Linux

FOSS is evolving. Computers are getting faster and cheaper. Nowadays, even open source software has a lot of internal competition, and with more processing power, developers are now able to churn out feature-rich applications. But do we need them? Most people go for the most popular apps, which everyone uses. Consequently, there is a multitude of apps which people don’t know that well. They are excellent programs, sadly though, you rarely see them on your average Linux user’s desktop.So here is a list of what I think are some of the most underrated Linux apps.

openSUSE 11.0 is based on the Linux kernel version 2.6.25 and provides a cornucopia of features. If you choose to download the full DVD, you can expect a whopping 4.5 GBs for the iso-format file. Other options include a Live CD and over the network. The good news is that you can use a BitTorrent client to get the iso file.

So what differentiates openSUSE from Novell's other distributions, namely SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)? To quote from the openSUSE FAQ:

Linux project lead Linus Torvalds has said it is not easy to become a major contributor to the Linux kernel.

In an email interview with ZDNet.com.au sister site ZDNet.co.uk last week, Torvalds said that, while it was relatively easy for coders and organisations to contribute small patches, the contribution of large patches, developed in isolation, could lead to both new and established contributors becoming frustrated.

When Ian Murdock created the Debian project on 16 August 1993, the Linux kernel itself was barely two years old. There were early distributions already, of course, Slackware being the only one of them to survive, but those were systems produced by firms or by individual developers. Murdock had a different vision; one principle of Debian is that it was intended from the start to be an open project that anyone could help work on – a Linux by the user for the user, growing in the same way as the free software it contains.

What will desktop Linux be like four years from now?

In the time it takes most college students to earn an undergraduate degree -- or party through their college savings -- Linux will continue to mature and evolve into an operating system that non-technical users can fully embrace.

With the recent release of gOS 3 Beta, we thought it was prime time to take a closer look at the company responsible for creating the OS that powered the ill-fated Everex Cloudbook, and the gorgeous (and Mac OS X Leopard-inspired) gOS Space. We chewed the fat with David Liu, gOS founder and CEO, about the operating systems’ new features, potential competition from Ubuntu Netbook Remix, the push for consumer adoption, and the future of Linux on the desktop.

Three weeks ago, LWN looked at the renewed interest in dynamic tracing, with an emphasis on SystemTap. Tracing is a perennial presence on end-user wishlists; it remains a handy tool for companies like Sun Microsystems, which wish to show that their offerings (Solaris, for example) are superior to Linux.

Linux creator Linus Torvalds has labeled makers of the OpenBSD operating system a "bunch of masturbating monkeys," as part of a wider critique of what he said was self-centered behavior in the IT security industry.

In an e-mail to the Linux kernel developer mailing list, Torvalds said a section of the security industry was dedicated to finding bugs in software only to publicize their findings and gain notoriety.

I’ve long followed and blogged about the prominence of Linux in supercomputing and the twice-annual Top500 Supercomputer List. In a relatively short time frame, the open source OS has shot to the top of the Top500 list thanks to its free availability, flexibility, stability, scalability and conduciveness for clustering. Over time, the tools and statistics provided by the fine folks that track the world’s most powerful computers have also improved. With the latest list released this month, we even get a nice graphical representation of things and trends.

Linux kernel developers today began to petition hardware vendors to provide open source modules and drivers. In a statement signed by more than 140 Linux kernel developers, the group said that closed-source Linux kernel modules or drivers were “detrimental to Linux users, businesses, and the greater Linux ecosystem”.

“Such modules negate the openness, stability, flexibility, and maintainability of the Linux development model and shut their users off from the expertise of the Linux community.”