5149347
submission
nerdyH writes:
An architect of the Moblin Project has announced that Moblin 2.0 for netbooks and nettops is the first Linux distribution to run the X server as the logged-in user, rather than SUID'd to root. The fix to this decades-old security liability comes thanks to "NRX" (No-root X) technology reportedly developed by Intel, Red Hat, and others in the X community, and the Moblin-sponsored "Secure X" project. Besides making Linux netbooks a lot more snoop-proof, it seems like this could lead to an xhosting renaissance of sorts, since you wouldn't be risking the whole system just to open up a specific user's account to remote X servers.
5136037
submission
nerdyH writes:
People seem to have absolute faith in Google, and hey, who am I to quibble with a company whose stock price is flirting with the $400 mark? But really, doesn't "Chrome OS" reach a little too high, even for Google? The last company that tried to hide the OS from the user was Apple, with its ill-fated Copland "OS for the comman man" boondoggle. And, while pundits have seen browsers replacing the OS ever since 1994, when Netscape launched, it ain't happened yet. Meanwhile, Intel's less heady but perhaps more realistic Moblin project keeps cranking out actual code, with yet another v2 beta release on Monday (and commercial implementations due in October).
3812417
submission
nerdyH writes:
Headlining today's GNOME 2.26 release is a version of the Evolution mail client claimed to work natively with Microsoft's Exchange Server. It uses the MAPI protocol, just like Outlook itself, and can import Personal Folders (i.e., e-mail, contacts, appointments, tasks, and journal entries) without having to first translate them with a Windows Thunderbird client. Has the last significant barrier to more widespread adoption of Linux in the enterprise finally fallen?
3788041
submission
nerdyH writes:
The new CompuLabs Fit-PC2 shoe-horns a full 1.6GHz Intel Atom PC into a fanless case measuring 4 x 4.5 x 1 inches. It appears close to the theoretical limit of power efficiency for Atom-based systems, with six Watts typical system draw, seven Watts when rendering 1080p H.264 video, eight Watts max, and less than a single Watt when standing by (the last figure is especially impressive, for an x86 PC). Gigabit Ethernet and 1920x1080 DVI/HDMI graphics are standard on the $250-$400 Fit-PC2, while options include a 2.5-inch 160GB hard drive, SSD, WiFi, and Windows XP or Ubuntu 8.04 pre-loads.
3715977
submission
nerdyH writes:
After nearly two years, the PCLinuxOS project has achieved a major new release, PCLinuxOS 2009. The project is notable for maintaining a Linux hardware compatibility database, publishing a freely downloadable monthly Linux magazine, and selling hardware preinstalled with Linux. It boasts a pretty vibrant community, too, and is used by 3.2 percent of DesktopLinux readers, according to an ongoing reader survey there.
3620841
submission
nerdyH writes:
Cars are little rolling museums showcasing state-of-the-art engineering and science, in technology areas as diverse as metal fabrication, glassmaking, textiles, ergonomics, electronics, audio reproduction, aerodynamics, rubber molding, and of course energy storage and conversion. Suddenly, the computer industry seems to have discovered this, and it wants in. Intel is launching Automotive Atom chips, Microsoft Auto is porting to Atom, and a slew of huge automakers are collaborating on a Linux auto stack for Atom. How long can it be before taunts of "shutdown and drive" fill our nation's highways and byways? Or will car PCs keep us safe, too, with anti-rearend alarms and automatic road edge detection, while we email our way to work?
3582967
submission
nerdyH writes:
TomTom rebuked Microsoft's acquisition bid, chose Linux over "NavReady," and become kickable, if not completely down, in the current economy.
3566817
submission
nerdyH writes:
Microsoft filed a patent infringement action against Linux navigation device maker TomTom, over TomTom's use of certain technologies related to the FAT filesystem. If Microsoft wins the right to charge for ubiquitous FAT features like long filenames and flash wear leveling, it could spell real trouble for Linux device makers (not to mention SAMBA distributors). On the other hand, as with the GIF patents that went by the wayside a couple years ago, decades of non-enforcement could make tough sailing for Redmond legal. We suspect the real suit is over the proprietary app layer, with the FAT scare tacked on for FUD value.
3540391
submission
nerdyH writes:
A $100 Linux wall wart could do to servers what netbooks did to notebooks. With the Marvell ShevaPlug, you get a completely open (hardware and software) Linux server resembling a typical wall-wart power adapter, but running Linux on a 1.2GHz CPU, with 512MB of RAM, and 512MB of Flash. I/O includes USB 2.0, gigabit Ethernet, while expansion is provided via an SDIO slot. The power draw is a nighlight-like 5 Watts. Marvell says it plans to give Linux developers everything they need to deliver "disruptive" services on the device. Thus the grid becomes the 'Net.
3397097
submission
nerdyH writes:
The PREEMPT_RT patches have been stabilized with the 2.6.26 Linux kernel. The resulting 2.6.26.8-rt16 kernel offers worst-case latency under 50 microseconds, in initial testing. Still not down to the single-digit RTOS level, but then again, how many RTOSes support hardware-accelerated graphics cards, without any real-time penalty? Go, Linux!
3382047
submission
nerdyH writes:
Students and teachers can access personalized virtual desktops from home or school using Kreisbildstelle Stade's currently piloting "Desque" system. The desktops run in a Hamburg datacenter, on quad-core Xeon servers. Each school gets its own server, which is divided into multiple virtual machines using Xen. The servers are loaded with Firefox, OpenOffice, and so on, along with "up to 70" educational applications. The desktops can be accessed from energy saving thin clients, or from older PCs, and only a "standard" broadband connection is needed, the group says, thanks to the open source NX X Window compression technology. Makes you wonder how fat a standard German broadband pipe is, and whether NX is really that much faster than VNC.
3314509
submission
nerdyH writes:
Vodafone, which claims to be the world's largest mobile operator by sales, has signed up U.S. Linux phone stack vendor Azingo to create its next-generation phones. The move affirms the mobile giant's commitment to LiMo, the powerful mobile Linux industry group it helped found two years ago. (All bets were off after Vodafone in December joined the Open Handset Alliance responsible for the Google-backed Android Linux phone stack.) Compared to Android's Apache 2.0 license, the LiMo stack's Foundation Public License demands more reciprocity, and could prove more resistant to fragmentation over the long haul. And, there are actually dozens of LiMo-compliant phones — and just the one Android phone, so far.
3285847
submission
nerdyH writes:
Debian 5.0 (aka, "Lenny") will likely launch over the Valentine's-slash-President's day weekend, five months late, but with a lusty wink. Now that Debian's installer supports "live CD" installs, though, won't Debian (like Ubuntu) have to adopt a faster release cycle? Otherwise, the image-based installer could waste more time than it saves, compared to good ol' netinstall, by requiring tons of post-install updates. Regardless, this spring promises a honeymoon of fast, image-based Debian installs... while they last!
3279661
submission
nerdyH writes:
Asus is taking pre-orders for a netbook based on Intel's second-generation platform, the secret-shrouded N280/GN40 chipset. Early product specs confirm that the second wave of netbooks are likely to offer faster graphics and lower power use, along with room for much, much larger batteries. The N280 apparently integrates the northbridge and CPU, meaning that the GPU moves to 45nm process technology, the FSB gets replaced by an on-chip interconnect, and overall board real-estate drops to a third of what it was previously (hence the ability to stuff an 8,700mAh battery into a 3-lbs. device). The right shift key is slightly bigger, too, though still no trackpoint pointer (guess I'll keep waiting).
3229511
submission
nerdyH writes:
A lot of notebooks and even netbooks these days run Windows, but also offer a minimalist Linux environment that boots in seconds. But two OSes on a PC is like a car with two steering wheels-- awkward. So, boot time is clearly something Linux and Windows will compete on in netbooks and computerized systems of all kinds. Well, with the Intel-sponsored Moblin project's release this week of Moblin 2, it definitely looks like "Advantage, Linux." The tools and test images are easy to download and try out for yourself, too. I mean, if booting your older laptop in a couple of seconds is of any interest...
