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2009 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Award Winners

jeremy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:10:16 GMT

The polls are closed and the results are in. We had a record number of votes cast for the ninth straight year. Congratulations should go to each and every nominee. We once again had some extremely close races and a couple multi-year winners were unseated. The official results:

Desktop Distribution of the Year - Ubuntu (30.13%)
Server Distribution of the Year - Debian (24.24%)
Security/Forensic/Rescue Distribution of the Year - BackTrack (43.48%)
Database of the Year - MySQL (60.81%)
Office Suite of the Year - OpenOffice.org (90.76%)
Browser of the Year - Firefox (65.21%)
Desktop Environment of the Year - Gnome (41.96%)
Window Manager of the Year - Compiz (23.10%)
Messaging App of the Year - Pidgin (48.74%)
Mail Client of the Year - Thunderbird (53.48%)
Virtualization Product of the Year - VirtualBox (67.43%)
Audio Media Player Application of the Year - Amarok (38.81%)
Audio Authoring Application of the Year - Audacity (77.26%)
Video Media Player Application of the Year - VLC (46.05%)
Video Authoring Application of the Year - FFmpeg (21.94%)
Multimedia Utility of the Year - GStreamer (32.84%)
Graphics Application of the Year - GIMP (66.48%)
Network Security Application of the Year - Nmap Security Scanner (29.85%)
Host Security Application of the Year - SELinux (39.26%)
Network Monitoring Application of the Year - Nagios (51.11%)
IDE/Web Development Editor of the Year - Eclipse (23.28%)
Text Editor of the Year - vim (35.29%)
File Manager of the Year - Nautilus (24.92%)
Open Source Game of the Year - Battle for Wesnoth (15.45%)
Programming Language of the Year - Python (27.59%)
Backup Application of the Year - rsync (48.99%)
Open Source CMS/Blogging platform of the Year - WordPress (45.20%)

If you have any questions or suggestions on how we can improve the MCA's next year, do let me know. Visit http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ice-awards-91/ for the full poll results.

--jeremy

The Greatest KDE Distro Ever: An Early Look at openSUSE 11.3

DragonSlayer48DX — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:02:29 GMT

This week marks the first milestone release of openSUSE, on the road to 11.3. With their current stable release, 11.2, the distribution made KDE the official default desktop and thanks to their efforts, created the greatest implementation ever.

Now, with version 4.4 on the way the KDE desktop experience from openSUSE is looking to be better than ever.

The KDE Live CD includes a �KDE Quick Start� guide for assisting users find their way around the desktop. It�s an excellent, easy to read document which explains the ins and outs of KDE, providing lots of advice along the way. It�s also available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

The other improvements to openSUSE with this milestone release are what we would come to expect, updated versions of major applications and components. These include:

* Linux kernel 2.6.32
* Firefox 3.6
* OpenOffice.org 3.2-beta4
* K3b 1.69, the KDE optical burning application (en route to 2.0 stable Qt4 release)
* Amarok 2.2.2, the KDE music player
* Digikam 1.0.0, the KDE Photo Manager digikam

There are some other major benefits to this release, including an update of Zypper, openSUSE�s package manager. Like Ubuntu�s Personal Package Archive, the openSUSE community has access to a wide range of additional repositories. These often include official packages for the latest versions of major applications such as OpenOffice.org and even KDE itself. openSUSE also offers One Click Installs, the online build service and even the graphical configuration tool YaST (if you like that sort of thing).

Finally, we have a distribution which has a universal feel, looks great from start to end, integrates seamlessly with every component. There�s really only one word to describe this, �sleek.� No other distro integrates GTK applications into KDE4 like openSUSE does out of the box. Of course, this is nothing new, openSUSE had already achieved this in their previous release. Thanks to the polish of KDE 4.4 however, this release is even better. Make no mistake, openSUSE is the benchmark for KDE distributions. Nothing else even comes close.

Read full story.

Malicious Firefox Add-ons Installed Trojans

DragonSlayer48DX — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:43:41 GMT

Mozilla last night announced that two experimental Firefox add-ons, Master Filer and the Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4, infected victim PCs with Trojans when either add-on was installed.

The small-distribution extensions were previously available via Mozilla's add-on site, but have since been removed. According to Mozilla's post, the Master Filer add-on had been downloaded about 600 times and installed the Bifrose Trojan. The Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4 slipped in the LdPinch Trojan, and had been downloaded about 4,000 times.

According to the open-source organization, the malicious add-ons managed to sneak by the one malware scanner (unnamed in the post) used by Mozilla. The organization says it will now be scanning with two additional detection tools (also unnamed).

If you happen to have installed either of these malicious add-ons, note that removing the add-on will not remove any installed Trojan. You'll need to run a separate antivirus scan and disinfection to clean your system. Mozilla's post includes a list of antivirus software currently known to detect the particular Trojans involved.

This unfortunate incident makes clear why relying solely on one antivirus scanner is never a good idea, as no one program detects everything. Since this has happened at least once before with an infected Vietnamese language pack, I'm curious why Mozilla doesn't simply switch to uploading all add-on submissions to the free Virustotal.com, which uses about 40 different engines to scan each submission. I've also asked Mozilla which scanner it had been using. If I get that information I'll add it to this post.

Update: Mozilla says it had been using ClamAV as its sole scanner prior to this incident. I'd guess Mozilla feels it's a natural match as an open-source app, but the ClamAV engine didn't fare well at detection tests when I reviewed the Windows version of the program, ClamWin.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/2010...stalledtrojans

Microsoft to patch 17-year-old computer bug

Jeebizz — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:39:40 GMT

"A 17-year-old bug in Windows will be patched by Microsoft in its latest security update."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8499859.stm

ISP cleared of copyright infringement

Jeebizz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:12:00 GMT

"In the first case of its kind, an Australian court has ruled that an internet service provider cannot be responsible for illegal downloading."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8498100.stm

Symbian phone operating system goes open source

Jeebizz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:12:56 GMT

"The group behind the world's most popular smartphone operating system - Symbian - is giving away "billions of dollars" worth of code for free."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8496263.stm

Pressure mounts to phase out Internet Explorer 6

Jeebizz — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:10:28 GMT

"A Downing Street petition is calling for the UK government to drop Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) and move to a more modern browser."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8492862.stm

Well it is a start, but I was hoping IE itself would be phased out, not just an older version.

Chrome Has 5.2 Percent of Browser Market, Ahead of Goal

DragonSlayer48DX — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:45:36 GMT

Google may not be winning over the multitudes with its Nexus One "superphone," but the search giant is gaining ground in the 21st century browser wars. Google's Chrome browser grabbed market share in January from its key rivals, Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox.

According to NetApps, Chrome finished January strong, with a 5.2 percent market share. Although a 0.6 percent gain may not immediately rattle the dominance of well-entrenched players like IE and Firefox, it does show a steady flow of users to the youngest player in the browser market.

Overall, Google has doubled its market share, and in January saw the second-largest gain since rolling out the browser in September 2008. Google has already surpassed Apple's Safari in the browser wars, making it the third-most-used browser.

Google has exceeded its goals, hitting five percent well before its September 2010 deadline. Google aims to reach 10 percent by September 2011 but could reach that number this year if its growth rate holds steady.

Read full story.

Google is paying for debugging of Chrome..........

damgar — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:42:36 GMT

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18820...1:b30153228:z0

Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Office 2012: Estimated RTM Dates Surface on an MS

nixfreakz — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:15:10 GMT

Link found on http://lxer.com

http://msftkitchen.com/2010/01/windo...ly-1-2011.html

Chinese "Pirates" Copy Ubuntu to Look Like WinXP

Johnny Faster — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:57:15 GMT

This is probably old news, but I didn't see any mention of it here, so I started a New Thread.

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/12...ke-windows-xp/

Quote:

Chinese pirates create Ubuntu clone of Windows XP

So basically they have created what the general public has been begging for for years; Ubuntu that looks like XP.

I'd be interested in some general reactions from the Linux/Ubuntu community, but I have some specific questions also.

1) How legal is this, at this particular moment ? The interview with MS legal indicates they have not yet even challenged the legality of the clone's existance. So I'd be inclined to regard it as "legal" until proven otherwise.

2) Given that, is anyone considering working on a good chinese-english translation of the O/S ?

3) If so, where can I get a copy ? I'd be interested in experimenting with it.

PlayStation 3 'hacked' by iPhone cracker

Jeebizz — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:35:04 GMT

"A US hacker who gained notoriety for unlocking Apple's iPhone as a teenager has told BBC News that he has now hacked Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3)."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8478764.stm

IE is so secure we just had to build an OS out of it.

DragonSlayer48DX — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:41:43 GMT

Microsofts new Gazelle concept is the greatest thing to hit Linux or the computer industry as a whole ever. According to Microsoft, Gazelle is a secure web browser constructed as a multi-principal OS. I never thought I would live to see the day that Microsoft announces its own suicide.

Does anyone really need reminded of the non stop security issues related to Internet Explorer over the years of its existence. If you think about it. How many years and money do you really need to build a secure stable web browser. If Microsoft really needs more time and money to get it right then they really shouldn't be writing code at all. Face it Microsoft. Internet Explorer is a virus, adware, spyware, and malware delivery device. IE is as good for your computer as a cigarette is to your health. Its a great browser for security software companies but a real nightmare for users.

I say go for it Microsoft. This is the single greatest idea you had at least from a Linux users stand point. Build Gazelle with the same build quality as Internet Explorer and hopefully we will get to enjoy a Microsoft free world before we die. Thanks again.

Read full story.

Microsoft to patch hole in Internet Explorer

Jeebizz — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:34:37 GMT

"Microsoft will patch a hole in its Internet Explorer browser that may have allowed Chinese hackers access to human rights activists' e-mail accounts."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8469632.stm

Linux.conf.au: Latest Linux kernel release due early March

DragonSlayer48DX — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:43:50 GMT

The latest release of the Linux kernel, 2.6.33 is expected to be out by the beginning of March and among its new features is a reverse-engineered driver for Nvidia graphics chipsets.

Jonathan Corbet, Linux kernel contributor, co-founder of LWN.net and the lead author of Linux Device Drivers, Third Edition, will give Linux.conf.au attendees a full update on the Linux kernel at the conference on Wednesday. He told Computerworld version 2.6.33 is �pretty well along in production�.

�All the features have been added and we are testing stablisation now,� he said. �One of my favourite things would be a driver called Nouveau.�

The driver has been reverse-engineered for Nvidia graphics chipsets, which constitutes a major part of the desktop market. Nvidia doesn�t cooperate in terms of drivers so the effort has involved about a dozen developers from all over the world, including Australia.

�It has been a master reverse engineering effort,� Corbet said. "In the last year we�ve seen a great deal of work done on graphics drivers.�

Read full story.