The KDE Community proudly presents the second Beta release for KDE 4.0. This release marks the beginning of the feature freeze and the stabilization of the current codebase.

Since the libraries were frozen with the first Beta, KDE developers have been adding features and functionality to their applications. Now it is time to start polishing these features; writing and translating documentation, improving the usability, and completing the artwork. As KDE 4.0 is feature-frozen now, going into bugfixing mode, major ideas and changes will be held off until 4.1. However, some KDE components, such as Plasma, are exempt from this freeze and will still see significant improvements.

The following months will see fanatical work to stabilize the KDE applications and libraries, and the finishing touch on the components not yet frozen. Two further beta's are planned, after which KDE will be frozen for a release candidate cycle ending in a release planned around Christmas at the end of the year.

Labels: Linux

I am delighted to have the pleasure of announcing the Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04), the next version of Ubuntu that will succeed Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu 7.10, due for release in October 2007). Not only will the Ubuntu community continue to do what it does best, produce an easy-to-use, reliable, free software platform, but this release will proudly wear the badge of Long Term Support (LTS) and be supported with security updates for five years on the server and three years on the desktop. We look forward to releasing the Hardy Heron in April 2008.

The Ubuntu community continues to see incredible growth in its diverse range of areas such as packaging, development, documentation, quality assurance, translations, LoCo teams and more. Each new release gives us all an opportunity to shine, irrespective of which bricks in the project we are laying, and this is at the heart of our belief - working together to produce an Operating System that will empower its users and shape the IT industry, putting free software at the corner-stone of our direction.

Everyone is welcome to participate, everyone is welcome to get involved, and everyone is welcome to help shape the form of the Hardy Heron. Let’s work together to shake things up, make things happen and make the most compelling Ubuntu release yet. Start your engines…

Labels: Linux

Desktop operating systems numbers, even when gathered by top research companies, such as IDG and Gartner, are often a bit fuzzy. When it comes to uncommon desktop operating systems, like Linux, the numbers often amount to little more than an educated guess. Now, a new open-source program, statix, promises to give accurate data on how many Linux desktops are actually in use.

Labels: Linux

The open source model has proven to be an extraordinarily powerful way to refine programs that already exist — Linux, for instance, is an elaboration of the venerable Unix operating system, and the open source Firefox browser builds on Netscape’s old Navigator — but it has proven less successful at creating exciting new programs from scratch. That fact has led some to conclude that peer production [the so-called "bazaar" model as described in the "The Cathedral and the Bazaar." --Paul] is best viewed as a means for refining the old rather than inventing the new; that it’s an optimization model more than an invention model.

What’s the bazaar good for, and what isn’t it good for?

First, peer production works best with routine or narrowly defined tasks that can be pursued simultaneously by a big crowd of people. It is not well suited to a job that requires a lot of coordination among the participants.

Second, because it requires so many “eyeballs,” open source works best when the labor is donated or partially subsidized. If Linus Torvalds had had to compensate all his “eyeballs,” he would have gone broke long ago.

Third, and most important, the open source model — when it works effectively — is not as egalitarian or democratic as it is often made out to be. Linux has been successful not just because so many people have been involved, but because the crowd’s work has been filtered through a central authority who holds supreme power as a synthesizer and decision maker.

If Raymond made a mistake in his paper, it was in drawing too sharp a distinction between the cathedral and the bazaar. They’re not two different and incompatible approaches to innovation. Their relationship is symbiotic. Without the bazaar, the cathedral model moves too slowly. Without the cathedral, the bazaar model lacks focus and discipline.

Labels: Linux

Today, Dell will launch three Linux-based consumer-oriented PCs in the US market only, fulfilling its promise to offer the open source solution on a limited basis by the end of May. The PCs include both notebook and desktop models and run the Ubuntu 7.04 distribution of Linux. Additionally, Dell announced that retailing giant Wal-Mart will begin selling its Windows-based PCs, the first time the company's products would be made widely available through a mass market retailer.

Labels: Linux, PC

Two interesting surveys released this week by IDC and Evans spell good news for Microsoft in its battle with the Linux open source software operating system for systems dominance.

IDC reports that Windows server revenue grew faster than Linux server revenue in Q107, a placement Microsoft had never achieved before in the almost 10 years IDC has been fielding the server-sales tracking survey.

That indicates to me that Linux as a server platform is leveling off much sooner than proponents anticipated. Red Hat (RAT) has been clear of late that its business is about UNIX migration rather than beating Windows.

The absolute Linux-based server sales number of $1.6 billion for the quarter is at one third of Microsoft’s Windows server sales, which at $4.8 billion represent 38% of all server revenue.

Labels: Linux

On the whole, most people would rather spend the money on Windows (or Mac) than take the time to experiment with Linux.

Why?

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are five crucial things the Linux community doesn’t understand about the average computer user, and that these five things are slowing down the adoption of Linux onto desktop systems in the home and office.

1 - On the whole, users aren’t all that dissatisfied with Windows

2 - Too many distros

3 - People want certainty that hardware and software will work

4 - As far as most people are concerned, the command line has gone the way of the dinosaur

5 - Linux is still too geeky

Labels: Linux, PC, Vista

Nicholas Negroponte, head of the One Laptop Per Child project, blasted Intel for trying to usurp any momentum his effort is getting.

Negroponte’s argument delivered via 60 Minutes: Intel was pitching its wares and a cheap PC dubbed the Classmate to torpedo the OLPC effort, which needs 3 million orders to start manufacturing.

I happened to catch 60 Minutes as I was flipping through channels and admit I was torn by the whole story, which even included a 60 Minutes gotcha moment–documents Intel was sending to OLPC potential customers touting its chips. The OLPC uses AMD chips.

“Intel should be ashamed of itself,” Negroponte says. “It’s just – it’s just shameless.”

Labels: Linux

Ubuntu Linux 7.04, which Dell has chosen to headline its desktop Linux foray, has made impressive strides toward claiming a spot on mainstream desktop and server machines, both by piling up advances made across the Linux and open source community, and by building in advances of its own.

For instance, we're glad to see that in Ubuntu 7.04—also known as Feisty Fawn—the NetworkManager application, which we like for the way it handles switching among wired and wireless networks and managing VPN connections, has gone from being an optional add-on to a part of the default install.

Ubuntu's best features remain its excellent software management tools, its well-organized community and its large catalog of ready-to-install free software applications. We're also impressed with the steps that Ubuntu has taken to work with proprietary software, which, while more tricky to distribute, is in many cases what's needed to fit the bill.

As a desktop option, Ubuntu 7.04 is an excellent fit, and is worthy of consideration as a Windows replacement.

Labels: Linux

Canonical and Dell are pleased to announce a partnership to offer Ubuntu 7.04 on select desktop and notebook products. This is a tremendous step forward for Ubuntu, our users and customers.

We believe that Dell’s decision is a strong endorsement of Ubuntu and to the work of many in coding, translating and promoting open source software. It is also testament to the demand that exists for Ubuntu.

Canonical is honoured to play a leading role in making Linux more widely available to everyone.

Labels: Linux

Labels: Linux

For users wanting a secure, feature rich alternative to Microsoft Windows, Canonical Ltd., the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, announced today the Thursday release of Ubuntu version 7.04.

Ubuntu is the award-winning Linux distribution for the desktop, laptop, thin client and server which brings together the best of open source software every 6 months. Ubuntu 7.04 desktop edition includes a ground-breaking Windows migration assistant, excellent wireless networking support and improved multimedia support.

"In the coming months, many individuals and businesses will be making the decision to upgrade their existing computer systems and their operating systems," said Jane Silber, director of Operations, Canonical Ltd. "With added features to both the desktop and server editions, Ubuntu 7.04 is the most user-friendly version to date and is ideally suited to anyone who wants to make the switch to Linux and join the community of Ubuntu users. In fact, with this version of Ubuntu, it is easier than ever to move away from proprietary platforms."

At the same time as Ubuntu, the project also will release new versions of Kubuntu and Edubuntu, specialized versions of Ubuntu which include the KDE desktop environment and educational applications, respectively.

Labels: Linux

School districts should switch to OpenOffice.org instead of paying all that money for MS Office. I use OpenOffice.org Writer as my main word processor, and it does everything I need it to do. School districts must pay somewhere between $50 and $100 for MS Office for each and every computer in the school. Every time the school replaces those computers (usually every 2-4 years), there will probably be a “new” version of MS Office that has tons of “new” features that no one will use, but the school district will still pay for. This adds up to a lot of money.

Tradition and continuity are really the only reasons that schools are still buying MS Office, but not for long.

Labels: Linux

More people use Windows not because they want to, but because they have to. More people use Linux [and OS X, I'd add --Paul] not because they have to, but because they want to.

Labels: Linux, Mac

The OpenOffice.org Community announce the release of OpenOffice.org 2.2, the latest version of the leading open-source office suite. With upgrades to its word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, and database software, the free software package provides a real alternative to Microsoft's recently-released Office 2007 product - and an easier upgrade path for existing Microsoft Office users. OpenOffice.org 2.2 also protects users from newly discovered vulnerabilities, where users' PCs could be open to attack if they opened documents from, or accessed web sites set up by, malicious individuals.

In version 2.2, users will immediately notice the improvement in the quality of text display in all parts of OpenOffice.org. The reason for this is that the previously optional support for kerning, a technique to improve the appearance of text written in proportional fonts, has now been enabled by default. OpenOffice.org's unique pdf export function has also been enhanced with the addition of the optional creation of bookmarks feature, and support for user-definable export of form fields.

While OpenOffice.org 2.1 functions well on Microsoft's Windows Vista, version 2.2 makes use of some of the new cosmetic changes available in Vista, the new file dialogues being an example. Apple Mac users will notice a smaller download and a smaller installed size. The Apple Mac Intel version has many stability improvements, and bug fixes ranging from .ppt export to improved UNO connections. Version 2.2 now requires Mac OS X 10.4.x running X11.

Labels: Linux

Dell has responded to overwhelming feedback from its IdeaStorm customer feedback site this week by announcing that it will soon begin offering the open source operating system Linux on select Dell desktop and notebook PCs. The announcement comes about a month and a half after IdeaStorm was first brought online. The availability of Linux was, overwhelmingly, the number one customer request.

"We have heard you and appreciate the direct feedback," Dell wrote to customers in a posting to its corporate blog. "We will expand our Linux support beyond our existing servers and Precision workstation line. Our first step in this effort is offering Linux pre-installed on select desktop and notebook systems. We will provide an update in the coming weeks that includes detailed information on which systems we will offer, our testing and certification efforts, and the Linux distribution(s) that will be available. The countdown begins today."

Labels: Linux

The Ubuntu developers are moving very quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. This is the Ubuntu 7.04 Beta and it comes packed with a whole host of excellent new features including the released GNOME 2.18, the 2.6.20 kernel and much more.

Ubuntu 7.04 is the most user-friendly Ubuntu to date and includes a ground-breaking Windows migration assistant, excellent wireless networking support and improved multimedia support.

Labels: Linux

The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the beta release of Ubuntu 7.04.

Ubuntu 7.04 is the most user-friendly Ubuntu to date and includes a ground-breaking Windows migration assistant, excellent wireless networking support and improved multimedia support.

Desktop highlights:

Windows migration tool: The new migration tool recognises Internet Explorer bookmarks, Firefox favourites, desktop wallpaper, AOL IM contacts, and Yahoo IM contacts, and imports them into Ubuntu during installation. This offers easier and faster migration for new users of Ubuntu and individuals wanting to run a dual-boot system.

Easy-to-install codec wizards: A new guided wizard for installing codecs not shipped with Ubuntu gives users a safe way of installing codecs they can legally use to view multimedia content.

Plug and play network sharing with Avahi: This new feature allows users to automatically discover and join a wireless network and share music, find printers and more.

Labels: Linux

Paul Thurrott does his expected hatchet job on Apple TV. We can't have the SuperSite for Windows being too Apple friendly.

Labels: Apple, Digital media, iPod, Linux

Red Hat is planning a packaged Linux desktop solution that it hopes will push its Linux desktop offering to a far broader audience than exists for its current client solution.

"As we move out with this new desktop strategy, which we will announce sometime over the next few months, we will really look at the desktop from the perspective of a very different market," Paul Cormier, Red Hat's executive vice president of engineering, told eWEEK in an interview.

"This will be a more comprehensive offering that will target markets like the small and medium-sized business [SMB] sector and emerging markets. Part of this strategy is to get the desktop more to the masses than our existing client is getting today. So there will be a different packaged solution for the masses coming down the pike," he said.

Asked if part of the strategy is the mass consumer market, Cornier responded that Red Had has "no plans to go and sell this offering at Best Buy, if that's what you mean by the mass consumer market. Customers will be able to download it and get a Red Hat Network subscription on the Web for it, which is what we feel is the distribution wave of the future anyway," he said.

Labels: Linux

Sun Microsystems has hired Ian Murdock, who founded the Debian version of Linux and who has held various posts involving the open-source operating system.

At Sun, Murdock now holds the title of chief operating platforms officer. On his blog, he said he'll work both with Linux and Sun's newly open-source competitor, Solaris.

Sun has had a mixed approach toward Linux. Initially disparaging, Chairman and then-Chief Executive Scott McNealy donned a penguin mascot outfit in an about-face to show support. But the company afterward resurrected a nearly exterminated version of Solaris for x86 servers, where Linux is most popular, and McNealy predicted in 2005 that Solaris and Windows would be the "two clear survivors" in the operating system market.

Labels: Linux

Your feedback on Dell IdeaStorm has been astounding. Thank you! We hear your requests for desktops and notebooks with Linux. We’re crafting product offerings in response, but we’d like a little more direct feedback from you: your preferences, your desires. We recognize some people prefer notebooks over desktops, high-end models over value models, your favorite Linux distribution, telephone-based support over community-based support, and so on. We can’t offer everything (all systems, all distributions, all support options), so we’ve crafted a survey to let you help us prioritize what we should deliver for you.

Taking a few minutes to complete this survey will help us define our forthcoming Linux-based system offerings. We will close the survey on Friday, March 23. From there, we’ll take some time to analyze your feedback and work to provide the platforms and options you choose.

Labels: Linux

The Linux operating system, having made inroads into corporations' backroom server computers, is showing hints of inching into a much broader market: employees' personal computers.

The much-hyped notion that Linux would be viable software to run desktop and notebook PCs seemed dead on arrival a few years ago. But the idea is showing some new vital signs.

Some CIOs are taking new interest in installing Linux on workers' PCs as well, for certain narrow applications.

The allure of desktop Linux is the low entry cost: A typical license for Linux from Novell is $50 a year per PC versus the $299 Microsoft charges for Windows to businesses that don't have a long-term contract with the software maker. (Contract customers, mostly large businesses, pay less than $299 for Windows; Microsoft charges $199 for an upgrade.)

Linux still goes into only a tiny proportion of the desktop and laptop PCs sold. [No percentage is given, though a lot of space is wasted on "growth" discussions. Clearly, this is under 1 percent. --Paul]

Whether Linux gains a stronger footing in PCs depends partly on whether PC makers start supporting it more strongly. To date, neither Dell Inc. nor Hewlett-Packard Co. have offered PCs preloaded with Linux. But Dell has been soliciting input from its customers to help guide its plans for Linux -- which some industry observers say could lead the company to start making Linux PCs. Today Dell will start a formal survey on its Web site to determine what Linux products and support customers want, says Bob Pearson, a Dell spokesman.

The State of Illinois in recently consolidated its IT systems onto Microsoft software -- and has no interest in using Linux, says Paul Campbell, director of the state's Central Management Services department. "We don't have time for science projects in state government," he says.

Labels: Linux

We just passed a quiet milestone at the beginning of the month. And while the milestone does not seem to effect Linux, it could be mark the beginning of the worst assault on desktop Linux to date.

As of March 1, it seems, all televisions sold in the US are to be HDTV ready.

I know, seems a bit far afield from the joys of Linux, doesn't it? But it could impact Linux, because of what the coming of HDTV represents: the potential marginalization of Linux to older machines or servers.

Labels: Linux

Is Linux is “Open”?

How can anything be “Open” if honest discussion isn’t allowed?

If you think a Microsoft product sucks you can say that to great detail without having to be afraid of your job, apparently even if you work for Microsoft (which I kind of find surprising). But if you suggest that Linux isn’t ready for the desktop — which I do often because it isn’t – you’ll have folks coming after your job and, sometimes, suggesting you won’t be long for this world. Some of the mail has been rather nasty (though I do admit it has moderated of late).

No product is perfect for everything. What made Windows good for the desktop is largely what makes Linux a better product for some servers.

I think the thing that bothers me the most about Linux is IT advocacy. IT shouldn’t be an advocate of any product, because it needs to make determinations between them. Whether it is Microsoft, Apple, or Linux, once IT takes a side it is no longer capable of properly assessing a solution based on the needs of the business. And that is the job.

IT needs to ensure, not prevent, discussion so that the best product, company, or service is chosen, and when they can’t do that, they should find other jobs.

When only one side is heard, you don’t have “Open,” and you sure as heck don’t have “Free” as in Freedom, which, to me is more important than “Free” as in “Free Beer.” If, to get “Free” Software, we give up “Free” Speech the cost, at least to me, is way the heck too high.

Labels: Linux

Labels: Linux