linux

What do you use your USB flash drive for? Have you considered running Linux from it? A Linux Live USB flash drive is a great way to try out Linux without making any changes to your computer. It's also handy to have around in case Windows won't boot--allowing access to your hard disks--or if you just want to run a system memory test.

In part one of our "What To Do With Your USB Flash Drive" series, we're going to show you how to run Linux right from your USB flash drive.

Surprising revelation: for the last month or so, I've been using a Linux-powered laptop as my primary work machine.

Linux, of course, is the free, open-source alternative to Windows and Mac operating systems. I've fiddled with it from time to time, but never considered it a viable replacement for either one. 

Mind you, I can't abandon Windows altogether. Not only do I write about it for a living, I also rely heavily on certain features and programs not currently available in Linux.

But this much I've learned: If you want to breathe new life into … Read more

Concluding that its priorities should be on iOS and Android, Adobe Systems has stopped releasing its own version of its AIR programming foundation for Linux.

AIR combines Flash and a Web browser to let programmers build standalone software that runs on any system with the underlying AIR "runtime" that executes the software. It's cross-platform technology, meaning for example that separate versions of TweetDeck--a prominent AIR app--don't need to be rewritten for Mac OS and Windows.

But starting with AIR 2.7, released this week, Adobe won't build a Linux version of AIR anymore, making the … Read more

Most of us have our own unique methods for managing our files. Some of us love careful, hierarchical folder structures, while others prefer to stick with memory and search functions to keep track of documents. All too often, though, we need to find a file based on little more than a memory of accessing it last just before school started or just after the kickoff of some big project. Nemo is a file utility that uses a calendar structure to help you keep track of your documents more easily. Here's how to get started:

An Android app called RemoteDroid allows Android smartphones to become wireless computer touch pads and keyboards. It's a great solution for people using computers as their entertainment hub. Here's how get it up and running:

RemoteDroid requires a client application to be installed on your Android phone and the server to be application installed on your computer. In order to use RemoteDroid, you'll need to make sure Java is installed on your computer. You'll also need a Wi-Fi network. Once these two requirements have been met, you're ready to install RemoteDroid.

Step 1: … Read more

Step aside, Google Docs, there's a new JavaScript tour de force in town.

I'm talking about the latest project from programmer Fabrice Bellard, a JavaScript program that emulates an x86 processor fast enough to run Linux in a Web browser.

The JavaScript PC Emulator can do the work of an Intel 486 chip from the 1990s, but doesn't have a built-in floating point unit for numeric processing, Bellard said. Happily, Linux itself can emulate that, and a version of the operating system's core--2.6.20--runs on the foundation.

Bellard published a technical description of the JavaScript PC Emulator … Read more

A British nonprofit has a novel idea for getting kids interested in computer programming--a computer that fits in a pocket and costs less than the latest video game.

It's called Raspberry Pi, and the prototype isn't pretty--it looks like a leftover scrap from electronics recycling day. But it's a working computer that game developer David Braben and his Cambridge-connected colleagues expect to make available for only $25 for a fully configured system.

Don't expect to see Raspberry Pi on store shelves anytime soon--although I think it'd do pretty well in the check-out line in between the tabloid mags and packs of Trident--because the rough prototype still needs some refining and the Raspberry Pi Foundation's goal is to get the systems into the hands of children in both the developed and developing world.… Read more

A Texas jury has ruled against Google in a suit that alleged some of its use of open-source Linux code amounted to patent infringement, something that could have big implications for other companies using Linux technology and other open-source systems. In the verdict, delivered last week, the jury decided that Google should pay $5 million for the infringement.

The suit was filed in June 2009 by a firm called Bedrock Computer Technologies, which also named the likes of Yahoo, MySpace, Amazon, PayPal, Match.com, and AOL as defendants in the suit. Bedrock, as was reported when the suit was filed, … Read more

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Linux Operating System, the nonprofit Linux Foundation has produced an infographic and video that reminds us how much of an impact the open source operating system has had on the world.

In case you've been living under a rock for the last two decades, Linux is part of pretty much every technology ecosystem--mobile (Android), Web (Google), consumer (TiVo), and powers a huge amount of the Internet itself. And it continues to grow, both as an enabler of new services in the cloud and as the operating system that powers huge corporate … Read more