Linked by Jeremy Wells on Tue 8th Feb 2005 08:05 UTC
For over six years I have been hunting for a Linux distro that would allow me to replace my Windows installation. I've tried many versions of RedHat and Mandrake, and more recently, Gnoppix, Kanotix, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Knoppix. In my evaluations, I would start with high hopes that the latest and greatest distro would install smoothly, support my hardware, and create a genuinely usable system, but none of them really worked--until now. I recently came across the first distro that satisfied all my requirements: Ubuntu.
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:38 UTC
"The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:30 UTC, submitted by JRepin
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 22:06 UTC
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:45 UTC
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 15:53 UTC
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 22:43 UTC
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 21:50 UTC
PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:15 UTC
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:11 UTC, submitted by Drumhellar
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:06 UTC
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.More News »
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I have to agree with Mario Giammarco. Ubuntu is nothing more than the Debian installer with some additional packages. Which in itself, isn't necessarily bad, however, the additional packages are maintained by Ubuntu themselves rather than Debian. Why would you recreate a repository when there is one that has been in operation for years and has been proven time and time again. For those of you who believe Ubuntu is compatible with Debian repositories, you should read some of the forums on Ubuntu's site. Ubuntu themselves do not recommend using Debian repositories with Ubuntu as they may break the system and indeed, I have broken a Ubuntu system doing so. Also, what happens if Ubuntu's funding falls through? Will they start charging for access in the way that Linspire and Xandros simply to maintain this independent repository? The default theme in Ubuntu is awful and it isn't as polished as it could be. And Ubuntu doesn't give enough credit to all the works they have incorporated into their software.
I have tried every Debian variant out there (Knoppix, Mepis, Libranet, Ubuntu, Progeny, etc.) and found none of them to be pure Debian. And of course, pure Debian is hard to install for all the lazy people out there. However, I'm currently testing the usability of a new system which is in development. The link is as follows:
www.debblu.com
This distribution is another polished Debian system, however, there are some differences from all the others. DebBlu is 99.9% compatible with the Debian repositories. I say 99.9% because the only way to get 100% is to install using the chroot method. So don't worry about fees to access repositories. This project will include kernel 2.6.8 and gnome 2.8 with a decent theme. It is very polished and I have yet to see issues with it. Everything I've apt'd has installed perfectly and it is using Debian repositories in its /etc/apt/sources.list file. It's similar to Ubuntu as it uses the Debian installer, but uses pure debs (there is talk about an anaconda installer for the next version also using pure debs). From what I understand, they're using seeding methods rather than recreating the pure debs which keeps compatibility at perfect. I'm currently testing the "Xtra" version of the software which comes bundled in full with Java, Flash, Crossoffice, Cedega, DVD, and more. There is even a hard-printed quick-reference guide (like 30 pages) which will be made available for newbies. I've corresponded with the project leader and he is very practical and was another frustrated user of half-ass Debian systems and decided to finally put one out there that works, is compatible with Debian repositories and one that MS Windows users can understand. He is also considering writing up a how-to for folks who have no need for a printed manual and would simply like to install pure Debian and have no need for pretty packaging. But, it's clearly targeting people who despise installing Debian and to switch over those MS Windows folks. With the combination of Crossoffice and Cedega, many MS Windows applications and games will be made available. He mentioned that he hates having to include this software since there is so much software like Openoffice and others that replace windows software and also that this software will require a higher price tag since Crossoffice and Cedega aren't free, but, he feels to make MS Windows users switch, they need to have roots to their old software. The project is also instituting a very lucrative reseller program which will consist of store fronts and sales people. I don't think the details are available yet, but there is a link on the website for anyone who might want to earn some extra bucks. The website itself looks very professional. It doesn't have a support section yet, but will once the software is released.
I honestly think this could be the Windows killer since the leader of this project is not only good at keeping things simple and usable, but has a business mind as well. I believe the project will be offering a download edition which will be scaled back and won't include a manual obviously and the non-free stuff. The standard edition will be a hard copy for people with limited bandwith and that will have a small fee for the printed material and shipping costs. And finally, the Xtra edition which will be fully loaded and obviously won't be free.
Another plus is that the DebBlu project is self-funded and no one is pulling their strings. They are committed to pushing a Debian desktop to the world. Check out their website and drop them an email. They have been incredibly friendly, honest and very open-minded. Their quick reference guide will even have a list of all the names of people's work that have been incorporated into the software. Although because of the GPL, this isn't necessary, but it's nice when people give credit when it's due. I'm hoping more people get behind this project and will help get it out to the masses.