Practical Technology

for practical people.

February 5, 2009
by sjvn01
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FAQ: How Google Latitude locates you

Yesterday, Google Inc. released the real-time location tool Google Latitude and opened up a new world of location-based services (LBS) for both PC and mobile phone users.

Latitude enables you to track friends, family, employees and so on — and vice-versa — in real time. Whether this is a good thing (hey, you’ll always know where your buddy is in the stadium parking lot), or a preview of a corporate 1984 world where your boss can track your every move, will be determined by how we’ll use the service. It’s no surprise that at least one privacy group has already voiced security concerns over Latitude.

For now, though, most questions center on how people can use Latitude and how it does its location voodoo.

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February 5, 2009
by sjvn01
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Picking Linux software made easy

In a recent story, my fellow scribe Preston Gralla wrote, “If Linux has an Achilles heel, from the point of view of a Windows user, it’s installing new software.” Now, he’s seen the error of his ways about that, but he also noted that, “I was rewarded with a long list of recommended updates — and what they were, or were used for, is anyone’s guess. For example, the first four were: alacarte: easy GNOME menu editing tool. … ” His point was that he didn’t have a clue about what this program might be.

He’s got a point there: A really big nasty one. I, and if you’re a regular reader of my Linux stories, know what alacarte is, or at least can figure it out after one glance at the description. But, really can we expect anyone who doesn’t know Linux to know what it is? I don’t think so. Or, for that matter, what GIMP, open-source’s answer to Adobe Photoshop, is?

When we live with any technology, we start taking for granted knowledge that we know without realizing that’s it’s a foreign language to everyone else. So, while package manager programs–that’s software installation programs for the non-Linux using members of the audience–like YaST, Synaptic, and PackageKit make installing software easy it doesn’t give new Linux users much of a clue about what it is they’re installing.

That’s where ASUS’ service for installing software on its Xandros Linux-powered netbooks comes in.

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February 4, 2009
by sjvn01
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Ubuntu Server Linux is for business

When you think Ubuntu, you probably think of an outstanding, easy-to-use desktop Linux. You probably don’t think of Ubuntu as a server operating system. Maybe you should.

In a recent survey, conducted by Canonical, Ubuntu’s parent company, and the research company, RedMonk, they found that Ubuntu Server Edition is being used for all the usual infrastructure and edge services you expect from a first class server operating system: Web, database, file, print, back-up and mail serving.

That, I expected. Linux has owned edge server jobs for years now, and Linux is also usually strong as an infrastructure player. What did surprise me though was that larger companies, with more than a 1,000 employees are also using Ubuntu in clustering, batch processing, and data mining. That’s the kind of work I usually see Red Hat and Novell SUSE doing, not Ubuntu.

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February 3, 2009
by sjvn01
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Microsoft’s long, slow decline continues

Yes, yes, we know Microsoft rules; no other company will ever knock it off the top of the software mountain, etc., etc. History tells us that no business is immune to the decline of age and Microsoft is proving to be no exception.

You’ll find the latest proof of this at Net Applications’ January 2009 Web site usage numbers by operating system. There, you’ll see that Windows is continuing its slow fall from total desktop operating system domination.

Windows’ fall has been happening now since early 2008. Microsoft was running scared well before then though as Jim Allchin, former head of Microsoft’s Vista program, said in 2002, “we are not on a path to win against Linux.”

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February 3, 2009
by sjvn01
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Debian Linux is finally – no really! – getting close to release

An open-source truism is: “Nothing is released until it’s ready.” Well, sometimes that’s true and sometimes you have situations like the one with Debian Linux’s next release: Debian 5 “Lenny.”

First, the good news: Debian 5 really is close to arriving. On January 31st, the Debian developers announced that Lenny’s second release candidate was now out. Debian programmers tell me that really should be the last one and that the final version should be out by Valentine’s Day.

So, what took them so long? Lots of things, but, as usual with Debian, mostly arguments.

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February 1, 2009
by sjvn01
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MEPIS 8: So close you can almost taste it

One of my favorite Linux distributions, MEPIS is almost ready with its latest release: 8.0.

MEPIS 8.0 could have been out by now but chief programmer, Warren Woodford, explained, “I apologize to anyone who was expecting 8.0 to be final by now. It’s taking longer than I had hoped but I think we are very close to a final release. MEPIS is based on Debian Stable and our delays also gives time for Lenny to become final. The changes from the developers at Debian have been coming very quickly. At this rate they will finish Lenny soon.”

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