Rodrigo A. Sepúlveda Schulz

Ubuntu 7.10 is out

Donwloading now. Will install in parallels on my mac...

Check it out on http://www.ubuntulinux.org.

From the press release:

"Highlighted Features of Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop Edition

 

The latest version of Ubuntu includes the following new features:

• Hardware management improvements - improved plug-and-play configuration for printers, as well as automatic firmware installation for Broadcom cards
• Improved support for display systems - For laptop users, full support external VGA (projector) support is available out-of-the-box with easy reconfiguration when hardware is switched. For power users this release includes the ability to manage multiple monitors
• Windows compatibility - Users with a dual partition can read from and and write to files that are on located in a Windows partition (including NTFS)
• Enhanced user interface – Simple 3D screen effects and graphics enhance the user experience 
• Desktop search – gives users the ability to search their entire desktop, whether for files, folders, chat logs or photos. This capability includes the deskbar applet, a central location on users' desktops for all local and web search operations
• Firefox plugins - automatic installation of popular Firefox plugins validated by Ubuntu for a richer, safer web-browsing experience"

Hasta la Vista, Microsoft - Linux wins!

(via Hack Attack)

Occam Capital takes Mandriva out of chapter 11

I had missed this announcement: just going through some old blog posts (I hardly read any now). Occam Capital has invested in Mandriva. Good stuff. I know the team at Occam pretty well, and the founder of Mandriva as well. Interesting mix.

And I remember discussing the possibility of this deal a very long while ago on the phone... The challenge is huge, but there are a few possible strategies to make Mandriva standout vs. Ubuntu (the main challenger) to the 2 US-based firms: Redhat and Suse / Novell. Not to forget of course the development of Redflag and other minor distributions.

Challenges include:
. proper positionning in the B2C, B2B or B2G (government) markets (Ubuntu is very B2C. Should Mandriva go B2B ?)
. simplicity of product offering, installation and support for a large-range of hardware
. proper support services, the killer B-model in open-source
. marketing efforts to develop the brand

Opportunities include:
. an alternative to US-based software vendors for international governments
. a low-cost alternative for new markets
. exclusive deals with manufacturers (not PCs... as they are mainly in the USA, but Asia, and also set top boxes, mobile devices...)

Any other thougths are welcome: I've stopped using Fedora and Mandriva, and have moved on to Ubuntu for its simplicity, but it's mainly a B2C proposition.

Update: Codor has more and Didier has mentionned it too.

forgot to mention Ubuntu 7.04 is out

Download your new Ubuntu linux copy from here.

I'm testing the new Nokia 770 linux tablet

It had to happen: Santa Claus brought me the latest Internet Tablet from Nokia, the 770. Anyone out there has tried it ? Any good pointer for software ? Let me know :)

Flock 0.7.7 maintenance release is out

This multimedia browser has just detected that it needed to upgrade from 0.7.5 to 0.7.6. Then I had to manually go to 'Check for updates' to get 0.7.7. I don't really know what's new, although I should be reading the maintenance releases notes n the official blog.

Flock has become my defacto browser, along with firefox (just upgraded to version 2.0), although I don't use any of it's new features... Any hint on all the productivity I'm missing ?

Recycling old computers

More and more of us have old computers or laptops laying around at home. Indeed, I just ordered a new laptop (Mac pro Pro 15") to use in a dual boot environement (MacOS X, Windows). So what do you do with the old computers. They have almost no market value (the old laptop I'm using at the moment is an Armada M700, Pentium III) that I bought in June 2000 ! (six years already). So putting them up for sale on eBay is not really an option, and throwing them away is not a good idea (there are some charities who would gladly receive your stuff though).

In addition, your kids might want to start owning their own computers ? Here is the perfect opportunity to recycle your old computer. My first recommendation:
- add as much memory as you can to your old computer (check www.kingston.com or www.crucial.com).
- you might need to get a new battery for your laptop.
- get a modern operating system (meaning linux), and a user-friendly distribution (Ubuntu is my preferred by now), and a fast and efficient graphical interface (I recommend xfce. Good, as there is a xubuntu distribution available).
- install it with as many options as you want. The Synaptic package is great to use. Lots of games available for your kids as well. You'll get the usual browsers (firefox or Opera 9) installed very easily. Flock is available but might require some extra work. You'll get the usual open-source package OpenOffice. And a number of email readers. You won't need anything else really, as all multimedia tools are also available (DVD, CDROM, music...)
- I was surprised to notice that GoogleEarth and Google's Picasa are also readily available on your linux box.
- finally, you might want to get hacking a bit, and turn your laptop into a wireless sniffer ?

And there you go, a new computer at home (or even the office), for a few bucks on hardware, and nothing on software. By the way, the latest issue of Make magazine has an article on how to upgrade all other components of your computer.

linux distro Fedora Core 5 is out

Somehow I missed the release of Fedora Core 5, but just got the RedHat magazine in my inbox. Stuff to play with over the upcoming weekend maybe.

Firefox 2.0 alpha is out

Did I mention it before ? Nope. Techcrunch has the links and the story. eeeer: the folks in the comments there are warning you that this is a pre-alpha. Use at your own risk.

RSS #030: Meet Olivier Rafal, deputy editor-in-chief of 'Le Monde Informatique' [French]

Download movie (.mov)

Olivier is a journalist with ‘Le Monde Informatique’, a weekly printed mazagine targeting IT executives. he started a blog about a year ago, where he posts the interviews of folks in the IT industry, feedback of conferences… He’s actually the deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine, that has a 50,000 circulation. He also recommends the blog of François Cointe, who publishes a cartoon every day here.

We had this nice chat about the printed media and blogs back on November 28, 2005.