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● 02.04.09

● Links 04/02/2009: Big GNU/Linux Migration in Brazil, Migrations to GNU/Linux in Business

Posted in News Roundup at 6:34 am by Dr. Roy SchestowitzGNU/Linux

=> ↺ Brazilian Ministry of Education Embraces Open Source in a Big Way

• The Brazilian government officially embraced open source software in its schools, announcing it had selected Userful,Positivo, and ThinNetworks to supply 324,000 virtualized desktops in each of the country’s municipalities. This is not only the largest deployment of virtualized desktops in the world — it’s also the largest single deployment of Linux desktops.

=> ↺ Now Brazil Goes Big on the GNU/Linux Desktop

• At the end of last year I wrote about a big Brazilian project to provide 150,000 GNU/Linux notebooks for schools. Now the Brazilian Ministry of Education has topped that by ordering 324,000 “green” workstations running on GNU/Linux (although I can’t quite tell whether this is as well as or instead of – anyone know?).

=> ↺ Helping Newbies Learn to Love Linux

• The Linux blogs were feeling the love a bit early this week, perhaps in preparation for Valentine’s Day. Much of the discussion centered on how to support those who are new to the Linux experience, and how to help them break out of the “Windows mindset.”

=> ↺ E-tailer dumps Windows for Red Hat

• UK-based online lingerie and nightwear retailer figleaves.com has turned away from Microsoft and to virtualisation and open source software to revamp the technology platform that will support its upcoming ecommerce site.

=> ↺ Bank of New Zealand Reduces Carbon Footprint with Red Hat on the Mainframe

• Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that Bank of New Zealand, a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank Group, has deployed Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 on IBM System z mainframes to solve environment, space and cost issues related to its datacenter. With Red Hat and IBM solutions, Bank of New Zealand has significantly reduced its hardware footprint, power consumption, heat and carbon emissions and costs, including an expected 20 percent cost reduction over the life of the platform.

=> ↺ Nomad & Compiz++ To Merge Back Into Compiz

• Following today’s Compiz Conference Call, it has been decided that both Compiz++ and Nomad (another branch of Compiz) will be merged back into Compiz.

=> ↺ OpenCL In Gallium3D By Summer

• Zack Rusin, one of the influential developers behind the Linux graphics scene, has blogged about OpenCL support in the free software stack. Just yesterday we talked about support for OpenCL in GCC, but Zack’s work deals with implementing support for the Open Computing Language into the open-source X.Org drivers.

=> ↺ Take a hard look at the command line.

• When I started up my first computer I was very excited. I unpacked it from its box. Set it up on a table and turned it on. As the screen flickered into life my excitement mounted. Watching it boot up with some unknown messages scrolling up the screen my excitement became almost unbearable. Then there was a beep and a black screen with a flashing green block. My excitement flashed over into puzzlement. What am I supposed to do?

=> ↺ Out With The Slow, In With The Linux

• If you’re hesitant to convert you may want to consider creating a dual boot system so that you can switch back and forth between Windows and Linux until you are comfortable making the switch.

• Either way you have options when it comes to choosing an Operating System that is right for you so don’t feel like all you have is Windows or Macs to choose from .

=> ↺ The HeliOS Project Kicks off 2009 Hardware/Funding drive

• The HeliOS Project is looking for community members to donate their old computers for financially and socially disadvantaged kids and students. They are also in need of small paypal donations to take care of day to day operational costs. This announcement officially kicks off their 2009 hardware and funding drive. HeliOS Project Directors and volunteers will pick up the computers, use DoD spec software to wipe the drives, installs needed open source software, and delivers them to the students in need.

=> ↺ The “I’m Linux” Video Contest

• That said, there’s a world of difference between billion-dollar proprietary software companies and a grassroots community of mass collaboration. For one thing, the available budget is enormously different, but making up for this, Linux arguably has a far more passionate and enthusiastic fan base. (Well, moreso than Microsoft anyway; I think we all know Apple fans are in a league of their own!)

• Consequently, and considering these two points, the Linux Foundation have opted not to embark on their own production but rather sponsor a community contest, exploiting the minds and talents of Linuxphiles globally.

Partnerships

=> ↺ LinuxForce Expands Partnership with The Franklin Institute

• LinuxForce, Inc., a leading Linux-based technology services firm and a thought-leader in the Linux and open-source technology spaces, today announced a major expansion of their technology partnership with The Franklin Institute. With this expansion, LinuxForce will be responsible for the maintenance, monitoring and security of three of The Franklin’s key information systems including ten virtual servers. The new agreement is the culmination of a series of successful consulting projects during which LinuxForce assisted museum staff with the administration of these systems and demonstrated their ability to meet The Franklin’s critical business needs.

=> ↺ Joint Venture

• I’m excited to personally announce the joint venture between SevenL Networks and MediaHost™, StartCom’s long-standing hosting department. What started as a noble gesture from SevenL, developed into a partnership for our combined hosting companies and has the potential to grow much stronger at different fields and interests where both our companies are actively involved.

HPC

=> ↺ US Orders Massive Supercomputer to Manage Nuclear Stockpile

• Sequoia will occupy 96 server racks over an area a bit larger than a tennis court. IBM won’t discuss the machine in detail because it is still being developed, but Dave Turek, vice president of IBM’s Deep Computing initiative, said it will be similar in design to its predecessor, Blue Gene/P, but on a much larger scale. The system will run a version of the Linux OS, use IBM’s embedded Power processors and have 1.6 petabytes of main memory.

=> ↺ IBM’s 20 petaflops supercomputer to keep tabs on US nukes

• IBM HAS TEAMED up with the US government to try and build the most powerful, most super supercomputer ever.

=> ↺ Need a supercomputer? This guy builds them himself

• For instance, his first supercomputer was built from a Linux cluster of bargain 48 DEC Alpha Servers that had been discontinued, each with a single 300-MHz, 64-bit AXP processor. “So I got a very good deal on them. I think the list price was $6,000, and I bought them after they were end-of-lifed for $800,” Allen says. “The switch was a 3Com Superstack 100Mbit/sec. Ethernet switch. I think it was a pair of them, each with 24 ports connected by a matrix cable.”

Distributions

=> ↺ Time to move to Funtoo Linux

• My primary reason to move to Funtoo is just for fun. I miss the days back in 2004 where I stayed up all night getting my new Gentoo system to run. I learned a lot about Linux in those days. I feel it is time for me to brush up on my skills. Also, Funtoo makes it easier for users to create and update their own Funtoo Portage system. A must if a Gentoo-based system ever wants to become bleeding edge again.

=> ↺ Torvalds rejects one-size-fits-all Linux

• Linus Torvalds has rejected the argument that Linux developers should pool their resources behind a single distribution.

Ubuntu

=> ↺ Full Circle magazine: Issue 21

• Sorry again for the delay folks, but here it is: FCM#21!

• • Command and Conquer – Formatting Output. (shell script can be downloaded from this page) * How-To : Program in C – Part 5, Web Development – Part 2, Changing Video Aspect Ratios & Ubuntu ISO to Bootable USB. * My Story – Creative Zen V Plus in Ubuntu * Game Review – Tribal Trouble 2 * My Opinion – Missed Opportunity * MOTU Interview – Nicolas Valcarcel * Top 5 – Torrent Tools * PLUS – FCM#20 Survey Results

=> ↺ The case for Ubuntu on the server

• Something I haven’t discussed much over the years is Ubuntu’s usefulness on servers. The original idea behind Ubuntu was to take Debian, a super-stable distribution that’s always had more success on servers than desktops, and polish it up for desktop use, with easier installation and configuration and a quick, regular release cycle.

=> ↺ Welcome to Ubuntu

• When it comes to software nothing could be bigger than the operating system that runs the computer — even here, there are freeware operating systems based on Linux that enthusiasts and even casual users can install.

• Currently, the most full-featured and user-friendly freeware operating system has got to be Ubuntu, a Linux-based consumer and server grade operating system that’s been getting better and better with each upgrade.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ Timesys Announces LinuxLink Support for the Freescale MPC8313E Processor

• Timesys Corporation (https://linuxlink.timesys.com/3/Home), a premier provider of embedded Linux software solutions, today announced LinuxLink support for the Freescale MPC8313E communications processor and its RDB reference board. Taking full advantage of the Freescale e300′s processing core, LinuxLink for the MPC8313E leverages a rich set of common features, including Gigabit Ethernet, High-Speed USB 2.0, and power management.

=> ↺ Canonical, Commercial Sponsor Of Ubuntu, Joins ARM Community

• Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, has joined the ARM Connected Community, the industry’s largest ecosystem for ARM technology-based products and services.

=> ↺ Dual-core PowerPC XMC ships with Linux

• The module ships with board support packages (BSPs) for Linux, VxWorks, QNX Neutrino, and Green Hills Integrity, says the company.

=> ↺ Embedded Systems: Linux Update

• A view of Linux from several perspectives will help embedded-system designers better understand how they can use this open-source operating system. Experts at Eurotech, Texas Instruments, and Rowebots share their approaches.

• “Contrary to what some engineers might think, Linux provides a mature operating system,” said Arlen Nipper, president and CTO at Eurotech. “You can obtain best-in-class security, TCP/IP stacks, and support for wireless networking, for example. The associated code drops into Linux and works right away.”

• “Customers can get everything they need; cross-compiler tools ready to run a development system, all the linux source code, utilities to run Python, embedded Java, or XWindows, and so on,” noted Nipper. “So engineers who use Linux get a complete software-development system and run-time code at essentially no cost.”

=> ↺ Carrier Supports Four LXI Function Cards

• Running the Linux 2.6 kernel via a 300-MHz processor, Bustec’s ProDAQ 6100 LXI function card carrier provides access for up to 4 Bustec ProDAQ function cards through a standard Gigabit LAN interface.

=> ↺ Citigroup Analyst: 500,000 Kindles Sold Last Year

• The Kindle, Amazon’s e-book reader, has been sold out for months. Over 7,600 (mostly positive) reviews have been written on its official product page. And even though Amazon’s chosen not to share official figures, a Citigroup analyst has now estimated that around 500,000 Kindles were sold last year.

=> ↺ Linux-driven BitTorrent appliance ships

• Myka is shipping an embedded Linux device that downloads, stores, and plays BitTorrent media files on an attached TV. Available in 80GB, 160GB, and 500GB models, plus a Developer’s Edition with a 1TB disk, the Myka appliances offload BitTorrent peer-to-peer duties from a PC.

=> ↺ Linux dev service offers free videos, “mainstreaming”

• Free Electrons has posted 32 free videos from last November’s CELF Embedded Linux Conference Europe (ELCE). Additionally, the company says it will work for free to get any drivers or BSPs (board support packages) it is hired to create merged into the mainline Linux kernel.

VoIP

=> ↺ VoIP recording appliance runs Linux

• The OrecX VoIP Recording Appliance combines OrecX’s Oreka TR Total Recorder application with a 1U, Linux-based, rack-mounted server aimed at the small-to-medium business (SMB) call-handling market, says the company.

=> ↺ VoIP-over-WiMAX design runs Linux

• D2 Technologies is shipping a WiMAX mobile-phone reference design based on Linux, with Google Android and Windows CE/Mobile flavors to follow in Q2.

=> ↺ Video of Verizon’s new Hub home VoIP, messaging, and internet device

• Of course for any of this to work, the Linux powered Hub will have to be connected to your existing broadband internet connection. That connection can be through a wired ethernet cable or via 802.11b/g WiFi wireless access.

Phones

=> ↺ T-Mobile G1 update rolling out now

• T-Mobile has let it slip that the next firmware update for the G1 Android phone will roll out starting on Feb. 5 but an employee says the updates have already started.

=> ↺ HTC Android phone set for dream launch in Australia – Gee!

• The first Android smartphone to hit the shores of the land down under looks set to arrive tomorrow courtesy of HTC and Optus. The HTC G1 Dream, with its landscape slide out keyboard and 3.2 inch screen launched in the US on the T-Mobile network last October.

=> ↺ Search with your voice on Android

• Don’t want to type a long query, like “U.S. economic stimulus plan”, on your T-Mobile G1? Just say it. Or, perhaps you’d like to browse the web without sliding out the keyboard? Well now you can. For those of you with a G1 in the US, the next time you get an Android update (which will gradually roll out starting this week), you’ll be able to start searching — and surfing — with your voice. And you can use the feature quickly and easily because it’s integrated in the Android browser and the home screen search widget.

=> ↺ Wikitude: A Promising First Step for a Virtual Tour Guide

• Wikitude bills itself as “augmented reality,” and it does that by overlaying data on points of interest over the image in your G1′s camera viewfinder. However, with a database that contains only 350,000 points of interest worldwide, the augmentation runs a little flat.

Sub-notebooks

=> ↺ Moblin 2 Alpha Screen Shots

=> ↺ Second netbook wave begins

• Another possibility may be Android. A netbook version has been rumored to be under development by Google, and VentureBeat recently reported that a “reliable source” has informed them that Intel is “preparing for the mass production of Google Android-based netbooks.” Meanwhile, The Girvan Institute has stated that it will present a conference on Android development for the Intel Atom, as part of its “Mobile Internet Developers Conference” series this year.

=> ↺ Frustration and flight for my Linux netbook

• Since then, we’ve been enjoying our Linux netbook very much. We’ve tuned the desktop to the look and feel we each like using different user profiles, downloaded some of our favorite open source games and given the new computer a comprehensive test drive. I’m happy to report I still have confidence that Linux is a great fit for netbooks. I wonder if folks getting Windows XP-based netbooks will also be wanting to upgrade to a more modern OS? Time will tell.

=> ↺ First look: the Maemo 5 multimedia framework

• Nokia has announced the availability of the second Maemo 5 SDK pre-alpha release. This version introduces some important functionality, including a sophisticated new framework for multimedia development. Although it is still at an early stage of development, the SDK provides deep insight into the architecture of the next generation Maemo platform.

=> ↺ Entering dragon land—the Loongson laptop

• Hu Weiwu began to develop the Loongson in 2002 at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Well, actually at the Institute of Computing Technology, but those are kind of attached. The first generation chip, a 32-bit almost-MIPS-compatible, was put into a handful of computers for rural children in Sichuan in 2006: the Sinomanic Tianhua GX series. These systems were similar to a Commodore64 and were basically keyboards that plugged into a TV and ran a bare bones Linux OS.

=> ↺ Mobile Linux at linux.conf.au

• The first two days at linux.conf.au are dedicated to “miniconfs,” which cover specific areas of interest. The 2009 event in Hobart, Tasmania included a miniconf for mobile Linux; your editor attended a few talks there. As might be expected, there is a lot going on with mobile Linux, and a lot of interest.

Free Software/Open Source

=> ↺ FOSDEM: Open source developers to meet in Brussels

• The 9th Free and Open Source Developer Meeting (FOSDEM) scheduled for the 7th and 8th of February, is expecting 5,000 open source developers to attend at the University of Brussels.

=> ↺ Open source telephony without breaking the bank

• Telephony continues to remain the dominant form of customer interaction for most businesses today, and is certainly a fundamental component of effective service. However, given the current downturn economy, many businesses are looking for ways to cut costs, and open source systems have been proven to do just that – resulting in most companies gearing themselves for a boost in open source adoption this year.

=> ↺ New Sidekick Will Run NetBSD, Not Windows CE

• Many sites are reporting that the next Sidekick LX 2009/Blade, from Danger (acquired by Microsoft early in 2008), is going to run NetBSD as their operating system, causing Microsoft’s recruiters to look for NetBSD developers.

=> ↺ VMWare delivers open source client

• VMWare has delivered a virtual client system under the Lesser GPL, VMWare View Open Client.

• Both the code and support are already available on GoogleCode.

=> ↺ VMware ships open source Linux VDI client

• VMware is offering a free (LGPL-licensed) client for use with its VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) thin client technology. The VMware View Open Client lets users access personalized, data center-hosted desktops from “almost any” device, VMWare claims.

=> ↺ Spreading the Spread Firefox Effect

• One of the most powerful forces in free software is the community behind the code. Its potential can be seen most clearly in the Spread Firefox site, which has mobilised hundreds of thousands of Firefox users to spread the word about the browser.

FSF

=> ↺ OPINION Beyond Software Quality: The Ethics of Freedom

• Eric Raymond, resembling furthermost advocate of “open cause,” argue that allowing user to move to and fro and dispatch software be joyous inwardly lay of a passageway of produce technically superintendent software. That is the nonspecific part of the open-source time of war, which be launch as a ad hoc effect to the free-software movement where on earth I am a view.

=> ↺ Fair Dreams

• Q 14. Lastly, sir do you have any message for our readers?

• Stallman: If you want to keep your freedom, you must be prepared occasionally to make sacrifices to defend it.

• We in the free software movement constantly work to make it easier for computer users to keep their freedom. But we have not yet made it 100% painless. Thus, using free software occasionally requires an inconvenience. Those are the sacrifices needed in our field to maintain our freedom.

=> ↺ Leader in free software movement speaks at UdeM

• To Stallman, the fact it’s illegal to copy, modify or give away much of today’s computer software is an assault on people’s fundamental rights and freedoms.

• But he knows it’s all there, written down, saying that people can’t do it. So for almost 25-years, it’s this fine print he’s been fighting.

• “It’s never good to break an agreement,” said Stallman before getting too far into his public lecture at l’Université de Moncton yesterday. He quickly added that should it ever have to come down to the option of giving copied software away to a friend or staying true to such an agreement, the lesser of the two evils would be to go with giving it away.

• “Sharing with your neighbour is the right thing to do,” he said.

=> ↺ Free Software Awards – Trophees du Libre 2009

• Do take time to have a look through the other candidate projects, there are some very interesting projects in the list and some that I hadn’t previously heard of.

=> ↺ Closing tech gaps with open-source fixes

• Six projects, two days and one cause: creating open-source software to improve the lives of members of the disabled community.

• Over the weekend, 40 students participated in “SS12: Coding for a Cause” and created software to enhance the lives of disabled persons.

Business

=> ↺ SugarCRM’s new features previewed

• SugarCRM has fundamentally overhauled the web services framework and has now added a REST (Representational State Transfer) interface that will allow for easier development of the services based upon Sugar data. Another new feature is a CSS based themes framework, which will allow developers to create new themes, without writing any code. The new Mobile Studio Editor will help to optimise SugarCRM for mobile devices with pre-built layouts and views for specific mobile use. Dynamic teams enables users to add multiple or individual teams to a CRM record, to help with collaboration on larger and more complex projects.

=> ↺ SugarCRM Previews Upcoming Cloud, CRM Features

• CEO John Roberts pledges to help customers reposition their companies to take advantage of cloud computing trends and more open source code.

=> ↺ Davos09: Open Bank

• They proposed the Open Bank. It would feature radical transparency: full disclosure of performance and compensation. The group decided that a banker should not sell a product unless he could pass a test about it. They even decided that there had to be a means to confirm that customers understood what they were buying. They proposed collective risk assessment, creating a means for its constituents to select and perhaps vote on investments. They explored how to offer transparency on each product and customers’ performance with them so that you could compare your returns with fellow customers. And they argued that bankers should be compensated on profit. It wouldn’t be an easy business to run; being answerable is hard. I said later that its slogan should be, “the only bank you can trust.” That is what would make it successful. When I asked, most in the room said they would be such a bank’s customers; many said they’d work for it; almost everyone said they’d invest in it.

Healthcare

=> ↺ Rewiring the VA

• Much of the attention of the healthcare industry over the past several weeks has been focused on Washington and the various proposals before Congress to boost the faltering economy, including spending billions of dollars subsidizing health information technology.

• [...]

• The question is whether the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or VistA—the clinical information system that powers the VA health system—will wither or bloom in the months and years ahead. It’s an issue that has implications not only for millions of veterans but also millions of other potential users of open-source and proprietary versions of VistA, both in the private and public sectors in the U.S. and abroad.

=> ↺ ‘Rockefeller Amendment’ for Studying Open Source in Stimulus Bill

• About page 701 of the stimulus bill is a provision for studying Open Source: “…(A) the current availability of open source 6 health information technology systems to Fed7 eral safety net providers (including small, rural 8 providers); 9 (B) the total cost of ownership of such sys10 tems in comparison to the cost of proprietary 11 commercial products available; 12 (C) the ability of such systems to respond 13 to the needs of, and be applied to, various pop14 ulations (including children and disabled indi15 viduals); and 16 (D) the capacity of such systems to facili17 tate interoperability…’

Sun

=> ↺ Enterprise Applications Slideshow: eWEEK Labs Walk-Through: OpenSolaris 2008.11

• OpenSolaris 2008.11, the second major release of Sun Microsystems’ freely licensed, Solaris-based operating system, hit the Web late in 2008 packed with feature enhancements intended to illustrate that Sun isn’t about to cede the platform stage to Linux. Click on for a walk-through of the most newcomer-friendly Solaris release to date.

Copyrights

=> ↺ Free Ubuntu book tops 150,000 downloads

• Keir Thomas informs us that his new Ubuntu book has been downloaded 150,000 times. Freely downloadable in PDF format and available from Amazon in paperback form for $10, MacFreda Publishing’s 164-page Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference offers a beginner’s overview of the popular distro.

=> ↺ BitTorrent Researcher: Copyright Will Be Obsolete by 2010

• Johan Pouwelse is a busy man. The P2P researcher based in the city of Delft, in the Netherlands, is heading up development of the social BitTorrent client Tribler; he’s also deeply involved with the EU’s P2P Next project, which aims to use P2P streaming for an open source, next-generation video delivery infrastructure. And Pouwelse, who’s been tracking the P2P phenomenon over the last decade, has just published along with some of his colleagues an article highlighting some of the key points of his research. It’s a good 21-page read, but here’s the short version: That whole copyright thing ain’t gonna work.

=> ↺ EU Plots Pirate Bay Ban and Piracy Clampdown

• In a few weeks time, members of the European Parliament will vote on the Medina report, which proposes a wide range of anti-piracy measures and regulations. The report specifically mentions The Pirate Bay, and it approves actions by national courts against the popular BitTorrent tracker.

=> ↺ Irish ISP Eircom in ‘three strike’ filesharer crackdown

• Eircom had argued it was under no obligation to monitor the content of traffic over its network.

• The music labels originally wanted the court to order Eircom to install software from a US firm to detect copyrighted music files sent over its network. The ISP objected, saying the software could breach its customer’s privacy.

• Instead, Eircom settled for the increasingly-familiar three-strikes “graduated response” program. The first time a subscriber’s IP is detected infringing copyright, a warning is sent out. The second time, the subscriber is cautioned that they will be disconnected. Number three is the big disconnect.

Leftover

=> ↺ £18 billion scandal as Whitehall’s IT plans spin out of control

• Some of Whitehall’s biggest computer projects have spiralled out of control, with total cost overruns of more than £18 billion, an investigation by The Times can reveal.

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