It has been quite a while since I wrote here. Did not find time nor issues to write about.
I tried to install Ubuntu 10.10. The Partition Manager did not detect my partitions. It listed my entire hard disk as one “Unallocated Free Space”. I was puzzled. Everything was fine under Windows XP. Or so I thought.
My hard disk is a 60GB one., partitioned into 10, 25 and 25 GBs. My Disk Management under XP listed thus:
Ext2Read is a Free & Open Source Software which allows you to browse your Linux partitions in a very Windows Explorer-esque interface. Unlike other tools Ext2Read also supports ext4 filesystem, even if extents feature is enabled. Like the name suggests – Ext2Read can only read, not write to the partitions – so in case you are paranoid about the tool causing data corruption to your Linux partitions, you can drop those fears.
via techie-buzz
It seems Oracle is hellbent on destroying whatever good Sun had done to the Open Source Ecosystem. The latest product to get the axe seems to be none other than the Flagship Virtualization program xVM VirtualBox.
[....]
All tests show that VirtualBox 3.2 lacks any semblance of stability, crashing any operating system running on it randomly. VirtualBox 3.1.8, using the binary-only release for Linux, works like a charm. It is also apparent that VirtualBox 3.2.6 is a lot slower and sometimes unresponsive, as compared to version 3.1.8.
A fresh install of VirtualBox 3.2.0 on Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Edition even managed to completely crash the Windows Networking Subsystem, necessitating the uninstallation of VirtualBox
via Is Oracle trying to kill VirtualBox? | Muktware.
The article is either a bunch of baloney or the test system as got some serious hardware/software compatibility problems. Oracle VirtualBox 3.2 has been absolutely rock solid, smoother than ever before. Seamless mode is awesome, and I managed to resurrect my dead Windows installation by installing a Windows 7 VM using Oracle VirtualBox and then making a bootable Windows 7 USB pen drive (long story worth a blog post, will do soon!). The article doesn’t mention how many test systems were used to test the software – if its a single box then drawing a conclusion that Oracle is killing VirtualBox based in just one system is pretty stupid.
And heh, the author calls himself “BaloneyGeek“. Go figure.
Couple of days ago, there was a huge debate (argument ?) between Matt Mullenweg - developer of WordPress and Chris Pearson – developer of Thesis premium theme over twitter which then extended to Mixergy.
Crux of the argument is the disagreement amognst the two over the licensing terms. Matt believes that Thesis should adopt GPL which as Wikipedia states:
The GPL is an example of a powerful copyleft license that requires derived works to be available under the same copyleft.
Chris, on the otherhand disagrees with this. The full transcript of their discussion is available on Mixergy, here are some quotes which I found interesting:
openSUSE 11.3 is based on Linux kernel 2.6.34 and has KDE Software Compilation 4.4.4 as the default desktop environment. A GNOME version is also available and it uses GNOME 2.30.1. In terms of the default applications, it comes with Thunderbird 3.0.5, Firefox 3.6.4 and OpenOffice 3.2.1 to name a few. openSUSE 11.3 also gives the user the choice of using Btrfs during installation.
You can view the complete changelog here or read the release note. A screenshot tour of openSUSE 11.3 have also been put up.
via openSUSE 11.3 Released – Download Now.
My favourite distro gets an update.
I’ve been using openSUSE for quite some time now, but this is definitely the first time that I’ve noticed this ( though probably because I tend to use zypper or the 1-click install rather than entering YaST).
Edit:
Output of zypper lr -u
http://pastebin.com/awfeBeLP
Output of zypper se -s -i -t pattern
http://pastebin.com/DJc8HsLG
Output of zypper sl -d
http://pastebin.com/LxLREddG
Edit 2: Andreas Jaegar comments on the above:
Found it: The pattern is part of Mono Community pattern. As these ymp-patterns have no category, the software manager picks a pretty much random order. And it happens to be under proprietary software in this case.
Mixxx is described as a complete package for amateur and professional DJs alike, providing everything you need to create and perform live mixes. It can run without connecting turntables and mixers, which makes it a replacement for traditional DJ setup. For professionals, it supports advanced features like comprehensive MIDI controller support, vinyl control, and multi-core CPU support.
via Virtual DJ Software for Linux: Mixxx | TechSource.
Seems nice. Packages are available only for Ubuntu, though.
Saw this question on SuperUser :
How can I add menu items to the Gnome “Applications” menu from the command line?
Yet another SuperUser Q
Seems Canonical will set limits to those who can order free CD’s via Shipit.
The discs will still be made available to Local Community team members and Ubuntu contributors. And new Ubuntu users will be able to request a CD. But you need to create an account and sign in to request that CD. In other words, Canonical will be tracking you and will only send you a free CD the first time you ask for one.
FOSS.IN is dawning upon us, check out the FOSS.in speaker guide.
Some tips on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
The openSUSE Project is pleased to announce the release of openSUSE 11.2. openSUSE 11.2 includes new versions of GNOME, KDE, OpenOffice.org, Firefox, the Linux kernel, and many, many more updates and improvements. In 11.2 you’ll find more than 1,000 open source desktop applications. openSUSE also includes a full suite of server software and a rich selection of open source development tools.
Something about Microsoft patenting sudo
Here it is, patent number7617530. Thanks, USPTO, for giving Microsoft, which is already a monopoly, a monopoly on something that’s been in use since 1980 and wasn’t invented by Microsoft. Here’s Wikipedia’s description of sudo, which you can meaningfully compare to Microsoft’s description of its “invention”.
MPlayer Now Supports Most HD-DVD/Blu-Ray Codecs.
The latest MPlayer code in their SVN trunk now supports most HD-DVD and Blu-ray codecs. Earlier this year we talked about possible Blu-ray support for FFmpeg and developers becoming more interested after we interviewed the FFmpeg developers and there ended up being an outpouring of support by our readers offering up Blu-ray drives and other forms of help. The latest MPlayer code in their Subversion repository now supports most Blu-ray and HD-DVD codecs.
Free and Open Source Screencasting Software Applications for Linux
If you are using Linux and are looking for a screencasting tool that would suit you needs, then here are some of most widely used free and open source screencasting software applications that you should check out.
I was catching up on some feeds yesterday, and this piece of news caught my eye -Amarok 2.1 released. Being a long time Amarok fan ( heck Amarok itself was catalyst to make me use my SUSE 10.0 use full) time – I read the article with great interest.
Amarok 2 users would know that Amarok 2 series is a shadow of its old Amarok 1.4(“Amarok Classic” self) – and quite a few people still prefer Amarok classic to Amarok 2 – primararily because of Amarok’s missing support for visualizations, equalizer amongst others. I don’t use equalizers – and as for visualization – well don’t use that either.
It’s been a while since I last used Ubuntu – I have generally shunned away from Ubuntu since Fiesty – for the main reason that I’m more of KDE guy, I never really liked Gnome, and my experience with Fiesty was rather unsavoury. You might say ‘hey you want KDE try Kubuntu’ - Kubuntu – well I won’t get started on that. I’ve been using Sabayon and was pretty darn impressed with that. With Jaunty being due for release soon, I decided to check Jaunty, even more so after Manish kept raving about Jaunty’s performance.
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