Linux hits the world
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 ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20 
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I do still use Windows, via virtual machines, mainly due to Apple's refusal to provide drivers for the iPhone/iPod/iPad. Are you getting all blinkered up?... If those devices followed common standards, then they would just simply work for everything, including Linux. Can you 'fix' Apple to make those devices work nicely with the rest of the world?... Thought not. Note also that Apple is still free to offer their applications to run on Linux, for free of cost or for payment. Can you 'fix' Linux to do all manner of contrived gymnastics to unravel the proprietary secrecy and obfuscation so as to give the users greater freedom to do as they want to do?... Yes you can. And what is even better for Linux: You yourself expressly have the right and the freedom (except where certain corporates deny you your rights with their restrictive conditions) to modify Linux to what you want it to do. With that comes a responsibility that you should also make your improvements available to everyone. 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: 1155964 ·  |
Sirius B   Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 
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No, not blinkered at all. Each O/S has it's +'s & -'s. How long have the Ipods/Iphones/Ipads been available? but when a Linux user states that he has to use windows just to be able to run his Apple devices, tells me that Linux is just not ready enough to hit the world! ID: 1155965 · |
bobby  Send message Joined: 22 Mar 02 Posts: 2866 Credit: 17,789,109 RAC: 3 
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No, not blinkered at all. Each O/S has it's +'s & -'s. Well to be fair to Linux, I could manage my iPod if I choose to use something other than iTunes. For the phone I need either a Mac or Windows to perform iOS upgrades, Apple provide no support for any other mechaniism. It should be noted that Apple in the past have in the past made changes to iOS to break unauthorized third party applications, so even if somebody did provide code to perform iOS upgrades, there's no guarantee that it'd work for more than one upgrade. I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ... 
ID: 1156021 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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No, not blinkered at all. Each O/S has it's +'s & -'s. ..which just proves the point that Linux is not ready for the world of the average users. ID: 1156080 · |
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bobby Send message Joined: 22 Mar 02 Posts: 2866 Credit: 17,789,109 RAC: 3
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No, not blinkered at all. Each O/S has it's +'s & -'s. Well, that implies I am not an "average user", I don't know the truth of this, though I'll accept it for the sake of argument. There is an obvious caveat to your statement, it only applies if the average user also happen to have an iOS based device. I'm not sure this is the average user, though it is certainly a reasonably large group. For that group of users there's another caveat, that being while Apple refuse to provide Linux support. I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...
ID: 1156102 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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No, not blinkered at all. Each O/S has it's +'s & -'s. That says nothing significant about Linux. All it says is that Apple uses restrictive methods and has chosen not to offer an 'Official Apple Application' or whatever you want to call it for Linux. Linux is more than capable of supporting whatever i-'devices' if that supplier was cooperative. Linux does offer some support for those devices regardless of whatever 'official' stance and 'manoeuvrings'. It's all a question of your freedoms for that example. 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: 1156104 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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Sorry Bobby, I often mentioned it in other threads so forgot to clarify here. I use the term "average users" to differeniate from IT Techs & Enthusiasts. Most home users just want to use their computers for word processing, surfing the net, music & video & just want to insttall an install disk to get whatever software that comes with any device they add, i.e., Ipod or Iphones & Itunes. In the past I have installed Linux on systems for my customers as it's a free O/S but within a month, they want Windows. Until Linux achieves that sort of recognition, there's no way atm that it will become a "home" standard. ID: 1156105 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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... Most home users just want to use their computers... And that is where they will remain victims of various lock-in and anti-competitive practices at their great and unnecessary additional cost... That is as much a case of personal freedoms as of nefarious 'business practice'... 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: 1156107 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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quite agree there. But, what gets me atm is that "Linux developers" have got Linux to its current state. I remember back in '91, it was a nightmare to get up & running (Maybe I was too used to MS-Dos), however since then, it is a worthwhile O/S. ...SO why hasn't it developed an easy installer similar to Windows? What's stopping it becoming a real contensious competitor to Microsoft? ID: 1156109 · |
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bobby Send message Joined: 22 Mar 02 Posts: 2866 Credit: 17,789,109 RAC: 3
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quite agree there. But, what gets me atm is that "Linux developers" have got Linux to its current state. I remember back in '91, it was a nightmare to get up & running (Maybe I was too used to MS-Dos), however since then, it is a worthwhile O/S. Linux in '91? I imagine it was a nightmare to get up and running back then, Linus didn't get to release the first kernel (0.01) until Sept '91. IIRC by that time Windows was at 3.0 or maybe 3.1. X didn't get into GNU/Linux until 0.95 in March of '92. Big business didn't really get in on the game until the release of 2.4 in '01. WRT to easy installers, I found Ubuntu trivial to install, it's certainly close to as easy as Windows, which is quite an achievement given the minuscule development budget it has compared to Microsoft's. Even Gentoo (my distro of choice), which is not intended to be a trivial install is fairly simple when compared to flavors of UNIX (which I think for that distro is a more appropriate benchmark). The more widely Linux becomes adopted by business for desktop use (and there have been some companies that use Linux by default as a GUI), the more support revenue will be generated, and the simple installers will become. Whether Linux will ultimately replace Windows as the defacto desktop is likely a matter of speculation, something else could come along and disrupt the market in a fashion similar to that already taking place in the UNIX space, where Linux is quickly replacing UNIX as the OS of choice for some very big businesses. Windows does not appear to be making significant inroads into the smart phone or tablet space, and while Apple appear to "own" it at the moment, both are still quite young (compared to PCs and servers). Who knows, maybe tomorrow an entirely new platform will arrive (OS on a USB that runs directly off a monitor or TV?) that interacts primarily with "the cloud"? Linux would appear to be an obvious candidate for such a platform. I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Linux (Free Software Foundation GNU/Linux) is already very big business for some very big businesses. Also, at the moment, Android (Google Bionic/Linux) looks set to take the smartphone leadership. ... Who knows, maybe tomorrow an entirely new platform will arrive (OS on a USB that runs directly off a monitor or TV?) that interacts primarily with "the cloud"? Linux would appear to be an obvious candidate for such a platform. Don't blink! Raspberry Pi "An ARM Linux box for $25. Take a byte!" Impressive stuff to put the good fun and freedom back into computing! 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: 1156591 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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This is one where Linux hits the world at high speed in a rather unexpected way: Mavizen's 130 MPH TTX02 Electric Motorcycle Runs on Linux Why did you stop? Well, I was recompiling my kernel and got a segfault... ... All this hardware and software might seem overkill for a racing bike, especially since it no doubt adds a bit of weight, but it probably compensates for that by giving the teams who will buy one more information about their performance and more ways to customize the ride. If the bike is able to tell you in great details how you're doing, it's probably easier to make adjustments (both to the bike itself and to the way it is driven) to shave off precious seconds from your laps. Technical Details The twin electric motors have a peak horsepower of about 100hp and they get their electricity from a lithium-ion battery. 3 different batteries will be offered, with 11kWh being the biggest one (it should give the bike a range of at least 38 miles, enough to complete the Isle of Man race). Here are some more specs: ... Impressive stuff, especially for the power/weight ratio of the motors. And almost "eco" too! Please excuse the noisome gruesome Marketing approach to the presentation for what is a very interesting new 'concept'. I rather like the Linux WiFi hotspot for setting up all the configuration and for reporting stats. I hope they're using secure logins to avoid the competition winning by cyberwarfare! IT and freedoms are all up to us, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1159472 · |
Aristoteles Doukas  Send message Joined: 11 Apr 08 Posts: 1091 Credit: 2,140,913 RAC: 0 
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ID: 1160777 · |
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Aristoteles Doukas Send message Joined: 11 Apr 08 Posts: 1091 Credit: 2,140,913 RAC: 0
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bad news for linux. could happen to anyone. ID: 1160779 · |
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Aristoteles Doukas Send message Joined: 11 Apr 08 Posts: 1091 Credit: 2,140,913 RAC: 0
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Linus isn´t happy either. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/linus-torvalds-would-like-to-see-a-gnome-fork/9347 ID: 1160819 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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bad news for linux. Not bad news at all. That is all a part of what open peer review is all about. However... Note the source and note the venue. That speaker is well known for promoting Microsoft. A bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing? Microsoft FUD? A bit of a Marketing splash? Meanwhile, Free/Libre Open Source develops further and more strongly. No FUD or apocalyptic EULAs needed. For example, here are two small grass-roots snippets on this morning's blogs to give a taste of what people do with FLOSS: I need to add POWERPACK links to 2010.2 ONE install I have recently picked up a Think Pad T42p and it came with Ubuntu 11.04. Interesting but I really HATED the Unity desk top. ... Gnome 2.3 version whatever was OK but not great. (I am a long time KDE user.) Before wiping the drive I converted it to KUBUNTU and used it for a week or so. It was stable but boring... OK, not what I prefer,so: I have an active MANDRIVA... Thanks to HP and Canonical Simple Scan team I’d just like to say a huge thanks to HP and the folks at Canonical who work on Simple Scan – at long last, HP fixed up the ADF support... awesome multiple document scanning / saving capabilities... You folks rock! Thank you! Depending upon your viewpoint, you can twist those to read any of good - good, or bad - good, or even bad - bad. What is important is having the freedom to do something positive about it. 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: 1161855 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Wow! Such a lot can happen in such a short space of time. Just checking up on the latest developments for the 'new' Linux 3 kernel, and there is rather a lot of other related 'interesting stuff'. Just one small snapshot of one 'Open Source' source of news for the moment: Is Android's bane a boon for Free Software? A few weeks ago, I needed to buy a new mobile phone. Well, I didn't really need to, of course, but my contract was coming up for renewal, and so this provided me with a semi-legitimate reason to acquire a shiny new toy to play with. ... ... As Android began its remarkably rapid ascent to become the world's leading smartphone operating system (depending on how and where you measure it), its "almost open" code was widely accepted as good enough, given that what we had before so was so much worse. The idea that a Linux-based offering could not only be taken seriously by ordinary users, but might actually beat everything else – even the near-mythic iPhone – seemed so extraordinary that we were willing to overlook those proprietary blobs floating around in the sea of otherwise free code. But as Android woes have mounted, and the spectre of a Microsoft [protection/extortion] tax being applied more and more widely has loomed ever larger, there is an interesting possibility: that people will start to think more seriously about creating truly free mobile phone stacks. There are already a number of attempts out there... There's a particularly apt observation there for what I consider to be the abuse of patents: Re: Patents is not just source code ... that's one reason why the patent system is broken: too often, patents are used to block implementations ... Moreover, in software, the implementation is often the solution: there is no way around it (this is like patenting key words in a language). This is even more the case for gene patents: you can't invent "around" DNA: these are monopolies on facts of life. It's for these and many other reasons that I think we need to get rid of patents completely. Full argument here... Sabayon Linux 7 arrives with experimental Fusion kernel The Sabayon Linux development team has released the GNOME, KDE and Xfce variants of version 7.0 of their Linux distribution. According to the developers, Sabayon 7 is "even more fun and cute" than the previous 6.0 release, while also being "bleeding edge" and [yet] reliable. Sabayon Linux 7.0 is based on the 3.0 Linux kernel and includes a choice of either GNOME 3.2, KDE 4.7 or Xfce 4.8 as the desktop environment... Rather good, and a beautifully easy GUI interface and introduction to one of the more powerful Linux distros. That is also considered to be one of the more 'difficult' distros precisely because of that power and flexibility! For the downloads from the sabayon home page, note that not all of the mirrors have yet picked up the "Sabayon_Linux_7" iso images. They should be there soon, or just look at another mirror around the world. Paraguay aims to switch to open source software Paraguay has launched an ambitious project to use only open source software in all government agencies by 2012... "the first and most evident aim is to save resources"... ... The government also wishes to take control of what software is to be used and how, by making those decisions itself. ... For those lost in the dim mists of time or otherwise lost in whatever FUD, note how Linux has had nice graphical desktops for a long time. This is the birthday for just one of them! KDE celebrates 15th birthday KDE, the "K Desktop Environment", is celebrating its fifteenth birthday today... KDE began life on 14 October 1996 when founder Matthias Ettrich posted a request on Usenet for assistance with writing a GUI for Linux using the Qt framework. He stated that the goal of KDE was "NOT to create a GUI for the complete UNIX-system or the System-Administrator" but to "create a GUI for an ENDUSER." ... Canonical releases Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" As expected, Canonical and the Ubuntu developers have announced the release of Ubuntu 11.10, code-named "Oneiric Ocelot". The new version of the project's Linux distribution brings updates to its own Unity desktop interface – including a 2D version for use on systems without 3D acceleration... What's new in Ubuntu 11.10 ... the developers have put particular effort into revising the applications area, improving the usability of the Software Centre and enhancing Ubuntu's Unity interface. ... ... Those who don't like Unity can use GNOME 3.2, KDE 4.7.1, Xfce 4.8 or one of the various simple window managers that are available as alternatives. ... Good to see that kernel.org is coming back online after a very high profile attack. The main result is that stronger signing keys are now being used for the sake of good practice. Meanwhile, development has continued unhindered: Kernel Log: Linux 3.1 approaches Kernel version 3.1 will probably be released in the next few days. ... Linus Torvalds explained in his release email that in RC9, a new GPG key for signing Git tags has been used for the first time. The new key is said to be stronger than the old one and has already been signed by more developers who are known to Torvalds; however, the tag has also been signed with the old key. With various services at kernel.org having been reinstated a few days ago, the Git branch at kernel.org is once again the first location for obtaining the Linux sources. ... Willy Tarreau meanwhile has released checksums of the tar archives of Linux since version 2.6.12; these checksums allow users to verify that their archives contain unmodified source code. ... LibreOffice – a dive into the unknown The Document Foundation (TDF) and LibreOffice turned one year old last month, and it has been a good year. LibreOffice was a dive into the unknown, and an opportunity to prove what the community already knew: that a chance to swim free could only bring positive results. LibreOffice has come alive ... ... The LibreOffice fork didn't come out of nowhere. The Document Foundation (TDF) was launched as an independent community-driven entity in September 2010 to revive the development of OpenOffice.org, which had been stifled by years of bureaucracy from Sun and neglect by Oracle. ... First Look: GNOME 3.2 The first major revision of GNOME 3 offers tighter integration of online services into the desktop environment. ... ... The new version resolves several idiosyncrasies in GNOME 3.0 which had received criticism from users, and also includes new programs offering better integration between the desktop and cloud services. ... Learning from The Apache Way ... For the last 15 years, Apache has been the most popular system there; and for the last 15 years, Microsoft's IIS has failed to dethrone it, despite at least two concerted attempts to do so... Microsoft's market share has not only (again) failed to rise, it has actually sunk back to the level it attained in June 1997. That is, in 14 years, IIS has gone precisely nowhere. In the early days of free software, Apache served a vital purpose. At a time when GNU/Linux was just beginning... The H Roundup for the week ending 15 October Top News Following several delays, the CyanogenMod project released version 7.1 of its custom Android firmware, the world learned that Dennis Ritchie, creator of the C programming language and co-creator of the UNIX operating system, had passed away, and the time zone reference database used by all versions of Unix and Linux was taken offline due to a copyright claim. The German Chaos Computer Club made headlines when it announced that it had cracked a government trojan known as the "Federal Trojan" (Bundestrojaner); however, a number of virus scanners still fail to deal with the treat. ... Fantastic stuff! Although rather sad for the death of one of the big old names in computing: That of Dennis Ritchie. A name that must be known by all computer students for the "Kernighan & Ritchie" book on C. I just hope that the abuse of patents, legal threatening, bureaucracy and FUD, all don't conspire to spoil the party... 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: 1163327 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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Wow, I do like Sabayon 7 (x86) PDF(pretty damned fast) so might consider using this regularly. HOWEVER have a major criticism of this & other linux distros..... On running the live CD for testing before actual installation...get stage 1..press ALT+F1 for verbose mode, do so & see that all is ok... stage 2..press F2 for verbose mode.. all ok, just after network manager it looks like going to the nexr stage(if there is one) & get black screen with the following... "Input Signal out of range". Have had this before with several linux distros, so shut down & install seperate gpu (was running with onboard video), restart..... Bingo, we have lift off.......live cd pretty good so installing on disk & completed installation a lot faster than Windows does & for nearly 2gb file that's pretty good. shut down & pulled gpu, rebooted, get same video issue, reinstalled gpu & we're good. for linux to hit the world, what chance has the average home user to rectify an issue like this? .....hmmn, still got some way to go IMHO. ID: 1163483 · |
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ML1 Send message Joined: 25 Nov 01 Posts: 20265 Credit: 7,508,002 RAC: 20
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Wow, I do like Sabayon 7 (x86) PDF(pretty damned fast) so might consider using this regularly. Good stuff! HOWEVER ... going to the nexr stage(if there is one) & get black screen with the following... "Input Signal out of range". Have had this before with several linux distros, so shut down & install seperate gpu (was running with onboard video), restart..... Mmmm... What monitor are you using and how is it connected? That sounds like the monitor is mis-reporting it's capabilities, or it isn't reporting anything and the defaults are too far out for the monitor to cope with. You should get more reliable results if you use a DVI or HDMI connection. Otherwise, if on a VGA lead, you might be able to set the screen settings in the boot-up screen. Sounds like that problem is repeatable... So... Could be you just have something obscure, incompatible, or you might even have found an omission or bug?... I've had a similar problem for just one monitor out of many over the years. That one device turned out to be a re-badged no-name that simply had the wrong device file! The fix was to manually add the xorg.conf timings for VGA (quite 'geekie'), or much simpler was to just use a DVI lead! Just for reference for others, what motherboad and monitor and video connection (VGA/DVI/HDMI) have you got the problem with? Good luck, Martin See new freedom: Mageia Linux Take a look for yourself: Linux Format The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3) ID: 1163495 · |
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Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24879 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7
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Thanks, I'll look into that. Mobo is Gigabyte GIG M61PME, Monitor Acer X193W, Athlon 6000+ cpu, 4gig ram. In the past, it has cropped up on Asus,MSI,Abit & Asrock mobo's as well as LG monitors. For you & I, a DVI or HDMI cable would more than likely be the solution, but what about those home users that only have onboard video & VGA? An issue like this will not do Linux any favours & what about detecting large LCD screens? Many of my customers have already gone this route, so would Linux auto detect without any issues? So far, regardless of what mobo or gpu, Windows does install & is quite usable by just using the generic video drivers, so why can't Linux do the same? ID: 1163566 · |
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