What’s in store for us in ‘Eclair’ or Android 2.0?

Those who work in companies whose emails are managed by Microsoft
Exchange servers will be happy to note that Eclair is said to ship
with support for MS Exchange. Probably a good enough reason for some
to consider getting a new Android 2.0 powered smartphone.

Some of the features are said to be corporate friendly. Anyhow here’s a list of some features:

• Multiple email accounts. If you’re like me, then you probably have at least two email accounts. This feature sounds practical to me.
• Combined inboxes. Well, after all you have multiple accounts. It is possible to view them all as if they’re just in one inbox. No need to keep switching from one inbox to another, apparently.
• They also put a virtual keyboard where you could use two fingers to type faster. The multitouch surface should make it fine for you to use this on smartphones which are supported.
• Interestingly enough, there will be HTML 5 support on the browser on Android 2.0 so that sounds cool.

Developers might want to take a look at their improved API too. Includes changes in handling contacts, especially because of the multiple account feature. There is also a centralized acount manager for storing and accessing auth tokens/passwords.

Does Anroid 2.0 or Eclair look like a sweet deal to you? Then it might be worth waiting for. Well, there’s also Maemo so it should be interesting to see devices powered with Android Eclair and Maemo and compare them. Smartphones and Linux could be the future of computing for all we know. ; )

Thanks to Linux Insider for the heads up!

Post from: New Linux User

I hope that this team success for the upcoming hackfest! I also hope to hear/read about it from you.

Image credit: clarita, via Morguefile

Speaking of events, Asia Source 3 is coming up soon! It will be held from November 7-12 in Silang, Cavite — that’s in the Philippines! You got that right.

There will be several tracks that participants will be able to attend:

• Managing your information.
• Migrating to FOSS.
• Broadcasting your information.
• Joining the FOSS Community/Using FOSS tools.

It would be great to hear and read all about the participants’ reactions after the camp. I hope that a lot of the participants will be encouraged to join the FOSS community and spread the love~! Not just for Linux but for the free and open source software movement at large.

What other events are coming up soon? Care to share them here? It will be more interesting to hear about them. It will be good to experience those events too if it were possible. ; ) Just let us know and maybe some of us can be there too. : D

Post from: New Linux User

Sounds like an infomercial, doesn’t it? ;  )  But thinking about what defaults you might possibly have, there’s gotta be something better.  And I might be biased but there really are other things better on netbooks compared to Windows.  Whether you believe it or not, that’s what I personally think.  Windows looks too cluttered for me even though it’s not as sluggish as I thought it would be.

Anyway, no need to freak out that your netbook isn’t quite as fantastic as you thought it should be. Some changes in the latest version of Easy Peasy:

• It has a new look!
• It uses kernel 2.6.30 that’s been optimized for netbooks so that startup’s faster.
• Support for more netbooks! Hooray!
• An image which could possibly be installed from a Mac.
• Upgraded software like Picasa and OpenOffice.org.
• It uses Ext4 as a file system by default.

Easy Peasy. Logo from the Easy Peasy website.

I am waiting for my download of EasyPeasy to get done so I could blog about my first impressions too. As much as I am excited to try it out because of Ext4 and the latest kernel that’s optimized for netbooks, Ubuntu Karmic Koala’s just around the corner. Hrmm. I don’t know.

But yeah, those who are new netbook owners could benefit from distros whose teams are always seeking ways to make it easier for newbies to use Linux. They make sure that the applications that users will look for are there. Like Picasa or Skype.

And it’s really great that the Easy Peasy team has gone beyond supporting Asus EEE PC so other netbook owners could enjoy the benefits of this distro.

Just wait for me to check it out and I’d post my screenshots and write my impressions of this version of Easy Peasy. I already have the image and so I just need to put it on a USB flashdrive for a review later.

Post from: New Linux User

What’s the benefit of using their firmware?

• Power saving
  It allows them to have the IGEL thin clients go into standby mode and back on in seconds. This means that it won’t take long for them to boot up their thin clients. This would even increase the savings in power usage + time.
  If your company is using IGEL’s thin client lines such as IGEL one, UD2 and UD3, this firmware makes them in line with the upcoming Energy Star certification for thin clients.
• Virtualization
  Virtualization becomes better with this firmware. There is a way for IGEL thin client users to have support for multimedia acceleration as well as USB redirection.

If you’ve got IGEL thin clients in your office, check out igel.com and see what’s in store for you. It’s free to download if you are already using them

Post from: New Linux User

A sample of topics:

• Perl 6: Why? What? How?, Damian Conway, Thoughtstream
• Introduction to Google App Engine, Joe Gregorio Google
• How to Write Your Own Eclipse Plug-ins, Beth Tibbitts, IBM
• Django in the Real World, Jacob Kaplan-Moss, Django
• What You Need to Know About Rails3, Yehuda Katz, Engine Yard
• Linux Filesystem Performance for Databases, Selena Deckelmann, PostgreSQL Project
• Cloud Computing – Why IT Matters, Simon Wardley, Canonical Ltd
• Building a Business on the Cheap, Chris Wanstrath, GitHub
• The HTML 5 Experiments, Bruce Lawson, Opera Software ASA
• High Performance APC, Brian Shire, Facebook, Inc.

I am sure that some of my co-workers will want to go if it was possible. There are topics that would be of interest to us:

• Use Open Source Tools to Program iPhone Games on Linux and Windows Without the iPhone SDK, PJ Cabrera
• Writing Open Source, moderated by Addison Berry and Emma Jane Hogbin
• Using Drupal, James Walker and Angie Byron, Lullabot
• Google O’Reilly Open Source Awards
• A Brief History of Software, Michael Lopp, Rands in Repose
• Business Models for Open Source Developers, Darrius Thompson, OpenCandy

Check out the complete schedule of OSCON 2009 here.

Looks like it could be interesting to go there. But as I live in another country, it’s not possible for me. I hope to hear more about it from you guys after the event, in case you will be going. I hope people will have a great time learning together and meeting new contacts.

Register soon so you could ensure your slot in the said event. (OSCON 2009 Registration Details.)

Post from: New Linux User

Nifty features:

• 20-second boot-up. How much faster could boot-up times go? But a 20-second boot-up would be nice.
• Automatic fonts and Mime installer. If you’re not familiar with the file format, it’s ok. You could try opening it and you will be prompted if you want to search for the application that will open it. If you’re opening a file in a word processor or something, you will be prompted that the application will install the appropriate fonts.
• GNOME 2.26 – You could get the latest version of GNOME with Fedora 11. And if you’re not a GNOME user, there’s always…
• KDE 4.2 which has PolicyKit-KDE, Network Manager plasma applet among others.
• Invidia graphics cards will use Nouveau as the default driver.
• Access your Microsoft Exchange inbox using OpenChange. You could use Evolution or kdepim with Exchange using OpenChange.

All those features and more are available in Fedora 11. If you’re dying to see some screenshots, you could view h-online.com’s slideshow of Fedora 11 screenshots.

Post from: New Linux User

Fedora

PlanetOSS even has a review of Fedora 11’s pre-release. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols listed down Fedora’s 5 best features even.

On the best features list, I saw that the fast boot up time was included. I saw that on one of the tweets of one person I’m following. The list includes Fedora using Ext4 by default, better graphics because of X.server 1.6, as well as improvements with Synaptics to the point that it made him appreciate touchpads more. Another one is the extra security provided by DNSSEC.

The PlanetOSS review has more screenshots in case you are curious and it gave a more detailed writeup of his user experience with Fedora 11. That includes the good and the bad. Although as other commenters have pointed out, not everything that was mentioned was the same for them. Some agreed to having difficulties with the graphical package manager though.

For me, package managers are critical because users who are new to Linux must be guided about instaling packages. They might get the usual exe files and other such installers online without knowing that they won’t work. So where do they turn to for their favorite kinds of applications, right?

I like that the PlanetOSS also included a lot of screenshots for those who are not familiar with Fedora, like me. The review also mentioned other stuff like Palimpsest which might be a replacement for Gparted.

Post from: New Linux User

So what’s to expect in Jaunty Jackalope

Some things that I don’t quite look forward to all involve Intel graphic cards and the wifi issues. Most of us at work are using Acer laptops with Intel graphics cards. ~_~  Oh well, we’d see.  I think one of us has started using Jaunty Jackalope so it’s better to ask him first.

In terms of apps, there’s no doubt I am looking forward to things like Brasero and a better user interface for those who want to configure their extended screens.

Post from: New Linux User

welcome

I am not an expert in terms of sys ad skills and stuff like that but I do love using Linux. I am just like one of you who — I am looking for ways to improve the way my computer works while using Linux. And it’s not always an easy task. Sometimes it could get quite complicated because of the number of steps it would take to fix the problem/s.  But that’s fun about using Linux anyway.  There are a lot of things to learn along the way.  Sometimes we might feel terrible about ourselves while trying to troubleshoot problems.  But everything has a solution.  Although some of them might not be quite as elegant as we would hope for.

And as new readers and new Linux users, you could share your thoughts too.  I hope that you wouldn’t feel too shy or hesitant.   You might have some great insights that musn’t be kept to yourselves.

Post from: New Linux User

Writing about women in technology, especially in the free and open source movement will encourage one other as well as show that hey, even if the thinking that this is a man’s world, women can still excel and be on top of their field. For those who are looking for role models, it will be better because you could know more about these women who have paved the way for better things.

For more details, please check out findingada.com

If you know someone in your community who’s worth writing about, please do so! This will also acknowledge that you appreciate her a lot. It could also bring joy to others.

I hope to read your entries by the 24th!

Post from: New Linux User