Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
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ASUS Announces Chromebox, Chrome OS Desktop for under $200 On the 4th of February, ASUS announced the Chromebox, a desktop version of the Chromebook, starting at just $179. The Chromebox has been touted as “the most compact and powerful Chrome device to date” by Felix Lin, Director of Product Management at Google. The device measures only slightly larger than an Apple TV at 4.88“ by 4.88” (12.4cm by 12.4cm), and comes with a built in 16GB SSD, four USB 3.0 ports, Bluetooth 4.0, an SD card reader, and integrated malware and virus protection. Gary Key, Senior Press Relations manager for ASUS, stated, “We firmly believe the ASUS Chromebox addresses the need for an extremely cost effective computing solution in the education, small and medium-sized business, and home markets.” ASUS will offer an option of an Intel 4th generation Core i7-4600U, Core i3-4010U or Celeron 2955U processor options, available in the US from March 2014. Source: http://promos.asus.com/us/chrome-os/chromebox/ Submitted/Written by: Vincent Sesto
ASUS annonce Chromebox, un portable avec Chrome OS pour moins de 200 $
Le 4 Février, ASUS a annoncé la Chromebox, une version de bureau du Chromebook, pour seulement 179$. La Chromebox a été vantée comme « l'appareil Chrome le plus compact et le plus puissant à ce jour » par Felix Lin, directeur de la gestion produit chez Google.
L'appareil a une taille légèrement plus grande que l'Apple TV avec seulement 4,88“ par 4,88” (12.4cm x 12.4cm), et est construit avec un disque embarqué SSD de 16 Go, quatre ports USB 3.0, du Bluetooth 4.0, un lecteur de carte SD, et protection contre les virus et les logiciels malveillants.
Gary Key, directeur principal des relations avec la presse pour ASUS, a déclaré: « Nous croyons fermement que la Chromebox d'ASUS répond au besoin d'une solution informatique extrêmement efficace pour les marchés de l'éducation, des PME, et du grand public. » ASUS offrira en option un processuer Intel 4ème génération Core i7-4600U, un Core i3-4010U ou un Celeron 2955U, disponible aux États-Unis à partir de Mars 2014.
Source: http://promos.asus.com/us/chrome-os/chromebox/ Proposé/Écrit par: Vincent Sesto
Linux Kernel 3.13.2 Is Now Available for Download Greg Kroah-Hartman has announced on February 6, that the second maintenance release of the stable Linux kernel 3.13 is now available for download. “I'm announcing the release of the 3.13.2 kernel. All users of the 3.13 kernel series must upgrade. The updated 3.13.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-3.13.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git;a=summary,” Linux kernel 3.13.2 brings updated architectures, including ARM, s390, PowerPC, PA-RISC, and x86, numerous updates drivers (mmc, wireless, rtc, scsi, tty, usb, etc.), some file system improvements (mainly Btrfs, HPFS and EXT4), a couple of networking fixes for IPv4 and IPv6, and some sound improvements. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Linux-Kernel-3-13-2-Is-Now-Available-for-Download-424739.shtml Submitted/Written by: Marius Nestor
Le kernel Linux 3.13.2 est maintenant disponible au téléchargement
Greg Kroah-Hartman a annoncé le 6 Février, que la deuxième version de maintenance du noyau stable Linux 3.13 est maintenant disponible au téléchargement.
« J'annonce la sortie du noyau 3.13.2. Tous les utilisateurs de la série de noyaux 3.13 doivent se mettre à jour. La branche 3.13.y de l'arborescence GIT à jour peut être trouvée à l'adresse: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-3.13.y et peut être parcourue sur le navigateur web git normal kernel.org : http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git;a=summary, »
Le noyau Linux 3.13.2 apporte des architectures mises à jour, y compris ARM, s390, PowerPC, PA-RISC et x86, de nombreux pilotes mis à jour (mmc, wireless, rtc, scsi, tty, usb, etc), des améliorations du système de fichiers (principalement Btrfs, HPFS et EXT4), quelques correctifs pour IPv4 et IPv6, et quelques améliorations du son.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Linux-Kernel-3-13-2-Is-Now-Available-for-Download-424739.shtml Proposé/Écrit par: Marius Nestor
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AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Arrives with a Bang and with Linux Kernel 3.13 Support This is the first AMD Catalyst driver update for Linux in 2014, and the developers made a considerable effort to integrate a large number fixes and other improvements. According to them, AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Linux video driver offers support for AMD A10-7850K and AMD A10-7700K. Also, the driver comes with RHEL 6.5, openSUSE 13.1, Ubuntu 13.10, Xserver 1.15, and Linux kernel 3.13 support. Highlights of AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Linux video driver: • A system hang on resume from S4 with OpenGL screen saver running has been fixed; • OpenCL test failure in CrossFire Mode has been fixed; • Brightness can finally be adjusted on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS; • A crash that occurred when resizing Konsole has been fixed. Remember that the purpose of beta version is for testing only and should not installed on production machine. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/AMD-Catalyst-14-1-Beta-for-Linux-Arrives-with-a-Bang-and-With-Linux-3-13-Support-423025.shtml Submitted/Written by: Silviu Stahei
Beaucoup de bruit pour l'AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta supportant le noyau Linux 3.13
C'est la première mise à jour de pilote AMD Catalyst pour Linux en 2014, et les développeurs ont fait un effort considérable pour intégrer un grand nombre de correctifs et d'autres améliorations. Selon eux, le pilote de vidéo Linux de l'AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta est compatible avec AMD A10-7850K and AMD A10-7700K. De plus, le pilote est livré compatible avec RHEL 6.5, openSUSE 13.1, Ubuntu 13.10, Xserver 1.15 et le noyau Linux 3.13.
Points forts du pilote de vidéo Linux AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta, ont été corrigés : • Le blocage du système lors de la reprise de S4 lorsque l'économiseur d'écran OpenGL tourne; • L'échec du test OpenCL en mode CrossFire; • La luminosité peut enfin être réglée sur Ubuntu 12.04 LTS; • Un plantage qui se produit lors du redimensionnement de Konsole.
Rappelons que le but de la version bêta est seulement pour les tests et qu'il ne doit pas être installé sur une machine de production.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/AMD-Catalyst-14-1-Beta-for-Linux-Arrives-with-a-Bang-and-With-Linux-3-13-Support-423025.shtml Proposé/écrit par: Silviu Stahei
Raspberry Jamboree, Manchester 27 Feb - 1 Mar 2014 The 2014 Raspberry Jamboree is coming up at the end of February. Last year was fantastic and this year’s is looking bigger and better. Last year, they sold all 400 tickets well before the Jamboree. People attended the event in Manchester took part in talks, hands-on practical sessions and an opportunity to meet others to share ideas and projects. Well at the end of February, they are holding the 2014 OCR Raspberry Jamboree and this year it’s even bigger than last year, running over three days with a whole range of ways that you can discover the educational potential of the Raspberry Pi computer. At the same time there is also the Education Innovation Conference and Exhibition taking place with many CPD sessions on offer. So it’s not all about the Raspberry Pi, but if you’ve got one and you want to make the most of it, we’ll be able to help you. On Thursday 27th February during the day we have a variety of talks and hands-on sessions as well as a free twilight session from 4-7pm. On Friday 28th February we have even more talks and activities during the day and in the evening from 5-7pm we celebrate the 2nd birthday of the Raspberry Pi with a family friendly event with fun, games & prizes. I realise that it can be tough to get time out of school, hence the evening & weekend activities too. If you can only be released from school for one day, I would recommend the Friday. Then on Saturday 1st March at Edge Hill University we are holding our Jam Hack Day for up to 300 children, teachers, parents, enthusiasts etc. to come and learn together and problem solve in teams. Please consider bringing either your family or a group of pupils to this event. You might want to bring a handful of interested pupils, or suggest they make their own way there with their families. Source: http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/6074 Submitted/Written by: Clive
Jamboree Raspberry, à Manchester du 27 février au 1 mars 2014
Le Jamboree Raspberry 2014 va arriver à la fin février. L'année dernière a été fantastique et celui de cette année semble encore plus grand et meilleur. L'an dernier, ils ont vendu l'ensemble des 400 billets bien avant le Jamboree. Les participants qui ont assisté à l'événement de Manchester ont pris part aux discussions, Ont mis les mains dans les séances de travaux pratiques et ont eu l'occasion de rencontrer d'autres personnes pour partager des idées et des projets.
Tout à la fin février, le Jamboree Raspberry OCR 2014 va se tenir et cette année c'est encore plus grand que l'an dernier, se déroulant sur trois jours avec tout un ensemble de manière de découvrir le potentiel éducatif de l'ordinateur Raspberry Pi. Dans le même temps, il y a aussi la Conférence et Exposition sur l'Innovation dans l'Enseignement, qui offre de nombreuses sessions de formation continue. Donc tout n'est pas a propos du Raspberry Pi, mais si vous en avez un et que vous voulez en tirer le meilleur parti, nous serons en mesure de vous aider.
Le jeudi 27 février au cours de la journée, nous aurons un ensemble de conférences et de séances de travaux pratiques ainsi qu'une séance en soirée de 16 à 19 heures en entrée libre. Le vendredi 28 février, nous aurons encore plus de discussions et d'activités pendant la journée et dans la soirée de 17 à 19 heures nous célèbrerons le 2ème anniversaire du Raspberry Pi avec un événement familial et convivial avec des jeux et des cadeaux. Je sais bien qu'il peut être difficile de trouver du temps hors de l'école, d'où les activités en soirée et aussi en week-end. Si vous ne pouvez être libéré de l'école que pour une journée, je vous recommande le vendredi.
Ensuite, le samedi 1er Mars à Edge Hill University nous tenons notre Jam Hack Day pour que 300 enfants, les enseignants, les parents, les amateurs, etc puissent venir apprendre ensemble et résoudre des problèmes en équipe. Merci d'envisager de faire venir soit votre famille soit un groupe d'élèves à cet évènement. Vous voudrez peut-être venir avec un petit groupe d'élèves intéressés, ou leur suggérer de faire leur propre parcours avec leurs familles.
Source: http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/6074 Proposé/écrit par: Clive
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New Libreoffice version targets business, power users LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice.org, which is looked after by the The Document Foundation. It was forked in September 2010, at which time it was owned by Oracle. In the new release, version 4.2, announced overnight, Calc, the application used to generate spreadsheets, has had a major code refactoring and as a result works much faster with big data, especially when calculating cell values, and importing large and complex XLSX spreadsheets, according to a media release. Apart from this, an optional new formula interpreter enables massively parallel calculation of formula cells using the GPU via OpenCL. The latter works best with a Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) such as the new AMD Kaveri APU. LibreOffice 4.2 has better interoperability with Microsoft OOXML, particularly for DOCX, and legacy RTF documents. There are new import filters for documents generated in another free word processor, Abiword, and also in Apple Keynote. For Windows business users, the new release has a simplified custom install dialog to avoid potential mistakes, and the ability to centrally manage and lock down the configuration with Group Policy Objects via Active Directory. There is much better integration with Windows 7 and 8, with thumbnails of open documents now grouped by application and a list of recent documents, both showing on the task bar. For mobile users, LibreOffice now supports an Impress Remote Control for iOS - in addition to the already available Impress Remote Control for Android - which allows visual management of presentation delivery on the laptop using the screen of an iPhone or iPad. The app is waiting for review from Apple, and will be announced as soon as it is available on iTunes Store. LibreOffice 4.2 is the first open source suite to ship a new Windows (IAccessible2-based) accessibility feature developed by IBM. This is considered experimental for this release, but will replace legacy Java-based accessibility in the next major release. Developers have also continued to work on the user interface and 4.2 includes a neat “flat” icon theme - Sifr - and an updated set of default document styles. The suite has a number of extensions available. Last year, commercialisation of LibreOffice was handed over to the UK-based open source firm Collabora by SUSE Linux. Source: http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/62985-new-libreoffice-version-targets-business-power-users Submitted/Written by: Sam Varghese
La nouvelle version de LibreOffice vise les entreprises, et les utilisateurs avancés
LibreOffice est une dérivation de OpenOffice.org, qui est pris en charge par le The Document Foundation. Ils ont été séparés en Septembre 2010, au moment de son rachat par Oracle.
Dans la nouvelle version, la 4.2, qui a été annoncée cette nuit, Calc, l'application utilisée pour générer des feuilles de calcul, a subi une reformulation d'une partie majeure du code et par conséquent travaille beaucoup plus rapidement avec de grands volumes de données, en particulier pour le calcul des valeurs des cellules, et l'importation de grands et complexes feuilles XLSX, selon un communiqué de presse.
À part ça, un nouvel interpréteur de formule en option permet de calculer de façon massivement parallèle des cellules de formule en utilisant le GPU via OpenCL. Ce dernier fonctionne mieux avec une architecture système hétérogène (HSA) comme le nouveau APU Kaveri d'AMD.
LibreOffice 4.2 a une meilleure interopérabilité avec OOXML de Microsoft, en particulier pour DOCX, RTF et les documents existants. Il y a de nouveaux filtres d'importation pour les documents générés dans un autre traitement de texte libre, Abiword, et aussi dans Keynote d'Apple. Pour les utilisateurs professionnels de Windows, la nouvelle version a une interface simplifiée d'installation pour éviter les erreurs potentielles, et a la capacité de gérer de manière centralisée et de verrouiller la configuration des objets de sécurité du groupe via Active Directory. Il y a une bien meilleure intégration avec Windows 7 et 8, avec les vignettes des documents ouverts maintenant regroupées par application et la liste des documents récents, les deux affichés sur la barre des tâches.
Pour les utilisateurs de mobiles, LibreOffice prend désormais en charge une télécommande Impress pour iOS (Impress Remote Control), en plus de la télécommande déjà implémentée pour Android, qui permet une gestion visuelle de la présentation sur l'ordinateur portable à l'aide de l'écran d'un iPhone ou d'un iPad. L'application est en attente de validation par Apple, et sera annoncée dès qu'elle sera disponible sur iTunes Store. LibreOffice 4.2 est la première suite open source à offrir un nouveau fonctionnalité d'accessibilité Windows (à base de IAccessible2) développée par IBM. Ceci est considéré comme expérimental pour cette version, mais remplacera la vieille accessibilité à base de Java dans la prochaine version majeure.
Les développeurs ont également continué à travailler sur l'interface utilisateur et la 4.2 inclut un thème d'icônes “2D” soigné, Sifr, et un ensemble actualisé de styles de documents par défaut. La suite dispose d'un certain nombre d'extensions disponibles. L'an dernier, la commercialisation de LibreOffice a été confiée à l'entreprise open source basée au Royaume-Uni Collabora par SUSE Linux.
Source: http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/62985-new-libreoffice-version-targets-business-power-users Proposé/Ecrit par: Sam Varghese
New file manager for Unity For the past year, Mark Shuttleworth has been talking about full O.S. convergence, which means: one Operating System, and one User Interface for desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. The project seems very promising, with Canonical being ahead of Apple and Microsoft, in some aspects of the convergence. The main things Canonical have done so far to foster this convergence have been creating the Unity Interface and launching a complete Software Development Kit (Ubuntu SDK) based on QT5/QML and the QT Creator IDE, which allows the developers to create multiplatform apps with advanced graphics. QT is the UI library that KDE and many apps are based on. QML is the new scripting language for QT for the creation of rich UIs. It seems clear that Canonical is steering away from GTK/Gnome building blocks and moving towards QT/QML. For instance, Unity dock is being re-coded in QML. The next natural step for Canonical is to replace the main components of Unity Desktop, which are those of Gnome Desktop, with fresh new QT/QML based pieces of software. One of the first things that is going to be changed, quite predictably, is the file manager. The changes in Nautilus in its latest versions, and in particular the removal of some functionality (e.g. split screen) have created many problems to Canonical. Therefore, Oliver Grawert, a developer from Canonical, in a recent mailing list post, announced that developers are working on the creation of a more stable and more complete file manager, based on QML. Source: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/02/ubuntu-create-new-file-manager-unity Submitted/Written by: Federico Caiazza
Nouveau gestionnaire de fichier pour Unity
Depuis l'année dernière, Mark Shuttleworth nous parle de convergence complète des OS, ce qui signifie: un seul système d'exploitation, et une seule interface utilisateur pour les ordinateurs de bureau, les ordinateurs portables, les tablettes et les téléphones. Le projet semble très prometteur, et Canonical est en avance sur Apple et Microsoft, dans certains aspects de la convergence.
Les principales choses que Canonical a faites jusqu'à présent pour favoriser cette convergence ont été de créer l'interface Unity et de lancer un kit de développement logiciel complet (Ubuntu SDK) basé sur QT5/QML et l'EDI QT Creator, ce qui permet aux développeurs de créer des applis multiplateformes avec des interfaces graphiques avancées.
QT est la bibliothèque d'interface utilisateur sur laquelle KDE et de nombreuses applications sont basées. QML est le nouveau langage de script pour QT pour la création d'interfaces utilisateur riches.
Il semble clair que Canonical s'éloigne des blocs de construction GTK/Gnome et va vers QT/QML. Par exemple, la barre de lancement d'Unity est recodée en QML. La prochaine étape naturelle pour Canonical sera de remplacer les principaux composants du bureau d'Unity, qui sont ceux du bureau Gnome, avec de tout nouveaux logiciels en QT/QML. Une des premières choses qui va être changée, très probablement, sera le gestionnaire de fichiers. Les changements dans Nautilus dans ses dernières versions, et en particulier la suppression de certaines fonctionnalités (par exemple de l'écran partagé) ont créé de nombreux problèmes de Canonical. Par conséquent, Oliver Grawert, un développeur de Canonical, dans un récent message sur une liste de diffusion, a annoncé que les développeurs travaillent sur la création d'un gestionnaire de fichiers plus stable et plus complet, basée sur QML.
Source: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/02/ubuntu-create-new-file-manager-unity Proposé/Ecrit par: Federico Caiazza
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First Ubuntu Phones Announced Canonical announced they have signed agreements with two mobile manufacturers: the Spanish BQ, and the Chinese Meizu. The aim is to bring Ubuntu phones to consumers globally in 2014. Mark Shuttleworth, in his announcement streamed on ubuntuair.com, explained that those two companies have been chosen as the launchers of Ubuntu phones, because they have a successful track record in breaking into emerging markets. BQ is a manufacturer of multimedia devices operating in Europe and employing 600 people. They grew exponentially from nothing up to selling almost 1.5 million devices in less than a year in 2013, and they have become the second biggest seller of unlocked smartphones in Spain. Alberto Mendez, CEO of BQ, said about the partnership: “Ubuntu’s ongoing success on PCs, as well as the huge support it has gained for its mobile proposition provides the best opportunity to bring an alternative platform to market on our hardware”. Meizu is one of China’s most successful high-end smartphone manufacturers with over 1,000 employees, 600 retail stores and a global presence in China, Hong Kong, Israel, Russia and Ukraine. In January, the company announced its strategy to expand into other international markets as well as to ship phones in America later in 2014 and Ubuntu will be a key part of this expansion. Meizu designs and retails phones that are characterised by light, comfortable design as well as ease of use and functionality. Li Nan, Meizu’s VP Sales and Marketing commented that: “This partnership gives us an opportunity to develop a truly different and compelling offering that will support our strategy to deliver devices to both China as well as internationally”. Mark Shuttleworth added that more partnerships with other companies are planned for 2015, and that the focus is now on building apps. In particular, the Ubuntu team is working on facilitating the integration of existing html5 and Adobe Cordova apps and services, which are both already fully supported. Source: http://ubuntuonair.com/ http://www.ubuntu.com Submitted/Written by: Federico Caiazza
Annoce des Premiers Téléphones Ubuntu
Canonical a annoncé qu'ils ont signé des accords avec deux fabricants de mobiles: l'espagnol BQ, et le chinois Meizu. L'objectif est d'offrir des téléphones Ubuntu aux consommateurs du monde entier en 2014.
Mark Shuttleworth, dans son annonce diffusée sur ubuntuair.com, a expliqué que ces deux sociétés ont été choisies comme les lanceurs de téléphones Ubuntu, car elles ont un bilan positif sur leur pénétration des marchés émergents.
BQ est un fabricant de périphériques multimédia opérant en Europe et employant 600 personnes. Ils ont grandi de façon exponentielle à partir de rien jusqu'à vendre près de 1,5 millions d'appareils en moins d'un an en 2013, et ils sont devenus le deuxième plus gros vendeur de smartphones débloqués en Espagne.
Alberto Mendez, PDG de BQ, a déclaré au sujet du partenariat: “le succès continu d'Ubuntu sur les ordinateurs, ainsi que le soutien énorme qu'il a obtenu sur sa proposition de mobile, sont la meilleure occasion d'apporter sur le marché une plate-forme alternative sur notre matériel”.
Meizu est l'un des fabricants de smartphones haut de gamme de Chine ayant le mieux réussi, avec plus de 1000 employés, 600 magasins de détail et une présence mondiale en Chine, Hong Kong, Israël, Russie et Ukraine. En Janvier, la société a annoncé sa stratégie d'expansion vers d'autres marchés internationaux ainsi que la livraison de téléphones en Amérique plus tard en 2014 et Ubuntu sera un élément clé de cette expansion. Meizu conçoit et vend des téléphones qui sont caractérisées par un aspect léger et confortable ainsi que la facilité d'utilisation et ses fonctionnalités.
Li Nan, vice-président des ventes et marketing de Meizu fait remarquer que: «Ce partenariat nous donne l'occasion de développer une offre vraiment différente et convaincante qui soutiendra notre stratégie visant à fournir des appareils à la fois en Chine et à l'étranger». Mark Shuttleworth a ajouté que d'autres partenariats avec d'autres entreprises sont prévues pour 2015, et que l'accent est mis désormais sur la construction des applications. En particulier, l'équipe Ubuntu travaille à faciliter l'intégration des applications et des services existant en html5 et Adobe Cordova, qui sont tous deux déjà entièrement pris en charge.
Source: http://ubuntuonair.com/ http://www.ubuntu.com Proposé/Ecrit par: Federico Caiazza
Demand for Linux skills rises Demand for people with Linux skills is increasing, a trend that appears to follow a shift in server sales. Cloud infrastructure, including Amazon Web Service, is largely Linux based, and cloud services' overall growth is increasing Linux server deployments. As many as 30% of all servers shipped this year will be cloud services providers, according to research firm IDC. This shift may be contributing to Linux hiring trends reported by the Linux Foundation and IT careers website Dice, in a report released Wednesday. The report states that 77% of hiring managers have put hiring Linux talent on their list of priorities, up from 70% a year ago. The foundation study doesn't explicitly connect the shift in server usage to hiring, but Shravan Goli, the president of Dice, attributed increasing demand for Linux skills to cloud deployments as well as the rise of mobile applications. “A lot of the (mobile) services are built on open source systems,” he said. In the third quarter of last year, Linux servers accounted for 28% of all server revenue, according to the latest IDC market estimate. In the third quarter of 2012, Linux servers represented 21.5% of server revenue. Dice has about 11,000 Linux job posting on its site, Goli said. “The utilization of the Linux operating system is moving more and more up the stack,” he said. According to the IDC data, losing ground in the server hardware market is Windows, which had 50.3% of all the server hardware factory revenue in the third quarter. The figure was 51.1% in the comparable year ago quarter. Unix systems experienced a revenue decline of more 31% year over year. This was a particularly weak market, however, with the server market declining 3.7% year to year. Linux is “far and away” the platform of choice for cloud computing deployments, said Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT. King said the gains in Linux server revenue “would serve as some kind of supporting data for the uptick” in Linux hiring. Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9246456/Demand_for_Linux_skills_rises Submitted By: Rahul Mehta
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China's home-grown Linux OS shuts Once the world's second-largest Linux distributor, Red Flag Software has shut reportedly due to mismanagement and after owing employees months in unpaid wages. China's state-funded answer to global software giants like Microsoft, the Chinese company filed for liquidation over the weekend and terminated all employee contracts. Set up in late-1999 amid the dot-com boom, Red Flag was touted as an alternative to Windows, offering desktop and server OSes built on the open-source Linux platform. It thrived in the early days, inking deals with partners such as Oracle and Dell which products were certified to support and shipped with Red Flag Software. The Beijing-based vendor was primarily funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Software Research, and later received additional funding from state-owned Shanghai NewMargin Venture Capital and the Ministry of Information Industry's VC arm, CCIDNET Investment. Signs that Red Flag was in financial trouble surfaced in April 2013 when employees were told they would not be paid their wages, and the company's headquarters in Haidian district was forced to close in December over unpaid rent and utilities, reported TechWeb. Source: http://www.zdnet.com/cn/chinas-home-grown-linux-os-shutters-7000026404/ Submitted By: Rahul Mehta
Will Chrome OS and Android dominate the 2014 Linux desktop? Android phone and tablet users have now become accustomed to the immense functionalities and level of comfort that the platform offers When you give it a thought, it's ironical that the likes of Google would introduce Linux to the broader desktop market. But that's the way it is, not that we are complaining! What really sparred the growth of Linux at the first place was the very terrible response to Microsoft's Windows 8. It's not everyday that you see traditional Windows users sifting through alternatives. Apple might have been one, but sadly that didn't happen! It's at times like these that Chrome OS and Android grab the limelight. Of course, users of traditional distros like Ubuntu or Linux Mint might beg to disagree. Chrome OS and Android Desktop are not one hundred percent perfect, being attached to Google makes them liable for privacy concerns, however the fact of the matter still remains they have enough firepower to pull the rug from beneath Microsoft's feet. Meanwhile, Android phone and tablet users have now become accustomed to the immense functionalities and level of comfort that the platform offers, therefore, it's only a matter of time that they would dump Windows from their desktops, switching on to the obvious. At the same time, regular Linux desktop distros like Fedora and Linux Mint should not be left behind. They are only just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to desktop distributions and are immensely wonderful in their own right. Source: http://www.ciol.com/ciol/news/209348/will-chrome-os-android-dominate-2014-linux-desktop Submitted By: Rahul Mehta
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Who actually develops Linux? The answer might surprise you If I tell you to think of an open-source project, the first word that probably comes to mind is Linux. (Bonus points if you thought of Firefox or Apache, but for the sake of argument let’s just say that you thought of Linux). Then, if I ask you what open-source actually means, you’d probably say something like: “Open source means everyone is free to use the code, and it’s usually developed by lots of independent programmers, who contribute their work freely, to make the world/internet a better place.” That’s what I thought, too, until I read The Linux Foundation’s somewhat-annual report on the state of the Linux kernel. The report’s findings may surprise you. To begin with, take a look at the chart above (which was compiled by IEEE Spectrum, incidentally). The graph shows the breakdown of all patches contributed to the Linux kernel, between versions 3.0 and 3.10. You can clearly see that over 80% of all contributions are from developers who are paid by a large, commercial company. The report says that the number of unpaid developers contributing to the Linux kernel has been slowly declining for many years, now sitting at just 13.6% (it was 14.6% in the last report). Unsurprisingly, Red Hat — one of the very few open-source Dot Com success stories — rules the roost. The Linux Foundation reports that, over the past year, there has been a sizable increase from companies that make mobile and embedded systems (Samsung, Texas Instruments, Linaro). In the previous report, these three companies contributed just 4.4% of the kernel changes — this year, it’s up to almost 11%. Linaro, if you haven’t heard of it, is a not-for-profit company set up by ARM, Freescale, IBM, Samsung, ST-Ericsson, and Texas Instruments, for the sole purpose of improving Linux’s ARM support. Non-profit doesn’t mean Linaro developers don’t get paid a lot of money, however. The report also highlights the decreasing amount of direct involvement that Linus Torvalds has with the patching process. Torvalds (the creator of Linux, and still very much the project’s overall coordinator) signed off on just 568 patches (0.7%) between versions 3.0 and 3.10. Nowadays, Torvalds has delegated signoffs to subsystem maintainers — most of which are highly paid employees at Red Hat, Intel, Google, and so on. Finally, the last main factor that the report draws our attention to is the swelling size of kernel’s source code. Between Linux 3.0 (July 2011) and Linux 3.10, more than 2.3 million lines of code have been added to the kernel. As of Linux 3.10, there was almost 17 million lines of source code in the Linux kernel (and we’re now up to version 3.13, so it has probably swollen yet further). The number of files that make up the kernel has jumped from 37,000 to 43,000, too. When the Linux kernel was first released in 1991, it had just 10,000 lines of code. For the most part, this inflation is due to drivers and support for new filesystems. During the build process, only the lines of source code that are actually required by your hardware will be compiled, which in reality will be a small fraction of those 17 million lines. As for why Linux is now mostly developed by well-paid engineers, the possible reasons are myriad. The most obvious and compelling reason is that these big companies have a commercial interest in the continued good health of Linux. 10 years ago, Linux was the plaything of hobbyists and supercomputer makers — today, it powers everything from smartphones (Android) to wireless routers to set-top boxes. The continuing commercial interest in Linux is highlighted by another statistic from The Linux Foundation report: In mid-2011, only 191 companies were involved in the Linux kernel; by the end of 2013, that number was up to 243. Really, we should be grateful that these companies don’t seem to be skewing the development of Linux towards their own commercial needs. Such is the magic of open source — and the iron fist of Torvalds and his fellow maintainers Source: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/175919-who-actually-develops-linux-the-answer-might-surprise-you Submitted By: Rahul Mehta