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Details Emerge About the Spark Linux-Based Tablet

February 6th, 2012
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There’s a new tablet in town (well, on its way to town, at least) called the Spark. The Linux-based tablet, based on the Zenithink C71, was announced several days ago, but the fellow behind the project, KDE developer Aaron Seigo, released more details on his blog in a convenient Q&A format.

He revealed that the tablet (about $265 USD) will be available for pre-order this week and will start shipping worldwide in May. In terms of specifications, the 7-inch (800×480) multi-touch tablet will run a 1GHz AMLogic ARM processor and Mali-400 GPU and sport 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage (with a microSD slot for expandability), 802/11b/g WiFi, a pair of USB ports, a front-facing 1.3MP webcam, and an audio jack.

There are plans to add 3G and GPS functionality in later versions of the tablet, as well as beefed-up hardware specs. The UI of choice is Plasma Active, and there will apparently be a content store where developers can peddle their wares and users can snag software.

The Spark project isn’t just some cheap tablet being churned out half-heartedly by a company looking to cash in on the latest tech craze. This looks to be a labor of love for Seigo and others behind Spark, and it’s rooted in their ideology.

“The people who get to use these tablets will have in their hands a device that is more than an application bucket that sees them as a consumer,” said Seigo in the original blog post announcing Spark. “They will have a device that places value on who they are and what they are doing. This lies at the heart of Activities in Plasma Active and the open software stack will drive that trend further. Perhaps best of all: there’s no walled garden to get locked into or which can be taken away.”

Spark isn’t likely to suddenly glom tablet market share away from Apple and Google, but competition of any kind is good for consumers, and this particular project presents an attractive tablet alternative to those who chafe at what industry behemoths offer.

Seigo also noted that the tablet will indeed blend, although that would void the warranty.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Details-Emerge-About-the-Spark-LinuxBased-Tablet/

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How to set up Linux on your computer

February 2nd, 2012
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Are you fed up with Microsoft Windows and ready to give Linux a try? Here’s how to get started. This guide for Linux discusses who the Linux OS is right for, what you need to get started, and how to turn your Windows PC into a dual-boot computer so you can have the best of both worlds – Linux and Windows.

Why try Linux?
Linux will never be as popular a desktop operating system as Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X, but there are some good reasons to give Linux a try.

For starters, you can download and install Linux for free. Applications that run on Linux machines tend to be free as well, and they include PC essentials such as office productivity suites, image editing software, and video editing tools. Though Linux is not immune to viruses, malware is rarely a concern in the Linux world, especially for home users. And because Linux is less of a PC resource hog than Windows and the Mac OS, it’s ideal for use with a laptop, a netbook, or an older desktop.

Finally, as Web services and HTML5-based apps play an increasingly dominant role in our computing lives–from music services such as Pandora to Yahoo Mail to Google Docs to Bing Maps to countless games–the operating system begins to play second fiddle to the Web. Linux is a dirt-cheap alternative to dropping $500 on PC that can run Windows 7.

Who should use Linux?
Linux can be a good choice for anyone, but two types of users are likely benefit most from Linux: power users and nontechnical users.

Power users will enjoy Linux, because it’s a flexible, highly customisable OS that they can adapt to suit their needs in such areas as the look of the desktop or the ability to prevent any extra software from adding bloat to the system.

Linux is also great for nontechnical users who just want a computer that’s easy to use, has many applications available for download, and doesn’t require a lot of maintenance. Thanks to Linux distributions such as Ubuntu that are easy to install and use, Linux is no longer “difficult to use.”

What is Linux?
Linux is a Unix-like open-source operating system that uses the Linux kernel as its base and comes packaged with basic software, including a lot of components from the GNU (pronounced Guh-new) project.

There is some debate among Linux users about whether it’s correct to call the open-source operating system Linux or GNU/Linux to reflect the fact that Linux distributions are loaded with software from the GNU Project. GNU is another Unix-like operating system, but one that lacks a usable kernel. Typical pieces of GNU that you’re likely to come across in Linux include the Bash shell and assorted command-line utilities, GNU Emacs, Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), GNOME, and GNASH (a Flash player replacement).

Know your components
Three main elements of a Linux operating system come up often in discussions of Linux: the distribution, the desktop environment, and the Linux kernel. These components, along with software from GNU, constitute the basic parts of your Linux distribution.

Distribution

The all-important decision in the Linux world involves figuring out which version (called a distribution or distro) you want to use. Options include popular distributions such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint that are relatively easy to install, as well as more-complex and customizable distros such as Arch Linux. To figure out what each distribution looks like and what it offers, consult the website DistroWatch, which offers screenshots, download links, and reviews for more than 300 Linux distros. According to DistroWatch, the five most popular Linux versions at this writing are Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Debian.

Take some time to poke around DistroWatch and read the descriptions of various Linux distributions to see what each offers, what they look like in a default configuration, and what others think of the OS. Linux newbies will probably do best with Ubuntu or Mint, as these distributions are easy to install and offer the fewest problems for first-time users.

You should also be aware that many distributions in the Linux world are built using other distributions as a base. Mint, for example, is based on Ubuntu, which is a variant of Debian.

To see whether any known problems exist for running Linux with your PC model, check out the user forums for your distribution. Though this usually isn’t an issue, it does come up from time to time, just as it does with Windows.

If you’re buying a new computer, check to see which hardware runs best with the distribution you want to use. Ubuntu, for example, has a certified hardware page that details which desktops, laptops, and notebooks are known to work well with Ubuntu.

The desktop environment

Your desktop environment is your system’s user interface. It determines how windows and icons are styled and how you navigate through your system. Among the many different desktops available in the Linux world are Gnome, KDE, Xfce, and LXDE. Ubuntu maker Canonical released a new desktop interface in April 2011 called Unity, which is based on Gnome.

The desktop contains various components, but at this point it’s enough to know that you are free to choose pretty much whichever desktop environment you want to use. Distributions such as Ubuntu, Mint, and OpenSUSE provide an array of different desktops that you can easily install. Ubuntu 11.10, for example, offers Unity, but you can easily install variants of Gnome. Another alternative is to use KDE in Ubuntu–either by downloading Kubuntu (a variation on the Ubuntu system that installs KDE as your default desktop) or by installing KDE in the standard version of Ubuntu.

The best choice for beginners is to stay with the default desktop environment for your distribution. But desktops in Linux are interchangeable; so as you become more comfortable using Linux, you can try out different desktops to see which one you like best.

Linux Kernel

The kernel – the software layer that acts as the go-between for your applications and your PC hardware – is the core of any Linux system. This is the component that you are least likely to have to deal with as part of maintaining your system, especially if you choose a beginner-friendly system such as Ubuntu or Mint. But as you delve into the Linux world, you’ll probably find people talking about the kernel on forums and help sites, so it’s helpful to know what the term refers to.

The stable version of the kernel at this writing is version 3.2.2. If you choose, you can update your kernel as new versions come out, but it’s much simpler to wait for your particular distribution to roll out kernel updates.

Time to try Linux
Now that you have a sense of how some of the Linux distributions differ, it’s time to try out a few and see what you think. Unlike with Windows, you don’t have to buy a CD or purchase an access code; instead, you can just hop online and download any distro you want to try, for free. And if you don’t have the bandwidth to download Linux, many distros will send you an installation CD by mail (usually for a nominal fee).

Many distros – including Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Linux Mint, and Ubuntu – also offer downloadable live CDs. Live CDs let you run the operating system without installing it on your hard drive. That way you can get a better sense of what it will be like to use a particular distro. Live CDs tend to be less responsive (and to run slower) than the actual operating system. The main thing to focus on with live CDs is the look and feel of the interface and the way the system is organised.

To create a live CD you must download the OS and then create a disc image on a blank CD, external hard drive, or USB flash drive. If you’ve never copied or burned a bootable disc image, try Ubuntu first before moving on to other distros. Canonical has a convenient step-by-step online guide for downloading and creating an Ubuntu live CD using Windows or OS X.

Let’s get serious
Okay, you’ve tried out a bunch of live CDs, and now you’re ready to install Linux on your PC. Let’s assume that you’ve decided to go with Ubuntu and that you’re installing it on a Windows machine (yes, some people do install Linux on a Mac). If you are new to the Linux world and still rely on Windows for certain programs, or if you need to use Windows for your job, you can install Linux alongside Microsoft’s OS in a dual-boot configuration. This way, each time you boot up your system, you can choose to run either Windows or Linux.

Ubuntu comes with a handy feature called Wubi (Windows-based UBuntu Installer) that lets you access Ubuntu inside Windows as if it were an application. Like a live CD, Wubi may cause Ubuntu to run a little bit slower than it normally would, but it will give you the chance to acclimate to Linux if you aren’t willing to jump in right away.

Once you learn your way around the system, Linux is just as easy to use as Windows or Mac OS. But Linux differs from those systems, and consequently it takes some getting used to. For this reason, you may want to take your Linux transition slow.

The alternative is to adopt what my colleague Tony Bradley calls the scorched-earth option: Wipe out Windows and install your Linux distribution as the sole OS on your machine. This is the method I chose when I moved to Linux full-time, and I found that going this route was fairly easy. The only major drawback of this approach involves needing to run a piece of custom software built on Windows or OS X for your job. If that’s your situation, you should probably go with a dual-boot solution.

Creating a dual-boot environment doesn’t require much heavy lifting. Many Linux distributions provide step-by-step instructions for installing Linux on a Windows PC in a way that supports peaceful coexistence. Ubuntu offers dual-boot setup directions, as does OpenSUSE. Also, consult PCWorld’s “How (and Why) to Partition Your Hard Drive” for advice on how to lay the groundwork for creating a dual-boot PC.

The terminal (mostly optional)
You can spend your whole computing life inside Linux and rarely have to open a command line prompt to get things done. Nevertheless, learning at least a few basic operations can be helpful, though doing so is entirely optional.

Bash (Bourne again shell) is the standard command line interpreter for most Linux distributions (as well as for Mac OS X), and it’s a lot easier to use than you might think. Among the helpful commands that you may wish to learn are how to create empty files and directories (folders), how to search for and kill a running process on your system, how to view hidden directories, how to switch between directories, how to open files and applications, the ‘locate’ command, the ‘find’ command, and the ‘grep’ command. At some point you may also want to learn how to install an application from the command line; but with a system such as Mint or Ubuntu, that method should rarely be necessary.

You can find many novel uses for the command line, too. For instance, you can use Bash to run a text-only Twitter client called TTYtter, learn to use command-line text editors such as Vi or Emacs, try a simple to-do list program called Todo.txt, use Python as a handy calculator, browse the Web with the text-only browser Lynx, run system backups using Rsync, create text shortcuts (called aliases) for executing daily tasks, and automate tedious or repetitive tasks (such as backups) using Cron. All of these operations and programs are much simpler to use than you might think, and learning them will greatly enhance how you use your computer.

Even if you’re not interested in the command line, you may need to access the Terminal to deal with occasional (but increasingly rare) hardware problems such as adjusting a laggy mouse driver. Otherwise, you can live happily inside Linux without ever opening the Terminal program.

Ubuntu Software Center
If you decide to go with Ubuntu as your distribution, you’ll pick up most of your applications from the Ubuntu Software Center, an online store for downloading and installing applications and utilities. The Ubuntu Software Center began shipping with Ubuntu in 2009 and subsequent Ubuntu releases have included incremental improvements. The store currently offers numerous free software packages as well as some paid apps. Using the USC is as simple as searching for a program and clicking Install.

By default, Ubuntu comes with a lot of great software, including Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird (email client), the Libre Office suite, Gedit text editor, and GIMP. Those applications also come with many other Linux distributions; or you can install them after initial setup. You can get a lot of popular third-party software for Linux, just as you can for Windows and OS X; examples include Google’s Chrome browser, Skype, Spotify, and Scrivener – a popular word processor designed for professional writers. Much of this software, including Skype, Spotify, and Scrivener, tends to be marked “beta.” But don’t let that scare you off: All three work very well in Linux.

If you can’t find a Linux version of the software you need, you can try running Windows apps in WINE, a program designed to handle that task inside Linux. WINE may not be able to run every program you throw at it. But if you absolutely need a piece of Windows software, and no Linux alternatives are available, give WINE a try.

Finding help
If you run into problems while using Linux – whether hardware issues, software installation problems, or something else – you can turn to numerous online forums for help. Typically each distribution maintains its own forum where you can seek out assistance, and many third-party sites are full of solid advice, too.

The best way to find help is to start with a simple Web search for the problem you’re having. Searches often lead Ubuntu users to the official Ubuntu user forums, but Stack Exchange’s Ask Ubuntu is also a good source for information.

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When researching problems, you may find that the first few sites you visit may offer complex and over-the-top solutions that require 15 lines of code or mucking about with some file buried deep in your operating system. But chances are that any issues you come up against as a beginner will be comparatively trivial and easy to solve.

Consequently, the best way to research your problem is to assume that it can be solved with a few simple mouse clicks or less than one line of code entered at the command line. There are exceptions to that rule, of course; but if you begin by assuming that the answer to your problem is simple and exhaust all of the straightforward possibilities before moving on to far more complex solutions, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and hassle.

These basic tips should help you get started with Linux. So give a few live CDs a try, and see what you think. You’ll be surprised at just how useful a Linux system can be.

Source:http://howto.techworld.com/operating-systems/3334504/how-set-up-linux-on-your-computer/?intcmp=ros-md-hwt

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Windows 8 hardware rules ‘derail user-friendly Linux’

January 19th, 2012
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The question of whether Secure Boot technology in UEFI firmware could exclude Linux from PCs running Windows 8 has taken a fresh twist.

Red Hat engineer Matthew Garrett, one of the first to flag up the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface issue, has blogged that Microsoft’s rules for certified Windows 8 hardware do not make it easier to boot Linux despite what some have claimed.

Redmond’s requirements mention the existence of a boot option for PCs that can fire up a digitally signed Linux kernel. This custom boot-mode would allow the user to modify the contents of the machine’s Secure Boot signature database and the platform key (PK) that verifies kernels during system start-up.

This, according to Garrett, implies the user can install their own keys, including ones provided by Linux vendors, to run whatever operating system they want. While this sounds conceptually simple, Garret points there are lot of practical details missing, a fact that will make working with Microsoft’s key infrastructure harder.

Garrett wrote that this might dissuade people from bothering to install Linux on a Windows 8 PC:

People have spent incredible amounts of time and effort making it easy to install Linux by doing little more than putting a CD in a drive. Asking them to go into the firmware and reconfigure things adds an extra barrier that restricts the ability to install Linux to more technically skilled users.

Garrett adds that among the details missing from Microsoft’s documents is a description of a user interface to enable people to install and manage keys, meaning they must fiddle around by hand in the firmware settings. This lack of definition also makes it possible for competing PC makers to confuse the situation further by coming up with their own vendor-specific UIs. Also, the key format itself has not been described and there’s no description on how to use custom mode for unattended remote or automated installs of Linux on a Windows 8 machine.

Garrett first blogged about Microsoft’s Windows 8 Secure Boot in September last year. The normally non-communicative executive leading Windows 8, Steven Sinofsky, actually responded with a blog post claiming the “customer” would be in control of their PC with UEFI Secure Boot. Garrett shot back saying that by “customer” Microsoft must mean the PC manufacturer because there’s no guarantee ordinary punters would get the signing keys.

It’s the keys that are critical to thwarting hackers by stopping them from installing unauthorised malware – such as rootkits – that start before the operating system and undermine a computer’s security. It will be left to PC and device makers to follow Microsoft’s UEFI requirements; they have the power to decide whether to go with custom or standard boot-mode on their machines. That said, Microsoft’s hardware certification requirements don’t offer the option of custom mode to makers of ARM devices. On page 116 of the requirements:

On an ARM system, it is forbidden to enable Custom Mode. Only Standard Mode may be enabled.

21. MANDATORY: Enable/Disable Secure Boot. On non-ARM systems, it is required to implement the ability to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup. A physically present user must be allowed to disable Secure Boot via firmware setup without possession of PKpriv. Programmatic disabling of Secure Boot either during Boot Services or after exiting EFI Boot Services MUST NOT be possible. Disabling Secure MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems.

By targeting ARM, Microsoft hopes to punt its Windows operating system onto tablets. Some have said this might mean Windows 8 will be locked to specific hardware, and therefore only OEMs can do the fiddling. Microsoft is not commenting.

It’s a reasonable line of thought and reinforces the thinking that Windows 8 on ARM will be for specific-use tablets such as readers – like the Kindle – that are typically deliberately and firmly locked down by the maker for various commercial and technical reasons.

Another possibility is this: Microsoft is taking no chances on those first Windows-8-on-ARM machines falling over, thereby avoiding embarrassment and backlash. Lockdown is a policy Microsoft has implemented elsewhere – notably on the first Windows Phone 7 phones, which were blocked to third-party apps on version 7.0 and only opened up with 7.5, codenamed Mango.

Source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/18/windows_8_linux_secure_boot/

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Why ‘post-PC’ is a far bigger threat to Microsoft than Mac or Linux ever was

January 19th, 2012
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Microsoft has dominated the PC desktop and notebook markets for over two decades. Competitors have come, and competitors have gone and Microsoft is still on top. But the winds of change are approaching, and Microsoft is embarking on what I believe to be its biggest challenge yet … the end of the road for the x86 architecture.

Microsoft stitched up the PC market tight. It was in the right place at the right time and managed to get to a position of dominance that has lasted over 20 years. It’s been a good run. But Microsoft’s success was based on the PC, and we’ve now entered what is most definitely a ‘post-PC’ era. What is ‘post-PC’? If the PC era was symbolized by big beige desktops and knee-breaking notebooks, ‘post-PC’ is the exact opposite. Small, lightweight, low-power, more personal devices. Think smartphones. Think tablets. But these are just the beginning. Devices such at the Google Chromebook will bridge that gap between the traditional PC-style devices that we all know and love, and the ‘post-PC’ device.

One surefire indicator that we are now in a post PC era is what buyers look for in a device. Those old metrics such as GHz and GB (or even for some, the physical size of the system) have given way to new metrics such as weight and battery life. ‘Post-PC’ has in many ways made the personal computer even more personal.

And Microsoft is positioning itself ready for the ‘post-PC’ era. It’s seeing the 30-year-old reign of the x86 ‘Wintel’ architecture is coming to a close and it is preparing for this. One such step is in making Windows 8 run on the ARM architecture. It’s not the first time that Microsoft has ported its operating system to run on different platforms (remember MIPS, PowerPC and DEC Alpha). Microsoft has always had an eye on the future.

But this shift to ‘post-PC’ is dangerous for Microsoft. It’s dangerous because it’s a big transition. Windows is very much a PC product, and much of what makes Windows what it is simply won’t carry forward to ‘post-PC’ devices. Let me offer up two examples.

First, legacy. One of the things that keeps people using Windows is excellent legacy support. Windows offers unprecedented support for old hardware and software. It’s one of the things that Microsoft is good at doing. This comes at the cost of bloat and bigger install images, but increases in disk capacities and processing power have offset that. With the move to ARM, there is no such thing as legacy. The word will not apply. The slate will be wiped clean and it will be a fresh start.

Now that’s not such a bad thing in many ways. Look at how Apple wiped the slate clean with iOS. It was a completely new platform, and people loved it. But it worked because Apple didn’t call it Mac OS, but instead called it iPhone OS (the iOS name came later). There was no expectation of legacy support because it was clearly a completely new product. But Microsoft is still choosing to call its ARM OS offering ‘Windows’ and I believe that doing generates a certain level of user expectation that the platform won’t be able to deliver. It’s Windows, but mostly in name only.

Another problem is that Windows is primarily a desktop operating system. It’s on the desktop that the OS really shines. It also works pretty well on notebooks and not so well on devices that have a cramped screen space such as netbooks. On tablets, it’s a disaster. To help alleviate this Microsoft has developed a completely new user interface called Metro UI with the idea of making a one-size-fits-all interface that will work on a myriad of screen sizes and resolutions, from multi-monitor desktops to tablets. Now that’s a gamble on all fronts. First Microsoft is forcing those traditional Windows users (folks running desktops) to adopt a totally new way of working. There are millions of Windows users out there who are used to the existing Windows paradigm, and these people are going to have to change the way they work because Microsoft wants to offer the same experience across a range of screen sizes.

Now that’s a massive gamble. I know a lot of people who have considered making a switch from Windows, but one of the things that keeps them on the platform is that they know and are comfortable with the way the operation system works. Well, like it or not, these people are going to have to learn something new, and if they’re having to learn something new, why stick with Windows?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for progress, and I think that it is time that x86 platform start to fade away. But it feels to me that rather than making a controlled shift to a new platform, Microsoft is leaping into the unknown and taking every Windows user with them on some mystery ride. I don’t understand why Microsoft feels that integrating tablets and desktops under the same OS is needed at this stage. I could understand having an eye for integration down the line, but unification now seems like too much, too soon.

Source:http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/why-post-pc-is-a-far-bigger-threat-to-microsoft-than-mac-or-linux-ever-was/17766

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Linux emerges as a reliable option in 2012

January 5th, 2012
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Linux has been into the market since the late 1990s and is open to anyone who wants to use it. Linux is free and moreover there is no paying for a cd or a product key. Yet many consumers are very skeptical to switch operating systems or download another. Because of various reasons, windows popularity could be one of them and adding to it is the extra work and time needed to install a new operating system.

Here are ten good reasons to justify as to why Linux could be a possible reliable option in 2012.

Cost: It’s free what could one ask for? Unless you choose a commercial option with paid support, while Microsoft sell out their products at a hefty amount and sometimes recurring fee. Linux distributions can be installed in as many computers one wishes without spending from your pocket whereas Microsoft licenses are restricted to be installed on a single computer.

Hardware: Gone are the days when hardware manufacturing companies did not offer many options of drivers or support for Linux operating system, today Linux supports most hardware devices. Linux is also the perfect choice for those old computers with barely any processing power or memory and computers with minimum RAM capacity run Linux without any issue.

Security: Linux makes sure that there is no compromising when it comes to security. Viruses, spyware and adware are major coause cause of concern for consumers these days and Linux has managed to stay secure all these years whereas windows is the most targeted OS for viruses and other malware.

Compatibility: On terms of compatibility Linux is the most preferred operating system because it offers much better interoperability and is compatible with users’ needs, that is if you ever collaborate or intend to do so with people in other companies or parts of the world, your best bet would be Linux.

Open Source: Open source model of Linux variants and Linux programs enable the consumers to customize or modify the code as per their needs on the otherhand majority of Windows programs are not open source.

Reliability: The frequency of rebooting is very less comparatively as most of the Linux variants and versions and can often run for months and years without the need to be rebooted and hence Linux is found to be reliable although few version of Windows have been improved by Microsoft lately but still does not match up with Linux in terms of reliability.

Speed Matters: Yes it does, very much when it comes to operating systems. Linux is really fast even on older hardware the reason being least requirement of hardware resources when compared with other operating systems.

Service Support: Consumers using Linux are well supported through the active community of users and developers that surrounds most distributions and there are options of paid support aswel for Linux users.

Choice: Linux has one great advantage that is it provides consumers with the choice and power to control just about every aspect of the operating system. Desktop look and feel and the kernel are the two major features that the users have control on.

Linux in the past few years has shown remarkable improvement infact its always improving, as per an article by PCWorld “the communities that tend to surround Linux distributions also tend to keep improving them continuously, both with new features and by zapping any vulnerabilities quickly. No more waiting months for patches to come your way”.

Now that the advantages of Linux have been listed out its time to experiment and switch to a new operating system. Windows can be a great tool but when it comes to giving users control of their computing environments, Linux would be the best option.

Source:http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Linux_emerges_as_a_reliable_option_in_2012-nid-102132-cid-7.html/1

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10 Reasons to Switch to Linux in 2012

January 3rd, 2012
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The past year was a tempestuous one in the world of desktop operating systems, it seems fair to say, with big changes occurring in just about all of the major contenders.

Most notably, we saw a raft of mobile-inspired features being brought onto the desktop, sometimes to a chilly reception among users.

If you’re wondering–or perhaps even fearing–what other changes 2012 will bring to your desktop, this may be a good time to take matters into your own hands and choose a system that puts you in control.

The system I’m referring to, of course, is Linux. It’s probably already on your phone. Here are just a few reasons you should give the free operating system a try on your desktop as well.

1. It’s Diverse

Detractors like to refer to Linux’s diversity as a “fragmentation problem,” but in fact it’s one of its greatest strengths. Users have countless Linux distributions to choose from, whether it’s one like Mint or Ubuntu that puts usability at the forefront, or one like Fedora with numerous enterprise-focused features and extra security. There are even flavors focused on specific industries and niches. There’s something for everyone in the world of Linux, and it’s increasingly cross-platform as well.

2. It’s Customizable

Not only can you choose the particular Linux distribution you use, but one of the hallmarks of Linux is that it’s also highly customizable. Don’t like Ubuntu’s new Unity desktop or Mint’s GNOME 3? No problem–there are many others to choose from, and your pick can be easily installed. There’s no vendor lock-in here to dictate how you must use your computer.

3. It’s Open Source

A big part of Linux’s flexibility, of course, derives from the fact that it’s open source software. That means that no other entity controls the code–any developer or user can see and modify the code as they see fit. A world of custom tweaks and apps is before you, in other words.

4. It’s Free

Linux doesn’t cost anything, it’s true, unless you choose a commercial option with paid support. But it’s also free from patents and other restrictions that determine how it can be used. Free and open source is a really good combination, because it means you’re in control. The free price is really just icing on the proverbial cake.

5. It’s Reliable

There’s a reason Linux has such a stronghold in the server world–many, actually, but one of the biggest is its reliability. When you’re on Linux, you won’t even remember all those hours of productivity lost to crashes and downtime.

6. It’s Fast

Linux tends to require much less in the way of hardware resources than other operating systems do, and there are even distributions designed with a small footprint as a primary goal. The result is that it’s generally really fast–even on older hardware. Will you miss the hardware-upgrade treadmill? Didn’t think so.

7. It’s Secure

Windows is the most targeted operating system for viruses and other malware, thanks primarily to the fact that it’s still the one that’s most widely used. No operating system is perfectly secure, of course, but in the Linux world malware is a rarity for many reasons, and there are extra-secure distributions available as well if that’s a priority for you.

8. It’s Well-Supported

Besides all the many paid support options for Linux users today, there are also countless ways to get help for free through the active community of users and developers that surrounds most distributions. Ask and ye shall receive, as the saying goes.

9. It’s Always Improving

Along similar lines, the communities that tend to surround Linux distributions also tend to keep improving them continuously, both with new features and by zapping any vulnerabilities quickly. No more waiting months for patches to come your way.

10. It’s Compatible

Not only does Linux tend to be compatible with users’ needs, but it tends to offer much better interoperability than proprietary operating systems do. If you ever collaborate with people in other companies or parts of the world, your best bet is an operating system committed to supporting international standards rather than proprietary ones.

The Linux world has seen its own share of upheaval over the past year, primarily due to the new desktop environments that have been introduced. What people sometimes forget, however, is how easy it is to bypass those changes and simply install what you want.

No operating system is perfect, of course, but when it comes to giving users control of their computing environments, Linux takes the proverbial cake.

Source:http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/246866/10_reasons_to_switch_to_linux_in_2012.html

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Linux Community Offers Secure Boot Ideas

November 1st, 2011
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The Linux Foundation, along with Red Hat and Canonical, has staked out positions on how the so-called “secure boot” procedure should be implemented in computer firmware.

Their positions were described in two recently published white papers this month. Secure boot is a procedure for firmware in devices that’s part of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) specification. The UEFI standard is already used in all ARM-based processors. While BIOS still predominates in the firmware of new x86 PCs, Microsoft is looking to tap the potential security benefits of UEFI in future Windows 8 PCs and devices. Microsoft’s comments about embracing secure boot at its Build developer conference in September caused an open source Linux community backlash of sorts.

While secure boot is optional to use, as described in the UEFI spec, Microsoft wants it to be required by default in new PCs and devices sold that run Windows 8. It will be required of system vendors as part of the Windows 8 logo program.

If Microsoft’s requirement stands, the Linux community fears that Linux might be prevented from running on such PCs or devices because the firmware won’t recognize the Certificate Authority of the Linux OS. Secure boot potentially offers benefits to users by preventing “bootkits” or rootkits from cloaking system modifications, but the Linux Community feels that Microsoft’s insistence on requiring it will cut them off. Firmware vendors will just produce for the bulk device market dominated by Windows, and will ignore support for Linux, they contend.

“Unfortunately, Microsoft’s recommended implementation of secure boot removes control of the system from the hardware owner, and may prevent open source operating systems from functioning,” according to the “UEFI Secure Boot Impact on Linux” white paper (PDF) by Red Hat and Canonical. “The Windows 8 requirement for secure boot will pressure OEMs to implement secure boot in this fashion.”

Linux hobbyists will be less free to experiment and modify their Linux OSes with secure boot turned on by default, the Linux community has argued. Microsoft has countered this line of argument by pointing to a switch in the current Windows 8 developer preview that will let users turn off secure boot via the operating system, allowing Linux or any other OS to be run in a dual-boot scenario. However, this position was somewhat rejected in the Red Hat-Canonical white paper.

“If secure boot must be disabled before an alternate operating system can be booted, then those alternatives will become restricted to technically-minded users who are able to reconfigure their firmware to disable secure boot,” the white paper argues. Moreover, the Linux base of nontechnical users might be diminished, it warned.

Red Hat and Canonical are recommending that secure boot “be easily disabled and enabled through a firmware configuration interface.” They also want OEMs to disclose a standardized way of configuring keys in firmware. Finally, they propose shipping devices with a setup mode enabled, where the OS can install the keys and not just the firmware vendor.

The Linux Foundation’s white paper, “Making UEFI Secure Boot Work With Open Platforms” (PDF), offers a similar argument to that of Red Hat and Canonical. Systems should ship with a setup mode that will enable the addition of keys to the firmware, the white paper argues.

In the future, the Linux Foundation wants an independent Certificate Authority created to issue key-exchange keys (KEKs). It also wants a firmware mechanism that would enable the booting of OSes on removable media, such as DVDs and CD ROMs.

The two white papers don’t seem to be wholly on the same page. For instance, the white paper by Red Hat and Canonical expressed additional fears about lockdowns that will compel people to buy hardware or software.

“Controlling the boot environment may make it possible for software to be reliably tied to a specific piece of hardware,” the white paper states. “This creates the opportunity for a ‘forced obsolescence’ scenario, where hardware upgrades are necessary to install future versions of system software, or vice versa.”

Red Hat and Canonical also expressed fears about firmware validation being tied to applications sold through approved app stores. It could be used to ensure “recurring revenue from all end user purchases.”

Time will tell whether these concerns will play out as described in the white papers. However, most computer users likely will be glad to have secure boot enabled by default given the prevalence of malware attacks against Windows systems. They also likely would favor a vetting process for applications if the end result is that the applications they use are more secure.

The Linux Foundation appears to be taking a more subdued position compared with early Red Hat arguments.

“Some observers have expressed concerns that secure boot could be used to exclude open systems from the market, but, as we have shown above, there is no need for things to be that way,” the Linux Foundation’s white paper concludes. “If vendors ship their systems in the setup mode and provide a means to add new KEKs to the firmware, those systems will fully support open operating systems while maintaining compliance with the Windows 8 logo requirements.”

Source:http://redmondmag.com/articles/2011/10/31/linux-community-offers-secure-boot-ideas.aspx

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