linux

Fusion Garage Grid tablet selling for $299

Fusion Garage's new Grid 10 tablet is selling for a healthy $200 below its originally announced price.

Available for sale in the United States and scheduled to start shipping this past Monday, the Grid 10 is being served up in two versions--a 16GB Wi-Fi-only version for $299 and a 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G edition for $399. Those numbers compare with the previously announced prices of $499 and $599, respectively. Shipping is free.

A spokewoman for Fusion Garage told CNET that the company was able to lower the price after negotiating its supply chain costs with a manufacturing partner. Customers who … Read more

Get Spotify on Linux

Linux isn't officially supported by the Spotify music service, but if you're a premium or unlimited subscriber, you can get the Spotify for Linux preview version onto Ubuntu. Here's how:

Step 1: Open up a terminal window (CTRL+ALT+T).

Step 2: Add Spotify to the list of repositories by adding the following line in /etc/apt/sources.list, deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free

Type command:

sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list

Step 3: Add Spotify's public key to verify downloaded packages.

Type command:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 4E9CFF4E

Step … Read more

How to back up your Linux computer

Linux gives you plenty of control over your computer, but with great power comes great responsibility. That means backing up your files regularly (among other things), and while cloud storage is attractive, for many of us, it's not enough. Here's how to back up your data (note: I am using Ubuntu, so the details may differ somewhat if you use a different distribution): 

From the search bar, just type "backup" to bring up preinstalled options. I'll be using Simple Backup Suite. From the first tab (General), tell Linux how often you want to … Read more

Raspberry Pi $25 computer now in early production

In May, we told you about a tiny $25 dollar computer on a USB stick that could plug in to just about any TV. The developers' idea is to have an affordable tool that can get kids anywhere, perhaps even in developing countries, interested in computer programming.

When we first saw the prototype a few months ago, full-scale production seemed pretty far off, but now comes word that 50 alpha models have been produced and Raspberry Pi Foundation director Eben Upton expects the final product to ship by the end of the year to be used by educators worldwide.… Read more

Monitor your Windows, Linux computer from a smartphone

Maybe you just need to see how a download is progressing, or maybe you need to kill a process that's eating your network alive. If you're on-site, it's easy, but if you're working remotely, you need a solution. PC Monitor lets you check in with and exert control over your Windows or Linux machine from almost any smartphone. Here's how to get started with it: 

Download and install PC Monitor on your computer and on your smartphone. Run PC Monitor on your computer. (You will need to set up an account the first … Read more

Coders choosing Mac OS over Linux environment

Apple's Mac operating system has surpassed Linux in popularity as a development environment in North America, according to an Evans Data survey.

Windows remains at the top of the development environment heap, used by 80 percent of the survey's more than 400 professional software developer respondents in June; Mac OS was used by 7.9 percent of those surveyed, displacing Linux, used by 5.6 percent.

A few other tidbits from the survey:

Developers believe that mobile and cloud development will increase the most in importance over the next three years 44 percent of respondents are actively engaged … Read more

Gartner: Windows 7 on 42 percent of PCs by year's end

Two years after its official debut, Windows 7 will finally become the leading operating system around the world by the end of 2011, says a report out today from Gartner.

Before the year is over, the current flavor of Windows is expected to show up on 42 percent of all PCs globally. Further, Gartner's latest research shows that 94 percent of all new computers shipped this year will come with Windows 7, leading to almost 635 million new Windows 7 PCs in 2011 alone.

Recent stats from Net Applications found that Windows XP was finally losing some of its … Read more

Name your own price for five PC games (Win, Mac, Linux)

Now this I like.

The Humble Indie Bundle #3 is a collection of five PC games, all of them compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Their combined value: about $55.

Your price: whatever you want to pay. Think the bundle's worth a buck? Pay a buck. Think it's worth $15? Pay $15. Feeling generous? Pony up $5,000 and earn the pole position on the Top Contributors list.

What's great about the Humble Indie Bundle is that you get to decide how to divvy up your contribution among four potential recipients: the game developers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, … Read more

Six cool things to do with your USB flash drive

What do you use your USB flash drive for? Perhaps you store work documents, photos, music, or movies on them. If you think they're cool because you can store and transport files with them, wait till you see what else you can do with them.

Here are six cool things you can do with your USB flash drive, in our series roundup of "What to do with your USB flash drive." Each item is linked with step-by-step instructions.

Run Linux

Have you ever wanted to try Linux but were too afraid? Linux Live media allows you to … Read more