OpenTangent

Thanks to the Reddit community and OMG Ubuntu , i was able to circumvent the closed beta access restriction for Steam and i managed to install and run the Steam client. Most of the games in my library were not available as they did not have Ubuntu versions. Of the games that were available only three actually installed correctly; Amnesia, World of Goo and Spaz. I've played Amnesia before on Ubuntu and it was a large download so i didn't test that game. World of Goo worked flawlessly and Spaz ran but had no sound.

The rate of acceleration in the open source world is far beyond that of the proprietary world. Of course large pools of money keep the proprietary vendors afloat and will for many years to come. However, closed institutions will eventually be unable to keep up with the rate of change regardless of how many developers they hire .

Ubuntu Phone The common perspective at the moment is that the smartphone market is saturated by iOS and Android with any scraps being gobbled up by Blackberry and Windows Phone. A different perspective is that device manufacturers love the freedom that Android affords but they don't like the fact that it's getting difficult to differentiate their devices. Android has a monopoly over the open phone OS market at the moment.

I use a Media PC in my living room running Ubuntu, I'll put the official 'Ubuntu TV' on it once it's publicly available. Workspaces: Top left - TVTime displaying the DSTV guide Top right - Pictures folder Bottom left - Movie Player playing District 9 Bottom right - Chrome, YouTube

We can’t blame politicians, bankers, corporate elite or anyone for that matter, for the problems in the world. Everyone is playing the role they see as fit under the current socio-economic system. Once you remove yourself from a perspective that is restricted by the constraints of the current system, the situation becomes crystal clear and the simple solution becomes apparent.

Nvidia have confirmed that Linux will get 3D Vision support but only for Quadro GPUs for now . Linux has always been big in the scientific world, the Ubuntu Software Center even has a "Science and Engineering" applications section. It appears that the biomolecular sciences would benefit from stereo support in Linux and Quadro GPUs should suite them fine. Although there are no plans to support Geforce GPUs at this stage but i would imagine that given the right amount of demand they should have no problem introducing it since they'd have already gone down that road with the Quadros. Ubuntu is currently pushing over 12 million users and this number will jump significantly with the release of Lucid Lynx which is a long term support version of Ubuntu and a major step in feature innovation. As was pointed out in this thread ; the kind of people who use Linux are the kind of people to want to play around with gadgets like Nvidia 3D vision and i am absolutely one of them. W...

Cloud computing is making waves in more than just the biggest technology companies . The concept is undeniably convenient, not just for those who use the cloud but also those deploying them. Until recently, decent cloud deployments were reserved for the Googles and Amazons of the world but as with all good inventions it is becoming increasingly affordable. The next logical step is the ability to privately deploy clouds to keep your internal productivity safely behind a firewall. Why Eucalyptus then? Besides the fact that it's compatible with Amazon's enterprise level EC2 , besides the fact that it defines Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud , besides the fact that it's open source and thus supported by a vast community of developers, when the head of the worlds most important database management software Mårten Mickos , becomes the head of Eucalyptus, that's the signal that this is one to watch out for. Mickos also has his hands in the RightScale pie, which conveniently builds ...

IBM , Canonical and Simmtronics are realising their joint effort to pump low cost netbooks  into the African market . The netbooks will apparently be sold for around US$190 (just under R1500) and will run a Lotus enriched Ubuntu Netbook Edition  which has been named  IBM Client for Smart Work . What's important to note about this package is that it has the productivity capabilities of a desktop solution that would cost three to four times the price. How do they achieve this? With thin client , cloud architecture  which effectively reduces the need for powerful hardware by placing the majority of the work load on the server. Mark Shuttleworth introduces the product below: An ARM processor could have improved the performance to cost ratio in my opinion but overall i think this is exactly the kind of thing that sparked the netbook evolution. I am currently running Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.04 beta on my EeePC although i use it primarily fo...

A new look for Ubuntu has long been in the pipelines and is a welcomed addition to Lucid Lynx . The Ayatana Project has done an excellent job at modernising the operating system. I can't help noticing the Mac influence although they've managed to keep the Ubuntu feel. It's a clean, modern and consistent style and in my opinion, it's going to have a huge impact on the perception of Ubuntu . Well done to all involved. Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04 LTS): Lucid Lynx (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS):

The fact that the concept of intellectual property exists at all is, an indication that greed is a driving force in our global economy. A company that boasts about it's patent portfolio might as well have a marketing campaign declaring it's intention to stunt growth in technology. Microsoft is one such company and it doesn't just threaten, it's also willing to pull the trigger. With numerous lawsuits in it's wake Microsoft has clearly declared it's intolerance to competition, although they've been beaten in the patent game as well. Linux and all open source products for that matter are reasonably resistant to patent onslaught due to the nature of open licensing. I can comfortably say that Linux has been the single biggest influence in driving Microsoft innovation. Microsoft may not be able to destroy Linux as a competitor but that will certainly not stop them from trying to thwart it's success. Microsoft can still sue companies for using patent infri...

I'd like to compare three devices in the medium form factor category (netbooks/tablet PCs/e-readers). Two of them fairly well known and the last one not known well enough. Admittedly i'm somewhat biased towards the Touch Book because it's open source however the Kindle also runs on Linux. By default the Touch Book runs a customised version of Ångström called AI OS (Always Innovating Operating System). What sets it apart is the fact that the hardware schematics are also open source and are based on the Beagleboard . Kindle DX iPad Touch Book (Tablet) Touch Book (Netbook) Manufacturer: Amazon Apple Always Innovating Always Innovating Category: e-Reader Tablet Tablet Netbook Screen Size: 24cm 24cm 22cm 22cm Screen Specs: Black and white, electronic paper display Colour LED Colour LCD Colour LCD Resolution: 824x1200 1024x768 1024x600 1024x600 Processor: ARM (532MHz ) x86 (1GHz) ARM (600MHz) ARM (600MHz) Storage: 4GiB 64GiB 8GiB 8GiB USB Ports: None None 7 7 Keyboar...

Matt Asay and  Steven Vaughan-Nichols  are two of my favourite open source bloggers and this morning i read a post by Steven  that Matt has joined Canonical as their COO. For me this is fantastic news as Matt has a wealth of open source business knowledge that would fit perfectly into the Canonical ecosystem. I think both Mark Shuttleworth and Matt Asay should be commended on taking this step, i personally think it's a partnership that will benefit the technology sector (and it's consumers) greatly. I will be watching canonical closely in the coming years.

Almost every year for the past three, four, even five years we have had claims that the year to follow was going to be the year of desktop Linux. The following articles are of no particular relevance but serve as proof of how at the end of every year someone feels that the following year will be 'the' year: 2004 the year of desktop Linux 2005 the year of desktop Linux 2006 the year of desktop Linux 2007 the year of desktop Linux? - Seems like hype died down in 2007 2008 the year of desktop Linux - Going strong again in 2008 though 2009 the year of desktop Linux ..and of course, one for next year: 2010 the year of desktop Linux If we think of the year of desktop Linux as being the year in which it begins to grow in popularity then we've passed that year over a decade ago. If the year of Linux is actually the year where it takes majority share then i think we still have a few to go. But i think the year of desktop linux should rather be thought of as the point wh...

" The Cloud " is often confused with the Internet, probably because the Internet is officially portrayed as a cloud in diagrams . A cloud is in fact an application or suite that runs on a server and is served to thin clients , traditionally through a browser but not exclusively. The Internet is a great facilitator to such a deployment. Pretty much all processing and data storage is kept on the server and the user merely taps into it remotely. Obvious advantages of cloud solutions are centralised deployment and maintenance and also the ability to access applications from almost any device that can run a browser . There is also the major advantage of mobility, allowing users the freedom to work from anywhere with a connection. In recent years we have had major strides in mobile technology like netbooks and 3G as well as rapid price reduction for said hardware and services, pushing the mobility envelope even further. The desktop remains a tool for the professional but wit...