As the Linux Foundation tells it, the Linux-related job market is today 80 percent larger than it was five years ago. Whereas other industries have had to shed workers in the current recession, the Foundation is hopeful penny-pinching measures might actually encourage businesses to transition to Linux-based software and thereby further stimulate employment opportunities within the sector. We’re not told exactly what “Linux-related” means in this context, but the newly set up Linux.com Job Board indicates that the vast majority of new openings are for system admins. That’s right, the corporate world is crying out for more geeks — won’t you answer the call?
Marvell has a new smartbook design on display here with its Armada 510 processor under the hood, and it’s one of the skinniest we’ve seen yet. What’s more surprising, however, is that the device is actually built pretty well, and we even enjoyed the classic-style keyboard spread across its 12.1-inch expanse. The unit was built by an unnamed ODM who is currently shopping it around to manufacturers (or perhaps someone’s bitten already, who knows), and we’re getting a ballpark $200 pricepoint and a promise of about 4 hours of battery life with regular use. Apparently the big trend with these low-power ARM processor-based laptops is to trim down on battery size and therefore cost, and so we’ll have to see where the market settles on preferred batter life: 4 hours might be too few, but at $200 it’s surely tempting. The machine runs full Ubuntu plenty well, including 720p movies, and we were even digging the screen brightness and color — basically, if Marvell’s partners can get this on the market in short order, it might have a significant leg up on the rest of the smartbook competition, at least in terms of sheer quality and sex appeal.
Update: We grabbed a quick video — check it out after the break!
Remember the SheevaPlug? Well, your “Linux computer the size of a wall wart” fantasies just got much more impressive. The new Marvell Plug Computer sports a 2GHz Armada 300 processor (none of that new Armada 610 hotness, sadly), WiFi, Bluetooth and a hard drive of sorts (Sheeva only offered 512MB of flash storage). The unit runs a few standard Linux 2.6 distros, and while it’s marketed as a development platform for building embedded devices, the orginal SheevaPlug’s $99 pricetag has us hoping for similarly good hobbyist-friendly things here.
This article was written on August 18, 2008 by CyberNet.
Win; Mac; Linux Whenever I do programming I tend to use some form of text editor, and so far my favorite app for that is Notepad++. Ever since they added in the code auto-completion it has been a great tool for the projects that I’ve worked on. The only downside is that it won’t exactly work if you’re looking for a free cross-platform solution.
That’s where Editra comes in. It’s a Python-based program that has many of the features that are nice to have when programming like syntax highlighting and code folding, and as an added bonus it’s also cross-platform. Don’t worry, just because it’s Python-based doesn’t mean it’s a pain to install… it all comes bundles in a single download just like a typical app would.
The only thing I wish it was capable of is auto-completion of code for languages besides Python. That’s the biggest downside that I’ve found, but other than that it does everything I’d expect it to:
Auto-Completion/Calltips (for Python only)
Bidirectional Find/Replace w\Regular Expression Support
This app is pretty tough to beat when it comes to cross-platform code editors. It’s updated every month or two, and so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that a future version will support code auto-completion for more languages.
Windows/Mac/Linux/and more: XBMC is a killer open-source, cross-platform media center, and today they’ve released XBMC 9.11, introducing a whole new default look and feel, and it’s very friendly on the eyes.
Called Confluence, the new look blends some of the best features of XBMC’s previous default skin (PM3.HD) with several other popular skins for pretty impressive results. It’s definitely a different look from what we’ve seen in the Boxee beta, but the two media centers continue to deliver really impressive (and most importantly free) offerings.
You can read the condensed changelog on their blog, but some highlights include:
Better support for multi-monitor setups
High Definition, Surround Sound, and Subtitle Flagging and Filtering in Video Library
Speed up RAW image loading and handle more file extensions
Performance improvements to SQLite (database) queries (help is always wanted here)
Ability to scrape and scan TV Shows into the video library by air-date via TheTVDB.com
If you’re an XBMC user, it’s an update well worth grabbing. XBMC is a free download for Windows, Mac, Linux, Apple TV, and pretty much anywhere else you want to put it. Also, good news for people who followed our guide to building a silent, standalone XBMC media center on the cheap: The latest release of the Live version looks like it supports our machines out-of-the-box without custom third-party builds.
This article was written on August 13, 2008 by CyberNet.
Windows; Linux I’ve been a big fan of the open source 7-Zip application, and it has served me well over the last few years. Today, however, I came across a new program called PeaZip that looks like it is just as nice, and the great news is that it works on both Windows and Linux.
As you would expect it supports all of the major file formats that the competition does including:
When it comes to file extraction utilities it’s hard for each of them to distinguish themselves. They always seem to have the same features, and support all of the same formats. For the most part PeaZip falls within that category, but it does one thing that I really like. During the setup process it asks you which commands you’d like to have added directly to the Context menu, and which ones you’d like placed in the Send To menu:
The option(s) you choose to put in the Context menu will be available without needing to navigate into a menu, which means you should only place the commands you’ll use the most there. The ones you won’t use as frequently can be put in the Send To menu where it won’t clutter up the Context menu:
If you like customizing the file extraction options in the Context menu I’d highly recommend checking out PeaZip. There’s also a portable version available for those of you who just want to try it out, but you must use the installable version if you want to add the context menu entries.
A new browser, two new Ubuntu releases, and more than one new netbook OS—2009 was a big year for open-source software. Here are the Linux-related posts that caught our readers’ attention in 2009.
So! This year, we ran through our archives and pulled out the posts most directly related to Linux: informational, how-to, Linux-focused downloads, and the like. For good measure, though, we’ll list the most popular cross-platform downloads at the end, which will look very familiar to those posted in our Most Popular Free Mac Downloads of 2009 and Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2009 posts.
And it really does, too, after a bit of command line tweaking. It’s a close relative of the andLinux system that lets you seamlessly run Linux apps on your Windows desktop. This one doesn’t require any installation, however, and you can even take it with you on a thumb drive. This holiday season, feel free to show Uncle Steve just how open and free Linux can be.
Linux Puts the Lie to WEP “Security”
Using a BackTrack 3 Live CD (which we previously profiled, Gina showed us how easy it was to crack a Wi-Fi network’s WEP password, offering a sound reason to upgrade your age-old router, and providing a kind of last-ditch solution for those in need of emergency connectivity. She also provided more WEP-cracking tools and tips, including some sound reasoning on why anyone would still use a fallible encryption scheme (or use something much stronger).
Sun Microsystems’ free VirtualBox software is free, offers an open-source edition, and is generally easy enough for beginners to get into. Not coincidentally, it solves a big problem for Linux users who just occasionally need access to one or another Windows apps or features. It also keeps adding on new features, like support for Windows’ gaming graphics, and making life generally better for those running one system inside another.
Features We Wanted to See from Ubuntu (and a Response)
“If every Ubuntu developer were assembled at one place, here are five things we’d ask them to accomplish.” That’s the grand daydream that launched our list of five features we want to see in Ubuntu, including strong sticking points like a decent video editor and a design-centric look. Not all of that is under of the Ubuntu team’s purview, but Community Manager Jono Bacon still took the time to respond to our wishlist, noting the progress on many of the fronts we wrote on. That was a very nice moment.
Simply installing Windows 7 and Ubuntu together isn’t all that hard—just do Windows before Ubuntu, and leave a little room for the Linux. Fine-tuning it for convenience, access, and general usability, though—that’s something we spent a lot of time thinking on. We wrote it all down, step by step, in this post.
Following up on Adam’s guide to building a small, silent XBMC media center on the cheap, Lifehacker’s resident Linux nerd (Howdy!) wrote up an alternative guide to getting a more powerful, Linux-backed, Boxee-centered HTPC running. Seeing as how the upcoming Boxee beta and pre-built Boxee Box will include sped-up support for this very kind of NVIDIA-powered, Linux-based system, this Boxee setup will actually hit its real peak in 2010.
Now that we’ve actually seen what Chrome OS will look like, and even taken it on an open-source test drive, we can run through our initial wish list for the Linux-based netbook OS and do the tally: Three yays (speed, syncing, and blurred desktop/browser experience), two nays (“All kinds of hardware” and native Linux apps), and four shoulder shrugs (integrated Quicksilver-like app launcher, powerful keyboard shortcuts, user privacy, and enterprise-friendly setup). There’s a lot more bound to come in 2010, though, including the first official release, so stay tuned.
GNOME Do and Docky Are Slick Linux Interfaces
We dig GNOME Do as a Quicksilver-like application launcher that knows your system better than you do. When it rolled in a dock interface, it got a bit more unstable, but even more helpful—and notably more smooth and eye-pleasing than the standard GNOME interface. The two projects have since gone their separate ways, but, installed side by side, they still make for a better Linux experience.
Well, we thoughtPresto looked like a pretty neat quick-boot alternative for Windows users, at least while it was free, and promising boot-ups in mere seconds. Then we tried it out and clocked it at a more human 15 seconds, found it to be kind of a simplified Xfce desktop, and, oh, right, this other operating system from some search company was announced. Not to say Presto is a dead option, but, at this point, it might need an overhaul (Chrome installed, maybe?) to grab much more than a glance.
Even released every six months, Ubuntu still manages to make its users wait on some newly-released apps getting official support—like Firefox, most importantly. This little Python script makes short work of bringing your built-in Firefox up to the bleeding edge.
Looking for something that just plays your music, shows your videos and pictures, and doesn’t get in your way or bog you down with flashy features? That’s what Elisa is, and it looks pretty nice while doing so.
Adam’s headline pretty much says it all—you get most of the benefits of a fast-loading, small-screen-oriented OS, but with far more adaptability and a wide range of awesome Linux apps you can install.
Google came out with a free DNS service, but many folks are learning, with the help of namebench or the also-excellent DNS Name Server Benchmark, that what the big G does isn’t always the best. Test out all the popular, public DNS systems to see what’s your own network’s best bet.
Google Earth 5 is one of those lucky Linux products that Google still intends to keep up to date, unlike its sad cousin Picasa. So being able to put historical imagery, ocean maps, and improved world touring on a Linux desktop is A-OK with many readers.
Firefox (Of Course)
Firefox seemed to have met its first real challenge for the Best Alternative Browser this year, but it kept up with the modern web at its own pace. This year saw a big Firefox 3.5 release and a bunch of Firefox 3.6 betas (1, 2, 3, and 4). It’ll be interesting to see if Linux distributions consider Chrome as their default in 2010, but we expect Firefox to stick around for quite some time.
A lot has changed since Thunderbird 2.0 release, but 3.0 brought enough savvy features—awesome search, smart syncing, and tabbed content—to make it an ultimate online/offline message hub.
Yeah, Mac and Windows users probably find HandBrake really helpful. But Linux is where encoding to non-restricted formats can be crucial, so seeing regular development is a very nice thing. On any platform, Handbrake remains a favorite video encoder—even after developers dropped AVI/XviD support.
Since you’ve made it this far, let’s go ahead and put it up for vote:
Let’s face it: Chrome OS has been snagging all of the attention in the OS world here lately, but let us not forget about Jolicloud. The Linux-based system, which was designed to be installed onto existing netbooks without much of a fuss, has finally reached its public pre-beta stage. In other words, the 600MB .exe file is now out for you and yours to download and try, and according to our good pals over at Download Squad, it’s well worth the effort. They seemed to have no issues whatsoever installing it as a second OS on their machine, and they went ahead and deemed it superior to Chrome OS’ earliest build due to its ability to support “both native and web-based applications equally well.” Their own tests found it to boot in just 15 seconds on an Eee PC netbook, but if you’re still curious if dipping your toes is the best move, hop on past the break for a lengthy walkthrough video.
We’ve just come back from the Samsung Bada mobile platform launch event in London, and frankly the presentation was no more than an app developer and investor magnet — no hands-on opportunity and no direct answers regarding the hardware. The only mention of a Bada phone is that something’s coming out in the first half of 2010. That said, today Samsung did bring in representatives of five strong Bada app partners: Twitter, Capcom, EA, Gameloft and Blockbuster. Needless to say mobile gaming is high up on Bada’s agenda, but the brief presence of Twitter’s Head of Mobile, Kevin Thau, solidified Samsung’s dedication for integrating SNS (social networking services) sites on mobile handsets. Yes, just like many fish in the sea. Read on to see how Bada aims to be “an ocean of endless enjoyment.”
At long last Mac and Linux users don’t have to feel like second class citizens in Chrome land: they’ve got official beta versions of Google’s browser to call their own. Of course, people have been running the open source Chromium version on both sides of the fence for ages, but beta brings with it a new level of stability and officialness. Google is also finally launching extensions for Chrome, which is available for the Windows and Linux versions of the browser, and with Mac compatibility on the way. There are already 300 extensions available, not a bad start, and hopefully a good indication of the sorts of added functionality we’ll be able to stuff into Chrome OS with the help of a seemingly-excited developer community.
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Win; 
Mac; 
Linux 
A new browser, two new Ubuntu releases, and more than one new netbook OS—2009 was a big year for open-source software. Here are the Linux-related posts that caught our readers’ attention in 2009.
Using a 
“If every Ubuntu developer were assembled at one place, here are five things we’d ask them to accomplish.” That’s the grand daydream that launched our list of 
Simply installing Windows 7 and Ubuntu together isn’t all that hard—just do Windows before Ubuntu, and leave a little room for the Linux. Fine-tuning it for convenience, access, and general usability, though—that’s something we spent a lot of time thinking on. We wrote it all down, step by step, in this post.
Following up on Adam’s guide to 
Now that we’ve actually seen 
Looking for something that just plays your music, shows your videos and pictures, and doesn’t get in your way or bog you down with flashy features? That’s what Elisa is, and it looks pretty nice while doing so.
Google came out with a 
A lot has changed since 
Yeah, Mac and Windows users probably find 
