May 31, 2011
by sjvn01
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This weekend was filled with rumors about the fate of OpenOffice. Oracle essentially abandoned OpenOffice, after The Document Foundation’s LibreOffice fork but rumor has it that IBM wants the project to continue. The big question, which is still unresolved as I write this, is, “How?”
At the moment, almost all of what I have are comments from people close to the matter who are unable to go on the record. That said, here’s my current understanding of what’s going on with OpenOffice.
May 30, 2011
by sjvn01
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In 1996, Linus Torvalds released Linux 2.0, and we got symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and we were on our way to Linux supercomputers. In 1999, Linux 2.2 appeared, and Linux made a major move off Intel chip architectures. In 2001, after some delays, Linux 2.4 turned up with great server improvements. And, in 2003, Linux 2.6 showed up, the prototype for modern Linux. So why haven’t we seen a Linux 2.8 or 3.0 in the last few years? I’ll let Torvalds explain:
May 27, 2011
by sjvn01
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The commercial Chromebooks are almost here, but if you want to try Chrome OS sooner than that you can do it. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as you might think. Here’s how to do it.
First, if you just try looking for “Chrome OS download” on Google, ironically, you’re going to have trouble finding it. Instead, you’re most likely to find links that will eventually take you to Chrome OS Linux. This is not Google’s Chrome OS. It’s a Linux distribution that uses Chrome OS. It may be fine. I don’t know. I haven’t tried it, but it’s not the Chrome OS that you’re looking for.
The real Chrome OS, which is indeed based on Linux flavored by Ubuntu, is available as source code, along with build instructions, at the Chromium OS Developer Guide. If you’re not an experienced programmer with access to a 64-bit Linux system, Ubuntu 10.04 Long Term Support (LTS) version for choice, you don’t want to go this route though.
For people who don’t program in C for a living, the smart thing to do is to download a Chrome OS virtual machine (VM) or USB stick live image from Hexxen.
May 25, 2011
by sjvn01
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In about three weeks, we can stop talking about how Chromebooks-light-weight laptops running Google’s Chrome OS-might, or might not, work in the real world because we’ll get our hands on the first two models: the Samsung Series 5 and the Acer Wi-Fi Chromebook. Here’s what we know now about them.
First things first. The Chromebooks you’re going to see in mid-June are not going to be those dreadful beta CR-48 netbooks with some lipstick on. These are real netbook-sized laptops from Acer and Samsung: companies that know a thing or two about design.
Next, none of these laptops are powerhouses. For processors they use the 1.66GHz duel-core Intel Atom Processor N570 and they come with 2-gigabytes of RAM. On the other hand, they’re not trying to run Windows 7 or even Ubuntu Unity. They’re running Chrome OS, which is little more than the latest Chrome Web browser with a bare-bones Linux foundation. You don’t need much to run that.
May 25, 2011
by sjvn01
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I told you so. I knew that Steve Ballmer could talk all he wanted about how Microsoft would continue to support non-Microsoft platforms, but that there was no way he’d actually do it. The first proof is here. Digium, the company behind the popular open-source Asterisk private-branch exchange (PBX) program, has announced that Skype has unilaterally ended its deal that allowed Asterisk to work with Skype.
May 25, 2011
by sjvn01
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Fedora Linux not for everyone. If you’re an experienced Linux user who wants an easy-to-use desktop Linux, I recommend Mint 11. If you’re new to Linux and just want something that’s easy to pick up and use, I think you should give Ubuntu 11.04 a try. But, if you’re a Linux expert, and want to explore the outer limits of what’s possible with Linux, then Red Hat’s new Fedora 15 Linux is the distribution for you.
Why? Well, here are my five favorite reasons to use Fedora 15. I’m going to start though with one reason I don’t care for this release of Fedora. Let’s call this one: Feature 0.
0) The GNOME 3 desktop environment
GNOME 3 claims to be the “the next generation of GNOME with a brand new user interface. It provides a completely new and modern desktop that has been designed for today’s users and technologies.” It’s not.