linux

679 Articles

Ubuntu Released For MIDs

June 25, 2008 by 5 Comments


Ubuntu MID edition has been released for handheld Mobile Internet Devices. It’s targeting devices based on Intel’s A100/110 and the new Centrino Atom platforms. Successors to the UMPC, MIDs are usually small formfactor and have a touchscreen, plus a physical keyboard. UMPC portal has a examples of devices that are currently supported by this release, inluding plamtops like the Kohjinsha SH6. This release is only for x86 devices, so don’t expect it to be ported to the ARM based Nokia N800/810. The user interface is based on the Hildon framework and we’re glad people are attempting to think beyond a standard UI. We hope they plan on punching up the use of the color brown in the final though; it just wouldn’t be an Ubuntu release without it.

[via Linux Devices]

Robot Clarinet

June 20, 2008 by 6 Comments


Australian research group NICTA in association with the University of New South Wales won the 2008 Artemis Orchestra Competition with their robot clarinet player. The competition challenges participants to design embedded systems that can play unmodified instruments. NICTA took first prize with their roboclarinet, due mainly to the complexity of the robot’s “mouth.” It uses two servo motors to act as a surrogate tongue and lips, vibrating the reed of the clarinet in a way consistent with human playing. The keys of the clarinet are pushed by a series of brass plungers. All of the robot’s functions are controlled by a computer running Linux. If great sound or novel technology are not enough for you, then the project is at least worth a look for the robot’s attractive, slightly steampunk-esque look. Watch it in action after the break.

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BackTrack 3 Final Is Out

June 20, 2008 by 9 Comments


OpenSuse and Ubuntu are perfectly serviceable Linux distros, but we’ve had a soft spot for BackTrack from the very start. Good news for us, since yesterday was the long awaited release of BackTrack 3 Final. It uses the same 2.6.21.5 kernel as before (to maintain WiFi injection compatibility) and Nessus is still out, but it is not without a great deal of other improvements. Its forensic capabilities are better than ever, largely due to included apps like a fully functional version of SAINT and a special version of Maltego made just for BackTrack. The download is free, but Remote-Exploit is asking users not to distribute it without notifying them first, because they’re trying to keep track of the number of downloads.

[via Midnight Research Labs]

OpenSUSE 11.0 Reviewed

June 19, 2008 by 7 Comments


Download squad has posted a thorough review of OpenSUSE 11.0. Previous versions of the Linux distro were plagued by thorny and confusing installations, but OpenSUSE 11.0 installs much more easily and cleanly. After a few standard configuration screens, the user has several options for admin accounts, disk partitions, dual-boot setups, and more. The installation of the OS files takes about 20 minutes from there, followed by a quick reboot and first boot, making for a highly customizable yet speedy install from start to finish.

The other major problem with previous versions was the inconsistent speed of their package handling system. In 11.0, though, a new command line app called Zypper makes installing updates, patches, and other packages much faster.

The final verdict is that OpenSUSE 11.0 has become a viable alternative to Ubuntu; the overall quality of the open source distro was never in question, but now that speed has gone from being its biggest deficiency to being one of its biggest strengths, we expect to see a lot more chameleons in the wild.

Asus WL500GP Audio Hack

June 15, 2008 by 3 Comments


The Asus WL500GP wireless router runs Linux and has two USB ports. [equinoxfr] wanted to install audio support internally to the router though (translated). Luckily, it uses a VIA VT6212 4port USB controller. So, he was able to wire two more internal ports. A Brando USB soundcard is plugged into one of those ports and wired to an external headphone jack. He wanted dual RCA connectors, but they just wouldn’t fit. The router is running OpenWRT Kamikaze. MPD is used to serve music with the wymypy frontend since it has its own lightweight webserver.

Linux Web Development Tools

June 10, 2008 by 11 Comments


Download Squad has been publishing an informative series on switching to Linux, and their latest article is about the benefits of web tools on Linux.

HTML editors like Bluefish and Quanta do not have all the features of Dreamweaver, but with many modern CMSes these features aren’t really necessary.

Other benefits include testing out web pages on your Linux home environment, and adding webhosts as remote locations. This makes management, testing, and deployment easier, and can eliminate the need for FTP software.

Bear in mind that the article is only the first part of an ongoing series on Linux web tools, which is itself part of a larger series about switching to Linux.

Using Multiple Browsers For Security

June 3, 2008 by 16 Comments


[Rich] over at Securosis takes us through some of his browser paranoia exercises. He uses different browser profiles for different types of web activities. Based on potential risk, various tasks are separated to protect from CSRF attacks and more. Everyday browsing with low risk passwords is done in one. RSS reading with no passwords is done in another. He runs his personal blog in a browser dedicated just to that.

For high risk research, he uses virtual machines to further minimize any potential nasty code getting through. Very high risk sites are browsed through a non-persistent read-only Linux virtual machine. While these techniques can be less effective if the entire OS is comprised, they can still provide a few layers of additional security.

Fellow browser paranoia sufferers may want to consider Firefox plug-ins like NoScript and memory protection from Diehard.