Practical Technology

for practical people.

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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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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