Developers

Whither OpenSolaris? Illumos Takes Up the Mantle
November 20, 2012

For the installed user base of the former Sun Microsystems' OpenSolaris OS, questions about its continued support and development remain largely unanswered. When Oracle bought Sun Microsystems, it raised fees for its technical help and halted further development on OpenSolaris, replacing it with its own Oracle Solaris 11.

Ubuntu Uproar Echoes Through Blogosphere
October 22, 2012

Well it's been another wild week here in the Linux blogosphere, but this time the cause will come as no surprise to anyone who cares about Linux or FOSS. Last week, of course, was the week that included Oct. 18 -- a date most of us have had marked on our calendars for the past oh, say, six months. Why? Because it was none other than the official release date of Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal."

Should Linux Take a Lesson From Apple?
October 18, 2012

The Secure Boot saga may seem like it's been dragging on forever here in the Linux blogosphere, but the truth is that it's a mere babe in Redmond arms compared with the never-ending Apple v. Samsung drama. It seems safe to say that most FOSS fans are sick to death of hearing about both of them, but recently the always-insightful team over at TuxRadar posed yet another interesting question.

Google to Developers: You Have the Con
October 16, 2012

Google on Monday made its new Android developer console available to devs everywhere on Google Play. The console was announced at Google I/O in July, and devs were invited to test out a beta version. "The developer tools and portal are key areas of enablement for any application platform," said Al Hilwa, program director for applications development software at IDC.

Open Source Lives in Polyglot Programming
October 09, 2012

The prominence and pervasiveness of open source software in cloud computing is something I've researched and written about quite a bit. I've also discussed how open source software is a key component and catalyst for the devops trend that blends application development and deployment via IT operations.

The Fox in the FOSS Henhouse
October 02, 2012

Oracle's proprietary posture may have soiled the welcome mat and vilified its good standing in the FOSS community as CEO Larry Ellison has pushed the balance point between servicing his customers and nickel-and-diming them to turn a higher profit. Clearly, since Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems -- and with it OpenOffice and Java -- the company has not acted very neighborly with open source developers.

Analyst: Flame Devs Used FOSS to Help Them Hide
September 17, 2012

The developers of the now-notorious Flame malware used command and control servers running the 64-bit version of Debian and the OpenVz virtualization technology in their work. They wrote most of the server code in PHP, researchers at Kaspersky Lab and Symantec have found during continuing investigations into the malware.

Island Dispute Prompts Violence Against Japan's Tech Titans
September 17, 2012

Japanese electronics company Panasonic halted some of its operations in China after protesters -- apparently upset about Japan's claim to disputed islands -- attacked a pair of Panasonic factories. Protests also forced Japanese electronics company Canon to close three of its four Chinese plants.

Law and Disorder: Where Are the Tech Peers?
September 13, 2012

Well it's been a stressful few days here in the Linux blogosphere, what with the ruckus going on over in the bordering Apple territories. For such a small strip of land, you'd never think such a din could emanate from there, and all over a rectangle with rounded corners -- however "creative" and "innovative" it might be.

A Murder Is Announced, but No Corpse Can Be Found
September 04, 2012

Well, it pains Linux Girl to have to write these words, but it looks like the "Death of Desktop Linux" story is back for another round. Yes, after countless debates and discussions of the topic ad nauseum over the years -- the most recent being just a few short months ago, in fact -- it recently reared its ugly head again, like a zombie that just won't quit.

Twitter Perches on Linux Foundation's Shoulder
August 28, 2012

Twitter on Tuesday joined the Linux Foundation. However, the move comes just days after Twitter removed its find-friends feature from blogging service Tumblr. Twitter had earlier done the same to Instagram, and has imposed new restrictions on developers.

Linux and Apple: Which Is the Lemon, Which Is the Lemonade?
August 23, 2012

When life gives you lemons, everyone knows you should make lemonade. But what if life gives you Linux on a Retina MacBook Pro? That, too, has been shockingly referred to as a "lemon" in recent days, but the solution there isn't so clear. "If you are planning to buy one of the new Apple MacBook Pro notebooks with a Retina Display for use under Linux, hold off on your purchase," warned Phoronix's Michael Larabel.

GNOME's Ambitious OS Adventure
August 16, 2012

With all the ongoing debate over desktop environments here in the Linux blogosphere, there's never any shortage of discussion of the GNOME project, even on an ordinary day. Last Tuesday, however, was no ordinary day -- at least, if a certain blog post was anything to go by. "The idea of GNOME OS has been around for a couple of years," wrote GNOME UX designer Allan Day in said post.

Qt's Move Gives FOSS the Jitters
August 13, 2012

There's been much ado about Linux desktops in recent months, but few would dispute KDE's prominence among them. That, indeed, is one of the many reasons there's been so much concern over Nokia's impending sale of the Qt toolkit, upon which KDE is based.

Oh Yeah! Ouya Raises Big Money for Open Source Game Console
August 09, 2012

Ouya looked to kickstart funding of its Android-based game console, and the effort has resulted in more than nine times the amount it sought. Ouya had asked to backers to pledge $950,000 through the Kickstarter website, and the total climbed to nearly $8.6 million as of Thursday, the day the campaign was scheduled to end.

Ouya, OnLive Shaking Up Video Game World
July 27, 2012

Ouya, the recently unveiled video game system, on Friday announced a content deal that will make OnLive's cloud gaming service available on the console when it launches next year. Ouya has certainly gotten its kickstart. In fact, the company, which has been looking to Kickstarter to raise funding for the development of its open source-based console, has seen investments surpass the $5.5 million mark.

App Developers Tilt Toward iOS
July 25, 2012

A survey of more than 3,600 Appcelerator Titanium developers has revealed that they would rather develop mobile apps for iOS than for Android. iOS led Android by 16 percent in the Appcelerator/IDC Q2 2012 Mobile Developer Report. Fifty-three percent of the respondents believed that iOS was winning in enterprise app development, whereas only 37 percent believed Android was.

Enyo's Out of Beta - but Will Devs Give it Love?
July 25, 2012

HP brought Enyo -- the open source object-oriented JavaScript framework for webOS -- out of beta this week, six months after the ill-fated operating system was contributed to the open source community. Enyo 2.0 now has a community of developers, a broad set of cross-platform user interface widgets, and a layout library for building apps that work across all form factors.

Linux Gaming Begins Gathering Steam
July 17, 2012

Linux users have been mostly left out when trying to get in on the gaming action, but soon they'll be able to be "Left 4 Dead 2" instead. On Tuesday, Valve announced that it would bring its digital distribution service Steam to the Linux platform. The company reportedly formed a new team last year to work on a full-featured version of the Steam client for Ubuntu 12.04.

Ouya Lures Investors With Cheap Console, Free Games, Open Source
July 10, 2012

For the last decade, the battle for supremacy in the video game arena has been waged by three players -- Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. These are companies with long track records, numerous successes, some setbacks and failures -- but most importantly, deep pockets and experience in the marketplace. However, an upstart called "Ouya" is looking to challenge the big three.