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Linux Business

Submission + - Best way to buy a Linux system?

Submitted by
Jacob Frohlach
Jacob Frohlach writes: "O.k., I got approval for a new system in our publishing department that will be a completely F/OSS GNU/Linux system (we'll be running X, teTeX, Firefox, etc). I checked out some of the resellers who feature Linux systems but I'm not sure that's the way to go, I don't like their choice of distro. Come to think of it, I'd like to buy a brand new, sleek & sexy model for at home and want to buy it with a "no OS" option. What's the best way to shop for hardware when it comes to Linux?"
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - It's Official: Sun #1 In Open Source Software

Submitted by
farble1670
farble1670 writes: "The European Commission on FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) has made it official — Sun contributes to and participates in more open source projects than any other commercial company, including IBM, Red Hat, Novell and HP. See the Economic impact of FLOSS on innovation and competitiveness (page 51) for the breakdown. In person months, Sun contributes over 3x more than the second place company, IBM.

This was concluded prior to the OpenJDK announcement, so we will see Sun's contributions grow significantly in the near future."
Security

Submission + - Anti-virus software as malware?

Submitted by
Dr Dave
Dr Dave writes: "After a recent, Fortune 100 client of mine was experiencing 50%-90% of developer CPU cycles during builds spent on virus checking, I've become sensitive to how these checkers operate and consume resources. In the past few months I've asked for refunds on a few of these products — the most recent one that cannot execute out-of-the-box without an "update" before even doing an initial scan. Asking for support requires downloading an .exe "chat program" and, of course, the product wants to install lots of components to "monitor" your system health.

My question is "at what point does security 'solution' software become malware?" I've felt we passed this point long ago, so only even consider scanning my system when I've had to download some software. I realize the risks of an unprotected system — I've done and published security research for much of the federal government — but I'm planning to not upgrade to Vista unless the security services can be turned off.

I'd rather keep my CPU cycles and my piece of mind at the expense of allowing scripts, exe's and Active X controls to run on my PC."
Upgrades

Submission + - PCI SIG releases PCIe 2.0

Submitted by
symbolset
symbolset writes: "According to The Register PCI SIG has released version 2.0 of the PCI Express base specification.
The new released doubles the signalling rate from 2.5Gbps to 5Gbps. The upshot: a x16 connector can transfer data at up to around 16GBps.
The PCI-SIG release is here. The electromechanical specification is also due to be released shortly:
The companion PCI Express Card Electromechanical 2.0 specification is currently at revision 0.9, having completed its 60-day member review. The PCI-SIG anticipates that this specification too will be released in the near future.
"
The Media

Submission + - Is America really that bad?

Submitted by Fyz
Fyz writes: Being an avid reader of Slashdot and other internet-based media while living in Europe, it is easy to get the impression that the US is not a very nice place. Everyday, a steady stream of insane lawsuits, insane convictions, insane laws, insane rules and insane pundits dominate the news I get from the media. I'm planning a longer stay in the US to do some postgraduate studies in physics, in part because my instincts tell me that it can't possibly be as bad as the impression the news gives me. Basically, I'm hoping to get a reality check. So my questions are these: Isn't the feeling "on the ground" very much different than portrayed in discussion on this site? And are the many stories of peoples rights being trampled on something you can relate to, or are they rare extremes?
Linux Business

Submission + - Painless way to buy a Linux computer?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: So it's time for me to buy a new computer, and this time it's going to be a Linux-only desktop. Nobody has anything good locally, and I want something a little spiffier than a standard Dell, so I spent the better part of the weekend clicking away at online shopping sites and hardware database boards until my eyes seemed to permanently glaze over (they're almost better now). I want something decent, I don't have too many "must-haves" to meet, but the whole process doesn't seem clear at all. Is it 1992? No. Is it 1998? No. Is it 2001? No, it's 2007. Linux is how old? How come you still have to be a weekend tinkerer to shop for a good desktop computer and components that are free software friendly?
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Robert Anton Wilson has passed away

Submitted by
romkey
romkey writes: "Robert Anton Wilson died at 4:50AM Pacific time on 01/11/07. Wilson was the co-author of Illuminatus!, the author of The Schrodinger's Cat trilogy, the Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, the Cosmic Trigger Series, Wilhelm Reich in Hell, and many other books. An appeal for help to support him in his last days appeared on Slashdot back in October and over $80,000 was raised. His passing was reported on his blog, RAW Data."
Patents

Submission + - Supreme Court Clears Patent Invalidity Suits

Submitted by The Empiricist
The Empiricist writes: The United States Supreme Court has cleared the way for entities "to sue over the validity of a patent — even while paying user fees to the patent holder." The eight-one Medimmune v. Genetech decision, written by Justice Scalia, held that by paying royalties to a patent holder, one does not necessarily waive the right to challenge the validity of patent. Depending on the number of on-going licensing arrangements that have been made under protest, this decision could herald a wave of lawyers seeking to eliminate weak, burdensome patents.
Graphics

Submission + - When will we see Ray Tracing in games?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An article at Pc Perspective covers the topic of Ray Tracing in games with examples from the scientific research project with the raytraced Quake versions. From the article: It was amazing how easy it was to program special effects that would have taken much longer using the conventional graphic technology called "rasterization" used by common graphic cards. For example dynamic, per-pixel real-time shadows are calculated with about ten lines of code...
Censorship

Submission + - White House Clamps Down on USGS Publishing

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The White House has begun implementing a new policy toward the U.S. Geological Survey, in which all scientific papers and other public documents by USGS scientists must be screened for content. The USGS communications office must now be "alerted about information products containing high-visibility topics or topics of a policy-sensitive nature." Subjects fitting this description might include global warming, or research on the effects of oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve.
Music

Submission + - EMI Selling Unprotected Songs. The end of DRM?

Submitted by
engtech
engtech writes: "Digital song sales have stalled at the ~137-144 million mark and EMI has launched an experiment in selling songs in unprotected MP3 format through Yahoo (WSJ).

Nicholas Carr writes that "the writing's on the wall: The existing model of digital music sales is losing momentum."

From the article: "But won't selling songs as unprotected MP3s lead to rampant illegal copying? No. Because there's already rampant illegal copying. Most unauthorized copying is done either through online file-sharing networks or by burning CDs for friends. DRM schemes have little effect on either of those. All new songs are immediately available on file-sharing networks, DRM or not.""
Music

Submission + - If you do, where do you buy digial music?

Submitted by andreatwork
andreatwork writes: I know /.ers have seen this discussion over and over again. But I'm not looking for a discussion on the how, not on the why. So I ask /.ers who BUY their music online, where do you do so?

This is what I'm looking for:
  — An online MP3 store (I want to buy good quality mp3 songs, not any proprietary crap with DRM in it. I'm buying the thing, aren't I? Doesn't it mean that I'm not downloading it from anywhere else and not sharing? I wanna listen to it in my favorite player, burn as many CDs as I want, etc.)
  — No subscription service. I wanna pay for the songs I download.
  — Price per song is less than $1 (much less than a dollar) .50 or less, preferably. (I wanna download about 150 songs, I'm not paying $150! But I do want them). $1 per song? That's ridiculous.

Is there such a store? Anything similar?

I know some /.ers will tell me to not pay for my music. But what if I wanted to pay? Is there a way to do it without being ripped of?

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