Ubuntu is the leader in the Linux environment and it's slowly making its way into the mainstream. But is it ready to tackle the enterprise? While there is no chance of Ubuntu overtaking Microsoft Windows' dominant market share or even making a dent compared to Apple’s Mac OS X, this open-source operating system can make a difference in the enterprise.
Just over two weeks after the release of Linux 2.6.30, Linus Torvalds has released 2.6.31-rc1, the first release candidate of Linux 2.6.31. As usual, "rc1" completes the merge window during which the kernel hackers incorporate the majority of new features into the respective new version's main development branch. In the eight to eleven weeks that follow, the programmers tend to integrate only smaller changes to fix bugs in the newly merged code without causing any further problems.
Prejudices and opinions aside, at some point in your career you'll be asked to select a viable Linux distribution for your corporate network. How will you choose? Will you use the same distribution that you use at home or will you do some research and find something that's corporate-ready? Are you up to the task? Do you know what to look for in a distribution to support a corporate environment?
Here are 5 ways to decide on a Linux distribution for your corporate network.
An apocalyptic take on the OS of the future
There is sad news from the USA: 95% of netbooks (i.e. the likes of the Asus EeePC, the Dell Mini etc) are being now supplied with Windows XP rather than Linux pre-installed. Why? Cos' the Americans don't like Linux; the number of returns spoke for itself, they hated Linux...or maybe just the variants they were exposed to... so, like the venerable Terminator itself, XP is back*.
Sarah Sharp, a self-styled "geekess" and Linux developer at Intel's Open Source Technology Center who has recently been working on the Linux USB subsystem, announced on her blog that support of USB 3.0 will soon be integrated into the Linux kernel. This makes Linux the first operating system to support the standard. If you can't wait and have the expertise necessary, she includes instructions on how to get USB 3.0 support in Linux now.
Linux kernel 2.6.30 has been released with hundreds of changes from the previous version, including a new architecture for suspend and resume which Linus Torvalds says switches the kernel to a "new world order".
"Hopefully now done with the suspend/resume irq re-architecting, and have switched to a new world order," Torvalds announced to the Linux kernel mailing list. "Although I suspect lots of details will still change, of course."
In an email to developers of the Linux distribution Ubuntu, Canonical's Scott James Remnant explained how they hope to achieve a 10 second boot time with Ubuntu 10.04, the version to be released in 2010, after 9.10 is released this fall.
Linux 2.6.30 can be compressed using Bzip2 and LZMA, includes security framework Tomoyo and should boot faster. Tasmanian devil Tuz, who stood in for Tux as Linux mascot in 2.6.29, has been relieved of his duties.
This project attempts to show you how to make your own home media server from readily available PC components & open source software. The software components we’ll be using in this feature are:
Ubuntu Linux 8.10
Firefly DAAP Server (for streaming to iTunes clients, Roku Soundbridge, and other DAAP aware devices)
MediaTomb – this allows streaming of audio & video over the ubiquitous UPnP protocol
Linux just got a major slap in the face today from Asus. One of the highlights of Linux going mainstream was the wildly popular Asus Eee PC preinstalled with a customized Linux distro geared towards web applications. While I personally never got what the big deal was, I was still happy for all the Linux people out there waiting for this day, but it looks like the cause for celebration won't be lasting much longer.
