Q: What does Linux need to be if its going to be a real contender to Windows? What are you guys doing about that? A: It needs support from the major players. Personally I think we need to lure: Steam Adobe (all their stuff) Autodesk (all their stuff we don’t have) We also are going to need to increase the buy in from hardware vendors. Nvidia/AMD/Intel all need to care about 2x what they do right now about.

KDE is a growing community with growing needs. The KDE Sysadmin team works hard to keep up, but lately the servers have been coming under some strain. To help ease the situation, Canonical has donated a new server for the KDE Sysadmins to use. The server, named kundong, features an impressive 8 CPU cores, 6 GB of memory, and a 130 GB disk with space for several more disks as needed.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture{#aptureLink_ZLuYVKGOuU} speaks for itself. Yes, its fugly. What the heck are those 3 bloody orbs ?

Here are our key findings: GNOME has a rhythm – there is a measurable increase in activity before release time, and after the annual GNOME conference GUADEC While over 70% of GNOME developers identify themselves as volunteers, over 70% of the commits to the GNOME releases are made by paid contributors Red Hat are the biggest contributor to the GNOME project and its core dependencies. Red Hat employees have made almost 17% of all commits we measured, and 11 of the top 20 GNOME committers of all time are current or past Red Hat employees.

Saw this question on SuperUser : How can I add menu items to the Gnome “Applications” menu from the command line? Yet another SuperUser Q RSS Feed Notifier for Linux 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.

Installing Linux software through repositories is the safe bet. In respect with Ubuntu, there are many software in Intrepid Ibex which I feel is crap. For eg: the “Hardware Drivers” does not have drivers for older kernels. On the other hand, there are many software (like Brasero, Transmission,Totem,VLC etc.) in Hardy that needs update, which the Hardy repositories have not provided till now. To bridge these gaps, I would like to provide you all with the repositories of Hardy and Intrepid.

NOTE: Please think twice before installing software from other Ubuntu version repositories. It may screw up your installation

HARDY HERON REPOSITORIES:

I have provided the older ones and two updates, just in case for those people who will want to install the older versions of software.

With just few days ago to Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) ShipIt – Canonical’s service of sending Ubuntu CDs FREE of cost to your doorstop has now started accepting pre-orders for delivery requests of Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex (Ubuntu 8.10). You can order either the Desktop edition or the server edition, and it will be delivered FREE of cost to you(yes, you don’t even have to pay for shipping). Although Canonical states delivery can take upto 10 weeks – I’ve generally received them here in India with 3 weeks.

In my previous posts, I’d mentioned about Canonical’s Ship It program, which sends Ubuntu disc for free to your door step, Fedora’s Free Media program, which ships Fedora media wherever you it shipped. .I’d also mentioned Oracle sending their Oracle Unbreakable Linux for free(though to date I haven’t received them). Now, Sun Microsystems joins the list of vendors offering free media. Head over to this page and fill in the form and request for your OpenSolaris CD.

Oracle joins the list of vendors offering free media consisting of Linux distributions – a list which includes Canonical which ships Ubuntu and Fedora under their Free Media Program. Oracle is now giving its Linux distribution, named Oracle Unbreakable Linux – a 2 DVD set. For support you’ll have to pay extra. Send your request for the 2-DVD kit Oracle Unbreakable Linux by heading over to this page.

While having a look around Fedora’s site, I came across the Free Media Program. Fedora Free Media Program is a volunteer initiative under Fedora Distribution Project that aims to distribute Fedora Media (DVDs) for free to individuals who couldn’t afford to buy or download. Local Fedora Ambassadors or Contributors are invited to participate. Unlike Canonical which will send you any amount of CDs, Fedora’s Free Media Program’s policy states that they will send only one media per person per release + source media if requested(which IMO is a good thing, you can always get the media copied).

Quite a lot of people have been waiting for the latest release of Ubuntu, version 8.04 dubbed the “Hardy Heron” – primarily because it’s a LTS release. So how does the Hardy Heron stack up? I decided to jump into the Hardy Heron brigade and have a look. Is it worth the upgrade?

Read on to find out more!

System Specifications

I used my beloved Dell Inspiron 1520(Intel Core2Duo T5250 @ 1.5 Ghz, 2 GB DDR2 667 RAM, nVidia 8600m GT, Intel 3945 Pro/Wireless) for testing out the Hardy Heron.

I had a pretty bad time with Gutsy – no sound despite the sound card being detected, LCD brightness varying as if its possessed etc – these resulted with me removing Gutsy and going back to openSUSE 10.3.

Also, generally I’ve always tested the 32-bit versions of most distros. This time I decided to break the tradition and go with the 64-bit version.

 

Introducing Ubuntu Mobile – full Internet, no compromise

Ubuntu Mobile is an Ubuntu edition that targets an exciting new class of computers called Mobile Internet Devices.

Ubuntu Mobile, based on the world’s most popular Linux distribution, and MID hardware from OEMs and ODMs, are redefining what can be done in mobile computing.

Ubuntu Mobile, a fully open source project, gives full Internet, with no compromise. Custom options may include licensed codecs and popular third-party applications.

• Full Web 2.0/AJAX fidelity, with custom options of Adobe Flash®, Java, and more
• Outstanding media playback so you can enjoy videos, music and photos with superior quality and easy navigation
• A suite of applications that work seamlessly to meet every need of a digital parent, student or anyone who is on-the-go
• Facebook®, MySpace®, YouTube®, Dailymotion®, 3D games, GPS, maps, in short, the full Web 2.0 experience delivered into your hands as a compact and powerful device that’s easy and fun to use

The product of Canonical collaboration with Intel® and the open source community, Ubuntu Mobile is the software that makes it all possible.

Mark Shuttleworth today posted on the Ubuntu Mailing list, what is planned for the next version of Ubuntu, titled The Intrepid Ibex which would most likely have a version number of 8.10 and be released around October 2008. To quote him, With Hardy now past feature-freeze it’s time to start to plan features that are being lined up for inclusion after Ubuntu 8.04 LTS is released in April. And so I’d like to introduce you to the Intrepid Ibex, the release

Ubuntu Live is a vibrant and important gathering of IT professionals, government and business leaders, educators, community leaders, enterprise and business users. The conference brings together the people who deploy and manage Ubuntu in organizations, companies offering services and solutions based on Ubuntu, customers of those services, users of Ubuntu, and the folks who build Ubuntu and other key open source software. The two day event will allow participants to share their Ubuntu experiences, learn from each other, and catch up with the latest developments from Ubuntu, our partners, and the free software and open source ecosystem.

The next Ubuntu Linux distribution with long-term support, “Hardy Heron,” Ubuntu 8.04, will be released in April 2008.Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, like Red Hat with Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novell with openSUSE and SUSE Linux, releases both a community version and a version for businesses or individuals who want to rely on a distribution with long-term technical support. Unlike Red Hat and Novell, though, Canonical doesn’t separate the two versions with different names.