Archive

10 Essential FOSS Tools For MySQL

MySQL toolmaker Daniel Nichter provides a look at 10 must-have free and open source tools for MySQL. 'MySQL has attracted a vibrant community of developers who are putting out high-quality open source tools to help with the complexity, performance, and health of MySQL systems, most of which are available for free,' writes Nichter, who was named 2010 MySQL Community Member of the Year for his work on maatkit. From mydumper, to mk-query-digest, to stalk and collect, the list compiles tools to help back up MySQL data, increase performance, guard against data drift, and log pertinent troubleshooting data when problems arise, each of which is a valuable resource for anyone using MySQL, from a stand-alone instance to a multiple-node environment.

Mandriva To Start Distributing Flash Player

Unlike Apple and Microsoft, and despite numerous demands from their users, Linux distributions have been traditionally unable to directly ship the popular Adobe Flash Player with their packages, due to the closed source nature of the software and the restrictive license chosen by Adobe. While it does seems shorter than a regular EULA made by Microsoft with all the legalese that goes with it, it does still restrict redistribution in most cases, and the FAQ seemed to be clear about that point.

NVIDIA Releases MeeGo-compatible Video Drivers for Tegra

MeegoExperts reports that NVIDIA just released a set of video drivers enabling MeeGo to run on the numerous Tegra 2 tablets, such as the Advent Vega, Adam, Asus Transformer, Motorola Xoom and also the new range of Tegra 2 handsets. This will enable MeeGo and potentially other Linux distros using hardfp video drivers to compete in environment previously dominated exclusively by Android OS.

Debian 7 ‘Wheezy’ To Introduce Multiarch Support

Debian announced that they are going to introduce multiarch support for Wheezy (7.0) in 2013. Well, nice, but aren't they a little bit late now that problems are mostly sorted out and systems moved to 64-bit? This would have been great news at the time when Lenny (5.0) was released, but does it even matter in 2013? Are they just going to make things more complicated for no reason?

ChromeOS Set for Speed Upgrade

ChromeOS is set for a speed upgrade with Intel Core-based processors. Why, you may ask, given that Chrome OS is a cloud orientated device? The answer might have something to do with more and more offline applications being available, including Google Docs offline, which is coming this summer (many other Google applications are also set to follow this route). Other possible factors might include Google's gaming strategy with a newly established gaming division. High definition video playback, recently added to ChromeOS, will benefit from faster processors.

Test Driving GNU Hurd, with Benchmarks Against Linux

Phoronix has conducted some preliminary benchmarks, comparing Debian GNU/Hurd to Debian GNU/Linux. "There was only a handful of tests that could be successfully run under Debian GNU/Hurd and in those results the numbers were generally close, though Debian GNU/Linux was running about 4% faster in some and with the MP3 encoding the Linux OS was nearly 20% faster. Debian GNU/Hurd is an interesting project but for now its support is still in shambles, the hardware support is vastly outdated, and there is also no SMP support at this time. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Debian GNU/Hurd turns out for the 7.0 Wheezy milestone."

Mac OS X Lion Highlights And Letdowns

InfoWorld's Galen Gruman provides a look at the best features Mac OS X Lion has to offer, as well as the biggest disappointments of Apple's latest OS. Whole disk encryption, the new Server application, automatic file versioning and locking against accidental saves, iOS-like configuration policies for IT, automatic syncing across Mac OS X and iOS 5 are among the key new features of Mac OS X. But many of the even the best new features still fall somewhat short, including the new contextual scroll bars, issues with sharing automatically versioned documents, the lack of external disk encryption after the fact, and the complexity of new Mac OS X Lion Server app.

How to Jailbreak And Upgrade Old Android Phones

InfoWorld's Serdar Yegulalp provides an in-depth tutorial on how he rooted and upgraded his Motorola Cliq XT, one of many Android phones made infamous for not receiving further Android updates beyond 1.5. 'It turned out to be quite an odyssey, with twists and turns I describe here in order to help those who wish to embark on a similar journey,' Yegulalp writes. 'Was it worth the trouble? Yes, in the sense that learning how to jailbreak your own phone is a valuable skill, and I got much more functionality out of the Cliq, when I was expecting to simply junk it. '

Android Marketplace Return Policy Woes

In Taiwan, Google recently stopped showcasing paid applications in its marketplace owing to the continuing fight that arose merely because of the change in the return policy, when it was dramatically reduced to just fifteen minutes from 24 hours. In related news, "Apple has rolled out a new refund policy in the Taiwanese versions of its App Store, Mac App Store, and iBookstore. The changes, reported by IDG News this morning, give app buyers the option to get a refund on paid applications and e-books within seven days of buying them from one of Apple's digital storefronts."

Plan 9 Forked, Continues as 9front

"Plan 9 has been forked to start a development out of the Bell Labs (or whatever they are called these days...). This true community-approach allows further development of Plan 9, even if the shrinking resources at Bell-Labs for Plan 9 are vanishing. The homepage and the code can be both found at Google code. You can boot 9front from the regulary built live cd or build the binaries in your existing Plan 9 installation. Installation instructions and further information can be obtained at the 9front wiki."

US Patent Expiration for MP3, MPEG-2, H.264

Patent term calculation is complicated in the US because there are essentially two different systems and quite a few corner cases. Even with a list of patents, it can be tricky to determine when the patents are all expired. Since I am a computer programmer (and not a lawyer), I created a program to try and automate this. This paper discusses how patent term calculation works, and some results from a combination of hand and automatic term calculation for MP3, MPEG-2 and H.264.

W3C Looking for Prior Art Regarding Two Apple Patents

"Apple participates in the Web Application Working Group. In application of the exclusion rights they have according to the W3C Patent Policy, Apple Inc. excluded Patent Nr. 7,743,336 and Patent Application 20070101146 from its Royalty Free commitment given upon joining the Web Applications Working Group. According to Apple Inc., both read on the Widget Access Request Policy Specification. Apple Inc.'s exclusion triggered a Patent Advisory Group (PAG). The PAG is using this page to collect links and hints to technology that may help to circumvent the patent. This information may be useful to help the Web Applications Working Group to design around the excluded patent and allow for a Royalty Free Widget Access Request Policy Specification."

IBM Donates Symphony to Apache OpenOffice.org Project

"After most of the developers and Linux distributions deserted them for LibreOffice, Oracle donated OpenOffice.org to the Apache Software Foundation. IBM has surprisingly thrown its weight behind OpenOffice.org in the OpenOffice.org vs LibreOffice fight. Tomorrow IBM will announce the donation of the source code of their free office suite - IBM Lotus Symphony - to the Apache OpenOffice.org."