Practical Technology

for practical people.

October 26, 2011
by sjvn01
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Consumer Electronics Linux Initiative Starts

Many people use Linux every day and never know it. Indeed, they’re often using Linux without even knowing they’re using a computing device. For years now, Linux has been the operating system of choice for Digital Video Recorders (DVR)s, DVD players, Smart TVs, Wi-Fi access points, GPS devices, and on and on. But, there’s never been a Linux kernel just for consumer electronics… until now.

At LinuxCon Europe in Prague, Czech Republic, The Linux Foundation, the
nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Linux, announced that it was hosting a new project created by its Consumer Electronics (CE) workgroup: the Long Term Support Initiative (LTSI).

According to the Foundation, “The new project … provides for both an annual release of a Linux kernel suitable for supporting the lifespan of consumer electronics products and regular updates of those releases for two years.” LTSI has the backing of Hitachi, LG Electronics, NEC, Panasonic, Renesas, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba. In other words, this is a concrete plan with real and broad industry support.

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October 26, 2011
by sjvn01
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Canonical, Ubuntu Linux’s parent company, reorganizes

Ubuntu is a popular Linux with users, but it hasn’t made as many in-roads in the business market as it would like. To address that Canonical, Ubuntu’s parent company, CEO Jane Silber has announced a major company reorganization.

Silber wrote, “Canonical has grown dramatically over the last several years. This growth is driven by increasing demand for our services and products by end users, businesses and partners, and by investment to deliver our part of the future of free software. As Ubuntu’s position in the marketplace and as the leading free software platform has matured, we have needed change the way we align our teams internally. The purpose of these changes is to ensure greater efficiency for us, for the customers we serve and for the partners with whom we go to market.”

These changes also, it should be noted, come after Canonical’s CTO, Matt Zimmerman, left the firm in May. In addition, the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Matt Asay left Canonical late last year. Canonical was due for a major reorganization.

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October 25, 2011
by sjvn01
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Google’s Android beats Apple in mobile app downloads

We love our Apple devices. We love the iPad in business. We love iPhones to the tune of 17-million phones sold in Apple’s last quarter. But, there are far more Android phones sold than there are iPhones, and with nicely priced Android tablets such as the ViewSonic 7e and Amazon Kindle Fire, the iPad is being challenged on tablets as well. So, love aside, perhaps it shouldn’t come as any surprise that ABI Research is reporting that Android is now number one in mobile application downloads.

According to ABI Research, In the second quarter of 2011, “Android overtook iOS to become the market share leader in mobile application downloads. The market shares of Android and iOS were 44% and 31%, respectively.”

In case you’re keeping score at home, there are still more iOS applications than there are Android applications and iPhone and iPad users are far more likely to download an application than their Android brothers and sisters.

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October 25, 2011
by sjvn01
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Google cops a plea with FTC on Privacy violations

Google knew it had blown its own privacy rules with Google Buzz. That’s why Google and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) quickly agreed that Google would submit to third-party privacy audits for the next 20 years to settle allegations it misused users’ personal information. Google wanted to take its punishment and move on.

The FTC had alleged that Google misrepresented its privacy claims because it led Gmail users to believe they could choose to join Buzz. Instead, Google Buzz, Google’s first attempt at a social network, was integrated into Gmail. This resulted in Buzz users’ e-mail contacts being made public. That didn’t go over well.

By the end of March, Google has apologized for its blunder. Alma Whitten, Google’s Director of Privacy, wrote, “User trust really matters to Google. That’s why we try to be clear about what data we collect and how we use it-and to give people real control over the information they share with us.”

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October 25, 2011
by sjvn01
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Are Windows PCs already falling to smartphones and tablets?

When I look into my technology crystal ball, I see people moving from desktops to smartphones and tablets. I’m not the only one who sees a post-PC world coming. What I didn’t expect was to find proof that desktop Windows was already a dead technology walking.

Over at ZDNet’s sister site, CNet, they recently reported on 15-years of Download.com. I expected this to be little more than a nice historical walk down a popular site’s past. Well, it is that, but it’s also contains lots of bad news for Windows users.

You see, in 1996, when Download.com was founded, 89.5% of its downloads were Windows programs. Would you care to guess what the percentage of Windows downloads are in 2011? It’s a mere 28%.

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October 25, 2011
by sjvn01
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Ubuntu Linux will try for the business desktop

I use the Linux desktop at work, but I’m in a tiny minority. Most people use Windows. Canonical, Ubuntu Linux’s parent company, plans on getting at least some Windows users to switch though with its next long term support (LTS) release.

Canonical has announced that it would be extending the support and maintenance period for the April 2012 LTS Ubuntu Linux release for desktop users from three years to five years. The move comes in response to what the company claims is “increasing demand for Ubuntu desktops in corporate environments where longer maintenance periods are the norm. It brings the desktop product into line with Ubuntu Server which continues with five years of support for LTS releases.”

In a blog posting, Ubuntu’s founder, Mark Shuttleworth, expanded on this. “We need to do justice to the fact that 12.04 LTS will be the preferred desktop for many of the world’s biggest Linux desktop deployments, in some cases exceeding half a million desktops in a single institution. So 12.04 is also an opportunity to ensure that our desktop is manageable at scale, that it can be locked down in the ways institutions need, and that it can be upgraded from 10.04 LTS smoothly as promised. Support for multiple monitors will improve, since that’s a common workplace requirement.”

That desktop, by the by, is going to stay Unity. There will be no return to a GNOME 2.x style desktop, never mind GNOME 3.x.

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