Linux

Getting the netbook right

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:30:22 -0400

Too many companies are losing sight of what a netbook really should consist of. It's generally considered as Linux with a SSD with a 9 inch screen, all of which the Samsung doesn't entertain. And the netbook must sell for a price substantially less than a normal notebook. Acer, Asus and Dell get it. Other's are failing to understand the concept, and Samsung are in the now in this group.

The GooglePhone Arriveth - Chill Out, Already

Craig Mathias — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:49:47 -0400

Let me say up front that I think LINUX in perhaps multiple forms and flavors will become, by far, the most popular platform on mobile devices over time. This has partly to do with the fact that it's essentially free, that so many programmers know how to make it work, and that the iPhone, the most influential handset (after the BlackBerry line) ever, is really about cool interface, and LINUX will have that, too. Right now, depending upon whom you believe, the Symbian OS has more than 50% market share in the handset platform market. Symbian is going open source to counter LINUX and other competition, but I don't think that's going to matter. LINUX will have, within a few years, the largest installed base and the most momentum here. Which LINUX? Maybe Android, maybe not, but let's assume Android for the moment.

And we're just getting our first look at the first Google Android implementation, the G1 from T-Mobile (note this is a truly horrible, information-free site, but at least it's official). Not a good name for a product, in my opinion - sounds like 1G and I'm sure some people will refer to it as such, whether in error or not (the T-Mobile guy I spoke with on Tuesday called it a 1G; go figure). My initial reaction: it's a bit big, but that means more screen and (at least in theory) a more usable keyboard. The design is your basic slider; many will like the physical keyboard in favor of the iPhone's touch-screen-only arrangement. It has Wi-Fi (all successful enterprise-class products will), GPS (everyone loves Google Maps, don't they?), a 3.2 Mpixel camera (all enterprises hate cameras, don't they?), and an SD slot (but no tethered data), and it's cheap - US$179. It has to be cheaper than a low-end iPhone 3G, but it's not an iPhone killer - again, nothing is or can be.

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A hacker changed my server password! Now what?

JimmyRay — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:32:04 -0400

Here in the CodeCave I run a large Dark Net and report my findings to my Twitter followers. If you are not familiar with darknettin' this is the practice of having servers out on the Internet for bait to allow hackers to hack them. Folks do this for many different reasons but my reason is to learn the latest and greatest methods in use on the net today to break into networks.

Many times these servers are just trashed out. Hackers try to destroy them if they are discovered. I had a major exploit found in my FireFox add-in FlashGot. A hacker got in and trashed my system and then changed the password of the root account. Now this is a big deal since I need to log on to that server to gather the data to learn from this attack. Now what? I remembered a little physical access trick I learned a few years back at Linux users group conf from a guru. It works like this:

- Boot the system and get to the GRUB screen. I moved the arrow key so I did not go into normal boot mode.
- Select the version and hit the "E" key to edit the kernel
- Arrow key to the line that begins with Kernel and hit the "E" key
- At the GRUB Edit line, I just simply append the load string with a number 1. So it looks like this:
grub edit>/vmlinuz-2.5.9-22.DRnetsmp ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet 1
- Now hit ENTER and B and the system will boot up into single user mode
- Newcastle time!!! A simple:
sh-2.5# passwd
New UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully

I got in and grabbed the data and released the forensics to the open source community. I think that is a great example of how we learn from each other. Users groups are a great place but also are open blog postings. Hey, share your knowledge here! Got any good tips and tricks we can all learn from?

Jimmy Ray

They forgot about marketing

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:12:48 -0400

In order to get the sales number up a company must advertise that they are taking direct online order for such items. And if you do not do that what do they expect. However, they should make all VARs available to do direct sales if not otherwise they overall sale will not increase.

Linux: Chrome's endgame OS to beat Windows

Mitchell Ashley — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:15:27 -0400

Last week's announcement of Google Chrome had every armchair blogger speculating about the same thing: Google is out to replace Windows with Chrome as the desktop operating system. I initially had the same thought but, given that everyone pretty much had that same, obvious idea, I didn't see the need to pile on with one more blog-post vote with the same opinion. But something's bothered me about that prediction, that Chrome will become the OS to replace Windows. Building an OS isn't in Google's DNA. They build Web app components, like Webkit; platforms for Web applications, like Google App Engine; and (to grossly oversimplify) really fast data-search software and databases.

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Further support for openQRM 3.1.4 : updated source package available

MattR — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:36:39 -0400

To further support for the stable openQRM version 3.1.4 the openQRM-Team created an updated source package which includes minor bug-fixes. The main motivation behind this source-release is to provide fixes for the package URLs of the integrated components which either have released a newer version or have been changed their download urls. Also the Iscsi-plugin build was disabled by default because it takes a long time to compile. So it is now possible again to build the stable openQRM release 3.1.4 from its sources (which is needed e.g. for plugin-development). Please find the openQRM source package 3.1.4-1 at : http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=153504&package_id=226046&release_id=621890

MID vs. Cheap Notebook - Guess Who Wins?

Craig Mathias — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:20:12 -0400

I've had a number of conversations recently regarding my enthusiasm for Mobile Internet Devices, or MIDs. I define these as compact (10-inch-or-less display) notebook computers running LINUX and optimized for price, portability, and Web access, although they do run local applications including OpenOffice. Some people, by the way, refer to these as "Netbooks" when they run Windows XP, but the hardware is usually the same, and, regardless, I can't see any reason why most users shouldn't be running LINUX anyway other than if one absolutely must run that seriously overpriced Microsoft Office.

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Linux Kernel private?

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:56:05 -0400

So much for the steaming pile of 'openess' which is spewed by the Linux community. Isn't it supposed to be 'secure' because like a bagillion eyes are on the source? Oh wait. Is is finally that Linus admits that 'open source' is not the panacea they have been pushing?

Torvalds doesn't mince words

Jeff Caruso — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:24:58 -0400

Linux creator Linus Torvalds says he's fed up with the "security circus" - you know, where security companies hype up software vulnerabilities like the end of the Internet is nigh. He also had some select language for the OpenBSD community, which I won't reprint here - you'll have to read our story.

RE: 12 great apps for bridging Windows, Linux and Macs

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:35:11 -0400

How about great apps like Thinkfree and OpenOffice?

Don't miss: 12 cool cross-platform tools for Windows, Macs and Linux

Microsoft Subnet — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:24:51 -0400

A Better Windows World blogger Ron Barrett writes: "Today's IT department is faced with the constant question of which platform wins the battle for the corporate network's heart and mind. The reality is that most corporate networks are a heterogeneous mix of two or more operating systems, with servers and with desktops. So the question really becomes, 'What tools can we use to bridge the gap between Windows and the rest of your network?' To help you out I put together a list of tools to help you manage your environment and your stress-level.

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12 cool cross-platform tools for Windows, Macs and Linux

Ron Barrett — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:22:49 -0400

Today's IT department is faced with the constant question of which platform wins the battle for the corporate network's heart and mind. I won't get into the debate of which platform will reign supreme in the next 5 - 10 years. Quite frankly I do not even want to think that far down the line. (But, can you guess my vote, given the name of this blog, A Better Windows World?) But no matter what your personal preference, the reality is that most corporate networks are a heterogeneous mix of two or more operating systems, with servers and with desktops. So the question really becomes, "What tools can we use to bridge the gap between Windows and the rest of your network?"

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Tux ousted as favorite open source mascot

Denise Dubie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:03:11 -0400

LinuxWorld last week proved to be more than a gathering of supporters and a celebration of advances the open source operating system has made. The conference also set the stage for a contest that would unseat Tux the Linux penguin as the most-loved open source mascot.

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Major correction

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:10:11 -0400

Dear Elizabeth Montalbano, "Red Hat and project contributors have released alpha code for Fedora 10, the next version of the community-sponsored, [...]" is completely wrong - it should read "The Fedora Project has released the Alpha preview for Fedora 10, the next version of the Red Hat-sponsored, [...]" would be closer to the reality. Best regards, Sandro PS. feel free to contact press@fedoraproject.org for further information on the subject.

Development Costs In The Cloud

Mitchell Ashley — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:31:00 -0400

As more of our applications migrate into the cloud, some interesting questions for development rise up. What about development? How will developer use cloud services in the development process? How do you attract developers to develop on your cloud services? How much will cloud services cost you if you use cloud services in the software development and QA testing process?

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easy share 5300 no linux drivers

henpecked412 — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:33:57 -0400

any solutions for ubuntu 8.4

Splashtop

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:34:19 -0400

That embedded Linux that ASUS is putting in all their motherboards is going to be huge. I know plenty of people who can spend their whole lives in Firefox, IM, Skype photoviewer (and media player you claim) without ever having to boot into their main OS.

Linux Not The Savior For Our Economy

Mitchell Ashley — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:46:36 -0400

You knew the argument had to come up sometime: survive the economic downturn by using open source to help you save money. Now ComputerWorld blogger Steve Vaughan-Nichols makes that claim in his Linux Will Save Us blog post. The title almost has religious overtones. I found Steve's article thanks to blog posts by Alan Shimel and Michael Farnum. Whether it's iPhones, Linux vs. Microsoft or Macs vs. PCs, there's always a group who are so overly passionate about their favorite hammer that everything else looks like a nail.

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Our licensing costs are very, very low.

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:22:18 -0400

Sure, because you don't have to pay for RHEL subscriptions like everyone else :).

Nokia Buys Symbian: Gunning for the iPhone and More

Craig Mathias — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:10:54 -0400

As I previously noted, the availability of a new, cheaper iPhone puts real cost pressure on the other handset manufacturers, and a ceiling on price. An iPhone 3G with 16 GB (and note that it's rare to find a smartphone with more that 64 MB today) is $300. So it stands to reason that demand for the iPhone 3G will be enormous, and that business and enterprise users (with many using the handset for double-duty business/personal use) will be a big part of the mix. At that price, the iPhone is indeed the smartphone for the rest of us.

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