Open Source at SF State University - Linux

XO Live CD with joyride 2282

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:54:25 -0700

A new live CD is now available (XO-LiveCD_080812.iso 426.01 MB) at:

Bittorrent - http://linuxtracker.org/index.php?page=torrent-details&id=0902d803b94822a07b7a5da6193147c10e0c83d8
HTTP - http://www.skolelinux.de/download/XOLiveCD/XO-LiveCD_080812.iso

Massive F/OSS Installfest for Schools (March 1st)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:01:29 -0800

Untangle and the ACCRC are working on an installfest for Northern California schools that will take place on Saturday March 1st. The event will refurbish hundreds of unwanted computers that would otherwise get thrown out with Ubuntu and then donate them to schools. There will be four installfest locations (San Francisco, Berkeley, San Mateo & Novato) and we really need your help to make this happen. We need help installing Ubuntu, breaking down broken computers and just plain cleaning up after ourselves so there is something for everyone todo, no matter how technical they are. You can find out more info on the event and how you can volunteer here.

Techsoup's introduction to Linux

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:51:40 -0800

Techsoup.org has an article about the general introduction to Linux and its use in the non-profit sector. The article is written by Tom Haddon, who has been instrumental in setting up a small network of Linux machines for the Hayes Valley Community Center in San Francisco.

From the article:

"The philosophy behind Ubuntu, and open source or "Free Software" in general, has similarities with the philanthropic goals of many nonprofit organizations. Both seek to empower people, and in Ubuntu's case they do it by providing people with access to technology that enables them to participate as full members of the digital world at no cost. This attribute may be even more relevant for nonprofits with a technology angle.

The society's bottom line

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:41:37 -0700

There's a post on Slashdot about an open letter to Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, from François Bancilhon of Mandriva. At stake is the issue of the Nigerian government agreeing to purchase Intel's Classmate PC (one of the competitors of the OLPC) with Mandriva Linux installed, but later to be re-flashed with Windows. The letter is a simplistic finger pointer at Steve Ballmer for messing up the work put in by Mandriva. You can read the letter here.

Can Palm do it again?

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:37:32 -0700

At LinuxWorld 2007, Palm, the device manufacturer (not the OS manufacturer - that one is now called ACCESS) was showing off a new device called Foleo, a sub-notebook form factor which has a nice 10 inch screen and full size keys. This is a fanless ARM CPU based machine that runs a Linux Kernel and a lightweight Window Manager plus proprietary apps such as Opera, MS Office compatible apps for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. It also has a VGA out so that you can hook it up to a projector.

The machine also has a SD slot, a CF slot and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. I am impressed by the fact that they actually got the embedded part right - no moving parts. I am not sure how hackable it is, but the hackability of this device may make it an attractive mobile device. Some critics argue that its too big for a pocket and too slow to be a laptop. In my opinion, I prefer laptops that don't roast my body parts every time I run an app. As far as mobility is concerned, all I really need is a browser for most of the things I do. A VGA out is a huge plus.

Unix/Linux cheat sheet

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:12:32 -0700

The folks over at FOSSWire have created a simple but valuable cheat sheet for basic commands that we use on a day to day basis.

http://fosswire.com/2007/08/02/unixlinux-command-cheat-sheet/

I had a student asking me yesterday about switches that are placed right after a command in Linux. Well, this is the perfect resource for him. The cheat sheet is available as PDF, so print all you want!!! Additionally, if English isn't your strong point, the sheet is also available in Russian , Spanish , Brazilian Portuguese , Simplified Chinese , Polish and Japanese

X server gets multi-point touch

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 10:57:37 -0700

A a PhD student at the Wearable Computer Lab at the University of South Australia has added support for multi-touch cursors in the X Server system. This means you can use multiple fingers (like Apple's iPhone, or Microsoft's Multi-touch table) to navigate through your Linux desktop.

From the site:

MPX devices are independent. Each cursor is a true system cursor and different pointers can operate in multiple applications simultaneously. This allows for two-handed interaction and/or collaboration on a single display. MPX is compatible to legacy applications such as the GIMP, the Firefox web browser and numerous other applications. Keyboards provide multiple keyboard foci. So you can actually type into several applications at once. Both mice and keyboards can be hot-plugged.

LTSP presentation at SF State

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:24:05 -0700

What: Linux Terminal Server Project presentation and demo at SF State University.
When: 2pm to 4pm, Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Where: Room 219, Business Bldg. SF State Campus
Who: Presentation by Dr. Sameer Verma, Ph.D. All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP if possible.

Picn*x XVI - The Linux 16th Anniversary Picnic

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:44:45 -0700

The Linux 16th Anniversary Picnic, or "Picn*x 16", will be held on August 11, 2007. This is a celebration of all the accomplishments of Open Source Software in the past 16 years. Participants and enthusiasts of other Open Source software besides Linux are also welcome.

http://www.linuxpicnic.org/twiki/bin/view/Picnix16/

OpenMoko ads on youtube

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:38:44 -0700

Someone's made a bunch of OpenMoko ads and put them up on youtube. The full playlist is at http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=472DE700A3CC70A4
My favorite:

Can you OpenMoko?

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:23:38 -0700

Way before the iPhone came out or was even announced, there were many calls (pun intended) for a free and open source phone. Qt worked on releasing a green phone as a SDK. FIC talked about releasing a phone hardware platform codenamed the Neo1973 (Neo as in new and 1973 was the year the cell phone was invented). The software stack/platform for this device was named OpenMoko, short for Open Mobile Kommunications.

At that time, the iPhone was as much vaporware as the Neo1973. Until recently, many thought the Neo was indeed vaporware because they have slipped their delivery dates several times. Finally, the first batch of phones will ship next week (July 9, 2007). I also found an emulator image in QEMU for the OpenMoko platform. Win32 binaries are at http://mdk.linux.org.tw/~jserv/openmoko/openmoko-emulator-win32-bin-20070625.zip

Layer 3 VPN over SSH

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:48:51 -0700

SSH V 4.3 introduced layer-2 and layer-3 tunneling allowing VPNs that can be built upon existing SSH authentication mechanisms. This VPN configuration allows a client to connect to a firewall/server and access the entire network behind it. No pesky Cisco setups

http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/539

Instalinux - brewing while you wait

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 22:51:53 -0700

What a concept! Pick your options on a web page. Download the bootable CD when done. Packages are downloaded from mirrors during installation. From Instalinux's page:

This is a simple, easy way to install Linux. You follow the steps in the System Designer to choose from a bunch of different distributions and versions of Linux, and to choose what software you want included. The final product will be a fairly small ISO image (30 MB or less) that you can burn to a CD and boot from. It will automatically build your system for you, pulling what it needs from the network mirror you selected, while you sit back and relax.

VoIP presentation at PenLUG

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 13:25:06 -0700

I presented at Peninsula Linux Users' Group yesterday.

Topic: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) using Asterisk.

Description: This presentation will cover the design of VoIP for a small-business scenario. It will cover configuration and use of AstLinux using 1) a bootable CD and a USB Flash key, 2) Soekris net4801 embedded x86 platform. The presentation will also touch on other Asterisk distros such as TrixBox, which supports many additional features such as billing, CRM etc.

Details at: http://www.penlug.org/twiki/bin/view/Home/MeetingAgenda20070628

Google Desktop for Linux

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:41:06 -0700

Google Desktop for Linux is now available. No, there's no sidebar at this time. Requirements include glibc 2.3.2+, gtk+ 2.2.0+. The Google Desktop for Linux features are similar to what's offered on Mac OS X and Windows.