http://www.linuxinsider.com LinuxInsider -- "Linux News & Information from Around the World" en-us Copyright 2009 2010-02-09T14:34:13-08:00 ECT News Network ECT News Network LinuxInsider -- "Linux News & Information from Around the World" hourly 1 2010-02-09T14:34:13-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/images/rss/lni_100x36.jpg http://www.linuxinsider.com http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69297.html Google's Nexus One phone is a winner, according to Linus Torvalds, founder of the operating system it's based on. "I generally hate phones," explained Torvalds, who is known as "the father of Linux," in a blog post on Saturday. "At the same time I love the <i>concept</i> of having a phone that runs Linux, and I've had a number of them over the years," he wrote. Katherine Noyes 2010-02-09T05:00:00-08:00 Mobile Google's Nexus One phone is a winner, according to Linus Torvalds, founder of the operating system it's based on. "I generally hate phones," explained Torvalds, who is known as "the father of Linux," in a blog post on Saturday. "At the same time I love the concept of having a phone that runs Linux, and I've had a number of them over the years," he wrote. Torvalds has rarely used the phones he has had, including Google's original G1, he said. However, he's been a happy camper since he bought the Nexus One last week. ]]> 2010-02-09T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-09T09:13:32-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69290.html It's not every day that a major operating system gets opened up, never mind one that leads the global market in its category. So, when the news came out last week that that's just what the Symbian Foundation had done -- and four months ahead of schedule, no less! -- it was hard not to get excited. Katherine Noyes 2010-02-08T05:00:00-08:00 Community It's not every day that a major operating system gets opened up, never mind one that leads the global market in its category. So, when the news came out last week that that's just what the Symbian Foundation had done -- and four months ahead of schedule, no less! -- it was hard not to get excited. Android is no longer the only big kid on the open source mobile block, it seems, and the scales are now tipped considerably more in FOSS' direction. ]]> 2010-02-08T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-08T07:15:22-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69278.html When the Symbian Foundation announced the opening up of its namesake smartphone platform on Thursday, it caused a major shift not just in the mobile landscape but also in the FOSS world. Announced by Nokia back in 2008, the transition of the leading platform from proprietary code to open source was completed four months ahead of schedule and is the largest in software history. Katherine Noyes 2010-02-05T09:25:39-08:00 Mobile When the Symbian Foundation announced the opening up of its namesake smartphone platform on Thursday, it caused a major shift not just in the mobile landscape but also in the FOSS world. Announced by Nokia back in 2008, the transition of the leading platform from proprietary code to open source was completed four months ahead of schedule and is the largest in software history, the foundation said. "The development community is now empowered to shape the future of the mobile industry," said Lee Williams, the Symbian Foundation's executive director. ]]> 2010-02-05T09:25:39-08:00 2010-02-06T08:22:16-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69269.html Those who say there are no decent Twitter apps for Android simply haven't found the right one. When the Android Market first opened, you could sign in, watch the handful of new apps being uploaded every day, and generally know everything that was available on the platform. There really were only a couple of Twitter clients. Now there are plenty. Tim Conneally 2010-02-05T05:00:00-08:00 Applications Those who say there are no decent Twitter apps for Android simply haven't found the right one. When the Android Market first opened, you could sign in, watch the handful of new apps being uploaded every day, and generally know everything that was available on the platform. There really were only a couple of Twitter clients. Now that the Market has been revised -- and there are more than 25,000 apps by the last unofficial count from Androlib -- there are plenty of Android Twitter clients to choose from. ]]> 2010-02-05T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-07T07:48:10-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69271.html I was a bit distracted from the Apple iPad news due to the marathon Oracle conference last week on its shiny new Sun Microsystems acquisition. However, the more I thought about it, the more these two companies are extremely well-positioned to actually fulfill what other powerful companies tried to do and failed. Dana Gardner 2010-02-05T05:00:00-08:00 Computers I was a bit distracted from the Apple iPad news due to the marathon Oracle conference last week on its shiny new Sun Microsystems acquisition. However, the more I thought about it, the more these two companies are extremely well-positioned to actually fulfill what other powerful companies tried to do and failed. Apple and Oracle may be unstoppable in their burgeoning power to dominate the collection of profits across vast and essential markets for decades. Apple is well on the way to dominating the way that multimedia content is priced and distributed. ]]> 2010-02-05T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-05T10:19:35-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69264.html Misery loves company, as the saying goes, and nowhere is that more evident than on the Linux blogs. Case in point: Linux Planet's Carla Schroder recently told a woeful tale about her attempt to upgrade the CPU on her ECS motherboard, and it has inspired a vast outpouring of sympathy from geeks far and wide. Katherine Noyes 2010-02-04T05:00:00-08:00 Community Misery loves company, as the saying goes, and nowhere is that more evident than on the Linux blogs. Case in point: Linux Planet's Carla Schroder recently told a woeful tale about her attempt to upgrade the CPU on her ECS motherboard, and it has inspired a vast outpouring of sympathy from geeks far and wide. "My nice new Phenom X3 CPU worked beautifully at first," Schroder wrote. "The whole system was more stable, and I could do things in Audacity that I couldn't before, like 32/96 recording. But the good times did not last, and after a couple weeks of happiness it croaked." ]]> 2010-02-04T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-04T09:43:02-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69251.html Few, if any, photo viewing apps on any platform provide a perfect photo management experience. However, F-Spot Photo Management for Gnome gives Linux users a fairly complete set of photo tools. F-Spot ranks among the most well-known photo apps for Linux. In many ways it is similar to Google's repackaged Picasa Photo Organizer and the popular GIMP photo program. Jack M. Germain 2010-02-03T05:00:00-08:00 Applications Few, if any, photo viewing apps on any platform provide a perfect photo management experience. However, F-Spot Photo Management for Gnome gives Linux users a fairly complete set of photo tools. F-Spot ranks among the most well-known photo apps for Linux. In many ways it is similar to Google's repackaged Picasa Photo Organizer and the popular GIMP photo program. F-Spot's primary drawback, despite its usefulness, is its sometimes quirky operation. Provided your flavor of Linux supports the Gnome desktop, F-Spot can be a solid choice. ]]> 2010-02-03T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-03T11:08:40-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69250.html Fresh off the introduction of its Nexus One smartphone, hailed by some tech analysts as the first real iPhone killer candidate, Google has debuted mockups of a possible tablet device running its yet-to-be released open source Chrome OS. The mockups, posted on Google's Chromium Web site, depict a device that might have a 5- to 10-inch screen, an on-screen keyboard, and a touch interface. Mike Pearson 2010-02-02T12:22:15-08:00 Products Fresh off the introduction of its Nexus One smartphone, hailed by some tech analysts as the first real iPhone killer candidate, Google has debuted mockups of a possible tablet device running its yet-to-be released open source Chrome OS. The mockups, posted on Google's Chromium Web site, depict a device that might have a 5- to 10-inch screen, an on-screen keyboard, and a touch interface. An animated concept video shows the ability to launch multiple instances of the browser at once, a feature conspicuously absent from Apple's recently announced iPad tablet. ]]> 2010-02-02T12:22:15-08:00 2010-02-02T13:34:04-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69248.html While the Macintosh, Windows and Linux platforms all compete to varying degrees on PCs, netbooks and smartphones, the iPad currently stands more or less alone in the tablet arena. It's clearly just a matter of time before competitors begin arriving; will an open source device be among them? Katherine Noyes 2010-02-02T05:00:00-08:00 Community Positioned somewhere between the smartphone and the laptop, Apple's new tablet is billed as "the best way to experience the Web, email, photos and videos." While the Macintosh, Windows and Linux platforms all compete to varying degrees on PCs, netbooks and smartphones, the iPad currently stands more or less alone in the tablet arena. It's clearly just a matter of time before competitors begin arriving; will an open source device be among them? ]]> 2010-02-02T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-02T12:02:00-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69238.html 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. Katherine Noyes 2010-02-01T05:00:00-08:00 Applications 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. Down at the Broken Windows Lounge, in fact, the snow now blocks out most of the light that would be shining through, making it seem as if there are no windows there at all. Such, perhaps, was the inspiration behind a recent conversation that's come close to fisticuffs. ]]> 2010-02-01T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-01T10:16:19-08:00 http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/69226.html 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. Richard Adhikari 2010-01-29T05:00:00-08:00 Community 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 on the "Truth Happens" page to announce its closing. "We had a great run over here, but the subject outgrew this forum." ]]> 2010-01-29T05:00:00-08:00 2010-02-01T09:21:37-08:00