Practical Technology

for practical people.

October 31, 2011
by sjvn01
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Can Ubuntu Linux win on smartphones and tablets?

Mark Shuttleworth is as close as Linux has ever had to Steve Jobs. He has vision, he’s articulate, and he can move an audience. But, can he move a market that’s in love with Android phones and Apple iPad tablets to give Ubuntu a chance? I think he has a shot.

I’ve known for over a year that Ubuntu was going to try for the smartphone and tablet market, so when Ubuntu’s founder Mark Shuttleworth told me he was going to expand to devices, I wasn’t surprised. Technically, Ubuntu, and its parent company, Canonical, have the chops to do it.

In addition, Ubuntu has been working and delivering Unity for more than two years now. Unlike Windows 8’s Metro, which also seeks to be a universal PC and device desktop, Ubuntu Unity already has experienced users and developers.

True, many experienced Linux users don’t care for Ubuntu’s Unity interface, which is meant to work well on PCs, smartphones and tablets, it was never meant for them. Unity is meant for users who want an easy to user interface and don’ care if it’s Linux under the hood. That may be heresy to die-hard Linux users, but it certainly has worked well for Google with its Linux-based Android devices.

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October 30, 2011
by sjvn01
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Ubuntu Linux heads to smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, will announce at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Orlando, FL, that they will be taking Ubuntu Linux to smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.

In an interview in an advance of the official announcement, Shuttleworth told me, that their short term plans are to make Ubuntu 12.04, the next long term support (LTS) of their Linux distribution, as stable as possible and to give the Unity desktop interface, it’s final fit and polish for both home and business Linux desktop users. After that, however, Canonical will be expanding its popular Linux desktop to all computing devices.

Shuttleworth said, “This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it’s important for us to reach out to out community on these platforms. So, we’ll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens.”

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October 28, 2011
by sjvn01
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Linux Foundation proposes to use UEFI to make PCs secure and free

Microsoft’s proposed use of Unfied Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) in Windows 8 could be used to block all other operating systems from Windows 8 systems. The Linux Foundation and partners have a better idea: Secure computers with UEFI and give users freedom of operating system choice.

In the Linux Foundation document, Making UEFI Secure Boot Work With Open Platforms (PDF Link), James Bottomley, CTO of Server Virtualization at Parallels and Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board Chair Jonathan Corbet, Editor at LWN.net and fellow Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board Member, after consulting with other Linux leaders, explain how “Linux and other open operating systems will be able to take advantage of secure boot if it is implemented properly in the hardware.”

At the same time, Red Hat and Canonical, Ubuntu’s parent company, have published UEFI Secure Boot Impact on Linux (PDF Link). This document presents a set of recommendations that will allow users the freedom to choose their software, while retaining the security features of UEFI Secure Boot, and complying with open source licenses used in distributions of Linux.”

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October 28, 2011
by sjvn01
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Big VPNs for Big Companies

Anyone, and I mean anyone with a clue about networking, can set up a small-time Virtual Private Network (VPN) with Windows 7. If you or one of your staffers have a Network+ certification, you an set up a small-office, home-office (SOHO) VPN on server software such as Windows 2008 R2 or any Linux or a program like OpenVPN.

But what do you do if you need to handle thousands and more simultaneous VPN connections? Then, my friend, you need another level of VPN expertise, both for software and hardware.

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October 27, 2011
by sjvn01
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Chrome 15: The Best Browser keeps getting better (Review)

Google’s new Chrome 15 is better than ever. This release boasts a new tab page, which makes it easier to get to your Chrome apps and most visited sites. Under the hood, there are also several significant security and performance improvements.

Before launching into those, let’s go over the basics for those of you who haven’t used Chrome. The Chrome Web browser has a minimalist interface. Instead of a tool-bar, the basic interface has a combination address and search bar, the Omnibox, at the top with tabs above that. The handful of visible control buttons consist of Back, Forward, a combined Stop/Reload button, and a preferences wrench icon. That’s it.

If you add extensions, they’ll appear as icons on the right of the Omnibox. If you like having lots of tool-bars and endless interface tweaking power, Chrome is not for you. If you want a clean, fast system without a lot of fuss, Chrome will work well.

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October 27, 2011
by sjvn01
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Firefox partners with The Evil Empire

Darth “Ballmer” Vader: “Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong.” Yoda “RMS”: “Beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” Vader: “Come To The Dark Side! We Have Cookies!”

No! Wait! That isn’t how it went! Well, I hope not anyway!

Still, in a move that was as unthinkable as Bill Gates using an iPhone, or Linus Torvalds announcing MS-Linux, Mozilla, the company and non-profit open-source group behind the Firefox Web browser has gone over to the dark side… I mean partnered up with Microsoft to release a special version of Firefox with Bing as its default search engine.

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