Episode 079 – Beer!
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Total Running Time: 1:32:45
Un-edited Live session – http://youtu.be/lqJjdPX9pSY
Contact Us:
show (at) smlr.us or the Contact us page
Summary
Kernel News: Mat
Time: 11:18
Distro Talk: Tony
Time: 15:22
Mary Distro Review
Time: 25:38
Tech News:
Time: 45:17
Is it Alive? – Mary
Time: 1:08:20
Listener Feedback
Time: 1:16:20
Outtro Music
Time: 1:24:12
Intro:
Tony Bemus, Mat Enders, and Mary Tomich
Sound bites by Mike Tanner
Kernel News: Mat
Time: 11:18
Release Candidate:
On Sun, 7 Apr 2013 21:33:14 PDT
Linus Torvalds released kernel 3.9-rc6
This is what he had to say about it:
“Things seem to be on track, and it’s been a mostly boring week. Lots of small fixes, a few reverts. Networking, some small arch fixes (arm, mips, s390, alpha, tile, x86), drivers, minor filesystem updates (gfs2, ext4, tiny reiserfs xattr fix). Nothing really exciting stands out, I think the appended ShortLog gives a good overview for people who want to wallow in the details..
Things seem to be on track, which means that unless something comes up, rc7 will probably be the last rc as usual,”
–Linus Torvalds
Mainline:
3.9-rc6
Stable Updates:
On Wed, 10 Apr 2013 11:41:57 GMT
Ben Hutchings released kernel 3.2.43
With 71 files changed, 585 lines inserted, and 443 lines deleted
On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:32:34 PDT
Greg Kroah-Hartman released kernel 3.8.7
With 67 files changed, 507 lines inserted, and 341 lines deleted
On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:33:14 PDT
Greg Kroah-Hartman released kernel 3.4.40
With 32 files changed, 191 lines inserted, and 104 lines deleted
On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:39:05 PDT
Greg Kroah-Hartman released kernel 3.0.73
With 25 files changed, 89 lines inserted, and 70 lines deleted
Kernel Developer Quote:
Comes from Theodore Ts’o
“Friends don’t let friends use Java… (or enable it anywhere near their client or their browser).”
–Theodore Ts’o
Distro Talk: Tony
Time: 15:22
- 4-8 – PCLinuxOS 2013.04 – updated version of the project’s rolling-release desktop Linux distribution featuring the latest KDE
- 4-9 – Fuduntu 2013.2 – a user-friendly, rolling-release distribution with the RPM package management system and the classic GNOME 2 desktop
- 4-10 – Tails 0.17.2 – Debian-based live DVD with focus on user’s privacy and anonymity on the Internet
- 4-11 – Webconverger 19.1 – Debian-based distribution designed for Internet-only web kiosks and featuring the Firefox web browser
- 4-11 – Manjaro Linux 0.8.5 “Cinnamon” – Arch Linux-based distribution with GNOME 3 and Cinnamon as the core user interface
- 4-12 –ClearOS 6.4.0 – “Community” edition, a cloud-connected server, network and gateway operating system designed for homes, hobbyists and small organisations
- 4-12 – Foresight Linux 2.5.3 – rolling-release desktop Linux distribution with Conary package management and a choice of GNOME 2, LXDE and Xfce desktops
- 4-13 – Pardus Linux 2013 “Community” – the “Community” flavour of Pardus Linux 2013 (or “1.0” as it is called in the announcement). Available in both Turkish and English, the “new” Pardus is a desktop-oriented distribution based on Debian’s “testing” branch.
- 4-13 – Manjaro Linux 0.8.5 – a user-friendly distribution with Xfce or Openbox, based on Arch Linux
Distro of the Week: Tony
- Debian – 1498
- Mageia – 1811
- PClinuxOS – 2194
- Ubuntu – 2437
- Mint – 3418
Mary Distro Review – Slitaz Linux
Time: 25:38
Allow me to introduce the distro for this week: It’s the Simple Light Incredible Temporary Autonomous Zone Linux, or Slitaz Linux. One of our listeners, Guillaume, suggested this distro. I checked it out and decided to take it for a spin. So would Slitaz be the incredible lightness of being or would it be an incredible light-weight?
The Vitals:
Name: Slitaz Linux
Maintainer: Christophe Lincoln (Switzerland))
Distro Latest Birthday: 4.0 was released on 4/10/2012
Derivative: None
Kernel: 2.6.37- Slitaz
Review Desktop: Openbox
In addition to having a 4.0, Slitaz also supports a rolling release that can be downloaded. The Slitaz cookbook aggregates information about the project management, operation and development of the distribution. The cookbook also contains the scratchbook which explains how to build your own LiveCD. There’s the wok—a directory set that contains all of the available package. There are receipts aka recipes that instructions for creating (cooking) SliTaz packages.
SliTaz Pizza lets you create your own SliTaz ISO flavor online. The ISO image can be burnt on a cdrom or installed on USB media. Working with the other Slitaz tools you’d practically be able to rule the world..or at least the device it’s installed on.
I don’t know about you but I was getting hungry to try this thing out.
Live Environment:
Downloading Slitaz Linux was very fast…after all it’s only 35MB. The boot screen presents you with five options: Live (CD), Core Live (RAM), Gtkonly Live, Justx Live, Base Live. Of the five, I successfully booted three of them. The other two probably needed a display parameter at boot because I ended up with a black screen. Three out of five ain’t bad.
Once booted, Slitaz bloats out to a whopping 192MB. The desktop is clean and as you would expect with Open box window manager display. Two modest panels adorn the desktop, containing notification icons and icons to commonly used tasks on the top and the application menu and desktop switcher at the bottom. A nice touch is a documentation file link on the desktop
Graphics: ( i915)
Wireless: (iwl3945) My wireless was not configured despite the fact that the module was loaded. I didn’t have enough time to troubleshoot and fix it but I was undeterred. I plugged a network cable in and continued.
The Defaults
Browser: Midori, Midori Private, or Retawq in text mode
Office Suite: None installed. Abiword is available from the repositories.
Mail Client: None
File Manager: PCMan 0.5.2
The Install Process:
The install of Slitaz was very easy, simply slap the CD in the tray and start ‘er up! As I noted earlier, Slitaz also can be installed and run from a USB drive— You invoke the install by going to the TazPanel, which I will discuss later, and selecting the appropriate option I decided to test the live USB install. and was pleased to see how easy the install went. The rest of my review is from a Live core- USB. No surprise – it worked far faster than running from a CD. This is how I conducted the rest of my testing and review.
Installed Environment:
Package management is one of the functions handled by TazPanel. TazPanel, itself, contains quite a few tools—I was very impressed with the number of tasks you can perform from this single interface. Based on previous experience, TazPanel looks to be script-based…the panel contains a series of scripts that are called one of which is called when you click the corresponding button. For example, do you need to monitor system processes? Clicking Processes on the drop-down runs a snapshot of top in a window. What I liked about their implementation were the options. At the top of the window, I could refresh the output, from every second, five or ten seconds. None was another option..
Do you need a system report? Slitaz’s Create Report function generates a comprehensive report of system status from a series of commands including uname, free, lspci -k, lsusb, lsmod, ifconfig -a, route -n…I think you get the picture.
Packages on TazPanel is the hub of package management. There’s My Packages which shows you what is currently installed, Recharge which checks for new or updated packages, Check Updates which appears to combine the first two actions along with install or remove options. I used this function to update the USB base install and then used it to install Abiword.
Tazpkg: get-install. On the right side of the display are package categories. I selected Office so I could install Abiword. The install was smooth but several minutes later it still was not clear was still showing “executing get-install was difficult to know when it actually finished. The next morning it still displayed that status but I suspected it was done.
I also installed Supertux. Overall, I thought Tazpkg was a solid tool however it there were a couple of things I thought they could have done better.–when you’re installing you have to do too much scrolling to confirm software installs and updates. The toggle all function is located a little too far from the checkboxes it covers. I was manually checking each box and only found the toggle all function after I had completed my task.
As for the remaining tools in TazPanel:
Administration allows you to view configuration files and manage the repositories. Network contains the tools for managing network connections.
Settings contains Users within which user management is conducted.
Boot contains the logs, Manage Daemon to start and stop services, and Boot loader which allows you to edit Grub entries – Grub legacy is used as far as I could tell.
Hardware lists the currently installed kernel modules as well as PCI and USB hardware.
Live allows you to create the following – Live USB Key, live CD, Convert ISO to loram, or build a meta ISO (combines several ISO flavors like nested Russian dolls). I tried the live USB key and am happy to report it worked the first time.
Install has two options available: install Slitaz or upgrade system.
There was really only one spot that I thought they could have implemented better and that was the navigation arrows, it’s customary to find them on the top of the panel but Slitaz has them at the bottom. My only complaint, albeit a very minor one, about this tool is the location of the forward and back arrows. More of a stylistic efficiency than anything else.
Other interesting Programs:
Nano GnuEditor – A script that automatically opens Nano in a terminal-like setting.
ISO Master – Opens to a split-window display that allows you to select files etc. to create ISO files. Collected files for the ISO appear on the bottom panel. ISO master also lets you open ISO files.
Beaver Code Editor – A simple editor for code. It’s name is a recursive: Beaver’s an Early AdVanced EditoR
Slitaz Server Manager – provides basic server configuration capabilities for SSH, NTP, DHCP, PXE, etc.
mhWaveEdit comes installed.
SQLite Engine Slitaz uses SQLite to manage its data needs and users can directly interact with itfrom a conveniently located icon in the menu – when selected it opens to the SQL command prompt.
Documentation – contains the complete set of documentation including Slitaz Cook & Cooker which describes use of the same-named utility to build Slitaz Linux packages including setting up the environment.
Rating: Overall I found Slitaz to be an enjoyable foray into the world of small footprint distros. By far it was the easiest distro I have used to set up live booting from a USB drive. It’s well orchestrated toolset and the clean layout of the environment, makes this distro an atractive option for small distros. Aside from my network situation, which I am sure would be resolved with a little CLI sauteing, I really liked this distro.
3.2
Tech News:
Time: 45:17
Is Microsoft Going The SCO Route?
With Windows 8 sales in the crapper, what is a monopolistic software giant to do. Well the could be innovative and develop something people actually want. No that would cost to much and take to much time. No the obvious answer is sue somebody of course.
Google has done more innovation in software in a short time than anyone thought possible. They bought Android Inc back in 2005 and it made its debut in 2007. So in just six short years it has risen to dominance in the market. It is all Open Source and freely available to anyone.
What Microsoft decided was the appropriate corse af action create a shell company called “FairSearch.org”. Then use that company to sue Google for antitrust over Android in the EU. This case is complicated to say the least, so let’s all be thankful for Pamela Jones. She is the wizbang paralegal who as you probably remember who founded the site Groklaw to explain and follow the SCO vs IBM boondogle. She is now explaining this mess thankfuly. Her post is here I will try to give you the highlights.
First up the complaint:
FairSearch’s complaint is that “Google uses deceptive conduct to lockout competition in mobile” — by, specifically, requiring OEMs that use Android to pre-load a suite of Google services and give them “prominent default placement” on the device in order to also get access to ”must-have Google apps such as Maps, YouTube or Play”. By doing this, FairSearch argues that Google “disadvantages other providers, and puts Google’s Android in control of consumer data on a majority of smartphones shipped today”, adding that this “predatory distribution of Android at below-cost makes it difficult for other providers of operating systems to recoup investments in competing with Google’s dominant mobile platform”
What Pamela says about it:
“Here’s why the new complaint is ludicrous to me. If you don’t with to be in any kind of “partnership” with Google or just don’t want to prominently display anything, just don’t. Do what Amazon did and opt out and *still use Android* — as Amazon has with its Kindle, building a business on the code it freely took from Google, and doing whatever it wants with it. There are no consequences to Amazon. None. It uses whatever defaults it likes. It pays Google nothing, not in money, not in displaying its search engine, nothing.
If these complaints were true, Facebook couldn’t do Facebook Home. Really. Think about it. The Guardian calls its article about Facebook Home, “Lockpicking Android for Fun and Profit”.”
My take on it:
What Amazon basically has done is take the Android code and fork it appling their own branding. What has Google done about this, nothing because it is Open Source.
More from Pamela:
“They *can* compete with free. Just take the free code and make it look like your brand and make it do what you want it to do. There is absolutely nothing stopping them from doing that, except pride and stubbornness Nokia was already selling phones based on free code, and it *chose* to use Windows instead and is tanking the company. I have no sympathy, and neither should the EU Commission. Build a more sensible business.”
My take on it:
If Microsoft and Nokia wanted to they could both be using Android without any Google branding. They won’t though because that is not the proprietary way.
Even more from Pamela:
“And maybe Microsoft has forgotten, but I haven’t, that it spent years telling the world that using the free Linux code actually cost more than using Microsoft products. They can’t have it both ways, can they? I also don’t forget that Microsoft got Motorola to put Bing as the default search engine on its phones in 2010. How was that possible if the current whining were fact-based?”
My take on it:
Come on Microsoft do really not remember what you have been claiming since 2008 with things like this report “Microsoft Gives Businesses Lower TCO Versus Hidden Costs of Open Source“. Now you want to say that Open Source has the advantage because it is Open Source. Nothng like a little duplicity.
Pamela in conclusion:
“I’m tired of Microsoft throwing tacks in the every competitor’s roadway. They’ve been doing this as long as I can remember. You want to know why hardly anyone buys their mobile products? I can tell you. I went to see them at BestBuy over the weekend and tried out the laptops with Windows 8 on them and looked at the phones, Nokia’s. People don’t like them because they are annoying. They are hard to figure out, the laptops especially, and they are ugly. Yes. I said it. They are. And, to me, it’s unbearable to have the tiles constantly changing. I’d never, ever buy them. Microsoft’s chief advantage was familiarity. And they went and designed it away.
Here’s what I believe their plot is really about: killing off Linux, Android, anything free and open, and then gouging customers like the goode olde dayes of proprietary monopoly on the desktop. There is nothing new under this sun, just new weapons of choice. And that is exactly what the EU Commission should investigate to see if it is, indeed, the real antitrust plot.”
My conclusion:
This is going to be a quick but fun ride, get the popcorn ready.
NORTH KOREAN MISSILE TEST DELAYED BY WINDOWS 8
Is it Alive (or is it a one-hit wonder on Distrowatch’s home page)?
Time: 1:08:20
During this segment of the show, I challenge Mat and Tony to identify whether a Linux Distro is alive or dead? Every other week, I twist the concept for our game show and challenge Mat and Tony to decide if the named entity was a Linux distribution or something else. Previous twists have include whether the distro was French, Ubuntu-based, a super hero, or my favorite twist, a bar drink. I’ll have a Liquid Lemur with my chips, please.
This week is twist week and I challenge I challenge Mat and Tony to decide whether the named Linux distro is a one-hit wonder on Distrowatch. As is customary during twist week, extra credit will be given if Mat and Tony correctly identify whether the distro is alive or dead. ibution originated from Slackware, RedHat or Debian. The items for this week’s show are:
====================================
Condorux wass a Peruvian Linux distribution based on Knoppix. It made a single appearance on Distrowatch’s home page and was never seen there again. It’s mascot was the condor.
VERDICT: 1 dead
====================================
APODIO Linux – is a Linux live and installation DVD with a large collection of open source audio and video software, as well as graphical utilities for making system administration as simple and intuitive as possible. It is based on Ubuntu and made a single appearance on Distrowatch’s home page in 2005.
VERDICT 1 alive
===================================
Ares Desktop first appeared on Distrowatch’s home page in January 2004. : Ares Desktop public release of Ares Desktop, a Linux distribution appeared four months later –made a second appearance on Distrowatch’s home page and it was never seen on Distrowatch again.:
http://www.ares-linux.com/
VERDICT: 2 dead
===================================
BlankOn – BlankOn is an Debian-based distribution developed by the Indonesian Linux Mover Foundation and BlankOn developer team. It first appeared in 2008 and has appeared six more times.
VERDICT Alive – 7
===================================
Blue Linux
The Blue Linux Project was an association of individuals who were interested in creating a free operating system for educational use.A fter almost two years of work, the Linux for Education project released Blue Linux 1.0 which appeared on the Distrowatch home page, never to reappear again.
VERDICT: 1 dead
===================================
CDlinux is a compact Linux mini-distribution and ships with an up-to-date version of the Linux kernel, X.Org, Xfce window manager, and many popular applications. It made its first appearance on Distrowatch in April of 2008. It has since appeared on the home page 7 more times, most recently in November of 2011.
VERDICT: 8 – Alive
===================================
Mat won by at least 3.
Listener Feedback:
show (at) smlr.us or 313-626-9140
Time: 1:16:20
Outtro Music
Time: 1:24:12
Long Goodbyes by I Am Not Lefthanded
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