news about Google's use of Linux/support of open source

 Google unveils Chrome source code and Linux port, Sep 03, 2008

Google has officially released its new Chrome web browser. In conjunction with the release, Google has also launched Chromium, an open-source software project that enables third-party developers to study, modify, extend, and redistribute the underlying source code of the Chrome browser.

Google has promised to deliver versions of its Chrome web browser for Mac and Linux users.

On Tuesday, Google will release a free Web browser called Chrome that the company said would challenge Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, as well as the Firefox browser.

Internet monitoring company, Pingdom, has plotted the popularity of the various Linux distributions by geography on the basis of how often their names are used in Google searches. Rigorous it may not be, but this 'distribution of distributions' is certainly fascinating.

Google Gadgets, an open-source, stand-alone app that runs gadgets from Google Desktop and the Universal iGoogle repository, closes the widest gap between Google Desktop's Linux version and its Mac and Windows cousins

Google software engineer Dan Kegel posted a message to the Wine mailing list last week describing some of the improvements to Wine that Google has sponsored in the past year. These improvements, says Kegel, have substantially improved the Linux compatibility of several popular commercial software applications, including Adobe Photoshop and Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Google recently confirmed in a blog posting that it had paid Codeweavers to help develop WINE to make Photoshop usable on the well-regarded but still somewhat unpredictable software package, which aims to replicate Windows libraries to enable popular Windows applications run in a Linux environment.

While some had expected Google to come out with an iPhone-killing G-Phone, the company’s announcement in November of the Android mobile platform is something far more sweeping, and it has ramifications for IT.

A small software developer on Monday plans to unveil a suite of applications — browser, camera, games and more — based on the new Google-endorsed operating system, Android.

Looks like Google doesn't have the Midas touch after all. According to reports, a sizable number of developers who've been working with the SDK for Google's Linux-based Android platform say it is full of bugs and often doesn't work at all.

A cerebral computer-scientist-turned-executive, Eric E. Schmidt has spent much of his career competing uphill against Microsoft, quietly watching it outflank, outmaneuver or simply outgun most of its rivals.

Google has rounded out the feature set of the Linux version of its photo suite, Picasa, with the release of the beta version of Picasa 2.7. Linux users will know that Picasa for Linux hadn't included a number of features available in later Windows versions (including Picasa web intregration). However the new version lets you upload to Picasa Web albums using the new "web album" button.

Google's Open Handset Alliance and its use of Apache V2 public license, could prove as a proof-of-concept for some companies, ABI analysts suggest.

Google Inc. could be heading for a showdown with Sun Microsystems Inc. over the way Android, Google's new mobile phone software platform, handles Java.

This in-depth, hands-on article introduces Android, Google's Linux/Java mobile phone SDK (software development kit). After a tour of Android's tools, documentation, and code samples, it suggests a path for further exploration and concludes with a simple applet showing the power and simplicity of the Android environment.

When a desktop Linux distribution suddenly becomes popular before even DistroWatch starts tracking it, you know you've got something special. One new Ubuntu-based distribution, gOS, has managed to capture users' attention purely by word of mouth over the Internet.

After downloading and examining Google's Android software development kit yesterday, some software developers gave the platform favorable reviews and praised it as a breath of fresh air for an industry that has long been characterized by closed devices and software.

As expected, Google has released an "early look" version of its SDK (software development kit) for mobile phones. The Eclipse-based Android SDK lets users write Java applications that run on Dalvik, a virtual machine designed to run on top of Linux in embedded applications.

Nokia, who happens to own a 47 percent stake in Symbian, may have welcomed Google's Android mobile OS with open arms yesterday, but the same can't be said for Symbian's CEO Nigel Clifford

Google's announcement on Monday of a mobile development platform that could radically alter the wireless market is yet another example of the lengths the company will go to keep its advertising business growing at a jaw-dropping rate.

Nokia may still join Google's new mobile software alliance, which is seen as rivaling Nokia's own plans.

If you've got an extra PC gathering dust, gOS is not only a worthy operating system for a cheap PC from Wal-Mart; it's also an excellent (and free) way to repurpose your old PC.

Forgive me if I appear a little skeptical here about Google's Open Handset Alliance. By my count, it's the fifth consortium so far to attempt to craft something useful for mobile phones out of Linux and open-source software.

Google's introduction of its Android device operating system and Open Handset Alliance on Monday could help create just the breed of mobile Linux platform that many enterprise IT managers have been waiting for, industry experts contend.

One thing which hasn't been nailed down in all the reports about Google's expected mobile phone announcement is exactly what operating system will run the thing. Turns out, it could be Linux.

Linux smartphone pioneer E28 of Beijing, China has denied a rumor that it will supply the hardware and Linux-based software for a forthcoming Google "GPhone." The rumor began earlier this week in a brief story published by investor blog The India Street.

The impending release of the Google phone and Motorola’s first Linux-based Razr2 device in the U.S. will catapult open source’s status in the mobile market.

Can Google's application development prowess be transformed into a next-generation mobile operating system?

Mahesh Veerina, the founder and chief executive of Celunite, which makes cellphone software based on Linux, said Google's offering was likely to be attractive to small carriers, which may see it as a competitive weapon.

Although the rumored mobile platform is yet to be announced, software developers already sense a big business opportunity

According to Rizzn's source at Google, the device runs a modified version of the Linux kernel and has GPS built in.

Google is adding Sun Microsystem's StarOffice 8 to its free software package, Google Pack.

Google has expanded its support for Linux by becoming Open Invention Network's first end-user licensee.

Google's first mobile phone will run a Linux operating system on a Texas Instruments "Edge" chipset, and will likely ship to T-Mobile and Orange customers in the Spring of 2008, according to unconfirmed reports. "GPhone" call minutes and text messages reportedly will be funded by mobile advertising.

Back in 2001, the famous open source encyclopedia Wikipedia was just a website that provided access to a considerable amount of information.

A federal judge refused on Tuesday to rule on a last-minute Google antitrust complaint about Windows Vista's desktop search, saying she trusted government attorneys who said they were already satisfied with Microsoft's planned changes.

In terms of performance and stability, I don't really have any major complaints. I've noticed that Google Desktop eats too much CPU sometimes, and it also tends to slow down file write operations a little bit, but it seems reliable enough for daily use.

Google Inc. plans to launch a Linux version of Google Desktop on Wednesday, almost three years after the product's launch for the Windows operating system.

Mozilla and Google are collaborating on an effort to make web applications work offline.

Google told the judge overseeing the 2002 consent decree that even though Microsoft has agreed to modify Vista to address the concerns, "more may need to be done to provide a truly unbiased choice of desktop search products."

Self-proclaimed un-evil host, Google doesn't seem to have much to do with the proceedings other than loan it a venue, but the fact that it is hosting the event is enough to suggest something is afoot.

Is the search titan's complaint against Microsoft and its Windows Vista desktop search overblown? The bloggers debate

The story had a certain flair. In early March, the chief information officer of the Federal Aviation Administration, David Bowen, was reportedly considering forsaking Microsoft Windows and Office in favor of the Linux operating system and the Web-based Google Apps Premium office suite.

Companies like Google that build their business on software such as Linux have a moral imperative to contribute back to the free software community, a prominent open-source advocate said Tuesday.

Chris DiBona, open-source programs manager at Google, says the jury is still out on Microsoft's recent claims that free and open-source software violates 235 Microsoft patents.

Maintaining a large number of Linux servers to power its search and web application services is at the heart of Google’s business and, until now, has remained a closely guarded secret.

Tech-heads yearning for Google to challenge Microsoft's domination of the desktop shouldn't hold their breaths, says Chris DiBona, the search giant's open source program manager.

Google's open source chief talks about the joys of Linux, the cost of Windows and his concerns about the new version of the GPL

McAfee and Symantec aren't the only companies asking Microsoft to play fair with its forthcoming Vista OS. Searchasaurus Google today urged Big Red to ensure that with its future products, users can easily choose among search tools and apps.

The projects are in and the mentors have filed their evaluations. In the final tally, it looks like Google's Summer of Code 2006 was a success.

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