HP to Put Linux in Printers and PC’s: It’s the End of an Era for Windows

Linux again took center stage as a major technology leader revealed the details of its mobile device strategy. HP announced two new WebOS phones and more importantly an impressive new tablet that is a clear contender against the iPad. While I don’t for one second underestimate Apple, that was not the most interesting part of the event for me.

The most interesting part of the event came near the end when HP announced that it is going to ship WebOS not only in phones, tablets and printers, but in PC’s as well. In doing so, the worlds largest PC supplier is indicating that they are going to ship PC’s without Windows. For Microsoft - who was nowhere at this event - that has got to hurt. Perhaps this really IS the year of the Linux desktop.

For investors and developers alike, this is your canary in the coal mine in case you haven’t been paying attention lately. There are very few things in computing that are not made with Linux these days. Linux is the underpinning technology for nearly every sector of the market in every form of computing.

By using Linux to capture what analysts predict will be a $30B market for tablets by 2012, HP is further validating Linux as the foundation from which next-generation mobile devices will run. Companies are choosing Linux because it supports more architectures and more devices than any other OS and is freely available and is able to be custom-branded. No other OS on the market can deliver on all of this.

Linux Foundation Announces Training for Android, MeeGo Devs

In a shrewd move that could usher in lots of new developers for Linux-based mobile operating systems, The Linux Foundation todayannounced six new training courses focused on development for Linux-based Android and MeeGo operating systems. If you cycled the clock back four years from now, you would be unlikely to be able to predict the barnstorming success that Linux-based mobile operating systems are having--primarily due to the meteoric rise of Android. Linux has become the dominant operating system for mobile and embedded computing devices, and those interested in building development skills for mobile platforms should check into The Linux Foundation's training offerings.

If you're less familiar with MeeGo than Android, it is a platform for mobile PCs, netbooks, tablets, mediaphones, connected TVs, in-vehicle infotatinment systems, and more.  The Linux Foundation’s Training Program consists of corporate, custom, compliance, virtual and in-person courses, and will include some free offerings, though not all the training is free. There is a free training webinar series. To begin the program, The Linux Foundation is offering a MeeGo-specific course at its Linux Foundation Annual Collaboration Summit (http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/collaboration-summit). The first 20 people to register for the following class by March 1, 2011 will receive a special invitation to also attend all three days of the Collaboration Summit.

According to the foundation's announcement:

"We continue to see unprecedented demand for Linux expertise from our members and the industry at large. The Linux Foundation Training Program gives professionals a unique learning opportunity to build their resume with the most sought-after skills,' said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. 'We’re happy to be able to offer Android and MeeGo developer training to equip professionals with the best skills to further their careers and to accelerate development efforts of Linux in the mobile computing market."

 Other training offerings in the program include:

LF361: Hands-on Approach to MeeGo Internals and OBS Build System
http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/meego/building-meego

Additional new courses include:

Android Developer Courses
LF329: Introduction to Android
http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/android-developer/introduction-to-android

LF315: Android Internals
http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/android-developer/android-internals

LF295: Android Bootcamp
http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/android-developer/android-bootcamp

MeeGo Developer Courses
LF363: Portable Application Development for MeeGo Devices
http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/meego/portable-application-development-for-meego-devices

LF273: MeeGo Training for Non-Developers
http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/meego/meego-training-for-non-developers

 The Linux Foundation, a nonprofit organization, continues to do a lot to further the prospects for all things Linux, and this extension of its existing training program in the direction of popular mobile operating systems will be embraced by many people interested in development.

Ubuntu Enterprise cloud delivered on Dell servers

The commercial sponsor of Ubuntu Linux saw the expansion of Ubuntu Linux and penetrating deep into the enterprise requirement for cloud computing allowing Dell to offer the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud on its PowerEdge C2100 as well as the PowerEdge C6100 servers. This also marks the migration of Ubuntu for DELL Desktops to DELL Servers.

Based on the open source Eucalyptus project, today the UEC has 12,000 active enterprise clouds being deployed and a growing curve of 200 users every day.Dell will henceforth offer the UEC on two of its servers- PowerEdge C1200 as well as the PowerEdge C6100. Dell will handle the entire sell from reselling UEC Assists contracts but will receive an undisclosed sum as revenue per sale.

A question as to why Dell chose to partner Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud lead to the admission by Nicolas Barcet, the Product Manager at Ubuntu that the similar commitments of both organizations to offer simple yet stable deployment of methodologies of every kind. The simplicity of the methodology is further reflected in the reference architecture documentation as well as the per-configuration data files prepared for UEC.

The present challenges before UEC is that certification s are yet pending and so in the integration into other hardware system vendors such as IBM as well as HP. However, the power of UEC is in its flexibility for private cloud computing and possible scaling options to the public cloud usage. Additionally the economics of cloud computing show that infrastructural expenditure, facility of time, parallel unlimited access to the servers without the hassles of security risks makes it the technical toast for the past two decades.

Will it Blend? A Look at Blender's New User Interface

The 3D powerhouse Blender is arguably the most complicated piece of desktop software in the open source world. It handles every part of the workflow used to create a CGI film or a 3D game: creating objects, rigging them to move, animating them, controlling lighting, rendering scenes, and even editing the resulting video. Each release packs in more new features than most people can understand without consulting a textbook (or two). One of the down sides, though, is that over the years Blender has developed the reputation of being difficult to learn. Fortunately, the latest release takes on that challenge head-first, and makes some major improvements.ou can download the latest release as source code, or as binaries for Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows, with 32-bit and 64-bit variants for each platform. The noteworthy dependencies are Python 2.5 and glibc 2.3.6. Blender also uses OpenGL for almost all of its interface, so if you don't have a 3D capable graphics card, you can't even get started. Unofficial packages for most distributions are available; the Blender forum is the best place to start looking for current information.

Android Steals Top Smartphone Spot From Symbian

Canalys reports that all Android(open source O/S) vendors combined sold a total of 32.9 million Android handsets during the fourth quarter of 2010. Nokia sold 31.0 million Symbian smartphones. The numerical gap between the two platforms may not be a big one, but in the smartphone industry, this is big, big news.Android is now the top-selling smartphone platform worldwide.In terms of handsets being used in the market, it's important to note that Nokia's Symbian platform is still number one. Its volume and reach still have every other platform beat with respect to devices still in service. But how long will that last? With Android now out-selling Symbian on a daily basis, what can Nokia do to stem the losses and turn itself around?