Linux News: Distros

Life After Microsoft: IT Utopia or 'Apocalyptic Tailspin'?
February 01, 2010

Well, the snow continues to fall here in the Linux blogosphere, and Linux Girl is beginning to wonder if it will ever end. Bread and milk are still in short supply at the local FOSS-y-Mart; children are getting cabin fever; and the snow drifts are getting taller than many netizens.

Red Hat's Open Source School of Thought
January 29, 2010

What is Red Hat up to with its launch this week of the opensource.com Web page? This replaces the "Truth Happens" page which ran articles and videos on open source, intellectual property, transparency and other issues. "Opensource.com is now the place to go to find out about how open source principles are re-shaping business, law, art and, of course, technology," wrote Colin Dodd.

What Does It Take to Be a Linux Guru?
January 28, 2010

It's a well-known fact that humans love lists, and the media are generally all too happy to oblige. Recently, however, mixed in among the many "Top 10" lists and "10 Ways to ..." articles out there was one that seemed worthy of attention. "10 Characteristics of a Linux Guru?" was the title of the post, which came from DaniWeb's Ken Hess.

FOSS Feats and Follies: Q&A With Red Hat Fedora Project Leader Paul Frields
January 22, 2010

Red Hat Linux and the Fedora Project developers will soon introduce core technological improvements to provide better desktop environments and video driver support in the upcoming release of both the commercial and the free open source operating systems later this year.

China's Latest Knockoff: Ubuntu in XP Clothing
December 29, 2009

Chinese-language consumers unwilling or unable to pay the cost of a legitimate copy of Microsoft's Windows XP now have a new alternative: a clone of the operating system that's based on Ubuntu. Dubbed "Ylmf OS," the software is available from Rain Forest Wind Guangdong Computer Technology as a free download on a dedicated Web site.

Leaked Specs Describe Lustrous Google Chrome Netbook
December 28, 2009

When Google opened up the source code for its Chrome operating system last month, third-party hardware manufacturers lined up plans to build Chrome-based netbooks, with availability expected in late 2010. Could Google also be cooking up plans to sell its own, Google-branded Chrome netbook at around the same time?

A Linuxy Christmas Carol: Visions of FOSS Past, Present and Future
December 21, 2009

As one year winds down and the dawn of the next looms large, it's only natural to ponder what has come and what may be in the coming days. Such, indeed, was essentially the premise behind Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and it also seemed to be the case with Linux bloggers of late, as evidenced by a number of conversations looking back at 2009 and venturing predictions for 2010.

Shuttleworth Reboots Canonical Leadership
December 17, 2009

Mark Shuttleworth, founder and CEO of Ubuntu commercial sponsor Canonical, announced on Thursday that he is stepping aside to develop cloud products and begin new partnerships. He named Chief Operating Officer Jane Silber to take his place as CEO of Canonical. The change in management will begin immediately but will not be fully implemented until March 1, he said.

Google's Strange and Shiny New OS
November 20, 2009

Google just keeps invading new territories, and its latest target is your computer's operating system. It's officially released the open source code for its Chrome OS, an operating system that will turn up in third-party vendors' netbooks. Those devices should start selling next year. With Chrome, Google takes a very different approach than major OSes like Windows, Mac OS, or even most Linux distributions.

Google Spills Chrome OS' Guts
November 19, 2009

Google on Thursday opened the source code for its fledgling Chrome operating system to developers. This means "Google developers will be working on the same tree as external developers, and we're looking forward to working with the open source community," said Sunder Pichai, vice president of product management at Google.

Rumor: Google Greasing Chrome OS for Launch
November 13, 2009

Google will release its Chrome operating system for download within a week, according to a report in the blog TechCrunch, which sited an unnamed source. Launching the OS as soon as possible makes sense, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "I would expect the Chrome OS will show up shortly because they need the ecosystem ready by the end of 2010," he told TechNewsWorld.

New Ubuntu OS Features Create Good Karma
November 13, 2009

Canonical's Ubuntu 9.10, otherwise known as "Karmic Koala," could be for the Linux community what the recently released Windows 7 OS from Microsoft is to the Windows world. Of course, this latest release that replaced Ubuntu 9.04 did not have as much to do in bettering its predecessor as did Windows 7 had in overcoming Vista. Still, no operating system is ever flawless.

Is There Room for Microsoft at the Linux Table?
November 09, 2009

Well, the Karmic Koala may have ruffled a few feathers last week, but already the scales seem to be tipping back toward the positive side. TuxRadar recently put Vista, Windows 7, Ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10 through their paces -- focusing in particular on boot speeds -- and the newborn marsupial proved itself to be a sprightly little thing.

Can the Karmic Koala Take on Win 7?
November 02, 2009

Well the Karmic Koala finally climbed down from its eucalyptus tree last week, and the general result was feverish excitement across the Linux blogs. Reviews of the new release seem highly favorable, on the whole, as does the download process via release mirrors and torrents. However, not everyone is convinced Linux is ready for the mainstream.

Ubuntu Karmic Koala Climbs Into the Ring
October 28, 2009

Canonical, the commercial developer of the open source operating system Ubuntu, will release on Thursday Ubuntu 9.10 Server Edition and Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop Edition. The two latest releases come on the heals of last week's release of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. The latest Ubuntu releases could raise the ante in the competitive field of computer operating systems.

Choosing a Desktop Linux Distro, Part 2: Installation and Support
October 23, 2009

With more than 200 Linux distributions currently listed at Linux Online, it's perhaps an understatement to say that newcomers to the field face a broad array of choices. In addition to considering their own goals for Linux, however, potential users may also need to take other factors into account. Hardware considerations are often foremost among them.