Technology News: Open Source

Phone-Hater Linus Torvalds Blesses Nexus One
February 09, 2010

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.

Open Symbian: New World Order or Big Yawn?
February 08, 2010

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.

Eyeing Android, Symbian Opens Up
February 05, 2010

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.

TweetCaster for Android Gets Almost Everything Right
February 05, 2010

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.

Motherboard Madness and Mayhem
February 04, 2010

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.

F-Spot: An Able-Bodied All-in-One Image Machine
February 03, 2010

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.

Google Shows Off a Chrome Tablet With 1,000 Faces
February 02, 2010

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.

Will FOSS Jump Into the iPad Fray?
February 02, 2010

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?

Red Hat's Open Source School of Thought
January 29, 2010

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.

What Does It Take to Be a Linux Guru?
January 28, 2010

It's a well-known fact that humans love lists, and the media are generally all too happy to oblige. Recently, however, mixed in among the many "Top 10" lists and "10 Ways to ..." articles out there was one that seemed worthy of attention. "10 Characteristics of a Linux Guru?" was the title of the post, which came from DaniWeb's Ken Hess.

China Gives Android a Pass, as Long as It Keeps Its Nose Clean
January 27, 2010

The Chinese government won't block the use of Google's Android operating system on mobile phones in the country as long as the operating system abides by Chinese laws, a key government official said on Wednesday. "As long as it complies with Chinese laws and regulations, and as long as it has good cooperation with operators ... their use of the system won't be limited," spokesperson Zhu Hongren said.

Oracle Ropes In Sun
January 27, 2010

Oracle announced on Wednesday the completion of its $7 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems. At a briefing on its plans, Oracle pledged to reenergize Sun's brand name, products and other assets. Further, Oracle said it will continue its commitment to open systems and Java. "We'll invest in Java One; it'll just go global," Oracle Copresident Charles Phillips said.

Screenlets: Eye Candy for Linux Users
January 27, 2010

Screenlets bring a collection of fun things and useful apps to add functional eye candy to the Linux desktop with little or no resource drain on the computer. Windows and Mac machines have their widgets. Linux has its Screenlets. So you can scratch one more reason from the list of why you shouldn't migrate to an open source operating system.

Report: Linux Gains Ground, Windows Stumbles
January 26, 2010

Linux inched ahead in the operating-system arena during the final month of 2009, even as Windows and Mac gave up some ground. That's according to research firm Net Applications, which recently released its Market Share report covering operating systems in December. Linux accounted for 1.02 percent of the market in December, up from an even 1 percent the month before.

Open-PC: A Piece of Junk, or Got It Where It Counts?
January 25, 2010

It's a rare day indeed that doesn't see some new computer technology or other roll out of the starting gates, but when that technology is called the "Open-PC," Linux Girl can't help but sit up and pay attention. Sure enough, the Open-PC is billed as the first PC for everyday use "built by the Linux community for the Linux community," and it uses only free software.

FOSS Feats and Follies: Q&A With Red Hat Fedora Project Leader Paul Frields
January 22, 2010

Red Hat Linux and the Fedora Project developers will soon introduce core technological improvements to provide better desktop environments and video driver support in the upcoming release of both the commercial and the free open source operating systems later this year.