Comment I first read the headline as: (Score 1) 284
"Microsoft Finally Open Sources Windows 7 Too!"
And I wondered whether anyone would care if they did.
Submission + - Linus responds to Microsoft's GPL'd drivers
digipres writes: Chris Smart at http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7439/ has published an interview with Linus Torvalds in which Linus responds to Microsoft's contribution of 20k lines of GPL driver code to the linux kernel.
Comment Linus responds to the Microsoft contribution (Score 1) 508
Over at http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7439/ Chris Smart has a short article on the subject in which he publishes an interview with Linus Torvalds about this issue. Linus is generally in favour of including the Microsoft driver code.
Comment Where is my stuff? (Score 0) 320
The "where is my stuff?" problem is not trivial. My work desktop is an Ubuntu installation where I do my actual work with Windows XP running in Virtualbox to let me get to corporate legacy things (like my email). At home I have a Linux desktop main machine. I carry around a Linux netbook and an Android phone. There are a handful of servers lurking in datacentres around the world on which I have shell accounts and on which I have some of my 'stuff'. I have code hosted in various places.
My stuff is diverse. It's photos, blog posts, documents, music, videos, administrivia, code, email etc.
I have no idea just 'where' all of my stuff is.
Submission + - http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7382/1.html
digipres writes: Linux Mag has a new article comparing package managers in Fedora and Ubuntu. The conclusion? Apt-get eats yum's lunch in almost every test.
Google Launches Free, Legal Music Downloads in China 141
Wired is reporting that Google has a launched a new music download service in China to better compete with the leading search company there, Baidu.com. Offering some 350,000 songs, a number set to rise to somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.1 million in the coming months, the library includes both Chinese and foreign artists signed by Sony Music, EMI, and Universal Music. Proponents of the new service are also hoping it will combat illegal music downloads simply by offering higher quality songs for download. There are no immediate plans to expand this service beyond China.
Command Lines and the Future of Firefox 360
Barence writes "Mozilla has revealed how it plans to integrate plain text commands directly into future versions of Firefox. Dubbed Taskfox, the move sees Mozilla's Ubiquity project become part of the browser itself, allowing users to type commands directly into the address bar. You can, for example, type 'map cleveland street london' to bring up a Google Map of that location, or 'amazon-search the great gatsby' to find that book on Amazon, without visiting the website directly. 'The basic idea behind Taskfox is simple: take the time-saving ideas behind Ubiquity, and put them into Firefox,' the Taskfox wiki claims. 'That means allowing users to quickly access information and perform tasks that would normally take several steps to complete.'"
Comment Wrong end of the stick (Score 5, Informative) 255
Usually to read old media, you wouldn't start by building a PC. The first thing is the hardware that works with the media, for example a reel to reel tape drive, 8, 5 1/4 or 3 1/2 inch floppy drive, tape drive for old cartridge tape formats etc. Then you look at the interface needed to work that old hardware, then you look at what computer you need to host that interface, then an operating system, then the tools needed to get to and make sense of the data.
Luckily the OS part is pretty easy. Linux has support for all sorts of weird and wonderful interfaces right out of the box. It's also usually packaged with all manner of powerful tools good for getting data off old media.
It's getting old hardware to actually work that'll challenge you.
Submission + - What do Geeks read? (michaelcarden.net)
digipres writes: "Most of us start a new year with a vow to do more of something. Here's someone who decided to log every book he read for the year and did so via Google's shared document interface:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pWuFWMsS5FfHlQSG6t9ZIQw
It's difficult to list books easily: http://michaelcarden.net/blog/?p=99
While the reading list is a window into the mind of a geek, but the bigger problem is the unresolved one of managing a personal library."
It's difficult to list books easily: http://michaelcarden.net/blog/?p=99
While the reading list is a window into the mind of a geek, but the bigger problem is the unresolved one of managing a personal library."
Submission + - Xena: Archive software using open formats
solferino writes: "The National Archives of Australia has released Xena under GPL2. Xena detects the file format of digital objects and, where necessary, converts these objects into open formats. They define an open standard as 1) Full specification available without restriction, 2) Community developed, 3) Multiple implementations and 4) No licensing constraints. The list of file formats they detect and convert includes MS Word docs (converted to ODF). Their aim, as befits an archive, is the long term preservation of digital records."
Submission + - National Archives of Australia releases Xena 4.0 (sourceforge.net)
digipres writes: "The National Archives of Australia has had a long commitment to open standards, believing that standards based formats offer the best opportunity for the long term preservation of digital information. Their Xena digital preservation software is free and open source, and the version 4.0 release coincides with the publishing of the new Xena web site at http://xena.sourceforge.net/
Is this how you would treat records that must be understood 500 years from now?"
Is this how you would treat records that must be understood 500 years from now?"
