Linux for Travelers - Linux News

Windows Vista - A Zombie Operating System?

LFT — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:13:17 -0400

Eweek.com has a great article about why Windows Vista is so bad: Night of the Living Vista.

Linux Internet Cafe in Toronto, Canada

LFT — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 02:46:15 -0500

If you are traveling in Toronto, check out the Linux Caffe — a cafe run entirely with Linux and Free open source software.

Newsforge also has an article about LinuxCaffe:

When Patrick and family finally opened the doors to the linuxcaffe in June 2005, he had lived up to his goal of 100% open source. The business runs Ubuntu Linux on five servers. The point-of-sale server runs the L'âne POS application on a Celeron 700, with a Javelin Wedge P150 touch screen thin client terminal. There's also a media server on a Pentium 4 that runs the jukebox, videos, and webcams; a Pentium 3 development server running Asterisk and anything else they're testing; and the "burn unit," Patrick's nickname for the Pentium 3 machine that is dedicated to burning CDs and DVDs for clients.

Patrick and his employees gleefully burn and distribute free Linux CDs to anyone who shows an interest. In a post at the linuxcaffe blog, he tells the story of a young Rwandan girl who saw the shop's marquee promoting Ubuntu Linux, came in to inform them that Ubuntu 4U meant "free for you" in her language, and walked out carrying her very own official copy of Ubuntu.

Wi-Fi access is free at the café, but visitors may also rent a computer while they're there. "We've standardized on ThinkPad 600s for rental units," Patrick says, "and they run beautifully as thin clients. The great thing about it is they're inexpensive [and] customers feel special because they're using a laptop."

If you are looking for an Internet cafe in Toronto, check out Linux Caffe at 326 Harbord Street.

Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft

LFT — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 02:09:30 -0500

A new version of Ubuntu has been released, code named Edgy Eft.

You can download the new version of Ubuntu at Ubuntu.com.

The XGL Linux Desktop

LFT — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:54:10 -0400

XGL/Compiz has turned the graphical desktop of Linux into something that rivals even the latest version of Mac OS X. Check out this video of Linux running on a dual monitor system with XGL/Compiz.

I belive that SUSE 10.1 has XGL/Compiz included by default. You can download it for free here.

XGL / Compiz - the New Look of Linux

LFT — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 04:04:03 -0400

Check out this video of the new XGL/Compiz desktop for Linux. It is arguably a more graphically advanced desktop than even Mac OS X.

Ubuntu Billboard Spotted

LFT — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 02:10:16 -0400

An Ubuntu billboard has been spotted in California, USA.

My search of the Web brought me to another page about the Ubuntu billboard that also showed some Google trends comparing Ubuntu to other Linux distros. It shows the steady increase of popularity of Ubuntu.

I tried my own search of Google trends to compare the popularity of Ubuntu with portable apps. Many travelers have heard of portable apps, but not of Ubuntu. The Ubuntu live CD is a good choice for Linux live CD when traveling.

Taiwan Mandates Linux-ready PCs

LFT — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:53:31 -0400

Zdnetasia.com has an article about how Taiwan is mandating that all new government PCs must be Linux-compatible.

"According to media reports, the new requirement came into effect last month, marking the start of efforts to boost adoption of open-source software in Taiwan. About 120,000 new desktop PCs acquired by the Taiwan government will have to comply with the new mandate, the reports stated."

You can read the full article here.

Debian-based GNU/Linux Live CDs

LFT — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:10:25 -0400

DebianHelp.co.uk has a great list of Debian-based GNU/Linux live CDs.

Some excellent live CDs based on Debian are Ubuntu, Damn Small Linux, Knoppix, Elive, and many more.

Some interesting excerpts from the DebianHelp.co.uk page, highlighting Linux live CDs that are being developed by European governments:

"Linex
Linex is a Debian-based distribution being developed by the regional government of Extremadura (Spain). The main goal is to migrate all the computer systems, from government offices, to businesses to schools into Linux.
Project Home Page :- http://www.linex.org/

...

MoLinux
MoLinux is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution developed by the government of Castilla la Mancha in Spain.
Project Home Page :- http://www.molinux.info/

...

ERPOSS
During LinuxTag 2004 the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the company credativ unveiled the Linux Government Desktop. The Linux Goverment Desktop has been developed within the scope of the project ERPOSS which evaluates Open Source Software in government environments.Composed entirely of free software the distribution is available as a live CD as well as an install CD. One of the highlights brought by the Government Desktop is the fact that it saves the whole data on encrypted filesystems.
Furthermore KMail is preconfigured to send and receive encrypted e-mail (GnuPG and S/MIME) and to make use of all kinds of authority certificates. The package is completed by integrated spam and virus protection and a preconfigured personal firewall.
Project Home Page :- http://www.bsi.bund.de/produkte/erposs/"

You can see the full list of live CDs here.

Preview Linux Online

LFT — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:37:19 -0400

I read a post today on Lifehacker about a web site called OSvids.com that lets you preview operating systems, including Linux distros. Their front page currently has a video demonstrating Xubuntu — a lightweight version of Ubuntu.

I recommend checking out their video called Dapper XGL. "Dapper" is the name of the latest Ubuntu release, and "XGL" is the new advanced graphics system for the Linux desktop.

If the .ogg videos on OSvids.com won't play in your media player, you can download the free VLC media player. There is also a Portable version of VLC here

Interesting Web Sites

LFT — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 20:44:16 -0400

I've recently found a few interesting sites that readers might be interested in.

TravelingForever.com has a couple of interesting posts on how to surf the Web securely using tools like TrueCrypt, Torpark, and other software. Part 2 of the article covers even more tools.

Also check out LinuxInLibraries.com and LinuxLibrarian.org — two sites that promote the use of Linux in libraries. Newsforge also has an article about using Linux in libraries.