Archive

Intel Unveils New Atom CPUs

Not only has Intel teamed up TSMC to produce Atom CPUs, the company has also unveiled four Atom chips that will go into devices such as entertainment systems for cars, videoconferencing devices, robots and interactive kiosks. "The Z500-series Atom processors are integrated chips the size of a penny that draw little power and do not require fans to operate. The chips draw 2.5 watts of power or less and run at speeds of between 1.10GHz and 1.6GHz. They offer integrated 2D and 3D graphics and will be manufactured using Intel's existing 45-nanometer process."

OpenSUSE’s Kiwi-LTSP: Easy Thin Client Server

IT solutions companies have been generating lots of buzz regarding thin clients basically since the early 1990s, but have yet to really penetrate into many suitable environments. These relatively cheap computer appliances carry broad promises like energy efficiency, space efficiency, and centralized maintenance and data storage. These claims could sound like the computer industry equivalent of snake oil. Kiwi-LTSP, a combination of KIWI imaging technology and Linux Terminal Server Project, is one open source solution for thin client servers.

Video: Ted Ts’o on Ext4, BtrFS, First Steps with Linux

Linux Magazine has put up a video of Ted Tso, one of the primary developers of Ext4 and current CTO of Linux Foundation, on the current state of Ext4, the current plan of Fedora to have it as the default filesystem for Fedora 11, how it compares to Btrfs, and other insights.Ted says that Ext4 is close to production-ready being built on the mature and stable Ext3 codebase and being an evolutionary step that brings in additional performance and scalability. Btrfs is a completely new filesytem developed from scratch with a number of new features like filesystem level snapshots that Ext4 could not accommodate. Ext4 is well on its way to becoming the next standard filesystem for Linux while allowing Btrfs to innovate more and mature over time.

Microsoft Sues TomTom

As seen in this TechFlash article, Microsoft has launched a patent suit against TomTom, a seller of (Linux-based) navigation devices. "It's believed to be the first time Microsoft has filed a patent suit over Linux, after claiming for years that elements of the open-source operating system violate its patents. However, Microsoft says open-source software is not the intended focal point of the action." The lawsuit focusses on several navigation techniques, and includes a few patents related to Linux. LWN lists the individual patents in question.

Nouveau Becomes Default Driver in Fedora 11

Among the many new features for Fedora 11, a newly added one is Nouveau becoming the default driver for Nvidia cards in Rawhide. Nouveau is an effort to create a completely free and open source 3D driver for Nvidia cards. Fedora 7 originally included this driver installed but not enabled by default. Red Hat recently hired Ben Skeggs, one of the primary Nouveau developers and Nouveau driver has been accepted by the Fedora Engineering team to be the default driver for Nvidia cards with the legacy nv driver as a fallback option. Nouvaeu already supports more chipsets, RANR 1.1 support, Accelerated XRENDER, Textured Video support for many cards that are not covered by the nv driver which has been hampered by a lot of obfuscated code as well. Phoronix has other details.

13 Specialty Linux Distros Worth Considering

InfoWorld's Rick Grehan offers a two-part roundup of 13 specialty Linux distros, each of which constructs a user environment tuned to a specific application or, in the case of Ubuntu Christian Edition and Ubuntu Muslim Edition, to a specific community's computing needs. Whereas the first installment focused on small-footprint distros, system-rescue Linux, and Linux flavors geared for archaic hardware, the second installment showcases the advantages of customizing both OS components and user-level software, focusing on firewall Linuxes, a Linux SAN/NAS appliance, two Linuxes for musicians, and the aforementioned religious flavors of Ubuntu. 'These distributions are outstanding examples of flexibility of the Linux OS,' Grehan writes. 'Hats off to the designers and developers who build these specialized distributions and make the fruits of their enthusiasm available to all.'

Improving Linux GPU Power Management

Red Hat's Matthew Garrett has actively been working on improving power management with graphics processors via the various open-source X.Org drivers. There is quite a lot of work involved, but at the FOSDEM x.org meeting he shared an update on his progress. In particular, Matthew is trying to conserve power with the GPU, memory, outputs, and displays. Read on to understand Red Hat's work on power management.

Debian ‘Lenny’ Due for Release On Valentine’s

What a lovely holiday to release the latest and greatest creation brought to us by yours truly, Debian. February 14th marks Debian GNU/Linux 5.0's supposed release into the wilds of the world, nearly two years after 'etch,' lenny's predecessor. The date is set nearly in stone unless something very serious goes wrong in the final days of development or if one of the needed servers for download kicks the bucket at the wrong moment. Read on for the scoop on the most prominent of features.

Microsoft Gives nVidia the OK for Ion Computers

It's not as if nVidia really needs Microsoft's stamp of approval to go ahead and sell their upcoming Ion-based PCs as people would certainly buy them anyway, but it certainly helps for us to know that they are tested to be certified for Windows Vista. Of course, we can't exactly trust just because a computer is "certified" for Windows Vista that it'll be a pleasant experience after previous events involving the system's specifications. However, the small form factor Ion-based machines showcased in the videos on Hot Hardware are rather impressive (if you're willing to wait through an annoying 'online scuba lessons' ad), playing 1080p HD video fullscreen without any dropframes, running Vista without hiccups, and even playing 3D games with equivalence to a mid-tower, mid-range quality. These little buggers are expected to roll out Summer of 2009, the cheapest of the lot reaching a delicious low of $299.

The Incredible Shrinking Operating System

The center of gravity is shifting away from the traditional, massive operating systems of the past, as even the major OSes are slimming their footprint to make code bases easier to manage and secure, and to increase the variety of devices on which they can run, InfoWorld reports. Microsoft, for one, is cutting down the number of services that run at boot to ensure Windows 7 will run across a spectrum of hardware. Linux distros such as Ubuntu are stripping out functionality, including MySQL, CUPS, and LDAP, to cut footprints in half. And Apple appears headed for a slimmed-down OS X that will enable future iPhones or tablet devices to run the same OS as the Mac. Though these developments don't necessarily mean that the browser will supplant the OS, they do show that OS vendors realize they must adapt as virtualization, cloud computing, netbooks, and power concerns drive business users toward smaller, less costly, more efficient operating environments.

On Keyboards, and Particularly the Apple Aluminum Keyboard

Lately I bought the Apple Aluminum Keyboard, and thought people might be interested in how it worked out after extended use. It was bought because it is quiet. If your priority is quietness, its far and away the best that's readily available. Tried out in a store you could tell it would do the trick on quietness. It seemed it would probably be OK to type on. But this is something you only find out by long sessions.

Fedora 11 Alpha Comes With Huge Feature Set

Fedora 11 Alpha was released a couple of days back. Phoronix takes a quick look "While a few delays were experienced by the Red Hat engineers and community working on Fedora 11 (a.k.a. Leonidas), the first alpha release of this popular Linux distribution is now available. The 11th release of Fedora will bring a huge set of new features and updated packages, with much of the work already being visible in Fedora 11 Alpha." "Starting with the installation, Fedora 11 is now using the EXT4 file-system by default but there is support built into the Anaconda installer for Btrfs, which recently entered the mainline Linux kernel."

Blood Frontier: The Latest Open-Source FPS

Blood Frontier is a hot new free and open source first person shooter with original artwork and based on the Cube 2 engine. Phoronix takes a look "Blood Frontier is based upon the Sauerbraten engine and takes advantage of the features like a 6-direction height field world model, real-time map editing, light-maps, shader-based lighting effects, integrated physics support, and a particle engine. Like Cube and Cube 2, Blood Frontier uses OpenGL and SDL, which makes it multi-platform friendly with binaries for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X." Read more

Ubuntu Helpsies Book a Hit

According to Keir Thomas, author of "Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference," the said book has been downloaded over 150,000 times within days of its launch. The book is supposedly written for even the timid of the Windows users who wish to switch over, assuming that the user has "zero Linux knowledge." According to Thomas, the book takes the unknowing user by the hand throughout the installation process and then delves into the file system and manager, and even covers the command line features as well as system security. The book was published and sold for $9.94 on Amazon, but is also available for free as a downloadable PDF here. Assuming each download represents a struggling to-be Linux user, it sounds like there are just barrels of them waiting to be converted.

Windows Mobile 6.5, 7.0 Release Dates Rumoured

Microsoft has lately been a bit sluggish with producing its mobile branch of Windows, and it's about time that they make some headway if they hope at all to compete with the market today. Though Microsoft isn't talking, a sneaker over at ZDNet says via her sources that Windows Mobile 6.5 will be shipping September of 2009 and 7.0 in April of 2010 (not to mention to testers in November of '09). Will Windows Mobile be able to keep up with the fast-paced mobile market of today? That, of course, is for the consumers to decide.