dozen laptops, all low-end netbooks, are sold with Linux preinstalled and the Tux logo is prominently featured in some of the ads.

VirtualBox 2.0 Update OK for Windows, Not So Good for Linux

By Todd Ogasawara
September 9, 2008

Sun VirtualBox 2.0 was released on Sept. 4, 2008. I tried this free Open Source cross-platform virtualization hypervisor on an iMac running OS X Leopard. Microsoft Windows virtualization looks somewhat improved. But, running Fedora 9 Linux resulted in problems that I did not see with VirtualBox 1.6.2 a few months ago.

Vector Linux Partners With SQI To Provide Support Infrastructure

By Caitlyn Martin
September 9, 2008

SQI is providing and hosting their Incident Manager software, a ticketing system specifically for paid support customers, as well as a blowledge base available to all Vector Linux users. In addition to providing the software for the knowledge base they are assisting with content creation. The new Vector Linux website which was unveiled in July is also hosted by SQI.

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