Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 12th Apr 2007 18:29 UTC, submitted by Flatline
"In the usual announcement to the Ubuntu developer list Ubuntu founder Mark Suttleworth this morning announced the name of the next Ubuntu release plus one, due out in October 2007: Gutsy Gibbon. Gutsy will follow Feisty Fawn due for release on April 19. But, more interestingly, Shuttleworth also talked of a new ultra-free version of Ubuntu that can be expected alongside Gutsy Gibbon."
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RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by Devilotx on Thu 12th Apr 2007 18:58
in reply to "(Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2005-07-06
RE[2]: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by shykid on Thu 12th Apr 2007 19:01
in reply to "RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2007-02-22
RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by tmanop2006 on Thu 12th Apr 2007 19:11
in reply to "(Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2006-10-10
RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by kristoph on Thu 12th Apr 2007 19:14
in reply to "(Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2006-01-01
RE[2]: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by rhyder on Thu 12th Apr 2007 19:44
in reply to "RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2005-09-28
RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by Luminair on Fri 13th Apr 2007 01:24
in reply to "(Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2007-03-30
RE[2]: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by John Nilsson on Fri 13th Apr 2007 01:56
in reply to "RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2005-07-06
(which is good for users)
Well, that's just it. The theory goes that in the long run it's bad for users. The FSF stance is that promoting or aiding proprietary software to spread is evil exactly because the general population gives up their freedom to easily. By luring them into using proprietary software you have contributed to robbing them of their freedom.
The short-term fix may be to skip the hard work of reimplementing what functionality is already served proprietary. But in the long run that will leave the user without the power to help himself or his neighbor with their software.
RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by Babi Asu on Fri 13th Apr 2007 05:53
in reply to "(Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
RE[2]: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question
by SeanVernell on Fri 13th Apr 2007 06:33
in reply to "RE: (Perhaps stupid) ultra-free Ubuntu question"
Member since:2005-08-06
"The better name is Ultra-FSF, with a resemblance sense to Ultra-Nazi. It's limiting the user choice to use anything whatever the license".
I'll refrain from commenting on the first point you made as I'm not sure I understand it. As to the second, I think you may have misenterpreted the intent of this discussed release. Far from limtiting choice, it extends choice. From what I understand one can either choose a 'regular' Ubuntu that includes some select propietary components, or they can choose an entirely free-software version. Therefore the "restriction" of which you write is entirely self-imposed. I myself use a few proprietary components (codecs and flash) but nonetheless, I am all for the new release. For anyone who so vehemently opposes a free-only version of Ubuntu to the point that they could no longer face running the distro, there will always be (among gazillions of other distros, debian based or otherwise) Mepis and Freespire, which are both Ubuntu based and make compromises with proprietary software.
So what could possibly be the harm?
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/20/13 6:17 UTC, submitted by MOS6510
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 23:02 UTC, submitted by M.Onty
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 22:28 UTC
"A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.More News »
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2007-02-22
The new "flavour" of Ubuntu will take "an ultra-orthodox view of licensing: no firmware, drivers, imagery, sounds, applications, or other content which do not include full source materials and come with full rights of modification, remixing and redistribution ... for those who demand a super-strict interpretation of the 'free' in free software," said Shuttleworth.
Pardon my ignorance, but I thought that regular Ubuntu fit this description, that being why a lot of graphics drivers, media codecs and the like are not included. Exactly how would the "ultra-free" version be different? I'm confused here.
Edited 2007-04-12 18:53