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 ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 
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IMV, one of the best April Fool's jokes I've seen.... Very good... Thanks for that. Direct article link: XBMC Goes Back to its Roots After extensive contract talks and negotiations, we at XBMC are excited to announce an early agreement to work with Microsoft to replace the now defunct Windows Media Center with XBMC for Modern UI (formerly “Metroâ€) using a new skin... ...The only big downside is that, unfortunately, we must make some tough decisions about where to put our resources. ... wrapping up any current work on non-Windows platforms. With the release of XBMC 13, the official version of XBMC will revert to a single, exciting platform. ... IT is very much what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1353365 ·  |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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There's been lots happening in the world of FLOSS as ever. Far too much to give a comprehensive hit list... But one recent surprise is scurrilous ragbag The Register giving ever more positive prominence to all things FLOSS... For a brief sample: Ubuntu without the 'U': Booting the Big Four remixes Raring Ringtail without the OS X/Unity stuff Review It's the end of April, so that means that there's a new release of Ubuntu. Well, actually, no - it means that there are eight of them. Don't like standard Ubuntu's Mac-OS-X-like Unity desktop? Here's where to look. There are umpteen "remixes" alongside the eponymous distro. These mostly differ by having a different desktop - and therefore overall look and feel - but also in some cases different preinstalled apps. There are more than one hundred - many moribund, very specialised or otherwise of little interest - but seven enjoy official recognition. I'm going to look at the "Big Four" - Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu and Ubuntu GNOME. All have a different interface from the standard distro, meaning something for everyone. ... Smug Red Hat buoyed by UK gov's open-source three-line-whip Sir Humphreys gobble Linux subscriptions, we're told The UK government's love affair with open-source technology has given software house Red Hat a shot in the arm, we're told. The company boasted that its government and system integrator business has grown in the "high double-digit rates" over the last three years. ... ... despite the suggested benefits of openness and lower price of open-source software, Whitehall's Sir Humphreys found it hard to ditch closed-source tech - but that change is inevitable. "You can't move away from the fact that legacy systems can be so much of a lock in that customers have no option but to change," he said. Meanwhile, is the show going to spoilt by overly greedy moguls out to control us all? Internet freedom groups urge W3C to keep DRM out of HTML 'Disastrous' proposals said to violate core web principles ... addressed to W3C director Tim Berners-Lee, dated April 24, the groups described the EME proposal as "disastrous," saying that the very idea of adding DRM to the web flies in the face of core W3C principles. "Ratifying EME would be an abdication of responsibility; it would harm interoperability, enshrine nonfree software in W3C standards and perpetuate oppressive business models," the letter states. ... ... Google, Microsoft, and Netflix, respectively. "These companies have been promoting DRM both for their own reasons and as part of their close relationships to major media companies," the FSF's letter claims. It's hard to argue that's not the case. ... ... option will disappear as companies create a system in which media is only available via streaming – where they are able to control who views what when with which software." .. DRM - Defective By Design - Take Action There are many ways you can help in the battle against Digital Restrictions Management. ... ... No DRM in HTML 5 ... IT is very much what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1361844 · |
Aristoteles Doukas  Send message Joined: 11 Apr 08 Posts: 1091 Credit: 2,140,913 RAC: 0 
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Latest brief recent roundup in the world of FLOSS and IT freedom: good for Ardour that they themselves say that their program will not work well in most computers, but then again, Ardour has not worked well in the whole +10 years its been around. But nice to know that at last they have done the midi part ready, they announced that in 2001 and now it is working already, Wau. (of course there are still the issues of drivers for interfaces, which do not exist, but one can always use mac or windows, they work) "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exist elsewhere in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." Calvin to the Hobbes ID: 1362713 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Operator error? Interesting as not all users share your negative view... Try looking again? Try the help forums? Good luck, And IT is very much what we make it, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1363360 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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And the latest Linux kernel hits the world: Linux kernel 3.9 lands Power management, new processors, SSD caching [, yet faster networking] and more... Note how despite the flippantry of The Register, some authors there do seem to be gaining a begrudging interest in FLOSS and freedom... Note also how some drivers are included for hardware that hasn't even hit the market yet. Also note how certain vendors are taking a lot of flak for leaving the Linux developers to do all the hard thoughtful design work for them to just abandon their Top Secret proprietary efforts to then 'adopt' the FLOSS produced solutions... All good advanced stuff! IT is what we make it, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1363362 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Here's a bit of a giggle from a little while ago and previously commented upon: Linux Is Hard, Except When It Isn’t Online tech news site Ars Technica (which I recommend, by the way) recently reviewed the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition. Its unique feature: it ships with Ubuntu Linux as the default operating system. This preload deal had a few unique properties:
See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1363387 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Here's quite a stark example of two very different approaches to software and software security: Microsoft's security apps still trip up on Windows 8 Up to 20% of 0-day attacks evade Redmond's defenses, says AV-Test... Vulnerability handling in the PostgreSQL project On April 4th, 2013, the PostgreSQL project announced a security vulnerability (CVE-2013-1899) and resulting patch for one of the worst security holes in project history. According to the project web page, "this is the first security issue of this magnitude since 2006." Given the broad usage of PostgreSQL, the update caused quite a stir. Even more controversy was created by Heroku's early deployment of the fix. The PostgreSQL project's handling of this security release raises some important questions about how open source projects should handle this kind of release. ... ... They had uncovered the issue while doing security testing of PostgreSQL... ... PostgreSQL has yet to have a major security exploit or worm known to be "in the wild" prior to a fix being available for a vulnerability. With the increasing popularity of the database system, though, it's only a matter of time before the "black hats" outrace the contributors[?]. ... You can decide for yourselves. Take your chances with obscurity and whatever rubbish is hiding languishing under the covers, or... Openly clean up any mess found as cleanly and as openly as possible... IT is what we make it, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1364170 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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More positive fun progress free for all: Linux in 2013: 'Freakishly awesome' – and who needs a fork? ... If there was a theme for Day One of the Linux Foundation's seventh annual Linux Collaboration Summit, taking place this week in San Francisco, it was that the Linux community has moved way, way past wondering whether the open source OS will be successful and competitive. "Today I wanted to talk about the state of Linux," Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, began his opening keynote on Monday. "I'm just going to save everybody 30 minutes. The state of Linux is freakishly awesome." ... ... "This incredible platform is now more than just an operating system. Linux is really now becoming a fundamental part of society – one of the greatest shared technology resources known to man," ... Ubuntu? Fedora? Mint? Debian? We'll find you the right Linux to swallow Distro guide Linux, it is said, is all about choice. Indeed, the ability to choose, well, pretty much everything, is probably the best thing about Linux. But the huge variety from which you can choose - ranging from distro and desktop to window manager - can also be overwhelming for newcomers. If you've ever thought about abandoning Windows or Mac OS X for Linux, but stopped short because you weren't sure which variety of Linux to choose, this guide is for you. ... Ubuntu 13.04 beta touts search privacy - before it hooks in eBay, IMDb etc ... Assuming you've managed to get past last year’s privacy fiasco, either by being comfortable with Canonical sending your search queries to Amazon and others or disabling the feature, this latest beta - code-named Raring Ringtail - is shaping up to be a high-water mark for Unity fans. There's even some good news on the privacy front. In a bug report about the location of the privacy notice in Unity, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said his company plans to "make a very bold, clear way for you to turn on and off network queries across ALL scopes... All in good true irreverent The Register style! IT is what we make it! Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1364187 · |
Bernie Vine  Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328
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Sorry but I will stop listening to anyone who describes the state of an OS as " freakishly awesome" I know Linux is everywhere and yes it is a good operating system, I have use it professionally but "freakishly awesome" Too much coffee I think ID: 1364191 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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... I know Linux is everywhere and yes it is a good operating system, I have use it professionally but "freakishly awesome" Hey! Can't you enjoy being enthusiastic and positively impassioned about something really good? In many ways, the GPL, GNU and Linux have developed into a world beating phenomenon with completely unrivaled development. That is indeed "freakishly awesome" and with fantastic results. It is also a little scary if there is no positive competition... Regardless, it all works well and gives good freedom and choice. IT is what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1364381 · |
Sirius B   Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 
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I think M$ is heading for trouble! Earlier in this thread I mentioned issues with IE over accessing some sites to add to my XMBC media database. Well, it just got worse. Wanting to access my NAS box, found that I could log in but all tabs inaccessible as well as the displayed info normally shown was blank! As access was required as wanting to back up drives so that they can be replaced by 3tb drives (originals are 1tb), tried everything I could think of to gain access - resetting, changing IP address (was set outside of lan range), enabling DHCP IP receipt rather than static IP - nada! Hadn't accessed the box directly in some time so forced to think what has changed on workstation that could cause this..... couldn't think of anything.... Walked away, grabbed a coffee & then thought, hmmn... try once more using firefox - logged in & made changes with no issues. Changes made, just upgraded IE9 to 10 several weeks ago..... Thanks M$, I'm now going to recommend that my customers that are still on XP to upgrade to Win 7 & ignore Win 8 & IE10. ID: 1364509 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Further positive developments in the FLOSS world of freedom: What's in a (Free Software project) name? Trademarks, names and reputation. Glyn Moody looks at the problems that arise when trying to keep control of your reputation and the different approaches taken by open source software projects. Is it Linux or GNU/Linux? It seems such a trivial matter, but of course in the world of free software, it is anything but... Linux still "benchmark of quality"... ... The company annually brings together millions of lines of code from open source and, using the same defect-scanning technology that it uses with its enterprise customers, scans that code for problems to produce data on defect densities. The "accepted industry standard" for defects is 1.0; one in every thousand lines of code. Linux 3.8's 7.6 million lines of code has a defect density of .59, comparing well with 2012 (7.4 million and a .66 density) and 2011 (6.8 million and a .62 density). In general, the code quality of open source code is equivalent to that of proprietary code; Coverity uses an anonymous sample of its 300 customers to give it a defect density for non-open-source code. Proprietary code has an average defect density of 0.68 whilst open source code averages 0.69 – for two years now, the Scan report has shown densities below 1.0... Font boost for Linux from Adobe and Google The FreeType font rendering engine has been enhanced with a new rasterizer for Compact Font Format (CFF) fonts, contributed to FreeType by Adobe and Google... ... Adobe says that it made the contribution after Google asked it to help get an improved rasterizer into FreeType. As FreeType is used on not only Linux, but also FreeBSD, Chrome OS, iOS and other operating systems, Adobe felt it was an "opportunity to make CFF fonts look great on a multitude of devices"... Router Linux OpenWRT 12.09 released The OpenWRT team has released version 12.09 (code name: Attitude Adjustment) of the Linux distribution for routers. As was the case in the beta version, Attitude Adjustment no longer supports Linux kernel 2.4. This affects older router models with just 16MB memory and slow CPUs (200MHz), such as Linksys WRT54G models. Attitude Adjustment does now run on Ramips routers and the mini-computer Raspberry Pi (bcm2708)... For the "benchmark of quality" article/advertisement, the 'code quality test/conclusions' on the surface look to be somewhat suspiciously unfounded conjecture to excuse the results that are listed. A good question is what range of projects were compared and with what levels of project support... The one big example we've seen of proprietary code being introduced into the Linux kernel by one of the leading players for example saw something like two years of effort required to get it up to FLOSS peer-reviewed standard from proprietary hurried mess. There were a good few 'big boobs' along the way... In contrast at the other end of the FLOSS spectrum, you can well expect non-peer-reviewed one-man-band FLOSS projects being of any coding standard anywhere from horrid through to (more often) excellent. Is that report article actually just a game of advertising and proprietary numbers to massage the ego of proprietary code? The latest OpenWRT release shows nicely what such a very wide range of hardware GNU/Linux can run on, and runs on well! ... And an awful lot more. Fantastic stuff! IT is what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1366014 · |
Gary Charpentier     Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30636 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 
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In general, the code quality of open source code is equivalent to that of proprietary code My gosh Martin, you are telling me Microsoft's code is just as good as Linux! 
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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In general, the code quality of open source code is equivalent to that of proprietary code Shock horror! Tell me that's not so! ID: 1366053 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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In general, the code quality of open source code is equivalent to that of proprietary code OK, so very good for your selective sound-bite quote. Now read the rest of what I wrote?... IT is what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1366065 · |
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Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30636 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32
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In general, the code quality of open source code is equivalent to that of proprietary code He can't. But all the study says is that humans write code. There is nothing special about the humans that write FOSS over those that write proprietary. Wouldn't expect there to be much difference. That is a bitter hard pill for FOSS groupies to swallow.
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Just for a small sampling of why all this is so "awesome": The history of Linux: how time has shaped the penguin ... As we sit in front of the latest version of Ubuntu, Fedora or SUSE [or any of many others], revelling in the glorious animated desktops, taking pleasure in the ease-of-use the GUI grants and enjoying the fact that most of our hardware works out of the box, do we ever wonder how on Earth our favourite operating system got to this point? Do we consider and appreciate the amount of time and effort that a long list of developers have taken in reaching this Zen-like state of man and OS? Most likely, not. A quick reminisce of Linux distros long gone made us think about the history of this wonderful OS, and its journey over the last couple of decades. When was it born? How did it evolve? What distros stand out in history as the pivotal turning point that changed a humble bedroom project into the desktop OS we have today? And which poor distros fell by the wayside as failed, crumpled heaps? Let's, then, take a step back in time as we embark upon a chronological look at Linux, and see how history has shaped the mighty penguin. ... And you can freely download and use all this. You are even encouraged (fully legally - you have the freedom) to share this with your friends. You have freedom. What's more awesome than that in the IT world?... IT is what very much what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1366106 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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We've had Linux in space for a long time. This small example here however does carry more on the news headlines: Penguins in spa-a-a-ce! ISS dumps Windows for Linux on laptops 'We needed an operating system that was stable and reliable' The crew of the International Space Station (once they've fixed their leak) will trade their old Windows XP laptops for Debian-powered systems to use in their Operations Local Area Network (Ops LAN). The six-person ISS has over 140 laptops on board, around 80 of which are working at any one time, along with a variety of internal networks for operations, crew support, and telemetry. These are used to manage on-board systems and handle some of the 50GB of data the ISS puts out and receives every week. United Space Alliance (USA), the Earth-based contractor who maintains Ops LAN, has been using Windows XP laptops for the Ops LAN setup. However, with that operating system going into retirement – and prone to frequent crashes – laptops and network integration team leader Keith Chuvala decided it was time for a change. "We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable – one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust or adapt, we could," ... IT is what very much what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1367883 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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We've had Linux in space for a long time. This small example here however does carry more on the news headlines: And it's certainly hitting various headlines including the general run of the runt newspapers even! Just a few headlines are copied here. And then also... I wonder how long Linux has been in space...? The Telegraph: International Space Station to boldly go with Linux over Windows Computers aboard the International Space Station are to be switched from Windows XP to the Linux operating system in an attempt to improve stability and reliability. Techworld: Linux replaces Windows XP on International Space Station laptops Aging OS ejected from airlock ... With the ISS and its support services are now in an all-Linux state, the organisation plans to press ahead with another piece of Linux-driven technology, the Robonaut (R2), a robot-like humanoid designed to carry out activities outside the ISS considered too dangerous for crew. “Things really clicked after we came to understand how Linux views the world, the interconnectedness of how one thing affects another. You need that worldview. I have quite a bit of Linux experience, but to see others who were really getting it, that was exciting,†concluded Chuvala. In truth the chances of moving to a more recent version of Windows were always non-existent given the widespread use of Linux in the organisation. But incidents such as the embarrassing July 2008 malware infection that saw the W32.Gammima.AG worm infect an orbiting Windows laptop won't have helped Microsoft's cause. Extremetech: International Space Station switches from Windows to Linux, for improved reliability ... we shouldn’t be too surprised at the ditching of Windows. Linux is the scientific community’s operating system of choice. CERN’s Large Hadron Collider is controlled by Linux. NASA and SpaceX ground stations use Linux. DNA-sequencing lab technicians use Linux. Really, for applications that require absolute stability, which most scientific experiments are, Linux is the obvious choice... ZDNet: To the space station and beyond with Linux ... no other operating system is as flexible as Linux. From supercomputers to robots to desktops, NASA is finding that Linux is the answer. 1997: New Computer Operating System Rides Space Shuttle A radically different new computer operating system is controlling an experiment on a Space Shuttle mission in late March... ... "Linux is the modern successor to the Unix operating system developed by Bell Labs during the 1970's"... 2005: Build Your Own Linux-Based Satellite For $10 million, SpaceDev is offering a Linux-based microsatellite that can be controlled over the internet using any laptop or desktop computer... 2005: First Beowulf Cluster in Space When a satellite's image-gathering power exceeds the bandwidth available to transmit the images, a Linux cluster right on the satellite helps decide which images to send back to Earth. 2011: Unix/Linux used in space exploration? This is how I make my living these days. We are using Solaris but are migrating to Linux as fast as we can. We build launch vehicles and satellites... 2013: World's First Smartphone-Powered Satellite Launched Into Space ... Dubbed the world’s first “Phonesatâ€, the STRaND-1 carries a Google Nexus One, a new Linux-based high-speed CubeSat computer and attitude & orbit control system, and two propulsion systems. According to a joint press release issued by the SSC and SSTL,the 7.7-lb satellite will initially be controlled by the Linux-based CubeSat computer, with the Android-powered taking over the reigns of the nanosatellite’s in-orbit operations during the second phase of the mission. ... Interesting good positive stuff! To boldly venture onwards!! :-) IT is very much what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1367966 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20252 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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How much a month is Linus Torvald paying you to plug his system? No matter what you say Linux will never be on 90% of desktops and laptops in the world, however much you think it ought to be or should be. I bet you signed the petition to keep the tanner! I just use his system along with the work donated by Richard Stallman... It also keeps me in business, and with great freedom for doing business, reliably. And an ideal scenario would be to see Linux systems with no more than 20% of whichever market segment, equally sharing open standards with 4 other independent systems. Monopoly is bad for the users regardless of the system name behind whatever monopoly... Monopoly also stifles progress... Hence why are we stuck with an awful lot of 32-bit software running on 64-bit hardware?... Over a decade later, still... IT is what we make it... Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1368114 · |
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