Episode 030 – Super Moon
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Total Running Time: 1:11:53
Intro:
Mat Enders, Tony Bemus, and Mary Tomich
Intro Sound bite by Mike Tanner
Summary
Kernel News: Mat
Time: 7:36
Distro Talk: Tony
Time: 9:38
Mary Distro Review
Tech News:
Time: 24:00
Is it Alive? – Mary
Time: 50:20
Listener Feedback
Time: 55:30
Mat’s Soapbox
Time: 1:03:17
Outtro Music
Time: 1:05:15
Kernel News: Mat
Time: 7:36
Release Candidate:
On Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:47:52 Linus Torvalds released kernel 3.4-rc5
He had this to say about the release:
“-rc5 has almost 50% more commits than -rc4 had. Not good. That said, I don’t think there is anything hugely scary there.”
The bulk of the changes are drivers with 50% followed by architecture at 20% then 15% were file system with most of those being btrfs and nfs related, and 5% networking with the remaining 10% just random noise.
Mainline:
3.4-rc5
Stable Updates:
No stable updates this week.
Kernel Developer Quote:
“Guinea pigs really are worthless. Just glue some hair on a stone, and you have a better pet.”
–Linus Torvalds
Distro Talk: Tony
Time: 9:38
- 5-1 – OpenBSD 5.1 – BSD operating system with a focus on security
- 5-2 – ArchBang Linux 2012.05 – lightweight Arch-based desktop distribution featuring the Openbox window manager
- 5-4 – Lightweight Portable Security 1.3.4 – the project’s security live CD designed for secure and anonymous use of web-based applications
- 5-5 – Puppy Linux 5.3.3 “Slacko” – lightweight distribution compatible with Slackware Linux 13.37
- 5-5 – Vyatta 6.4 – Debian-based specialist distribution for firewalls and routers
- 5-6 – Slackel KDE-4.8.2-1 – Slackware-based distribution tracking Slackware’s “Current” branch and providing extra software in its own repositories
Distro of the Week: Tony
- Magia – 1482
- Fedora – 1560
- ArchBang – 1665
- Ubuntu – 2797
- Mint – 4196
Mary Distro Review
Trisquel GNU/Linux 5.5
Trisquel 5.5 Review
Trisquel is one of a myriad Ubuntu derivatives. It’s notable claim is that it’s one of several “libre” versions, of course, libre—meaning free as in unencumbered by proprietary software. After receiving some reader feedback from JMathis, indicating that we sounded a little biased against Trisquel, GnuLinux, I decided to give it a try.
My initial boot to the Trisquel/GnuLinux live CD was smooth. On the desktop is the option to install. I took the plung. If you’ve installed Ubuntu, then you’ve mostly experienced an install ofTrisquel. Solid, dependable…an install without incident. The login music snippet is very new age-y and nice. The non-proprietary Nouveau driver for Nvidia cards was installed and worked great. The desktop looked clear, crisp, attractive.
I noticed a red X over the networking icon. …not good. I clicked into the networking app and enabled wireless networking but change had no impact. More on that later.
Two items that can be problematic in non-proprietary systems are flash and video. I was particularly interested in seeing how Trisquel GNU/Linux, running on my Zareason laptop, handled Flash. I ran a test, using the flash-based game-Machinarium. Trisquel handled it perfectly on my system.
OK, back to my wireless situation. I knew I had to do some digging so I ran lspci to confirm my wireless driver: 05:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection (rev 61). I checked the Trisquel forums and it looked like my wireless chipset was going to be a problem. I investigated further and confirmed the driver required by my Intel chip, iwlagn, did not have a non-proprietary counterpart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open-source_wireless_drivers
The solution offered by those who frequent the Trisquel forums, including members of the community is a curious one. They tell people to buy a wireless card which have corresponding free drivers, e.g., Atheros. Let me see if I have that right…I need to spend money with a corporation in order to get my community-driven GNU/Linux system fully functional. It seems to me that a community-based effort to develop a free driver is a better way to go. Fund-raising sites like Indiegogo (http://www.indiegogo.com/) allow organizations and individuals to pitch projects for funding by the public. Kdenlive did this and successfully reached their monetary goal. I contributed to that effort and would contribute to any effort to develop non-proprietary drivers for the Intel 4965 chipset.
For a group who’s as passionate as these guys are—some of them very blunt with forum posters when the topic of proprietary drivers is brought up—a community-driven fund-raising effort seems like a better approach.
Tech News:
Time: 24:00
When Ubuntu Gets It Right
As may or may not know I do not run or like Ubuntu. Having said that I also have to say when they get something right I have to give them credit.
Since Ubuntu 11.04 they have incorporated Zeitgeist into the system. For those who are not familuar with what ZeitGeist is (the Linux software not the German word meaning the spirit of the times)here is a description right from thier website:
“Zeitgeist is a service which logs the users’ activities and events, anywhere from files opened to websites visited and conversations had.
It makes this information readily available for other applications to use. It is able to establish relationships between items based on similarity and usage patterns.”
It keeps all of this information locally on the machine. It then offers this information up to other applications in order “customize” the user experience. An application is populated with the most and recently used data that was used with it. This also applies for folder where the most and recently used files are displayed in its jump-list.
In response to privacy concerns about how this data was managed Ubuntu now includes a Privacy panel. You can find this in Ubuntu’s System Settings window. With the Privacy panel you will be able to configure how this data is captured and stored. you can disable the activity recording entirely or just fine tune what information is captured and stored. You also have the ability to delete the activity history either entirely or just for a recent period in time.
Google Chrome OS Desktops Has New Fan, Linus Torvalds
Linus has been a long time Gnome user but lately has become disgruntled with the direction that is being taken with version three. Well lately he has been using Aura, the Chrome OS interface, and digging it. This is what he said about it on Google plus:
“It allows such radical notions as having easy mouse configurability for things like how to launch applications. Things gnome removed because those kinds of things were “too confusing”, and in the process made useless. And a auto-hide application dock at the bottom. Revolutionary, I know.”
He talked about how his family uses it mainly as a stand alone calendering device. He then goes on to say how much better Aura is for this than the previous version:
“And I have to say, it also seems to improve on the experience even in the non-laptop mode. Making the calendar start as a “window” instead of as a browser tab also means that when you use it in the single-use mode that we traditionally did, the app takes up the whole screen, without the browser buttons etc.
So the new Aura approach seems to work both as a traditional window manager and as a more limited “apps take up the whole screen”. Maybe this whole “browser as an app” thing can really work.”
The problem is the devices that Aura is installed on, Linus also pointed this out. The chrome books are great for browsing and doing lite tasks on but to do real work I need something beefier.
I also need to disagree with Linus. I have been using Gnome 3 as my main desktop for the last four days and I have to say I am really liking it. In fact I have not used Cinnamon at all for the last two days.
US Department Of The Interior Chooses Google Apps
The Department of the Interior today announced a contract award for Department-wide cloud email and collaboration services using Google Apps for Government. This is part of an initiative that will leverage modern technology to save up to $500 million in taxpayer dollars by 2020. Onix Networking, a Google Apps for Government provider, Was awarded the contract. Desktop users will be given the option of either using the web based apps or a tradition desktop style software environment. New video and audio chat features will complement traditional email communication tools, while Google Docs, Calendar and Sites will enhance the Department’s collaboration capabilities. This new system will offer seamless intergration with mobile devices for both mobile and remote workers.
The implementation of a single enterprise-wide email system will replace seven different existing email systems at Interior, cutting waste and eliminating redundancy. Completion of the procurement for cloud email and collaboration services directly supports IT Transformation’s goal to transform Interior’s IT systems into an agile, reliable, and cost effective service that better supports IT services across the entire Department.
Next Fedora Has A Codename
Robyn Bergeron, Fedora Project Leader, announced the rsults of the release name poll for Fedora 18. And the winner is:
Spherical Cow
Voting was open: Friday 2012-04-20 00:00:00 to Friday 2012-04-27 00:00:00
Using the range voting method, each candidate could attain a maximum of 3,432
Results:
Votes Name
——————————-
1359 Spherical Cow
1087 Halva
1072 Chamoy
1035 Pamukkale
964 Tandoori Chicken
930 Frankfurter
821 Pop Soda
536 Ketchy Ketchup
Microsoft using Linux to power skype
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/05/skype-replaces-p2p-supernodes-with-linux-boxes-hosted-by-microsoft.ars
http://www.unixmen.com/configure-conky-lua-in-ubuntu-11-10-12-04-fedora-debian-and-linuxmint-howto-conky/
See Who is Tracking you with Collusion Plugin
TED Talk : Tracking the Trackers
https://disconnect.me/tools (Chrome plugin)
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/collusion/ (Firefox Plugin)
Linux Rings the Bell in New York
From the ‘Solaris and Windows? at NYSE? Ha!’ files:
In New York’s Financial District, Linux is your MAMA. The Linux Foundation (that’s Greg Kroah-Hartman in the center and to his right is Jim Zemlin) rang the closing bell at the NYSE yesterday.
http://www.internetnews.com/blog/skerner/linux-rings-the-bell-in-new-york.html
B&N Pulls Linux Format Magazine Over Feature on Hacking
“UK-based Linux Format magazine was pulled from Barnes and Noble bookstores in the U.S. after featuring an article called ‘Learn to Hack’. They used ‘hack’ in the populist security sense, rather than the traditional sense, and the feature — which they put online — was used to illustrate how poor your server’s security is likely to be by breaking into it.”
http://tuxradar.com/content/learn-hack-was-pulled-barnes-and-noble
Is it Alive?
Time: 50:20
The quiz show segment where Mary challenges Mat and Tony to identify whether if a Linux Distro is alive or dead? The distros for the May 6 show:
Impi Linux
Impi Linux was a South African Linux distribution which focused on the enterprise and government sector. The project name originally referred to Impi meaning warrior in the Zulu language. In September 2005, Mark Shuttleworth invested R10 million in return for 65% of Impi Linux. The project was discontinued in April 2009 after Impi was incorporated and later purchased by Business Connection. http://www.impilinux.com/
Mat: Dead
Tony: Dead
Verdict: DEAD
************************
Linpus Linux –
Linpus Lite Desktop Edition is an extremely powerful yet versatile desktop, all-in-one, notebook and netbook operating system. Based on Gnome 3.2, it has a significant array of enhancements that mean it is the ideal choice whether you require productivity, entertainment or lead an extremely social, connected online life. http://www.linpus.com/
Mat: ALIVE
Tony: ALIVE
Verdict: ALIVE
***********************
JarroNegro Linux
This project was born from Muser project, which sought to develop a distribution for servers of different architectures (including SPARC).
The name was born from the combination of RedHat with Jug (for a soft drink company of Mexico). The logo was provided by a Mexican illustrator bachan (Sebastian Carrillo). ttp://jarronegrolinux.com/
Mat: Dead
Tony: ALIVE
Verdict: ALIVE
***********************
Amber Linux – DEAD Amber Linux, Debian-based linux distribution operating system It aimed to be the first distribution business tailored to the needs of users Latvian acquisition cost was about 19 to 66 dollars, and had support for English, in addition to Latvian.
Mat: ALIVE
Tony: DEAD
Verdict: DEAD
**********************
Exherbo Linux
Source based Linux distribution with up-front configuration. http://www.exherbo.org/
Mat: DEAD;
Tony: ALIVE
Verdict: ALIVE
********************
FINAL SCORE:
Mat: 3
Tony: 4
Listener Feedback
Time: 55:30
Michael – to Mary
Comment by Frida Kufel on Episode 020 – Spam?
Christopher Grau wrote in to say he loves the show but had a couple of questions about your LMDE/Debian Testing Hybrid distro.
1. How lightweight is it? I have been testing the speed of Linux Mint LXDE, Lubuntu 11.10, and now Lubuntu 12.04 on my single core, Atom 1.66 Ghz, 1 GB Ram netbook. Does the Cinnamon on top of your LMDE weigh it down on such a light weight machine?
A) It is not lightweight at all, my laptop has Intel Core 2 Duo CPU @ 2.60GHz and 4GB of RAM.
2. I’d love to read a walk-through of replacing the repos. I’m a beginner Linux user, working my way towards intermediate while trying to not nuke my main Window’s install on my laptop.
A) It really is not hard, it is just a matter of editing /etc/apt/sources.list. I will post a walk through on my page of the smlr.us website.
He also went on to say:
“If you play Mass Effect 3, one of your party members is an AI in an android body. If you are attacking AI enemies, she will shout things like, “executing sudo command,” or, “achieving root access!””
I do not really play video games but my son does and he confirms this behavior which I find totally hilarious.
Mat’s Soapbox
Time: 1:03:17
Outtro Music
Time: 1:05:15
Look and Feel Years Younger by artist Brad Sucks
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