http://www.criticalmention.com/components/url_gen/play_flash.php?autoplay=1&clip_info=1615774690|0|59^

Between September and August, Internet Explorer dropped a significant 1.26 percentage points (from 66.97 percent to 65.71 percent) and Firefox moved up a sizeable 0.77 percentage points (from 22.98 percent to 23.75 percent). Safari increased 0.17 percentage points (from 4.07 percent to 4.24 percent) while Chrome once again moved further away from Opera: it gained a worthy 0.33 percentage points (from 2.84 percent to 3.17 percent).

Within the first two weeks, both had their laptops infected by viruses separately – different viruses, different times. One was running XP, the other Vista on you basic Dell laptops. Of course, who did they call? Answer: me.

Well, I took in both laptops and tried to fix them. I found that viruses today are far more advanced – one modified the MBR and the other completely wiped out the Dell recovery partition – savvy indeed. I did my best to try re-installing their respective Windows OSs, but I found that Microsoft’s licensing practices prevented me from succeeding. First, I only had Pro CDs of XP and Vista so the Home license keys on the underside of each laptop were of no use. I’d install the OS, then Microsoft Genuine Advantage would block me… thanks Microsoft.

So I had them try calling Dell – of course, no luck. They wouldn’t send a replacement media for Windows. If I had the time and energy, I’d file a lawsuit against them tomorrow.

So I turned to my laptop OS of choice: Ubuntu. No chance for a license key or media obtainment problem.

My sisters had both seen me using Ubuntu before so they had seen “what it looked like” but they never knew it wasn’t Windows. When I loaded it on their laptops, they actually didn’t know it wasn’t Windows. In fact, the first thing they both did was try downloading/installing iTunes from Apple.com. No luck – Apple, where’s an Ubuntu client?

So I set them up with all the software they needed for iPods. They actually installed their own printers without even calling me (HP printers – great compatibility). They use OpenOffice for their papers/spreadsheets/presentations, Firefox was not new to them, and Evolution is just as easy as Outlook.

They’re now both about to close out their first semester – both made it on Ubuntu alone. And the best news – not a single virus.

More amazingly, the overall number of “support requests” have gone down. Even when they had Windows there were other reasons for calls, but now… only an occassional “how do I?” type question here or there. It’s been great. They easily download from the digital cameras, they manage their music collections (no corrupted iTunes libraries), and they use all the latest social media networks. Now they would both prefer to get a Mac, but that’s the really interesting part – they have no need for Windows.

We’re making progress. Ubuntu is leading the way.

You can see the “story” behind Chrome’s purpose on Google’s website at the URL below. Google put its argument for Chrome and its approach in comic format which I found quite entertaining. For engineers out there, this is a great medium (in my opinion) for communicating the benefit/value of an architecture decision. The technology and impact on the users are clearly defined.

http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/

I’m actually quite excited to see Chrome in action. First, there’s been a lot of work going on with Javascript engines and I’m sure Google did some performance work that should help Google Maps, Gmail, etc. Second, there appears to be a very strong integration of Google Gears into Chrome which should lend to great offline performance and features. Finally, it also looks like Google is going to revolutionize the “behind the scenes” processing your browser does. Instead of implementing a single threaded web processing model as we’re all used to, Google is going to split each tab into its own process. This gives you a multitasking performance boost if you’re a big time power user with multiple tabs executing at the same time. More important though should be the isolation – if Google Maps crashes, it shouldn’t take out the entire browser.

Google Inc. is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine.

The Mountain View-based company took the unusual step of announcing its latest product on the Labor Day holiday after it prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser’s arrival.

The free browser, called “Chrome,” is supposed to be available for downloading Tuesday in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Google said it’s still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.’s Mac computer and the Linux operating system.

Now, yet another question is why do we need another web browser for Windows, Mac and Linux? How about one that supports open standards for the iPhone? Unfortunately Apple is unlikely to budge on its Apps policies which will, I can guarantee, limit its enterprise adoption for the iPhone. I’m honestly shocked that Apple has been touting its “enterprise” potential in some circles and been so standoffish towards enterprise applications vendors who those “enterprise” clients would need. Wake up Apple. You need Symantec, Cisco, AT&T and other network/AV/etc providers. Not everyone uses Microsoft Exchange so you’ll need Lotus Notes, IMAP support, etc. Oh well, I can only hope Apple will one day “get it”.

Let’s break a record…

UPDATE: The site is back up if you were experiencing download issues earlier.

We are pleased to announce the speaker line up for the upcoming Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit at the Austin Supercomputing Center. The speakers, like the attendees of the summit, represent leaders from the developer, industry and end user communities surrounding Linux. Don’t miss the opportunity to collaborate with these individuals on April 8-10, 2008 at the UT Austin Supercomputing Center.
Speakers for the Panel and Keynote Showcase on April 8 already include:

• Kernel maintainers and developers James Bottomley, Jon Corbet, Dave Jones, Christoph Lameter, Ted Ts’o, Chris Wright and others will discuss the state of the Linux kernel community
• Dan Frye, head of IBM’s Linux Technology Center, Christine Martino, vice president of the Open Source & Linux Organization at HP and Wim Coekaerts, vice president of Linux Engineering for Oracle will share their perspective on what Linux means to their companies and where it’s headed
• Senior representatives from LiMO, Open Handset Alliance, Moblin, OpenMoko, LiPS and others will discuss Linux and mobile: why it’s so strong and where it’s going
• Linux is now shipping on multiple hardware offerings. Hear from John Hull of Dell, Bdale Garbee of HP and representatives of ASUS, Acer, Everex and Lenovo on why they chose Linux and what they need from the Linux community to make it succeed
• IDC Analyst Al Gillen will share important new data on Linux deployment worldwide
• MySQL CEO Marten Mikos will discuss his company’s recent billion dollar acquisition by Sun Microsystems and MySQL’s continued commitment to the Linux platform.

This is truly an unbelievable assortment of people. The Collaboration Summit will have representatives from all the big names in Linux from Intel, AMD, HP, Texas Instruments, Google, NTT, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Dell, Red Hat, Novell, NEC, Sony, Motorola, Mozilla, GNOME Foundation, Nokia, Bull and dozens more. Additionally, the first day is an opportunity to meet press and analysts from eWeek, InformationWeek, BusinessWeek, Gartner Group, IDC and more.

Last year’s event filled up quickly. Please apply to attend this event if you feel you should be there:

ttps://www.linux-foundation.org/events/collaboration

This unique, invitation-only event bring together the brightest minds in the Linux ecosystem from the kernel, end user, desktop, legal and vendor communities to collaborate on the advancement of the Linux platform. Attendees can expect purposive discussion, examination and debate through engaging plenary session content and workgroup meetings. Breakout sessions contain all the domain expertise and key
players necessary to make immediate contributions to the platform.

You can see more detailed agenda information here:

https://www.linux-foundation.org/events/collaboration/program/agenda

This is a *free* event for LF members or key individuals needed to advance the Linux platform.

Additional benefits include:
• Special networking evening reception “Shark vs. Penguin” on Tuesday night in downtown Austin. Food, drinks and transportation provided.
• IBM Reception and Solutions Experience Lab Tour on Wednesday evening, including food and drinks.

http://whdb.com/2008/the-top-50-proprietary-programs-that-drive-you-crazy-and-their-open-source-alternatives/

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_abstract.aspx?ar=2098&l2=21&l3=35&srid=17

The European Commission opened a new antitrust probe against Microsoft on Monday into whether it unfairly tied its Web browser to the Windows operating system and made it harder for rival software to work with Windows.

If you’re trying to run it with xulrunner, I recommend reading this: http://groups.google.com/group/pyrodesktop/browse_thread/thread/1f3b79b1b63020c7

BTW, I noticed that my Google Adwords has recently been bloated with “Windows vs Linux” Google ads. They’re from Microsoft – please do click on them proactively – click on them 10 times if you like. I could exclude microsoft.com but when I thought about it – why? Click away, ring up the bill. I’d love to see the invoice report at Microsoft showing detailed billing for the MichaelDolan.com Google Adwords clicks. I also found it funny that apparently someone at Microsoft uses Google to at least buy the Adwords :-).

http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2007/Jun/0528.html

RSVP at least 24 hrs in advance here: http://rsvp.nylug.org/

————————————–

Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
6:30pm-8:00pm
Google
76th 9th Ave., b/w 15th and 16th St.
4th Floor, enter near 16th Street

** RSVP Closes at 2:30pm the day before the meeting (sharp!) ***
Please RSVP for EVERY meeting at this time.
Register at http://rsvp.nylug.org/
Check in with photo ID at the lobby for badge.
Latecomers can sign in, but it means having to sign in and
possibly wait a bit.

PLEASE NOTE: There are no other procedures involved in attending
NYLUG meetings other than those described here. (you are not
required to enter into any agreements to attend)

J. Paul Reed
-on-
Releasing Open Source Software at Scale:
Keeping Firefox Running on Millions of Desktops

In commercial software development, the role of a build/release
engineer can differ widely among organizations.  In open source
software, the role is often minimal, if it exists at all.

But for consumer-oriented open source projects, like Mozilla’s Firefox
and Thunderbird, turning a thirty megabyte source tarball into
something that mom, dad, and your boyfriend can use takes someone
polishing those bits and running them across the finish line.

Do it simultaneously for three platforms in over forty languages, mix
in automatic updates to millions of users’ desktops, and you have: open
source software engineering at scale.

We’ll explore:

* What role a build/release engineer plays in an open source context

* How it’s a different one from its closed-source sibling

* Why it’s an important one (even in open source)

* Differences between releasing a web browser and releasing other
large-scale open source projects (like the kernel or Apache), and

* How a group of worldwide volunteers fits in to releasing software
to millions.

Plus, war stories, “gotchas” learned after interacting directly with
millions of desktop computers, plenty of time for questions, and
GimpArt[1].

Further Information:

[1] http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/preed/2006/11/version_control_system_shootou.html
(http://tighturl.com/5z5)

About J. Paul Reed
J. Paul Reed (affectionately/infamously known as Preed) began his
tenure on the Netscape Build Team at the tender age of 18, just months
after the “Lizard was Freed” in 1998.

After studying software engineering at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, he
joined VMware’s build/release team, helping to ship their their
enterprise ESX and popular Workstation products. In 2005, he came
full circle, and doubled the size of the Mozilla Corporation’s release
team.

As the release module owner, he has helped to ship every release of
Firefox and Thunderbird, simultaneously on three platforms in over
forty languages, including playing playing lead release monkey for the
flagship Firefox 2.0 launch. In reality, it’s the team of five MozCorp
build engineers around the world and a community of hundreds that make
it possible… he’s just along for the ride.

When he’s not pushing bits out the door, getting his blog slashdotted,
or locking the build tree, he spends his time piloting Cessnas around
the pristine California skies, attempting to make edible food without
burning down his apartment, and is forever trying to catch up on his
RSS feed reader.

Meeting Location
Please note that this meeting will be held at Google, 76 9th Ave,
4th floor, between 15th and 16th Streets, and not at IBM. This is
the old Port Authority Building, and takes up the entire block.
You want the entrance nearest 16th Ave.

Map

http://tighturl.com/u4

Free Refreshments!
Google is also graciously providing refreshments during the
meeting. For those of us here in the east who aren’t used to a
“Google spread”, you’re in for quite a treat. “New Google
Cafeteria Crushes Competitors” Cafeterias” (New York Magazine)

Books!!!
Our friends at Prentice-Hall kindly provide us with review copies
of various new titles.  One of these could be yours, all you have
to do is agree to review the book within a reasonable period of
time.

Swag (Give Away)
During/after the meeting… unusually terrific swag may be given
away.

Stammtisch
After the meeting … Many of us have been meeting over at the
Hog Pit starting around 8:15-8:30.  http://www.hogpit.com
22 Ninth Avenue at 13th Street, New York, New York 10014

Please see our home page at http://www.nylug.org for the HTMLized
version of this announcement, our archives, and a lot of other good
stuff.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Hire expert Linux talent by posting jobs here :: http://jobs.nylug.org
The nylug-talk mailing list is at nylug-talk@nylug.org
The list archive is at http://nylug.org/pipermail/nylug-talk
To subscribe or unsubscribe: http://nylug.org/mailman/listinfo/nylug-talk

Also, there’s a Firefox 4 Alpha 4 build out now… first look over at Wired.com

And this story just amazed me, this guy wrote 235 USB webcam drivers… hopefully he has time to maintain them too :-)

1) Canonical joined Gnome Foundation’s advisory board.

2) Microsoft Silverlight was recently unveiled… Flash killer? Skeptical. Regardless it promises to mess up with a nice trend having Flash 9 on Linux…

3) Microsoft releases a Windows Media plugin for Firefox (but only for Windows…) See a theme here?

4) Nice interview with Mark Shuttleworth -he seems to be everywhere these days including a press hit for DB2 9 on Ubuntu ;-)

5) Oracle Enterprise Linux has some issues popping up …

6) CentOS 5 for x86 and x86_64 released. It’s funny, I think Oracle’s announcement did more to put CentOS on the map… people who never knew of CentOS before suddenly recognize them (and some even pronounce it correctly)

7) Ubuntu Live registration is now open

8) Microsoft sends the black suits into Florida to kill ODF – black helicopters rumored to follow….

9) SFLC says every copy of Microsoft Windows includes a $21.50 “patent tax” that goes towards paying for Microsoft’s litigation bills/penalties. No wonder Ballmer keeps throwing out IP threats – he needs those Linux users to help pay his bills….

10) Asus announced plans for a $199 flash based (SSD) laptop (no, not a typo – that really says $199)

There’s one more news item I wanted to cover… but I do need to get home at some point ;-)

Oh, btw, the WordPress 2.1.3 update went without a hitch.

I should also mention, when I did find out, I had to reboot into Windows. After 20 mins of downloading patches, I had to reboot… then it installed another round of patches… reboot… I think it’s been over 30 days since I’ve used Windows anywhere… I’m really not that excited to fix this issue.

Automate your Firefox web browsing!