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You turn on your trusty old Linux box, and things are going well as you pass through the boot loader, until the disk check reveals that your hard drive partition table is corrupt, and you are unable to access your machine. You need a good rescue disk — and the best way to get one is to create your own.

Release 5.0.0 is available for download. "Slax" is updated to version 6.1.2 (customized for better user experience), "System Rescue CD" is updated to version 1.3.1, "Puppy Linux" is updated to version 4.3.1, "Parted Magic" is updated to version 4.5 and "Tiny Core" is updated to version 2.4.1. New feature has been added: "boot.kernel.org" (BKO) is available as boot option. This allows you to boot your PC from remote location (internet). Visit http://boot.kernel.org for more information.

With its open source release Thursday of its Closure JavaScript tools, Google (GOOG) is starting to suggest that it may eventually become a good open source citizen. The newly released tools include a JavaScript compiler, a very broad JavaScript class library, and Java/JavaScript-friendly templates. All are released under the Apache 2.0 license, a very permissive license that essentially lets outsiders do whatever they want (rather than a viral or semi-viral license like EPL or LGPL).

A Boston-based startup named Litl is taking a big risk: they're betting people will go for a netbook that sports a Linux-based OS and focuses on Web-/network-based productivity (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). The risk is in the pricetag: $700 -- almost twice the price of computers that can do twice as much. Is there a market for this?

Android 2.0 (formerly codenamed 'Éclair') is the latest evolution of the mobile OS developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. This version is a chunky upgrade, superceding the current Android 1.6 software (dubbed 'Donut'), which was actually considered "a minor platform release". The first phone to feature Android 2.0 will be Motorola's comeback phone, the DROID (aka the dull-sounding Milestone in Europe).

Novell and Microsoft have each filed summary judgment motions in the antitrust litigation about WordPerfect that Novell brought against Microsoft. In addition, we find out what happened regarding the Bill Gates deposition. And neither party can find certain documents that might be in the Comes collection. I wonder if you can?

One Laptop per Child chairman Nicholas Negroponte told Xconomy that OLPC is prepping an ARM-based version 1.75 of its XO netbook while planning to release a "paper-thin" version 3.0 in 2012. Meanwhile, the Internet Archive is providing OLPC users with 1.6 million e-books, says the nonprofit organization.

This column is a bit premature because I haven't had time to set things up and test them yet. But I'm excited about getting started, so here are some preliminary notes on multi-track recording in Linux using a Firewire device. I scored a nice deal on a Focusrite Saffire Pro 26 Firewire recording interface. My studio PC does not have Firewire so I also bought a SIIG PCI Firewire 400 card and a 6-pin to 6-pin cable. Focusrite is a good supporter of the FFADO project, which writes Linux drivers for Firewire recording devices.

Prominent open source personalities presented a host of information about current and future developments in Linux at the Linux-Kongress 2009 conference. This time, filesystems were discussed in several presentations. Among the topics were the advantages of Ext4 and Btrfs, fast Ext4 filesystem checks, and kernel and userspace tricks for minimising the time-consuming movements of read/write heads, all of which can speed up some tasks by several orders of magnitude!

Red Hat execs explain why Linux vendor's Linux virtualization management solution runs only on Microsoft's rival OS. Andy Cathrow, product marketing manager for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, told InternetNews.com. "We spent a lot of time talking to customers to see what their view was on this and I think with the possible exception of Red Hat, everyone has some Windows in their datacenter."

“Sita Sings The Blues” by self-taught animator Nina Paley, may be the first feature-length animated film released under a free license (the Creative Commons By-SA). Presented through a variety of animation styles and narrative tones, it fuses apparently disparate ideas and sources into a unified whole. An ancient Hindu epic, The Ramayana, is retold largely through the songs of a 1920s American singer, Annette Hanshaw. The mode of storytelling also mirrors aspects of the world-wide collaborative potential of twenty-first century art, reflected also in the film’s real life controversies, including copyright entanglements and censorship concerns. Read the full article at Freesoftware Magazine.

Please enjoy 9 free Linux distributions. Free means freedom. All 9 of these contain only free software and have the blessing of the FSF.

It's been more than a month since I last wrote about the CodePlex Foundation, the new open source initiative announced by Microsoft in early September. While things were pretty quiet at the Foundation site for some time, that changed on October 21, when the Foundation posted its new Project Acceptance and Operation Guidelines, a key deliverable that gives insight into a variety of aspects of the Foundation's developing purpose and philosophy.

It's been more than a month since I last wrote about the CodePlex Foundation, the new open source initiative announced by Microsoft in early September. While things were pretty quiet at the Foundation site for some time, that changed on October 21, when the Foundation posted its new Project Acceptance and Operation Guidelines, a key deliverable that gives insight into a variety of aspects of the Foundation's developing purpose and philosophy.

This is a Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 on Linux with Wine howto. This guide shows you how to install and run IE 8 on Linux with wine. The guide also has code samples and screenshots and step by step instructions. Windows Internet Explorer 8 is the latest web browser developed by Microsoft in the long running Internet Explorer browser series.

This is a Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 on Linux with Wine howto. This guide shows you how to install and run IE 8 on Linux with wine. The guide also has code samples and screenshots and step by step instructions. Windows Internet Explorer 8 is the latest web browser developed by Microsoft in the long running Internet Explorer browser series.

The Royal Pingdom takes a look at popular websites that use Perl. "Perl has been around since 1987 and became an early darling of web developers. These days, however, you don't hear much about Perl. Everyone seems to be talking about trendier languages like PHP, Python and Ruby, with Perl left in the back as a neglected, not-so-hip cousin. That might lead you to think that Perl is dying, but as it turns out, it's still used by plenty of websites out there, including some pretty big hitters."

A few weeks ago LWN talked with Sam Ramji about the CodePlex Foundation. Since then the Foundation has published its new Project Acceptance and Operation Guidelines (PDF). Andy Updegrove takes a look at the new guidelines. "The Guidelines and recent reviews with Sam also provide more detail on what types of work the Foundation hopes to undertake. I think that two of the projects that are described in the Guidelines can be particularly useful. The first (mentioned earlier) is intended to provide a resource to help developers understand not only what individual OSS licenses say, but how they fit together. Given that open source is usually a mosaic of existing and new code, all of which is then further evolved, it's essential that the licensing rules that apply to composite code are compatible, rather than at internal war with each other. If this resource is well done, it will indeed be useful for hosted and outside projects alike."

Debian has updated kernel (multiple vulnerabilities), kernel (multiple vulnerabilities), kernel (multiple vulnerabilities).

Fedora has updated kernel (F11, F10: multiple vulnerabilities), alienarena (F11, F10: buffer overflow), alienarena-data (F11, F10: buffer overflow).

Gentoo has updated horde (multiple vulnerabilities).

Mandriva has updated firefox (multiple vulnerabilities).

Ubuntu has updated libgd2 (multiple vulnerabilities), libhtml-parser-perl (denial of service).

After ABI Research projected that Linux represents a 32 percent share of netbooks in 2009 and will overtake Windows in 2013, we spoke with ABI analyst Jeffrey Orr. Orr notes the rise of international consumers and ARM-based netbooks, and discusses Ubuntu, Moblin, Android, and Chrome OS.

The Moblin project released the first beta of Moblin 2.1, fixing numerous bugs while adding support for a 3G modem. Other touted improvements to the netbook-focused Moblin 2.1 include a faster browser with plugin support, Bluetooth discovery support, higher screen resolution support, and an enhanced ConnMan.

New Mandriva Linux release introduces Smart Desktop. Ubuntu Linux may get the majority of attention from Linux watchers but there are many good alternatives available. One of those is Mandriva Linux, a version of Linux formerly known as Mandrake and long considered one of the most user-friendly of Linux versions. And now, just a week after the release of Ubuntu 9.10, Mandriva has released Mandriva Linux 2010, its newest and most feature-packed release to date.

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) has compiled a summary of some of the main arguments in the Bilski v. Kappos case dealing with software patents. "As a legal services organization for free and open source software (FOSS), we filed a brief in support of the respondent arguing (1) that all software is unpatentable under Supreme Court precedent, (2) that software patenting reduces the level of innovation in software, and (3) that constitutional limitations from the First Amendment prevent Congress from making patent law that covers mental steps, basic ideas, or algorithms."

RepRap (replicating Rapid-prototyper) is a 3D printer and it is impeccably free and open source under both the GPL and the Creative Commons Licence. It’s early days but the implications and the promise are potentially enormous in their own right — but the fact that it is resolutely not proprietary is what caught my attention. Read the full article at Freesoftware Magazine.

The Subversion version control system is now part of the Apache Software Foundation. The project cofinanced by Collabnet and the Apache Foundation announced at ApacheCon in Oakland CA that Subversion is officially to become an Apache project.

The H has a report from Linux-Kongress 2009, recently held in Dresden. "Theodore Ts'o said that it is hard to predict which trends will emerge after mobile and cloud computing in two or three years – but that those who can answer this question might become rich. 2010 will (not) be the year of the Linux desktop just like the years before it, said the developer. Ts'o considers developing Linux for desktop PCs a difficult task – while the required improvements to the software stack are in progress, they aren't happening as fast as many people would like, he explained."

Javascript.

The release of Closure Tools by Google under an open source license is all about putting more muscle behind Javascript, whose underlying Java language is under a cloud due to the Oracle-Sun merger.

Web developers face a choice between using Javascript and the Microsoft AJAX Library, part of .Net, in developing Web applications. Google would rather you use tools it depends on, its AJAX Library, and its Web Toolkit.

As C}Net’s own Stephen Shankland notes today, Google has pushed Javascript to its limits in GMail and  Google Docs, and developed its Chrome browser in part so Javascript could run faster. Google likes Javascript like Cookie Monster (above, from yesterday’s Google home page) likes cookies.

Anything Google can do to make Javascript more valuable to you is in its best interests, and the tools described on its blog today are pretty marvelous.

• Closure Compiler is a Javascript optimizer that packs code tighter than your best friend’s jeans.
• Closure Library is a Javascript library with low-level utilities and high-level widgets that work on a wide variety of browsers and can be called on as-needed.
• Closure Templates are implemented for both Javascript and Java, so they can be called from clients or servers.

It is indeed, as one wag put it, a Javascript candy store. It wants to be your favorite candy store. It wants to be your only candy store. No Pepsi, Coke.

Moblin version 2.1 is available for download. This tiny Linux edition is suitable for netbooks & nettops as anounced by the Moblin project steering committee.

We've seen how to check Gmail using the terminal (shell) in Linux and Mac but how about sending emails from a shell? This is actually pretty easy, here's what you have to do:

Version 3.5.5 of Firefox has been announced, it includes fixes for several stability issues. "As part of Mozilla's ongoing stability and security update process, Firefox 3.5.5 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux as a free download from http://firefox.com/. We strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest release. If you already have Firefox 3.5, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours."

The sheer amount of information that Google has on us across its properties can be daunting. The new Dashboard tool is a step toward letting us see what they have.

Gitosis is a tool for hosting git repositories. Its common usage is for a central repository that other developers can push changes to for sharing. This article is how to setup and manage a git repository.There are some great services out there than can do this for you, but why pay money for something you can easily do for free? This article shows how to setup and manage a secure and private git repository that people can use as a central sharing point.

Microsoft Exchange may be one of the most used groupware products on the market but there are also many open source alternatives available.

Wondering how Adobe was able to get Flash onto the iPhone, despite Apple's prohibition against anyone's runtime modules from appearing? Look no further than University Illinois computer science professor Vikram Adve's lab, where he and his students working to support their open source Low Level Virtual Machine (LLVM).

There are plenty of places on the Web where you can find ebooks in the EPUB format, but what if you need to create an ebook yourself? Sigil can help you with that.

The IBM Systems Application Advantage for Linux, also known as the Chiphopper offering, helps developers whose applications run on x86 Linux systems by providing tools to scrub their C/C++ code for portability prior to porting to System p, System i, or System z. Source hardware platforms for 32- and 64-bit applications are x86, EM64T, and AMD systems running Linux Standard Base (LSB) 3.x certified Linux distributions.

One of the reason why Microsoft attracts so much bad press is their trash talk. If you follow Microsoft’s recent track record you will see a pattern. It begins with Steve Ballmer or any spokesperson from Microsoft making a disparaging comment about something

The effort putting Linux on Intel's mobile Atom processor has seen its latest release, with an across-the-board polish for Moblin. The steering committee of the Moblin Project, the Intel-initiated effort that was spun off to the Linux Foundation earlier this year, proudly announced a raft of capabilities new to version 2.1.

As Google continues to build the Google Apps Reseller partner program, the search giant is considering another bold SaaS (software as a service) move. Specifically, Google has started brainstorming about a possible partner program for independent software vendors (ISVs), The VAR Guy has learned. Here’s the scoop.

As I've mentioned before I'm an openSUSE user, and as long as they don't make the "U" lower case again, I'll probably stick with it. When it comes to package management, OpenSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprice (and SuSE before them) are usually associated with YaST (and yes, I'm still waiting for them to upper case the "a"). YaST works well but it's a bit verbose for installing a single package, and of course that's just more fodder for the apt-getters with all their apt-get install this and their apt-get install thats. And you can't argue with them, but there are other options with openSUSE: yum and apt4rpm come to mind, but the preferred solution is zypper.

Empathy is an instant messaging application for the GNOME Desktop. It supports text, voice & video chat, and file transfers and most used messaging systems such as MSN and Google Talk. Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala comes with Empathy as a default instant messaging client. Although I am using Empathy 2.28.1 on Ubuntu 9.10 in this tutorial, everything mentioned will be valid also on most other distributions like Fedora, Mandriva or OpenSUSE.

DesktopLinux.com looks at the results of a study on the percentage of Linux-based netbooks. "ABI Research is projecting that in 2009 Linux will represent 32 percent of netbook sales, far higher than the seven percent figure claimed by Microsoft, says a report. ABI estimates that Linux will overtake Windows on netbooks by 2013, largely due to sales in less-developed countries."

Now that's what I call an Android phone. Actually, that's what I call an Android phone that might just kick some iPhone @ss.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) edition has been around since Ubuntu 8.04, and has taken on some pretty stiff competition of late from Moblin. Inquiring minds want to know which version is better for my netbook? Paul Ferrill pummels UNR in hopes of finding an answer.

ABI Research is projecting that in 2009 Linux will represent 32 percent of netbook sales, far higher than the seven percent figure claimed by Microsoft, says a report. ABI estimates that Linux will overtake Windows on netbooks by 2013, largely due to sales in less-developed countries.

Canonical released Ubuntu 9.10 last week, which introduced the Ubuntu Software Center and brought a wide variety of other improvements, while Red Hat is scheduled to release Fedora 12 in two weeks. With the impending release and the current development freeze, we took the compose release candidate for Fedora 12 x86_64 and have looked at how its performance compares to Ubuntu 9.10. In this article are our results, which actually show some rather large differences between Fedora and Ubuntu when it comes to the speed of the Linux desktop.

cnet reports that Novell has laid off 3 percent of its employees. "Linux jobs in the United States are booming, up 6 percent since January, according to data from Dice.com. This will come as small consolation to Novell employees, however, which weathered another round of layoffs at the Waltham, Mass.-based company. According to several sources within the company, and confirmed by Novell's public-relations director, Ian Bruce, Novell last week laid off 100 to 130 people of its roughly 3,900 global employees. While my sources indicated that the Workgroup division was particularly hard-hit, Bruce told me that the cuts came "across the company, both geographically and productwise.""

CentOS has updated kernel (multiple vulnerabilities).

Debian has updated typo3 (multiple vulnerabilities).

This tutorial is designed for new Linux users that are familiar with Microsoft Windows. The goal is to address some of the most common issues that these people face. (Namely, media codecs, and general terminology.) I tried to write it as someone might explain it vocally; I attempted to add humor in an effort to keep it interesting, although I make no guarantees that it is actually funny.

BitTorrent is one of the most contentious technologies available. At least, that is, to the Old Order, those lovely suit-clad corporate types bent on holding technology forever in the days of the — manual — typewriter. The technology, and the suits' dreams of a world free of it, are on trial in Australia, where Linux made an appearance today — at the defense table. The matter at hand is a lawsuit by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft — yes, that's AFACT — against iiNet, an Australian internet service provider over the ISP's role in allowing its service to be used for illegal BitTorrent downloading.

Linux Journal looks at an Australian legal case involving BitTorrent. "The matter at hand is a lawsuit by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft — yes, that's AFACT — against iiNet, an Australian internet service provider over the ISP's role in allowing its service to be used for illegal BitTorrent downloading. The basis for the case, according to trial coverage, is an earlier case — concerning photocopies of print books — which held that the University of New South Wales was liable for copyright infringement essentially because they controlled the copiers. AFACT hopes to use the same argument against iiNet, holding it liable for what goes through because it owns the tube."

Apache Software Foundation (ASF) pioneers have toasted 10 years of independence and successful code development at their annual conference in California. Speakers who spun-up the project in its early days celebrated building a community that has stayed (mostly) friendly and dedicated to the ideal of building open-source code. Also it’s a group that’s remained beyond the control of tech vendors. To mark the anniversary, ASF announced the Subversion open-source version-control project has joined ASF, to become a top-level project. Not that things have been this harmonious - or pain free.

IBM developerWorks has posted an introduction to the NilFS2 and exofs filesystems. "An interesting aspect of NiLFS(2) is its technique of continuous snap-shotting. As NILFS is log structured, new data is written to the head of the log while old data still exists (until it's necessary to garbage-collect it). Because the old data is there, you can step back in time to inspect epochs of the file system. These epochs are called checkpoints in NiLFS(2) and are an integral part of the file system. NiLFS(2) creates these checkpoints as changes are made, but you can also force a checkpoint to occur."

Need to find all the photos you took in France? You can use the Map Searches sidebar to do just that, provided your photos have been geotagged.

In some ways these are the best of times for Microsoft, and open source gets some credit for that.

(I found this charming mashup of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as Dr. Evil at The Big Deal, a blog by Stefano Buliani.)

Without the competition of open source, I doubt Microsoft’s trend toward bureaucracy could have ever been slowed. Every company goes through its own aging process, and renewal only occurs under pressure.

Open source has strained every muscle Microsoft has — legal, marketing, development, management — but the recession of the last year has brought a turn. Resistance within the open source industry to Microsoft’s entry has gone down. This is easy to see in the writings of our own Matt Asay.

The success of the CodePlex Foundation has given Microsoft another entree into the Fortunate 500. It has allowed Microsoft to be the rabbi of these companies as they approach open source, making strategic code releases and building their own internal communities.

Then there have been Microsoft’s own code releases, which have accelerated since OSI approval of its branded licenses. Plus that sweet, sweet Windows 7 cash.

All in all, a good year. A year of peace and progress. And I can hear you grinding your teeth from here.

Despite all of Microsoft’s actions these last few years, the company remains intensely controversial among open source advocates. For me to write the word Microsoft (Microsoft, Microsoft) here at the open source blog leads to a Pavlovian response.

Actually it leads to two Pavlovian responses. There’s the “Microsoft is evil” response, and a corresponding “Microsoft is not evil” response. And this distrust, this air of controversy, continues to cost Microsoft money.

Microsoft executives still have to walk into open source meetings with shields up, while continuing to protect their bureaucratic flanks within the company. This is easy to see when you hear the smiles on former Microsoft open source executives as they speak from their new gigs. It’s wearing.

Since I began writing this blog, nearly 5 years ago, I have watched Microsoft seek to transform itself from a company that sold code to one that sells the services code provides, and I have watched open source projects see the value in having commercial arms that protect more of their right to make money from copyright.

What I have not seen is any reduction in intensity when I write the word Microsoft, from readers, e-mail correspondents, or the open source people I meet.

Why is that, I wonder. Are all those who hate Microsoft extremists, and will Microsoft ever find happiness in an open source world?

"One of the reasons why we've been so successful is we've been able to have a place where people with different sets of interests can come together and work," Leung said. "For the most part, people believe it's a neutral playing field, though every year there is a different company that owns Apache, from IBM to Sun to Google, but that's mostly a joke."

VMware Server is a free virtualization product for Windows and Linux servers with enterprise-class support and VirtualCenter management. VMware Server is a robust yet easy to use server virtualization product and is based on proven virtualization technology, which has been used by thousands of customers for many years.This tutorial will explain how to install vmware server 2.0.x in Ubuntu 9.10

This article talks about the author initial reaction on Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) and tries to explain it in an honest and simple way based on his testing and what he heard about the product roadmap. Also explains the controversial inclusion of Microsoft technology inside RHEV

The 2009 Linux Kernel Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan on October 19 and 20. Jet-lagged developers from all over the world discussed a wide range of topics. LWN's Jonathan Corbet was there, and has written the following summaries.

Google has defended its decision to allow unfettered Android tweaking, saying that although this may fragment the Googlephone market, it's what's best for developers. "Everybody talks about fragmentation as a bad thing, but I think you need to look at it from the perspective of the developer," Eric Chu, Google's group manager for Android mobile platforms, told the wireless-happy OpenMobileSummit in downtown San Francisco this afternoon. "How much work does the developer have to do to address the fragmentation? If there are a million devices and they're in three fragments, they don't care."