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HP Is The New OpenStack Leader: What Does It Mean For Red Hat? Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) is the largest distributor of commercial Linux products and the undisputed leader in the Linux enterprise market. The company also was the first to achieve the psychological billion dollars in open-source product sales. It therefore comes as a surprise to learn that Red Hat could slowly be losing its grip on the open-source universe. A recent report on the top OpenStack contributors revealed that HP (NYSE:HPQ), the leading server vendor, has, for the first time, surpassed Red Hat, long-time leader of the OpenStack platform, as the top contributor of code to the open-source platform. HP contributed 20% of new code to the OpenStack platform over the last year compared to Red Hat's 17%. That's quite a big change from a year ago when Red Hat was the top contributor with 19% and HP generated just 13% of code. OpenStack is a set of open-source software tools that allows users to build and manage their own cloud platforms Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2523745-hp-is-the-new-openstack-leader-what-does-it-mean-for-red-hat?source=cc Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht IBM wants enterprises to consider Power 8 During the event, the IBM Power Architecture folks discussed the Power 8 architecture and how it can accelerate performance for many workloads. They also discussed IBM's work with several Linux distributors, using Flash memory as extensible memory rather than either cache or as a replacement for rotating storage media for processing on some new System p computers, and how the combined platform can easily support many Web, Big Data and Analytics, and “system of record” processing – without customers feeling the pain of a migration. IBM has worked with SUSE and other Linux distributors to make sure that many Linux tools and applications are available on both X86 and Power-based systems, and that they work in exactly the same way. This means that using Power might be as simple as moving data or changing a pointer to where data might be found. Does this mean enterprises of all sizes might be well served by re-hosting their X86 applications? Source: http://www.zdnet.com/ibm-wants-enterprises-to-consider-power-8-7000034100/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
HP est le nouveau leader OpenStack: Qu'est-ce que cela signifie pour Red Hat?
Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) est le plus grand distributeur de produits commerciaux Linux et le leader incontesté sur le marché de l'entreprise Linux. La société a également été la première à atteindre le seuil psychologique du milliard de dollars pour la vente de produits open-source.
Ce n'est donc pas une surprise d'apprendre que Red Hat pourrait être en train de perdre lentement son emprise sur l'univers open-source. Un récent rapport sur les principaux contributeurs à OpenStack a révélé que HP (NYSE: HPQ), le premier fournisseur de serveurs, a pour la première fois dépassé Red Hat, leader de longue date sur la plate-forme de OpenStack, comme premier contributeur de code à la plate-forme open-source. HP a contribué pour 20% du nouveau code pour la plate-forme OpenStack au cours de l'année dernière par rapport aux 17% de Red Hat. C'est un grand changement par rapport à l'année dernière où Red Hat a contribué le plus avec 19% et HP généré seulement 13% de code. OpenStack est un ensemble d'outils logiciels open-source qui permet aux utilisateurs de créer et de gérer leurs propres plates-formes d'informatique en nuages.
Source: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2523745-hp-is-the-new-openstack-leader-what-does-it-mean-for-red-hat?source=cc Proposé par: Arnfried Walbrecht
IBM veut que les entreprises s'intéressent à Power 8
Pendant le salon, les gens d'IBM Power Architecture ont discuté de l'architecture Power 8 et de comment elle peut accélérer les performances de nombreux travaux. Ils ont également discuté du travail d'IBM avec plusieurs distributeurs de Linux, en utilisant de la mémoire Flash comme mémoire extensible plutôt que comme du cache ou comme moyen de remplacement pour faire tourner les supports de stockage pour le traitement sur certains nouveaux ordinateurs System p, et de comment la plate-forme combinée peut facilement supporter de nombreux traitements Web, Big Data, des analyses, et une «système d'enregistrement»; sans que les clients ne ressentent la douleur d'une migration. IBM a travaillé avec SUSE Linux et d'autres distributeurs pour s'assurer que de nombreux outils et applications Linux sont disponibles à la fois sur X86 et les systèmes à base de Power, et qu'ils fonctionnent exactement de la même façon. Cela signifie que utiliser Power pourrait être aussi simple que de déplacer les données ou de changer un pointeur à l'endroit où les données peuvent être trouvées. Est-ce que ça signifie que les entreprises de toutes tailles peuvent être bien servies en ré-hébergeant leurs applications X86?
Source: http://www.zdnet.com/ibm-wants-enterprises-to-consider-power-8-7000034100/ Proposé par: Arnfried Walbrecht
MK902 II LE is a tiny Ubuntu PC with a Rockchip RK3288 CPU Rikomagic launched a new TV box with a Rockchip RK3288 processor and Google Android software this summer. It’s called the MK902 II, and I’ve got one sitting on my desk waiting for me to find the time to put it through the paces. While the box is designed to let you run Android apps on a TV, it’s basically a tiny computer… and, if you don’t want to use Android, there’s a Linux model. Rikomagic UK is now selling the MK902 II LE (Linux Edition) at its Cloudsto store for £110 ($179) and up. That price may seem a bit high when you can get an Android model for $115. But at least you won’t have to install Linux yourself, and Rikomagic UK tells me there are a few small differences in the hardware for the Linux Edition model. The MK902 II LE features a RK3288 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB to 16GB of storage, a microSd card reader, 802.11n WiFi, HDMI output, 4 USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, AV, and SPDIF jacks. It ships with Xubuntu 14.04, which is basically Ubuntu Linux with the Xfce desktop environment. Source: http://liliputing.com/2014/09/mk902-ii-le-tiny-ubuntu-pc-rockchip-rk3288-cpu.html Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Linux-ready industrial PCs are tough as nails MEN Micro announced two rugged, Linux-ready box PCs with 3rd Gen. Intel Core i7 CPUs: the video storage oriented “BL70S”, and the wireless focused “BL70W.” The BL70S and BL70W are fanless industrial computers that operate from -40 to 85°C, and feature aluminum fins that facilitate conduction cooling. Earlier MEN Micro box computers had much the same appearance, including the circa-2011, AMD G-Series based BC1. Both computers support Linux, as well as Windows 7 and WES7. Although the computers have many features in common, the BL70S is designed for storage applications such as video recorders or content servers, while the BL70W supports wireless computing, “whether used alone or connected to a display computer,” says MEN Micro. The BL70S is notable for its 4-port gigabit Ethernet switch, Power over Ethernet (PoE) support, and external, hot-pluggable HDD/SSD shuttles. The BL70W stands out with its four mini-PCI Express slots, each with a dual SIM card, and its wide support for wireless technologies. Source: http://linuxgizmos.com/linux-ready-industrial-pcs-are-tough-as-nails/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
MK902 II LE est un petit PC Ubuntu avec un processeur Rockchip RK3288
Rikomagic a lancé une nouvelle box de TV avec un processeur Rockchip RK3288 et le logiciel Android de Google cet été. On l'appelle le MK902 II, et j'en ai un sur mon bureau en attente que je trouve le temps de le tester. Alors que la box est conçue pour vous permettre d'exécuter les applications Android sur un téléviseur, c'est en fait un petit ordinateur… et, si vous ne voulez pas utiliser Android, il y a un modèle Linux. Rikomagic UK vend maintenant MK902 II LE (Linux Edition) en ligne sur son site Cloudsto pour 110 £ (180 $ - 150 €) et plus. Ce prix peut sembler un peu haut quand vous pouvez obtenir un modèle Android pour 115 $. Mais au moins vous n'aurez pas à installer Linux vous-même, et Rikomagic UK me dit il y a quelques petites différences dans le matériel pour le modèle Linux Edition. Le MK902 II LE dispose d'un processeur quad-core RK3288, 2 Go de RAM, 8 Go à 16 Go de stockage, un lecteur de carte microSD, WiFi 802.11n, une sortie HDMI, 4 ports USB, Gigabit Ethernet, AV, et des jacks SPDIF. Il est livré avec Xubuntu 14.04, qui est simplement un Linux Ubuntu avec l'environnement de bureau Xfce.
Source: http://liliputing.com/2014/09/mk902-ii-le-tiny-ubuntu-pc-rockchip-rk3288-cpu.html Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Des PC industriels prêts pour Linux sont robustes comme des clous
MEN Micro a annoncé deux PC robustes, prêtes pour Linux avec des CPU Intel Core i7 de 3ème Génération: le «BL70S» orienté vers le stockage vidéo, et le «BL70W» tourné vers le sans fil.
Les BL70S et BL70W sont des ordinateurs industriels qui fonctionnent sans ventilateur de -40°C à 85°C, et disposent d'ailettes en aluminium qui facilitent le refroidissement par conduction. Les ordinateurs MEN Micro précédents avaient à peu près la même apparence, y compris le BC1 basé sur le circa-2011, AMD G-Series. Les deux ordinateurs prennent en charge Linux, ainsi que Windows 7 et WES7.
Bien que les ordinateurs aient de nombreuses caractéristiques en commun, le BL70S est conçu pour les applications de stockage tels que les magnétoscopes ou des serveurs de contenu, tandis que le BL70W est dédié à l'informatique sans fil, «utilisé seul ou connecté à un ordinateur d'affichage», dit-MEN Micro. Le BL70S est remarquable pour son commutateur 4 ports Ethernet Gigabit, la capacité de faire du Power over Ethernet (PoE - Électricité sur une prise Ethernet), et, des casiers HDD/SSD externes enfichables à chaud. Le BL70W se distingue par ses quatre ports mini-PCI Express, chacun ayant une carte double SIM, et par son large support des technologies sans fil.
Source: http://linuxgizmos.com/linux-ready-industrial-pcs-are-tough-as-nails/ Proposé par: Arnfried Walbrecht
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A Norsified Linux for Windows and OS X wobblers First things first: the name. The next Elementary OS was codenamed Isis – as in the Egyptian goddess of magic and life. That was until Islamic State became a thing, and the distro’s team decided such associations were unwanted. Now it’s Freya, as in the Norse goddess of love and, er, war. Conflict aside, what a nice update to last year's Luna release of Elementary Freya is shaping up to be. The Norsified Elementary builds on Ubuntu 14.04, though, as always, the Elementary developers pick and choose when it comes to the distro's base tools. You'll find all the updated hardware support in Ubuntu 14.04, but Elementary replaces GTK 3.10 with the more cutting edge GTK 3.12, which gets Elementary a nice combined window bar/title bar that saves a bit of space and looks great with the rest of Elementary's very polished desktop theme. You'd be forgiven for thinking Elementary is based on GNOME Shell. It looks a bit like GNOME Shell, with a clock in the middle of the top bar, an Applications menu to the left, and some indicator apps to the right. In Luna, the top bar was black by default, which made it look even more like GNOME Shell. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/26/elementary_freya_review/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Web Software vs. Native Linux Software In years past, it wasn't uncommon to rely on a particular operating system because of the software it provided. Mind you, this was before the popularity of web-based applications that can work on any Internet-capable platform. Back then, any task – ranging from word processing down to video editing – had to be done from locally installed software. Flash forward to now; web applications today have the ability to offer office suite functionality and make live edits to various forms of video/audio media. In this article, I'll explore the differences between locally installed Linux applications and their web-based counterparts. Source: http://www.datamation.com/open-source/web-software-vs.-native-linux-software-1.html Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Building a Linux lab and its great potential in education It was 1995, and I had received an email from my brother James asking if I’d ever heard of Linux. I had, but barely. A high school student at my alma mater had built a web server with Linux. Eventually, out of curiosity, I purchased a copy of Red Hat 6.0 (which pre-dates Red Hat Enterprise Linux or RHEL), and got it running with GNOME on a Hewlett-Packard Vectra 75, which had a Cyrix processor upgrade installed. RHEL 6.0 had a Mozilla browser, OpenOffice 1.0, and some other software I’d never heard of. At that time, I was the technology director at Franklinville Central School in western New York State. I worked there for 26 years and retired in August 2013. I shared it with my IT staff, and we built a machine that we toyed around with that could read Yahoo Mail using the browser, but we couldn’t use it with Lotus Notes which was our workplace official email system. Then, in early 2001, after talking to a content filtering vendor about my displeasure with content filters in general, the vendor said, “Why don’t you build your own?” So, I said, “With what?” And, he answered, “Linux!” Source: https://opensource.com/education/14/9/linux-education-public-school Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Linux Foundation launches reference platform for ‘carrier-grade’ NFV The Linux Foundation launched its Open Platform for NFV Project, designed as a “carrier-grade, integrated, open-source reference platform intended to accelerate the introduction of new products and services.” Founding members of the program include a long list of companies participating in the software-defined networking and network function virtualization space, including “Platinum” members AT&T, Brocade, China Mobile, Cisco, Dell, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Juniper Networks, NEC, Nokia Networks, NTT DoCoMo, Red Hat, Telecom Italia, and Vodafone. “Silver-level” founding members include 6Wind, Alcatel-Lucent, ARM, CableLabs, Cavium, CenturyLink, Ciena, ClearPath, ConteXtream, Coriant, Cyan, Dorado Software, Ixia, Metaswitch Networks, Mirantis, Orange, Sandvine, Sprint, and Wind River. Source: http://www.rcrwireless.com/20140930/bssoss/linux-foundation-launches-reference-platform-for-carrier-grade-nfv-tag2 Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Linux micro computer runs Android and Ubuntu We have discovered another Linux computer module, the HummingBoard from Israeli firm SolidRun. The HummingBoard allows you to run many open-source operating systems – such as Ubuntu, Debian and Arch, as well as Android and XBMC. It is powered by single or dual ARM9 core Freescale i.MX6 processor with 512Mbyte or 1Gbyte of memory. Graphics comes from a Vivante GC880 GPU core which supports OpenGL ES 3.0 API, and capable of outputting multiple 1080p videos. There are two USB ports and an Ethernet network port, as well as a standard array of interfaces for UART, GPIO, SPI with two CS, I2C. There is also an optional 802.11 Wi-Fi interface. Source: http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/embedded-systems/linux-micro-computer-runs-android-ubuntu-2014-10/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht EVIL patent TROLLS poised to attack OpenStack, says Linux protection squad A group established to shield Linux from patent trolls has warned OpenStack will be the next big target for intellectual property hoarders. The Open Invention Network (OIN) reckons the open-source cloud is ripe for plucking by trolls, who would easily be able to box off and claim core technologies as their own. That would see developers and customers using OpenStack forced to hand over fistfuls of cash in royalties – following either cases or, more likely, closed-door deals that avoid the expense of court. Keith Bergelt, OIN chief executive, told The Reg OpenStack lacks an IP rights protection policy beyond its basic Apache licences to protect itself. “It creates a potential situation for mischief and for people to start inventing ahead of where core technology is being invented,” he said. “I have more than a little concern this could be a flash point or a battleground.” According to Bergelt, there’s nothing to protect the cross licensing of technologies between OpenStack’s sub projects. That’s a problem because OpenStack meetings are open, so anybody can attend, take notes and walk away to file a patent in an area of prospective development. It’s a problem Bergelt said he’s raised with OpenStack’s legal affairs committee, whose official members are drawn from Canonical, SUSE, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, and Rackspace, with two unofficial members from IBM and Red Hat. Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/02/oin_openstack_warning/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
How GNOME 3.14 is winning back disillusioned Linux users GNOME 3.14 is now out. It’s a release full of polish from the desktop environment once preferred by most Linux distributions – and almost a story of redemption. After arguably losing its way around GNOME 3.0, GNOME is back with a vengeance. GNOME Shell has matured immensely since their immature launch. Thanks to solid releases like GNOME 3.14, GNOME will once again be the default desktop on Debian, pushing out Xfce. GNOME 3’s “classic mode” offers enough familiarity to be the default desktop on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, too. GNOME 3.14 includes several redesigned applications. The Weather app has been reworked with a new layout, and now uses GNOME’s built-in geolocation features to automatically display the weather for your current location. The Evince app – GNOME’s PDF viewer – now has less interface getting in the way so it can display more of your documents at once. It also supports high-resolution displays and offers improved accessibility features. GNOME now has multitouch support, too. Gestures involving multiple fingers can be used to navigate the desktop interface. Evince, and GNOME’s image viewer, Eye of GNOME, now support pinch-to-zoom. The Photos app gained support for Google accounts, meaning photos uploaded from Android, through Google+ or via Picasa, are now integrated. It already allows you to access photos from Facebook and Flickr. Photos can also now access local photo servers over the DLNA protocol. Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2691192/how-gnome-3-14-is-winning-back-disillusioned-linux-users.html Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht IBM Power Systems get a boost with Suse Linux and MariaDB backing IBM's Power Systems platform has been given a boost with the announcement of a partnership between Linux firm Suse and database developer MariaDB to drive a wider variety of applications on its Power8 systems. Announced at the IBM Enterprise2014 event in Las Vegas, the first fruit of the partnership is set to be a version of the MariaDB Enterprise MySQL database optimised for the Suse Linux Enterprise Server 12 platform on Power8 servers. The partnership agreement will also provide customers with access to enterprise-class support from both Suse and MariaDB. Suse Linux Enterprise Server 12 is due for release sometime in the fourth quarter of 2014, but the two firms did not indicate when the optimised version of MariaDB is set to be available. However, Suse and MariaDB stated that their intention is to go further and enable IBM customers to be able to run a wider variety of applications on Power8, and have more flexibility and choice within their existing IT infrastructure. Nils Brauckmann, president and general manager of Suse, said that the partnership is an example of the opportunity that open-source brings to the IBM Power Systems ecosystem. “Working with MariaDB in our strong ecosystem of partners offers our customers new and innovative ways to make the most from their existing IT investments, while accessing the latest and most powerful computing applications and technologies.” Source: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2374246/ibm-power-systems-get-a-boost-with-suse-linux-and-mariadb-backing Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Linux Foundation: Certification More Popular But Tough to Get The Linux Foundation's “Introduction to Linux” MOOC on edX has enjoyed impressive popularity since launching in the summer. And the organization's Certification Program for open-source engineers, which went live in August, is also rising in stature, according to data the Foundation has made available. The Linux Foundation and edX never publicly set any specific targets for the Introduction to Linux MOOC, but it's a pretty safe bet they're happy with the response so far. As of this week, 270,000 users, representing more than 100 countries, have registered in the course, according to the Linux Foundation. That's solid evidence of the demand for free, Internet-based, instruction in using Linux. And while taking the MOOC may impress some employers, the Linux Foundation is hoping its Certification Program will prove more persuasive as a measure of expertise in open-source systems administration and programming. One figure that may help convince employers and the channel that the certification means something is the sub-60 percent rate at which applicants have successfully completed the exams to date, according to the Linux Foundation. That statistic may reflect, in part, a low level of preparation among students in the course, but it also speaks to the certification's seriousness, and bodes well for candidates who are hoping a certificate will mean something to employers. Source: http://thevarguy.com/open-source-application-software-companies/100714/linux-certification-rising-popular-tough-get-says-linux-f Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht What's CoreOS? An existential threat to Linux vendors Open-source has never been shy about eating its young – or, in the case of CoreOS, its old. While sometimes dismissed as the newest entrant in the “just enough operating system” pageant, CoreOS threatens to displace incumbent Linux distributions with a minimalist approach that seeks to emulate how Google and other Web companies manage distributed systems. CoreOS uses Docker to handle the addition and management of applications and services on a system. Indeed, by changing the very definition of the Linux distribution, CoreOS is an “existential threat” to Red Hat, Canonical, and Suse, according to some suggestions. The question for Red Hat in particular will be whether it can embrace this new way of delivering Linux while keeping its revenue model alive. Linux vendors, particularly Red Hat, have built their businesses on meeting the needs of operations professionals. Developers, as I wrote recently, have been a secondary concern. That strategy worked great while operations ruled, but as developers have increasingly taken control, the ops-first strategy looks increasingly suspect. Indeed, Gartner estimates that 38 percent of total IT spend comes from outside IT today, and will balloon to 50 percent by 2017 as lines of business take more responsibility for their systems. Source: http://www.infoworld.com/article/2692889/open-source-software/coreos-an-existential-threat-to-linux-vendors.html Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Drone developers get big open-source boost from Linux Foundation, vendors like 3D Robotics and Box Drones are a hot topic right now, attracting not just big names like Amazon and Google, but thousands of independent developers who want to use aerial technology for fields like conservation, commerce, search and rescue, and scientific research. On Monday, those developers got a big piece of good news: the Linux Foundation and ten companies announced the “Dronecode Project,” which will offer a huge repository of open-source code for people to build aerial operating systems, navigation tools and other features for unmanned aircraft. While Linux code is already part of many drone-related projects, the new initiative consolidates many of these assets under one roof, providing a common platform as well as communications and governance tools. And, of course, the code will be available to anyone who wants to use it. The Dronecode Project will be overseen by the Linux Foundation, but it is also receiving some high-profile industry support, including from Chris Anderson, the former Wired editor who now runs the robot company 3D Robotics, and Box CEO Aaron Levie. The project is moving quickly, according to Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Foundation, who says 1,200 developers are already working on Dronecode, and that some projects are receiving 150 contributions of code a day. Source: https://gigaom.com/2014/10/13/drone-developers-get-big-open-source-boost-from-linux-foundation-vendors-like-3d-robotics-and-box/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht ChromeOS disses Linux users, drops ext2/3/4 Sometimes people make decisions that are so baffling – and so far out of left field – that you are left simply… dumbstruck. Case in point: ChromeOS is dropping support for ext2, ext3 and ext4 file systems – the file systems used by the vast majority of Linux systems. Now, I hear what you're saying. “Isn't ChromeOS… Linux? Don't they simply get full support for these file systems for free?” Yes, it is. And, yes, they do. Which begs the question… why, on Earth, would anyone think this is a good idea? After digging through issue #315401 (titled “Drop support for ext2/3/4 from Files.app”) a bit, it turns out there are two reasons given for dropping ext2/3/4 from ChromeOS. One, as stated by one contributor, is that it is simply an unnecessary feature: “Every feature comes with complexity. Complexity adds maintenance cost, QA cost, slows down development, and adds surface of security exploits. We should add a feature only if its benefit clearly outweighs its cost, but this particular feature was slipped in for some historical reason.” Two things made me giggle there: • The notion that having support for ext3 is a possible security issue is just plain silly. Note that there isn't actually any security exploit that people are concerned about there – just the nebulous threat of possible security problems because, you know, software is involved. In other words… pointing at an invisible boogie man that nobody has reason to believe even exists. Also, if there is an exploit in these critical file systems, it would undoubtedly be fixed at an astounding speed. • The idea that ext2/3/4 support was a feature that was added to ChromeOS “for some historical reason.” Maybe that historical reason is that, just maybe, you got it for free. You know. 'Cuz Linux. Source: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2824764/opensource-subnet/chromeos-disses-linux-users-drops-ext2-3-4.html Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
Machine vision COM and cameras go Linux Vision Components has launched two Linux-based, smart machine vision cameras, and a COM built around a Xilinx Zynq SoC, each supporting up to 4.2MP video. Over the last decade, smart cameras for machine vision have been transitioning from DSPs to systems that combine DSPs or FPGAs with ARM or x86 processors running Linux. The latest to join the Linux camp is Ettlingen, Germany based machine vision manufacturer Vision Components, which, with its latest “VC Z” cameras, has switched from a DSP-based system to a tuxified ARM/FPGA combo. Thanks to the Xilinx Zynq, the company was able to accomplish this with a single system-on-chip. The VC Z is available in a VCSBC nano Z computer-on-module, which also appears to act as the foundation for the new VC nano Z and VC pro Z cameras. The company’s VC cameras, which are still available, incorporate freely programmable DSPs combined with the proprietary VCRT operating system. The new VC Z devices switch to the Zynq running Linux, thereby using less board space while becoming more easily programmable, says Vision Components. Source: http://linuxgizmos.com/machine-vision-com-and-cameras-go-linux/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht Canonical Details Plans for Unity 8 Integration in Ubuntu Desktop Ubuntu users now know for certain when Unity 8 officially arrives on the desktop flavor of the distribution. Users might have noticed that Ubuntu developers have been putting much of their efforts into the mobile version of their operating system, and the desktop has received less attention than usual. They had to focus on that version because most of the things that are changed and improved for Ubuntu Touch will eventually land on the desktop as well. Not all users know that the desktop environment that is now on Ubuntu Touch will also power the desktop version in the future, and that future is not very far ahead. In fact, it's a lot closer than users imagine. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Canonical-Details-Plans-for-Unity-8-Integration-in-Ubuntu-Desktop-462117.shtml Submitted by: Silviu Stahie
KDE Plasma 5 Now Available for Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) The new KDE Plasma and KDE Frameworks packages are now out of Beta and users can test them in various systems, including Ubuntu. In fact, installing the latest KDE is quite easy now because there is a PPA available. A lot of users are anxious to use the latest Plasma desktop because it's quite different from the old one. We can call it “the old one”, even if the latest branch, 4.14.x, is still maintained until November. The KDE developers split the project into three major components: Plasma, Frameworks, and Applications. Plasma is actually the desktop and everything that goes with it, Frameworks is made up of all the libraries and other components, and Applications gathers all the regular apps that are usually KDE-specific. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/KDE-Plasma-5-Now-Available-for-Ubuntu-14-10-Utopic-Unicorn--462042.shtml Submitted by: Silviu Stahie VirtualBox 4.3.18 Has Been Released With Lots Of Fixes Virtualbox 4.3.18 has been released, and brings many different fixes for major operating systems such as Ubuntu Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. The potential misbehavior after restoring the A20 state from a saved state has been fixed, virtualbox does not crash anymore in Linux hosts with old versions of the linux kernel, a few remaining warnings in the kernel log if memory allocation fails have been fixed and the GNOME Shell on Fedora 21 is not prevented anymore from starting when handling video driver display properties. Thanks to this maintenance release, Ubuntu users have now the possibility to use legacy full-screen mode under Unity without experiencing multi-screen issues. Another important issue related to Unity that has been fixed with the release of 4.3.18 version is the quirk in full-screen mode Unity panels caused by mini-toolbar code changes in last release. Source: http://www.unixmen.com/virtualbox-4-3-18-released-lots-fixes/ Submitted by: Oltjano Terpollari
Amazon Web Services Aims for More Open-Source Involvement In 2006, Amazon was an E-commerce site building out its own IT infrastructure in order to sell more books. Now, AWS and EC2 are well-known acronyms to system administrators and developers across the globe looking to the public cloud to build and deploy web-scale applications. But how exactly did a book seller become a large cloud vendor? Amazon's web services business was devised in order to cut data-center costs – a feat accomplished largely through the use of Linux and open-source software, said Chris Schlaeger, director of kernel and operating systems at Amazon Web Services, in his keynote talk at LinuxCon and CloudOpen Europe today in Dusseldorf. Founder Jeff Bezos “quickly realized that […] he needed a sophisticated IT infrastructure,” Schlaeger said. That required expensive proprietary infrastructure with enough capacity to handle peak holiday demand. Meanwhile, most of the time the machines were idle. By building their infrastructure with open-source software, and charging other sellers to use their unused infrastructure, Amazon could cover the up-front cost of data center development. Source: http://www.linux.com/news/featured-blogs/200-libby-clark/791472-amazon-web-services-aims-for-more-open-source-involvement Submitted by: Libby Clark Systemd Creator Says Linux Community Is Rotten, Points at Linus Torvalds as the Source The creator of systemd, Lennart Poettering, had some very harsh words to say about the Linux community and about one of its role models, Linus Torvalds. It might seem that the Linux community in its entirety is all about rainbows and bunnies, but the truth is that it's made up of regular people and the likes. Most of the other communities are formed in this way and Linux is no exception. The problem is that Linus is pegged as one of the people responsible by Lennart Poettering. There has been some small friction between Linux and systemd, when asked what he thought about systemd, just a couple of weeks ago, Linus Torvalds was actually very tactful about it. Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Systemd-Creator-Say-Linux-Community-Is-Rotten-Points-at-Linus-Torvalds-as-the-Source-461219.shtml Submitted by: Silviu Stahie Ten years of Ubuntu: How Linux’s beloved newcomer became its criticized king In October of 2004, a new Linux distro appeared on the scene with a curious name—Ubuntu. Even then there were hundreds, today if not thousands, of different Linux distros available. A new one wasn't particularly unusual, and for some time after its quiet preview announcement, Ubuntu went largely unnoticed. Today, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, estimates that there are 25 million Ubuntu users worldwide. That makes Ubuntu the world's third most popular PC operating system. By Canonical's estimates, Ubuntu has roughly 90 percent of the Linux market. And Ubuntu is poised to launch a mobile version that may well send those numbers skyrocketing again. Source:http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/ten-years-of-ubuntu-how-linuxs-beloved-newcomer-became-its-criticized-king/ Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht