Linked by David Adams on Tue 3rd Aug 2010 16:05 UTC, submitted by sjvn
As we mentioned in a previous article, Red Hat advocate Greg DeKoenigsberg claimed that due to the much larger amount of code it's contributed, Red Hat is a better open source citizen than Canonical, adding, "Canonical is a marketing organization masquerading as an engineering organization." A Computerworld blog retorts that that's no insult; and that marketing Linux could be just as important to the cause as contributing code. Updated
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RE[3]: Who really contributes the most to Linux?
by Soulbender on Fri 6th Aug 2010 11:07
in reply to "RE[2]: Who really contributes the most to Linux?"
Member since:2005-08-18
Most of the contributions Canonical has made to things like GNOME are simply bug fixes
So what? There's no clause in the GPL that says you have to contribute X amount of code. In fact, if you look at the whole picture most distros contribute far less than Canonical. To be honest, I don't care who contribute what, Ubuntu satisfies my needs and that's why I, and many others, use it.
RE[4]: Who really contributes the most to Linux?
by Lunitik on Fri 6th Aug 2010 13:31
in reply to "RE[3]: Who really contributes the most to Linux?"
Member since:2005-08-07
No distro that isn't volunteer based contributes less than Canonical, and several distros that are entirely volunteer based contribute more.
My only point is that its a sorry state of affairs when you do next to nothing, and yet garner most of the praise. I have yet to see a review or anything similar that actually praises Ubuntu for something they've done. The only mention of anything Ubuntu-specific in most reviews in fact relates to its theme, which consistently is discussed negatively.
I'm not sure when theming became a major discussion point, they are probably the easiest thing to change, but many consider distros like Fedora old fashioned and similar because it uses the upstream default. In reality, you're getting most of the things you praise Ubuntu for 6 months earlier.
Red Hat developed the underlying functionality that provides windowing effects - AIGLX. Red Hat developed NetworkManager, which has greatly improved network configuration on Linux. Red Hat developed system-config-printer - hell, it even maintains the naming construct of all Red Hat system management tools. Red Hat used to hire most of the guys doing Linux specific Firefox work. You name it Red Hat is probably responsible for it.
Canonical needs to do more, or give credit where it is due.
RE[3]: Who really contributes the most to Linux?
by Soulbender on Fri 6th Aug 2010 11:09
in reply to "RE[2]: Who really contributes the most to Linux?"
Member since:2005-08-18
Most of the contributions Canonical has made to things like GNOME are simply bug fixes
So what? There's no clause in the GPL that says you have to contribute X amount of code. In fact, if you look at the whole picture most distros contribute far less than Canonical. To be honest, I don't care who contribute what, Ubuntu satisfies my needs and that's why I, and many others, use it.
News
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
"And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.More News »
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2005-08-07
Thing is, even the developers Canonical do have aren't working in significant upstream projects, so this is really a pointless statement.
Most of the contributions Canonical has made to things like GNOME are simply bug fixes. While I'm not understating the importance of such things, without the original code, there isn't much to fix. Projects like Debian and Gentoo manage to contribute more despite being entirely volunteer based, that is pathetic.