Conspiracy Theories and the 'Smoking Gun', Jun 29, 2009

Is Microsoft behind a conspiracy to keep Linux-powered netbooks off the market?

Why do Microsoft and vendors like ASUS continue to push the line that Microsoft Windows is the ultimate operating system for the diminutive ultraportable netbook market? The Windows 7 plan for netbooks is fraught with limitation and burdens. It's time to bring back the penguin.

There has been a lot of talk about the success or failure of the Linux netbooks recently, to the point that it is now a very controversial topic.

For all the discussion of the importance of transparency and openness on the Web today, it's very telling that the world's fastest-growing mobile platform may also be the most proprietary. If openness matters so much, why is Apple doing so well with its uber-proprietary iPhone, just as Microsoft dominates the desktop with proprietary Windows?

With all the atttention being paid to touch screen interfaces (for Smartphones, but also Windows 7's apparent native support) don't think Linux is being left behind.

A team of developers from the Interactive Computing Lab at the ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile) aeronautics academy in Toulouse, France have successfully created proof-of-concept multi-touch drivers for Linux.

Big companies are increasing how much they spend on putting Linux software on mainframes, according to a global study.

Ubuntu creator Mark Shuttleworth is itching for a clean fight with Microsoft on netbooks. Shuttleworth once told The Reg he can't wait for Windows 7 on this sub-laptop class of machines because it'll finally give Ubuntu the opportunity to compete fairly against Microsoft's operating system in this emerging market.

With Linux being used as the foundation for numerous smartphone and mobile internet devices, it is tempting to suggest that this movement is going to open the doorway to desktop Linux. Tempting, but not accurate.

It seems that some more details on the capabilities of the newly launched Palm Pre and on its webOS platform have made it into the wild, and among them the fact that the handset can easily run unsigned firmware. It all starts with the installation of a native Linux version of the FCEUltra NES emulator from within a Debian chroot.

A team of developers from the Interactive Computing Lab at the ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile) aeronautics academy in Toulouse, France have successfully created proof-of-concept multi-touch drivers for Linux.

What should your business know about USB 3.0? It's almost ready for the mass market, it's extremely fast -- and Linux will be the first OS to support it.

Just a few weeks after NEC presented its first host controller chip for USB 3.0 and Fresco Logic released its USB 3.0 expansion card, and even before the first products offer the new SuperSpeed mode, a Linux driver for the xHCI (Extensible Host Controller Interface) is waiting in the wings.

With the increasing prevalence of virtualization comes the greater need for management of “guest” operating systems that run as virtual machines on the hypervisor, and the tool called libguestfs is set to provide that on Linux.

Why does Linux seem to have multiple choices in operating systems, such as Ubuntu or Slackware, and where do the names come from?

Yesterday, Apple announced significant price drops on many of its consumer products including the iPhone and Mac Air.

The four reasons why normal people don't use linux: Inertia, Ignorance, Indifference and Innovation.

Not long after my post about the newest rev of OpenSolaris, a programmer friend called me to dissent. He'd tried OpSol, too, found it sorely lacking, and from his comments I found a criticism that now applies to Linux as well.

Have you bought a Kindle or Kindle 2 yet? Don't--at least not until you check out the COOL-ER ebook reader. The COOL-ER is Linux-based and is ready to deliver with 128MB RAM, 1GB storage (Expandable to 4GB--SD Card) and its Samsung® S3C2440 ARM 400MHz processor.

Go back to basics with these old-school file managers.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux helps Verizon Business customers deploy high-performing, secure, open cloud computing infrastructures.

According to a recent survey by The Eclipse Foundation, Ubuntu is the most popular choice for developers.

Q: What is the true market share for Linux? A: Depends who you ask! You can find desktop penetration of 1%, 2% and 4% - and a server share right up to 46%!

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