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Seven Tools for Improving Ubuntu Unity

March 14, 2012 in Ubuntu

Unsatisfied users of GNOME 3 can turn to Mint GNOME Shell Extensions (MGSE) to recreate as much of the GNOME 2 experience as they wish. But where can unsatisfied users of Unity turn for similar relief?

Surprisingly, more possibilities exist than you might think. Configuration tools and extensions for Unity are far less well known than those for GNOME 3, but they do exist. Often, their functionality overlaps, but, between them all, you might just manage to recreate the GNOME 2 experience almost as closely as you can with MGSE.

The greatest problem is likely to be installing and troubleshooting some of the tools. For that reason, I’ve included links to detailed instructions where they seemed necessary, instead of simply to the code source: Read the rest of this entry →

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Ubuntu Cloud Day In India by Canonical

March 13, 2012 in Ubuntu

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, is organising ‘Ubuntu Cloud Day’ to be held on April 4th, 2012. Tailor made for engineers and developers with a professional interest in using Ubuntu Cloud as a developer along with a keen interest for developing innovative applications for the Ubuntu user base.

“Last year we received over 900 registered attendees for the Ubuntu Developer Day. We are expecting a similar response this year for the Ubuntu Cloud Day, and are restricting entry to the first 200 registrations. Ubuntu is the leading platform for cloud computing and we are seeing huge demand from Indian companies to work with us to develop their cloud infrastructure.” said Prakash Advani, Regional Manager, Asia Pacific, Canonical. Read the rest of this entry →

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Ubuntu User Survey: Who’s Behind the Curtain?

March 13, 2012 in Ubuntu

Who runs Ubuntu? Where, why and how? That’s a question lots of people — including probably even Canonical employees — would like to be able to answer better. Toward this end, a survey of general Ubuntu users is underway. Here’s the scoop.

Last month, Canonical completed a survey of Ubuntu server users that revealed quite a bit of interesting information — from the apparently hobbyist nature of many Ubuntu server deployments to the ways people are and aren’t currently deploying Ubuntu servers in the cloud. Read the rest of this entry →

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Linux Netbook Sales: Suffering From More Market Shrinkage?

March 9, 2012 in OSS

The VAR Guy thinks Linux Netbooks may have fallen into a pool filled with chilly water. The apparent result: Continued market shrinkage. Alas, The VAR Guy doesn’t have official market data to share. But three pieces of circumstantial evidence suggest the Linux Netbook market continues to decline in North America while the Apple iPad and tablets continue to rise. Read the rest of this entry →

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To Run Windows Software on Linux, Try Wine 1.4

March 9, 2012 in OSS

As free and open source software continues to become more powerful and more prevalent, there’s less and less need to choose anything else.

It’s not at all surprising, for example, to see the recent growth in usage of desktop Linux, or similar trends in software like Firefox and LibreOffice.

Even if you’re generally humming along happily on a Linux desktop with most every application need covered, though, there may still occasionally be a piece of software that you just can’t live without, but that still runs only on Windows. Read the rest of this entry →

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NVIDIA joins the Linux Foundation

March 8, 2012 in OSS

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Linux has announced that four companies are joining the organization: Fluendo, Lineo Solutions, Mocana, and NVIDIA. The big news here is that NVIDIA, the major graphic chip original equipment manufacturer (OEM), is finally officially supporting Linux.

Now that NVIDIA is a member of the Linux Foundation, all three of the major graphic chip designers–AMD Graphics Technologies (formerly ATI) and Intel–are backing Linux. NVIDIA, best known for its GeForce chipsets, has long had an uncomfortable relationship with Linux. Read the rest of this entry →

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Watching the Future of Canonical

March 8, 2012 in Ubuntu

Is it just me, or is there a whiff of desperation these days around Canonical, Ubuntu’s commercial arm? By that I mean that Canonical increasingly seems to focused on reaching profitability, and nothing else. The de-emphasis on community, the constant introduction of new services, and the increasing market speak are all in marked contrast to the Canonical of five or even three years ago.

Since Ubuntu is a privately-held company, its financial position is a matter of speculation. In 2009, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth stated that the company was “creeping toward $30 million,” the point of profitability, but that was before many of its current services were introduced. Consequently, you won’t find many — if any — analysts who believe that Canonical is profitable today. Read the rest of this entry →

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7 Best Gadgets at Mobile World Congress 2012

March 8, 2012 in Gadgets

There were a ton of exciting announcements from the very beginning of Mobile World Congress 2012. Even through now, we’ve learned of new developments and advancements from tons of companies and a lot of it has been great. What are the absolute best announcements and product showings, though? We’ve come up with our list of the 10 best Mobile World Congress happenings. Read the rest of this entry →

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To win desktop, Canonical changes the rules

March 7, 2012 in Ubuntu

Today’s announcement of the beta release for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is sure to dominate the Linux news headlines, but the coming of Precise Pangolin means more than a snazzy new desktop.

Okay, not really, I was just trying to be dramatic. It’s really a snazzy new desktop.

But that’s the whole point–one that many detractors of Canonical, Ubuntu, and Unity seem to consistently miss in their quest to smack Mark Shuttleworth and crew around.

For years–indeed, for over a decade–I have heard calls from Linux advocates and fans for a viable and useable desktop platform that even Grandma can use. And yet, here we are in 2012 and the one vendor that is trying to give Linux fans–and the rest of the user community–exactly what they want gets smacked around for it. Read the rest of this entry →

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Windows 8 may drive me to Linux

March 7, 2012 in Ubuntu, Windows

I have been a Microsoft defender for decades. “No, MS-DOS 4.0 isn’t really that bad,” I pleaded to friends almost 25 years ago. “Give Windows 98 a chance” I begged ten or 11 years later. Heck, I extolled the virtues of Vista (which I did believe in, by the way) to anyone willing to listen. But in the wake of last week’s introduction of the Consumer Preview edition of Windows 8, I can say only this: Microsoft, you’re on your own.

Never — and I’m going to repeat this for additional emphasis, never – have I been as horrified by one of the company’s products as I am by this one. (Yes, I used Microsoft Bob.) Every choice seems to have been made for a sketchy reason, and the full collection of them bears the haphazard feel of the morning after a particularly raucous college party. Scratch that: Even at my most inebriated, I’m pretty sure I would never conceive of something like Windows 8. Read the rest of this entry →

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