Free Republic

Computer scientists warn that proposed changes in firmware specifications may make it impossible to run “unauthorised” operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD on PCs. Proposed changes to the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware specifications would mean PCs would only boot from a digitally signed image derived from a keychain rooted in keys built into the PC. Microsoft is pushing to make this mandatory in a move that could not be overridden by users and would effectively exclude alternative operating systems, according to Professor Ross Anderson of Cambridge University and other observers. UEFI is a successor to the BIOS...

What does the Windows 8 Developer Preview have to do with the Linux desktop? Not much, you might think at first, especially since the final version is likely to be vastly different than the preview. But as I explored the preview, I couldn't help asking myself: is this the first hint of how major desktops will look in the future on all operating systems? It's a distinct and -- for a Linux desktop user -- an alarming possibility.If you haven't already downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview, then Jason Perlow's informal video will give you the general idea (as well...

OK. I've answerd my share of Tech questions over the years. Now, I'm faced with a project and looking for words of experience from others. Any recommendations (either positive, or to avoid) for OCR software for Linux. I run Ubuntu 10.04LTS on my desktop and laptop. I have 100+ pages, some typewritten, some from wordprocessing where the electronic versions are no longer available, which I need to convert to something that can be published on the web (probably on a WordPress site). Other than typing from the source pages, what are good options for OCR software for Linux. Are there...

FreeBSD provides a Linux binary compatibility layer that allows 32-bit Linux binaries to be natively executed on this BSD operating system. Linux binary compatibility on FreeBSD allows Linux-only applications to be executed in a near seamless manner on this alternative platform, even for games. New tests have revealed that the modern FreeBSD operating system (via PC-BSD 8.2) can actually outperform Linux when it comes to running OpenGL Linux game binaries. This Linux binary compatibility support for FreeBSD is commonly referred to as "Linux emulation", but it is not emulating Linux in a traditional sense nor is it acting like Wine...

Secure boot only works in UEFI mode, thus preventing legacy booting in 16-bit mode. The Linux community has been quick to point out that generating signed bootloaders may be problematic for open source operating systems.

GIMP 2.7.3 has added one of the most requested features in the program’s history: a single window mode. Version 2.7 is part of the development branch, so unfortunately, the feature won't hit most distro repositories for a while. As I said, because 2.7 is a development branch, most distributions won’t add it to their repositories, and this means that you’ll have to build it yourself. It’s a shame, in a way, because the new window mode might be viewed as a ease of use feature that less advanced users would appreciate. According to this(link) page, it looks like version 2.8...

Multiple servers used to maintain and distribute the Linux operating system were infected with malware that gained root access, modified system software, and logged passwords and transactions of the people who used them, the official Linux Kernel Organization has confirmed. The infection occurred no later than August 12 and wasn't detected for another 17 days, according to an email John "'Warthog9" Hawley, the chief administrator of kernel.org, sent to developers on Monday. It said a trojan was found on the personal machine of kernel developer H Peter Anvin and later on the kernel.org servers known as Hera and Odin1. A...

Twenty years ago, when Linus Torvalds first announced his new operating system project to a Usenet discussion group, he had no way of knowing that his creation would one day conquer the world."Just a hobby, [it] won't be big and professional," Torvalds wrote on Aug. 25, 1991. In a follow-up post, he added, "Simply, I'd say that porting [the OS to a different CPU] is impossible." Torvalds had begun the project as a fun way to teach himself about the Intel 80386 processor and nothing more. His greatest ambition was merely to see it work.It has done far better than...

From the 'What? They're Still at It?!' files: I really had thought that we'd heard the last of SCO, which is is why I was surprised today.SCO was defeated again this week, this time it was an appeal (likely the final appeal) in the Novell vs. SCO case over who owns the Unix copyrights. This was the appeal of the verdict issued over year ago that confirmed Novell's ownership.The wheels of justice in the U.S. sure do seem to move in slow motion at times. While this case has been on the appeals docket for such a long time, we...

Linux-powered software is growing quickly in emerging industries, as depicted in this CNN infographic from MBAOnline.com ************************EXCERPT*****************************************************STORY HIGHLIGHTS Linux, the free software platform, was conceived 20 years ago In phones, ATMs, airplane consoles and other machines, Linux is pervasive Linux, the brand and the desktop operating system, failed to go mainstream

ONE MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT, a student at the University of Helsinki posted a query to the newsgroup comp.os.minix asking, "What would you like to see most in minix?" The student's name was Linus Torvalds, and that Usenet post was the beginning of the Linux operating system (OS). The date was 25 August 1991, exactly 20 years ago today. Pictured-used-and-licensed-under-the-GNU-Free-Distribution-License-by-linuxmag-com-Martin-StreicherIn 1991 Unix had existed for about 20 years since the early 1970s, Apple had come out with its Mac OS in 1984, and Microsoft had been flogging Windows since 1985. Torvalds' ambitions for his "new (free) operating system" were modest. It was...

Editors' Note: 20 years ago today, it all began. "From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: What would you like to see most in minix? Summary: small poll for my new operating system Message-ID: <1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI> Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT Organization: University of Helsinki Hello everybody out there using minix - I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback onthings people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat...

Where is the Linux desktop going, and where should it go? This is a hot topic, and an important one. Unfortunately the discussion usually starts from the wrong premise, that the Linux desktop has only recently achieved parity with its Mac OS X and Windows cousins. Not so! The Linux desktop has been superior since its early days, and would have to go backwards to achieve parity. Now which Linux desktop are we talking about? That's a good question, and that is superior item #1: multiple desktop environments and window managers to choose from.A Mighty Power Tool The PC has...

It seems Matt Rosoff is having a little bit of snark over Microsoft apparently disregarding Linux as a threat to its desktop business. The schadenfreude stems from a tweet from Wes Miller, Research VP at Directions on Microsoft, which points out that Microsoft's boilerplate from its last two annual SEC filings has some interesting revisions, as seen here.  Predictably, Rosoff pours salt on the wound by off-handedly cackling about Jim Zemlin's comments earlier this year that taking on Microsoft would be like "kicking a puppy."To be fair, Rosoff did a little digging in the same SEC filings and discovered that Linux...

Years ago, I was a reasonably content Windows desktop user. Then something remarkable took place that changed everything: I began stumbling upon various open source projects that I found to be nothing short of amazing.The first open source application I happened upon was a project called "Firebird." Destined to become what we today refer to as the Firefox Web browser, Firebird offered me a whole new way to look at software.Even back in the early days of the Firebird/Firefox browser, I knew it was going to take off like crazy as development began to pickup. As time went on, I...

Long before the leading Linux desktop environment GNOME arrived in a 3.0 version in April, long-time GNOME users have been grumbling about the radical changes. The dissatisfaction only increased since GNOME 3.0's debut in the beta of Fedora 15 and continued with the Fedora 15 final. We mention Fedora because no other major Linux distro has yet to make the switch. To avoid it, Canonical gambled on its own controversial Unity UI layer in Ubuntu 11.04, and the Ubuntu-flavored Linux Mint 11 opted for the earlier GNOME 2.32.1. Now Linux creator and kernel overseer Linus Torvalds (pictured), has stepped in...

Two different graphs. Both happen to be published at Ars Technica, with one of them coming from a different source. Seemingly completely unrelated, but when you ponder the waterfall of recent lawsuit-related news, these two graphs suddenly tell all there is to tell. These two innocent little graphs illustrate why Apple is attacking Android so ferociously. Let's start with the first graph. Based on Apple's recent quarterly results, it shows where, exactly, Apple's revenue is coming from. It's not iPods, it's not iTunes, it's not even Macs; no, 68% of Apple's revenue in the past quarter has come from the...

Raving Luni, aka Ron of Linux-Universe has contributed this interesting analysis of the current battle raging against Open Source, and by extension, Freedom in general. Sun is behind it too, very much. The Unholy Trinity shares one common issue: "Open Source software is eating into their profits". So they all support this action in a desperate attempt to save their business model. Here are the patients: SCO is in critical condition, so they go first. Sun is in serious condition, they will come too, more forcefully if they don't find a successful business arround OSS first. So they play both...

So there it is. Gone are the 2.6.<bignum> days, and 3.0 is out. This obviously also opens the merge window for the next kernel, whichwill be 3.1. The stable team will take the third digit, so 3.0.1 willbe the first stable release based on 3.0. As already mentioned several times, there are no special landmarkfeatures or incompatibilities related to the version number change,it's simply a way to drop an inconvenient numbering system in honor oftwenty years of Linux. In fact, the 3.0 merge window was calmer thanmost, and apart from some excitement from RCU I'd have called itreally smooth. Which...

According to database pioneer Michael Stonebraker, Facebook is operating a huge, complex MySQL implementation equivalent to “a fate worse than death,” and the only way out is “bite the bullet and rewrite everything.” Not that it’s necessarily Facebook’s fault, though. Stonebraker says the social network’s predicament is all too common among web startups that start small and grow to epic proportions. During an interview this week, Stonebraker explained to me that Facebook has split its MySQL database into 4,000 shards in order to handle the site’s massive data volume, and is running 9,000 instances of memcached in order to keep...