Linux
Bossie Awards 2010: The Best Open Source Software of the Year
InfoWorld’s Test Center has picked the top open source platforms, middleware, applications, and application development tools for 2010.
Open Source software has been around now for more than 30 years and it is here to stay. Each year InfoWorld sorts through the millions of open source projects and try to find the best, most promising and most influential projects.
FreeNAS to Continue with FreeBSD; New Linux NAS Called OpenMediaVault Created
The Hi-Tech Squad recently wrote about the plans to move FreeNAS from FreeBSD to Linux. But it looks like this isn’t the end of the story… Today Olivier Cochard-Labbé made a great announcement, FreeNAS will live on with FreeBSD and production ready ZFS support will be added with the upgrade to FreeBSD 8.0. At the same time a new Linux version of FreeNAS will be created called OpenMediaVault!
Olivier explained it like this: FreeNAS needs some big modification to remove its present limitations (with one of the biggest being the lack of support for add-ons/plugins). We think that a full-rewrite of the FreeNAS base is needed. Therefore, we will take 2 different paths:
- Volker will create a new project called “‘OpenMediaVault” based on a
GNU/Linux and use all his experience acquired with all those nights and week-ends spent improving FreeNAS during the last 2 years. He will still
continue to work on FreeNAS (and try to share his time with these two
projects). - And, a great surprise: iXsystems (http://www.ixsystems.com/), a company specialising in professional FreeBSD systems has offered to take FreeNAS under its wing as an open source community driven project. This means that they will use their professionals FreeBSD developers to better FreeNAS! Their manpower will permit a full-rewriting of FreeNAS.
Olivier also added that he will personally come back to actively working on FreeNAS and begin to upgrade it to FreeBSD 8.0 (which is “production ready” for ZFS).
This is brilliant news all round and I think Volker and Olivier should make sure that the two projects share as much code as possible. Also I think iXsystems should be congratulated for their support of FreeNAS.
Related links: Rumours of FreeNAS’ Death Greatly Exaggerated
10 Great Linux Backup Tools
A dependable backup tool is not a luxury – everyone needs to have one. But that doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune to get the feature set that meets your needs. Jack Wallen, of TechRepublic, introduces some great Linux backup solutions, including a few that are cross platform.
1: fwbackups
This is, by far, the easiest of all the Linux backup solutions. It is cross platform, has a user-friendly interface, and can do single backups or recurring scheduled backups.
2: Bacula
Bacula is a powerful Linux backup solution, and it’s one of the few Linux open source backup solutions that’s truly enterprise ready.
3: Rsync
Rsync is one of the most widely used Linux backup solutions. With rsync, you can do flexible incremental backups, either locally or remotely. Rsync can update whole directory trees and file systems; preserve links, ownerships, permissions, and privileges; use rsh, ssh, or direct sockets for connection; and support anonymous connections.
VLC Media Player 1.0.0 Out
Three months after the release of version 0.9.9, the VLC developers have announced the release of version 1.0.0 of their popular VLC Media Player, code-named Goldeneye. VLC is a free open source cross-platform multimedia player for various audio and video formats. Version 1.0.0 of VLC is a major release and, in addition to numerous bug fixes, includes several new features, new formats and new codecs.
Google Chrome OS
Google has announced the Google Chrome Operating System. And they are dubbing it as their “attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.”
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks and will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.
10 Mistakes New Linux Administrators Make
If you’re new to Linux, a few common mistakes are likely to get you into trouble. Learn about them up front so you can avoid major problems as you become increasingly Linux-savvy.
#1: Installing applications from various types
#2: Neglecting updates
#3: Poor root password choice
#4: Avoiding the command line
#5: Not keeping a working kernel installed
#6: Not backing up critical configuration files
#7: Booting a server to X
#8: Not understanding permissions
#9: Logging in as root user
#10: Ignoring log files
Related links:
10 mistakes new Linux administrators make | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com
Sun Has Released VirtualBox 3.0
VirtualBox 3.0 has been released by Sun. This major update introduces Symmetrical Multiprocessing (SMP) in virtual machines as well improved 3D support.
VirtualBox is an x86 virtualization solution, developed by Sun Microsystems (it was originally created by German software company Innotek). When it is installed on an existing host operating system (known as the host) additional guest operating systems can be loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.
VirtualBox the only professional x86 virtualization solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and OpenSolaris, and OpenBSD.
Linksys Launches Linux Powered Wireless-N Router – Linksys WRT160NL
Cisco® (who own the Linksys brand) has announced a new Linux powered router, the WRT160NL. The new model complements the existing consumer router line-up and is essentially the next generation of the popular WRT54GL. The router provides 802.11b/g and n connectivity and is 802.11n draft 2.0 certified.
The router also has what Cisco are calling “integrated Storage Link functionality” which lets consumers connect their USB storage device to the router to create a powerful media sharing solution that enables video, photo and music sharing through the integrated media server.
CrossOver 8.0 Released; Helps Linux and Mac Run Windows Software
CrossOver 8.0 (a commercial version of Wine) allows you to install many popular Windows productivity applications, plugins and games in OS X or Linux. CrossOver 8.0 includes an easy to use, single click interface, which makes installing a Windows application simple and fast. Once installed, your application integrate seamlessly with your desktop. Because CrossOver 8.0 isn’t based on Microsoft technology you can install these Windows programs without needing a Microsoft operating system license.
Read more…
PHP and ASP.NET Side By Side
Developers wishing to create dynamic websites, web applications and web services with a database back end are presented with two main stream choices. Develop for PHP and MySQL or ASP.NET and possibly Microsoft SQL Server. Both technologies have their strengths and weaknesses and there are those who biased towards one technology over the other. How do PHP and ASP.NET compare?
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