Linux Archive

Linux Distros that Don’t Suck

Linux 31 Comments
Mind your manners, now. We're not saying that they do in general. There's just a good chap who has come up with a list in two parts of varied Linux distributions that he deems use-worthy. He also gives a short description about them and a link to their project websites. Some are the obvious Ubuntu, Gentoo, and other major players, but others you may or may not have heard of and may find useful. Enjoy reading part one from May of this year and part two that was published just recently in October. What are some of the perhaps more obscure Linux distributions that you've found useful and noteworthy?
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Linux 2.6.32-Rc1 Kernel Released

Linux 4 Comments
Release candidate Linux 2.6.32-rc1 is out. Linus Torvalds has posted the announcement for the first release candidate of Linux kernel 2.6.32 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List. "The Linux 2.6.32 kernel brings many driver updates, some new drivers, many file-system updates, and much more. Exciting us in the Linux 2.6.32 kernel is the ATI R600/700 kernel mode-setting and 3D support along with the VGA Arbitration code and the KMS page-flipping ioctl."
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Systemtap 1.0 Released

  Submitted by diegocg Linux 16 Comments
Systemtap 1.0 has been released. There are a few features for this release, like experimental support for unprivileged users, cross-compiling for foreign architectures, matching C++ class and namespace scopes, reduced runtime memory consumption, but more importantly, this release means that Systemtap is finally considered stable and ready for user adoption.
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New Moblin Netbooks in the Pipe

  Submitted by stonyandcher Linux 10 Comments
At the recent Linuxcon Conference in Portland, Oregon, there were hints of new Moblin-powered hardware being announced at the upcoming Intel Developer Forum. Normally, this would be moderately interesting news, but some of the ambitious comments made by Linux luminaries at Linuxcon merit further examination. People from the Linux Foundation, Intel, and IBM spoke at the conference, and it's evident that they see the netbook market as the epicenter of the movement to raise Linux's profile in the consumer space, and whittle away marketshare from Windows. Update: Intel has also announced Moblin 2.1 for phones.
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Linus: Linux ‘Bloated and Huge’, Development Process Working

  Submitted by google_ninja Linux 84 Comments
During the roundtable discussion at LinuxCon this year, Linus Torvalds made some pretty harsh remarks about the current state of the Linux kernel, calling it "huge and bloated", and that there is no plan in sight to solve the problem. At the same time, he also explained that he is very happy with the current development process of the kernel, and that his job has become much easier.
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First Moblin v2 Netbook Launching

Linux 14 Comments
The first netbook preinstalled with Moblin v2 for Netbooks will launch next week, possibly at Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, or else the Linux Foundation's LinuxCon in Portland. Then, within the next couple of weeks, the Moblin Project will release the first stable release of the Moblin v2 Linux distribution, which began beta testing in May. Will Linux prove a viable alternative to Windows 7 on the low-powered, low-cost computing devices released for this holiday season? We should know pretty soon.
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Reduce Linux Power Consumption

Linux 6 Comments
Start tuning your Linux system for power efficiency. This article will get you up to speed on the components and concepts you need to fine-tune a Linux-based System x server for power efficiency. Learn how to enable the Linux CPUfreq subsystem, get instruction on C and P states, and determine which of the five Linux in-kernel governors you need to boost power efficiency on your system
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Linux 2.6.32: Virtualization, Power Management, Drivers

  Submitted by timmyc Linux 1 Comment
Less than a week after Linux kernel 2.6.31 was released, the kernel developers are beginning to submit changes and improvements across virtualization, power management, file systems and device driver code for the upcoming 2.6.32 version. KVM and power management will get big improvements, and Android and Hyper-V drivers could be removed in later versions if their developers don't communicate better with the kernel hackers.
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ClarkConnect Now ClearOS, Now Open and Free

Linux 7 Comments
"ClearOS is a next-generation Linux server operating distribution for the small organizations and distributed environments. The ClearOS Linux distribution has an installed-base of over 120,000 systems that serve approximately 1.2 Million users. It is available in over 20 languages and is utilized in more than 122 countries around the globe. Historically known as ClarkConnect, ClearOS has been made open and free by ClearFoundation, including software such as MultiWAN which allows multiple, balanced Internet connections. Other limitations and commercial restrictions on the ClearOS platform have also been removed for this version and all subsequent versions. The ClearOS Operating System tightly integrates dozens of leading open source applications in a single management interface. The distribution is free to download and use and redistribution is encouraged." The new version of ClearOS can be read about more, tested using an online live demo, and downloaded at the ClearFoundation website.
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ARM Joins Linux Foundation

Linux 5 Comments
"ARM, maker of microprocessors and microcontrollers used in mobile and embedded electronics, has joined the Linux Foundation. Amanda McPherson, vice president, marketing and developer programs, at The Linux Foundation said in the announcement 'By joining the Linux Foundation, ARM is demonstrating its commitment to open standards and Linux.' To date, ARM has shipped more than 10 billion ARM processors in mobile devices, many of which run Linux. Ian Drew, EVP Marketing at ARM, said that 'joining the Linux Foundation is a natural step towards advancing innovation in the Linux community for a rich, always-connected, computing experience.'"
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Linux 2.6.31 Released

  Submitted by diegocg Linux 3 Comments
Linux 2.6.31 has finally been released. The list of new features includes USB 3.0 support, a equivalent of FUSE for character devices that can be used for proxying OSS sound through ALSA, memory management changes that improve interactivity in desktops, ATI Radeon KMS support, Intel's Wireless Multicomm 3200 support, readahead improvements, a tool for using hardware performance counters, a memory checker and a memory leak detector, btrfs improvements, support for IEEE 802.15.4, IPv4 over Firewire and other improvements.
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Linux 2.6.32 To Get R600 Kernel Mode Setting

  Submitted by lemur2 Linux 112 Comments
Open source 3D graphics drivers for ATI R600 garphics cards has been submitted to the kernel-next tree for possible inclusion in the Linux kernel 2.6.32. "David Airlie has pushed a horde of new code into his drm-next Git tree, which is what will get pulled into the Linux 2.6.32 kernel once the merge window is open. Most prominently, this new DRM code brings support for kernel mode-setting with R600 class hardware as well as 3D support."
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Is the Linux Desktop Too Much Like Windows, Mac OS X?

Linux 81 Comments
A complaint you hear quite often is that the Linux desktop environments, which mostly refers to KDE and GNOME, are trying too hard to be like Windows and Mac OS X. Now, even James Bottomley, Distinguished Engineer at Novell, Director of the Linux Foundation, and Chair of its Technical Advisory Board (put that on your business card) states in an interview that he believes the Linux desktop is too much like Windows and Mac.
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Linux User-Friendliness

Linux 222 Comments
A reader asks: Why is Linux still not as user friendly as the two other main OSes with all the people developing for Linux? Is it because it is mainly developed by geeks? My initial feeling when reading this question was that it was kind of a throwaway, kind of a slam in disguise as a genuine question. But the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I felt. There truly are a large amount of resources being dedicated to the development of Linux and its operating system halo (DEs, drivers, apps, etc). Some of these resources are from large companies (IBM, Red Hat, Novell). Why isn't Linux more user-friendly? Is this an inherent limitation with open source software?
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Stats: Linux Kernel Development Speeds Up

Linux 43 Comments
The Linux Foundation has made some analyzation the past two years into just how much code is being added to the project and who is doing that contribution. This year's report is out, and the results are actually quite smile-worthy if you're a Linux advocate: the increase in code contributions is phenomenal, the rate at which these contributions are being submitted is faster, and there are more individual developers than previously.
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Review of Jolicloud: The Social Netbook OS

Linux No Comments
A fellow at CNET did a review of a beta version of another Linux distribution built specifically for netbooks. "One of those , called Jolicloud, is launching in beta in the next few months. Created by Tariq Krim, who founded and later left widget-based start page Netvibes, the alternate OS has been designed for Web workers, or people who do most of their work (or play) on Web applications and services. I've been giving it a thorough run-though over the past few days and have come away impressed at what it's trying to do. Some bits and pieces are definitely still beta, but the underlying approach of making Web sites and software applications feel the same, as well as introducing users to new ones to use is really innovative."
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