Linux and BSD news and resources (via Mowser)

Information for Linux System Administration

Three problems with Ubuntu Business Desktop Remix

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That brings up this question: What is the penetration or adoption rate of Ubuntu Desktop in the business sector? I do not have the numbers, and Canonical has not released any, as far as I know, but given that Mark and Co. have had a rough going trying to persuade PC vendors to pre-load Ubuntu Desktop on personal computers sold to the public, I doubt that the adoption rate is significant. If true (I could be wrong, though), I do not thing that a separate desktop edition for business users will make any difference.

Here are reasons I think so, why Ubuntu Business Desktop Remix will be a tough sell to serious businesses, that is, those serious about protecting their assets and maximizing employee productivity? read more...

See all of Ray's abstract art prints on canvas.

mail this link | permapage | score:9985 | -finid, February 16, 2012

Android Ice Cream Sandwich ported to x86 tablets, etc.

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Linpus Technologies, Inc., a Linux software solutions provider based in Taipei, Taiwan, just announced that they have ported Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest edition of Android, to run on x86 tablet, netbook and notebook computers.

Aside from Linpus Lite Desktop, distributions from Linpus are usually for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs). read more...

permapage | score:9949 | -finid, February 11, 2012

Pear OS Linux Panther 3 screenshot preview

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Pear OS is a new Linux desktop distribution based on Ubuntu. Development started in early August 2011, and Pear OS 1.0, the first version marked “stable,” was released on August 15 2011. The newest release is Pear OS Linux Panther 3.

I tend not to pay too much attention to Ubuntu-based distributions especially when there is no feature or features that truly distinguishes them from their parent distribution, but Pear OS appears to be different. In fact, it looks to be better than any other Ubuntu-based distribution. Perhaps even better than Ubuntu itself. read more...

mail this link | permapage | score:9914 | -finid, December 16, 2011

The Coming HTML 5 Revolution in Linux

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I have spent the last couple of weeks working on a very ambitious C++ program. The program is a software model of a mechanical engineering system. I have never undertaken a more challenging or more rewarding computer programming project. As I spent hour after hour poring over the code, I began to realize why everyone is making such a fuss about HTML 5. read more...

permapage | score:9910 | -aweber, December 13, 2011

ownCloud 3 released with enhanced features

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Version 3 of ownCloud, the open source, cloud application that enables you to run your own cloud server from your computer, has been released. This comes roughly 47 days before the launch of a commercial entity that would provide products and services for ownCloud. read more...

permapage | score:9908 | -finid, February 1, 2012

Endian Firewall Community 2.5.1 released

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Endian Firewall Community is a free edition of Endian Firewall, a security-focused Linux distribution developed by Endian S.r.l., a Linux solutions provider based in Bolzano Italy.

Endian Firewall Community is designed for small, non-profit organizations and SOHO (Small-/Home-Office) deployments. The latest version, Endian Firewall Community 2.5.1, released today, comes with several feature enhancements, including support for most modern UMTS/3G USB dongles, trusted timestamping using OpenTSA, and improvements to the policy-based and static routing modules. read more...

mail this link | permapage | score:9894 | -finid, January 31, 2012

Pissed Off Penguins: A Free Game Project

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Kris Occhipinti is currently in the middle of creating a 2D game using the Blender 3D game engine. The game, called Pissed Off Penguins, looks similar to the popular “Angry Birds” game most of you have likely heard about. I wanted to outline this open-source project and expose some of the unique techniques Kris is using to both fund this project and create the game itself. read more...

permapage | score:9893 | -aweber, December 11, 2011

HDMI Dongle: Portable set-top box runs Android 4

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HDMI Dongle is an Open Source, USB-sized set-top box from Always Innovating. A TV on a stick, it is designed to turn any TV with USB and HDMI ports into a connected TV.

It comes with a simple remote control that has voice control and Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities. On the software side, it can run Android 4 (Ice Scream Sandwich). read more...

permapage | score:9890 | -finid, January 20, 2012

Does disk encryption really protect your data?

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Disk encryption is one of several physical security measures that could be used to protect data on your computer from unauthorized physical access. And it is best configured during installation, not after. But once configured, how effective is it? read more...

permapage | score:9883 | -finid, December 11, 2011

Install Apache2, PHP5, MySQL on CentOS 5.7

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LAMP is short for Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP. This tutorial shows how you can install an Apache2 webserver on a CentOS 5.7 server with PHP5 support (mod_php) and MySQL support. read more...

permapage | score:9883 | -falko, December 11, 2011

Cotton Candy: Pocket Android or Ubuntu

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Cotton Candy is a USB stick-sized computing device being developed by FXI Technologies, a technology startup based in Trondheim, Norway. It is being marketed as an any screen companion device designed to give consumers a consistent digital experience “from screen to screen.”

Sporting a USB 2.0, HDMI 2.1 connectors and a microSD slot, it can handle a wide range of audio, image and video formats. To top it off, it can run Android or Ubuntu. read more...

permapage | score:9821 | -finid, January 12, 2012

WebOS, The FCC, and Red Hat has Record Quarter

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The universe that contains GNU/Linux and Free Software rarely slows down for simple things such as holidays.

Meg Whitman, the new CEO of Hewlett Packard Corporation, recently announced that WebOS, HP’s Linux-based OS for mobile devices (and maybe future PCs) is being released under an open source license. It is not yet known which license it will be released under, but most believe that it will be an Apache license.

The Debate OS Project

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Today I ran across another open-source Kickstarter project that I thought was worth sharing. The project, called Debate OS, is an Ubuntu spin focused on providing a debate environment for high school and college students. read more...

permapage | score:9805 | -aweber, December 15, 2011

Anti SOPA/PIPA Protest: How it happened and what you can do

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The protest against Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) has come and gone, but the fight is just getting started. Proponents of SOPA, a legislative proposal thought to be dead by those opposing it, have promised to make another pass at making it the law of the land, and PIPA is due for a test vote on January 24. This thing is just getting started. read more...

permapage | score:9797 | -finid, January 24, 2012

Tutorial: Replace Windows with Pinguy OS 11.10

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This tutorial shows how you can set up a Pinguy OS 11.10 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge. read more...

permapage | score:9780 | -falko, December 14, 2011

The Case for Android on Linux

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Like most office workers, my day is generally split up into two phases. The second phase, where I spend 90% of my time, is spent switching between the 3 or 4 primary applications I need to use to get my work done.

For this kind of activity Linux (and indeed any GUI based OS created in the last decade) works well, because the focus of desktop operating systems is on allowing you simultaneously to run a small number of monolithic applications that perform a specific job.

On the other hand the first phase of my day is where I get warmed up for the mental triathlon to come. I read my emails, check my news feeds, browse my calendar and review my task list. In this phase I am a consumer of information, with the possible exception of composing a few short emails. read more...

mail this link | permapage | score:9725 | -mcasperson, February 7, 2011

OwnCloud and PageKite: trouble with Verizon?

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These days, everybody is talking about cloud computing, and many people use it in one form or the other. But popular cloud computing services are provided by a third party, which means that you store you data on a server somewhere, so that you can access it any time, from anywhere. But there are cloud applications that any person can use to host their own private cloud, from their home.

OwnCloud is one such application. With OwnCloud, you can build a cloud computing service on your server, in your basement, that you can access from anywhere. read more...

mail this link | permapage | score:9724 | -finid, November 24, 2011

Counting the Lines in a MySQL Database

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The "check_mysql_count.pl" plugin can be used to count lines in a MySQL database. It can be used to count either the total number of lines, or the number of lines that meet a certain criterion. read more...

permapage | score:9712 | -aweber, January 2, 2012

Enable the Gnome Shell in Fedora 16 and Virtual Box

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This video shows you how to enable the Gnome 3 Shell in Fedora 16 and VirtualBox. read more...

permapage | score:9704 | -mcasperson, December 27, 2011

Linux dominates Windows

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Linux dominates Windows -- and everything else -- on supercomputers in 2010. Microsoft's renowned engineering quality and down-to-earth pricing shows brilliantly in its capturing 1% of the top 500 supercomputer projects. Perhaps next year, utilizing all the organizational pressure they can bring to bear, they can retain 0.8%.

Formal Unix, now long dead*, controls 4.4%. Meanwhile, Linux is now installed on 91% of the remaining 95% of top systems. Add in the single BSD system and you have Unix-like systems (Unix+Linux+BSD) accounting for 95.6% of the top supercomputer projects. The remaining 3.4% of are 'mixed' systems and may also contain significant percentages of Unix and Linux.

There are many reasons for Linux' success. Among the top factors are surely these four, in no particular order:

Price (starting at free)
Quality (excellent code, Unix-based design)
Hardware Support (most all modern quality gear is supported)
Open Source (open to tinkering -- and redistributable)

Check my math on the top 500 systems here.

*Of course, counting functional Unix systems while ignoring the trademarked term, Unix is clearly not dead since Linux is one of the truest of the true Unix work-alike systems. Linux is, of course, the reason formal Unix has suffered such a precipitous decline. Many Unix users just switched flavors -- and Linux was a most appealing flavor.

mail this link | permapage | score:9666 | -Ray, June 2, 2010

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