July 2009
2 posts
1 tag
Simplifying Nautilus →
The GNOME community is exploring ways to simplify the Nautilus user interface and excise some of the unnecessary cruft. Further reading: David Siegel: Featured papercut - Nautilus simplified Garret LeSage: Hackweek Nautilus mockups
Jul 29th
Jul 29th
June 2009
9 posts
3 tags
New Fennec 1.0 beta release →
Mozilla has released Fennec 1.0 beta 2 for Maemo and 1.0 alpha 2 for Windows Mobile. The new version includes a new theme and performance and usability improvements. Mozilla has also released Weave 0.4.0 with support for Fennec. Further reading: Studying Fennec Performance
Jun 27th
3 tags
Building an open video movement →
The Open Video Conference brought together stakeholders in the Web video space and facilitated discussion on a wide range of related issues. Further reading: Open Video Conf Roundup Open Video Conference an amazing step forward
Jun 26th
3 tags
ConnMan: new Linux connection manager →
Intel’s ConnMan connection manager is used in Moblin instead of GNOME’s NetworkManager. ConnMan is more modular and easier to extend, so it makes it easier to add support for new kinds of connectivity and build custom connection management user interfaces. NetworkManager developer Dan Williams has written an informative blog entry rebutting some of Intel’s claims. Ars...
Jun 26th
1 tag
Advantages of using the Mozilla platform in GNOME →
Chris Lord discusses some of the reasons why he chose to use the Mozilla platform for Clutter rather than WebKit. He says GNOME should rethink it’s transition to WebKit.
Jun 25th
3 tags
Mobile walled gardens: insular APIs and platform... →
Lefty explains how insular development ecosystems lead to platform lock-in in the mobile space. It highlights my biggest concern about Android, which is that the lack of flexibility in userspace is going to limit the potential for portability and end-user innovation.
Jun 14th
3 tags
Android Scripting Environment →
Google has released a scripting framework that allows developers to write software for the Android platform using Python and Lua. It provides access to many underlying platform and device features, including the camera. A new Native Development Kit is also available for building Android software components in C. Further reading: Android Scripting Environment code page Ars write-up: Android...
Jun 14th
3 tags
Chromium Blog: The Plausible Promise →
Chromium developer explains that the early releases of the Linux and Mac OS X ports are intended to help foster growth of the community.
Jun 14th
3 tags
Harvesting ambient EM radiation to power phones →
Nokia is conducting research to charge phones by tapping into ambient electromagnetic radiation. Current prototypes can harvest 3-5mw. Nokia’s target is 50mw.
Jun 14th
3 tags
Oracle wants JavaFX UI for OpenOffice.org →
Ellison encouraged the OpenOffice.org developers to build C++ bindings for JavaFX APIs so that JavaFX can be used to build the next-generation OpenOffice.org user interface. OpenOffice.org user interface is being overhauled as part of the Renaissance project.
Jun 14th
April 2009
7 posts
Aaron Seigo discusses the potential of Plasma on... →
Further reading: Artur Souza: Plasma on Netbooks - the theory behind the code Marco Martin: Update on this netbook thinghie Ars write-up: KDE’s new Plasma netbook interface shines in small places
Apr 25th
Compiz in VirtualBox →
VirtualBox 2.22 includes improved support for accelerated 3D rendering in guest operating systems. It is now robust enough to facilitate Compiz.
Apr 25th
SUSE-powered Shuttle nettop with Atom processor →
Apr 25th
Christopher Blizzard comments on Google's 3d... →
Chris provides a very clear explanation of the differences between Mozilla’s approach to 3D and Google’s approach to 3D. He places a strong emphasis on the importance of enabling seamless interaction between 3D graphics and other native web content. Ars write-up: Google joins effort for 3D Web standard with new plugin, API
Apr 25th
Programming with Clutter →
Introductory tutorial that describes how to use Clutter in C
Apr 24th
Copyright assignment and other barriers to entry →
Dave Neary of the GNOME community has shared some insightful thoughts about the dichotomy between copyright assignment and community-building.
Apr 17th
Firefox tab sidebar →
I’m a big fan of the tree-style tab extension for Firefox, which allows users to organize browser tabs into a hierarchical structure in a sidebar. Mozilla user interaction designer Aza Raskin recently wrote a blog entry discussing the possibility of adopting this feature or implementing a similar concept in a future version of Firefox.
Apr 17th
January 2009
1 post
1 tag
The future of Compiz →
Compiz developer Kristian Lyngstol expresses concern about declining developer participation in the Compiz project. Another developer has recently started a new fork in C++ that aims to provide a stable plug-in ABI and support for non-composited operation. Additional information: Now there is Compiz++ The Future of Compiz in Question Ars write-up: Compiz community shakeup could bring big...
Jan 3rd
December 2008
9 posts
4 tags
GEdit installer for Windows →
GNOME’s GEdit graphical editing tool has been ported to Windows. A Mac OS X port is also under development.
Dec 29th
2 tags
The Chakra Project →
Chakra is a KDE-centric derivative of the Arch Linux distribution. They also provide KDE package repositories for regular Arch installations. A short review covers how it performs on an Acer netbook.
Dec 29th
2 tags
Ubuntu and Desktop Notifications →
Christian Hammond has published his response to Canonical’s plans for a new desktop notification system. KDE developer Aaron Seigo has also posted a follow-up response with some additional thoughts about the implications of the new system for KDE.
Dec 29th
2 tags
Why Current Linux-Preinstalls Pose Adoption... →
KDE developer Daniel Molkentin writes about the problems he encountered with outdated software and a lousy update system on a Linpus-based Netbook. It’s very similar to the problems I experienced with my Asus Eee.
Dec 29th
Dec 29th
4 tags
D-Bus API for extracting mail metadata from... →
TinyMail developer Philip van Hoof writes about plans to create a D-Bus metadata API for e-mail clients so that the data can be extracted more easily by indexing services.
Dec 28th
3 tags
Neuros LINK →
The latest product from Neuros. Unlike the OSD, the LINK uses a conventional x86 processor instead of ARM. It is shipped with a custom version of Ubuntu and can output at 1080p. Neuros is offering several bounties to encourage third-party development. Additional information: Neuros LINK wiki page LINK technical specifications
Dec 20th
2 tags
Mako template engine for Python →
Mako is a lightweight template library for Python. It’s very fast and it has advanced features like template inheritance, callable blocks, and support for conditional expressions and iteration in templates. Additional information: Exploring Mako Mako for people in a hurry
Dec 20th
Shuttleworth discusses the usability roadmap for... →
Mark Shuttleworth talks about morphing dialogs and other usability enhancements that are being developed for Launchpad. The Launchpad developers also recently introduced a new bug tracker plugin API that will make it possible to add support for bidirectional Launchpad synchronization to third-party bug trackers.
Dec 20th
September 2008
11 posts
Shuttleworth responds to Mozilla EULA controversy →
Sep 15th
Codecs and DVD playback on Ubuntu 8.04 for all... →
Sep 15th
Sep 7th
Firefox Extension: Read it Later →
Read it Later is a lightweight bookmarking extension for Firefox that allows users to save pages to a reading list. It’s a very practical solution to Firefox tab overload.
Sep 7th
Sep 6th
Sep 6th
4 tags
Vimjuta 0.1 Released →
Vimjuta is a Vim editor plugin for GNOME’s Anjuta IDE. It’s still has some bugs and it is missing support for autocompletion, but it’s a really good start.
Sep 6th
3 tags
Review: MOTODEV Studio for Linux →
This review looks at the SDK for MOTOMAGX, a LiMo-compatible mobile Linux platform that is being developed by Motorola. Unfortunately, the current generation of MOTOMAGX phones will not support native applications.
Sep 6th
“I think that the next 18 months we’re going to see a 100 to 1,000 fold...”
– Microsoft senior program manager Scott Hanselman
Sep 6th
Ruby on V8 →
Marc-André Cournoyer plugged HotRuby into Google’s V8 JavaScript engine.
Sep 6th
1 tag
Dropbox for Linux →
Dropbox is a file synchronization tool. The new Linux port, which is in closed beta, includes a Nautilus integration plugin. I’ve been testing it myself and I’m pleased with how well it works. It has some nice features like automatic version tracking.
Sep 6th
August 2008
1 post
3 tags
Apport - an automated crash handler →
This tool for Ubuntu detects when applications crash and will automatically collect relevant debugging information that users can submit with bug reports.
Aug 30th