September 13th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Bruce Byfield writes European Union sponsors new FOSS education portal for Linux.com.
“Heavily funded by the European Union, the Science, Education, and Learning in Freedom (SELF) consortium launched the beta version of its site this week with the motto, “Be SELFish, share your knowledge!” By the end of the year, SELF hopes to develop into the Wikipedia of free learning materials, with a heavy emphasis on material about open standards and free and open source software (FOSS).”
The program is pan-EU, but also pan-Earth: “The original consortium consisted of the Internet Society Netherlands; the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (University of Catalonia) in Spain; Free Software Foundation Europe; the University of Gothenburg in Sweden; the Internet Society Bulgaria; the Fundación Vía Libre of Argentina, and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India.”
A cool project, and I wish them great success!
Posted in Free Culture, GNU/Linux, Open Source | Comments Off on European Union’s New FOSS Portal
August 30th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
DesktopLinux.com has released the results of its 2007 Desktop Linux Survey.
It’s clear that Linux on the desktop is a healthy and fast-growing market segment. Publicity and interest in the survey was significantly larger than last year: “This year’s survey produced 38,500 votes versus 14,535 votes over the same number of days in a similar survey one year ago.”
Specific questions on preferred Linux distributions (Ubuntu, followed by SUSE), desktop environments (GNOME pulls ahead), web browsers (Firefox dominates) and email clients (Thunderbird, with Evolution not far behind) provided some useful data reference points in this quick zeitgeist of the Linux realm.
Full results are available at the 2007 Desktop Linux Market Survey page.
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | Comments Off on 2007 Desktop Linux Survey
August 15th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Last night New York City startup Bug Labs hosted an introductory meetup at Punch Restaurant‘s upstairs Wined Up bar.
Bug Labs founder Peter Semmelhack describes the company thus: “Bug Labs is developing BUG, an open, modular, consumer electronics web services + hardware platform. Designed for the general audience, not just the technically inclined, Bug seeks to bring to the world of hardware gadgets what the Internet, open source, XML and web services have brought to the world of software and media.”
Most of the online action is on the company blog, but last night Bug Labs showed its hardware publicly for the first time. Its product is a modular, Lego-like collection of hardware components and software infrastructure that you can attach together to dynamically build specialty devices to service the long tail of product users’ needs.
Marketing chief Jeremy showed off three circuit boards plugged together, in size and shape totaling about the same as a video iPod. The base board contained the primary Bug device, while the other two, each half the length of the first, were an accelerometer/motion detector and a camera, respectively. Plugged together in this configuration, Jeremy held in his hand a security monitoring system.
When product launch occurs in the fall, many other modules will be available, including GPS, cell phone, LCD screens, keyboard and more. Bug Labs will target hackers and hobbyists first, and then when a collection of third-party applications have added consumer value to the product ecosystem, they’ll be able to make sales to normal consumers too.
With a few other organizations making moves into the world of open source or modular hardware, including OpenMoko, the OLPC, Drobo, and (sort of) the Nokia Maemo platform, it looks like a new, dynamic and fascinating market segment could be on its way to emergence. Let’s hope it brings the enormous benefits of open source communities to the hardware world that FOSS has brought to software already!
Posted in Free Culture, GNU/Linux, Maemo, OLPC, Open Source, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
August 10th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
The Ubuntu train keeps gaining speed as it starts to gain riders from the world of mainstream computing.
We all know about Dell selling Ubuntu systems, and recently expanding that offer to European customers. We’ve seen the emergence of small PC shops that specialize in selling pure Ubuntu systems (ZaReason and System76), and we have been aware of the good press Ubuntu continues to receive from sources all around the world.
On that front, one of the most recent comes from Maximum PC magazine, writing “Why (almost) Everyone Should Try Ubuntu.”
It’s a good piece, and summarizes some of the major reasons why using Ubuntu is a good idea: “The arguments for choosing Ubuntu fall into two categories: immediate practicality and long-term viability. For sheer practicality, Ubuntu is a no-brainer. It installs in minutes, recognizes most hardware immediately, hides root from those who have no business messing with it, and comes pre-configured to let you get to work right away. For long-term viability, Ubuntu offers a well established coalition of developers, rapid growth among OEM vendors, and – most importantly – a massive base of users around the world.”
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | Comments Off on Maximum PC Suggests You Try Ubuntu
August 3rd, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Thanks to Tamil Nadu’s ongoing rollout of 40,000 desktop Linux boxes, Linux is “becoming visible on desktops” in the country, writes the Business Standard.
It’s already half complete, but it is not nearly the largest rollout in India:
“Novell along with the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) is installing Suse Linux in around 40,000 desktops in the entire state. Over 50 per cent of the estimated Rs 200 crore project has already been completed, according to C Umashankar, managing director, ELCOT.
“This is the second largest implementation of Linux on the desktop – the biggest one being that of around 60,000 desktops in LIC of India by Red Hat, which is estimated to have implemented over 200,000 desktop OS installations. Canara Bank too has around 10,000 Linux OS desktops.”
A chart in the above article lists 7 different Linux migrations totaling 140,000 PCs across India. I’ve covered a number of these before.
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | Comments Off on FOSS “Becoming Visible” on Desktops in India
August 1st, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Mozilla Links publishes French National Assembly receives first open source laptops:
“Open source software-loaded laptops are now being delivered to members of the French National Assembly. The French government found that software license costs surpassed training and deployment investments so the decision to move to open source was taken and Linagora, a French company specialized in open source software projects, was hired for the transition. The laptops come loaded with a customized version of Ubuntu 7.04 and productivity applications that include Firefox 2.0, OpenOffice.org 2.1, Thunderbird 2.0, Lightning, VLC Media Player and Adobe Reader.”
I’ve mentioned the plans for this migration in French Parliament Moving Toward Ubuntu and French MPs Dump Windows for Linux. It’s great to see it come to fruition.
Posted in Free Culture, GNU/Linux, Open Source, OpenOffice.org | Comments Off on French National Assembly Receives First Open Source Laptops
July 31st, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Hot Hardware reviews ASUS’s $199 Eee PC.
“Not only have we had the chance to actually use the ASUS Eee PC, we can also confirm some important new specifications of the notebook. The Eee PC is running a version of Intel’s 910 mobile chipset, it uses a 900MHz Intel Dothan based Pentium M CPU, it has 512MB of DDR2 memory, full 802.11g wireless capability, and a flash-based hard drive. There will be at least two different models of the Eee PC, with the $199 version using a 4GB flash hard drive and the $299 version using a 8GB drive.”
To keep costs low, the Eee PC runs Linux (I cannot tell which distro it’s based on, but it is running KDE). Complete with a wide selection of preinstalled open source applications, and built on top of a respectable hardware platform, this little device brings a lot of computing utility in a very small and inexpensive package. It could be the perfect tool for low-tech folks who need email, web access and other basic functions, and it might fit in well as a small, highly portable machine for geeks too.
Hot Hardware is very bullish on this laptop’s chances: “The ASUS Eee PC is expected to be available, worldwide, in full production quantities by this fall. It is rumored to have a street date of mid-August, and will likely be one of the hottest selling computers in recent history, come the holiday shopping season.”
(Go Linux markeshare!)
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source | 1 Comment »
July 27th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
The BBC summarizes the OLPC project and its now-finalized XO hardware.
Very unique constraints have led to unprecedented design ideas. However, I think many of these ideas will be proven by the XO and then adopted by more mainstream computing devices.
Among those ideas: “To ensure the laptop is robust and can be maintained as easily as possible it omits all moving parts. It has no hard drive, CD or DVD drive. As it also packs a low power processor it has no cooling fans… Instead of a large hard drive the laptop has 1GB of flash memory, similar to that used in some digital cameras.”
For energy efficiency, components can be shut off while other parts of the computer remain active: “The off-the-shelf processor is designed to be energy efficient. Unlike a standard chip, which remains active even when nothing changes on screen, the AMD processor is able to shut itself down, only waking when it is needed… To conserve as much battery power as possible the wi-fi adapter can operate even when the main processor is switched off or asleep.”
Other clever features include its custom Linux-based OS, screen that can switch to black-and-white mode for readability in daylight, human-generated power options, and replaceable keyboard to accommodate many language layouts.
Also take a look at some of the stress testing currently underway to ensure the XOs can withstand real-world conditions.
Posted in Free Culture, GNU/Linux, OLPC, Open Source | Comments Off on BBC Overview of OLPC XO
July 26th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
DesktopLinux.com writes Dell’s Linux desktop line keeps expanding.
“When Dell first announced that it would be releasing Ubuntu Linux-powered consumer desktops and laptops, some people saw it as more of a stunt than a serious business move. They were wrong. Dell has already expanded its consumer Linux line, and now it has announced that it will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux systems outside of the United States and for new businesses.”
That’s great news. And it’s not due to altruism; it’s because Linux makes business sense for Dell. People and companies want to use it: “While Dell has declined to announce any sales figures for its new Linux laptops and desktops, sources indicate that the sales have exceeded expectations.”
There is no doubt that Ubuntu will handle the jobs that most users and companies need done. And it costs less than Windows (especially including the time and money savings that accrue because of its freedom from viruses, spyware, and random Windows crashes). We are sure to see Ubuntu steadily increase its marketshare in the coming years, and Dell was smart to get involved now.
Posted in GNU/Linux | Comments Off on Dell’s Linux Commitment Grows
July 18th, 2007 Benjamin Horst
Finding cost savings of 25% to 90%, ELCOT, the government corporation to support and develop IT infrastructure in Tamil Nadu (India), migrated its desktops to SUSE Linux, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org, and an entire open source workflow stack.
40,000 PCs were migrated!
YouTube hosts a video created by ELCOT discussing this upgrade. The dramatic beginning and occasional narration are funny, but the interviews with ELCOT employees are really interesting and a great source of information direct from those in the middle of the project.
Posted in GNU/Linux, Open Source, OpenOffice.org | 1 Comment »