Which Linux Distro And Why?

Starting with basic Ubuntu and working his way through Fedora and Debian, space-saving Puppy Linux, powerful Red Hat Enterprise Linux and more than a dozen others, our open source expert matches Linux distros to specific needs.

By Serdar Yegulalp
InformationWeek
February 24, 2009 04:00 AM

When you tell someone, "I'm going to buy a car," you usually hear, "Which one?" Ford, Toyota (NYSE: TM), Mitsubishi, Honda, Saturn? Two-door, four-door, mini-van? And so on.

Likewise, if you say "I want to run Linux," you'll get the same question: Which one? There's no one "Linux" in the same sense that there's no one "car". There are things common among all cars as there are among all Linux distributions: all cars have an engine, and all Linux distributions share the Linux kernel and many of the GNU utilities.

The company's IT GRC software helps automate the assesment and testing process for business decision makers with a customizable dashboard.

But that's where the similarities begin and end. There are easily hundreds, if not thousands of Linux distributions that are maintained and updated regularly, many of which are tailored for extremely specific needs.

Think I'm kidding about speciialization? There's even a flavor of Linux dedicated to the Asian strategy game Go, called Hikarunix.

Who's to say what's worth running? With such a bewildering variety of choices, it's tempting to simply opt for the familiarity of Windows or even the Mac, both of which come in only a couple of basic variations.

The truth is, you don't need to drive yourself up one wall and down another choosing a distribution. Odds are you don't have to pick from more than one of three or four, tops, depending on your requirements and inclinations.

Rather than just run down a catalog of distributions (something you can easily get at Distrowatch), I've taken about twenty of the most popular and useful distros and grouped them by the way they answer specific user needs. If you read the header of a given section (e.g., "I want something simple for an older machine") and find yourself nodding in agreement, chances are the distributions discussed there will be what you need.

Continue reading from the SOURCE

FOR 2009:

HEALTH

• Drink plenty of water.
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
  
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
• Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
  
• Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.
  
• Play more games.
• Read more books than you did in 2008.
• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
• Sleep for 7 hours.
• Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
  

PERSONALITY

• Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
  
• Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
• Don't over do. Keep your limits.
• Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
  
• Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
• Dream more while you are awake.
• Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
  
• Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
• Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
  
• Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
  
• No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
• Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
• Smile and laugh more.
• You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
  

SOCIETY

• Call your family often.
• Each day give something good to others.
• Forgive everyone for everything.
• Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
  
• Try to make at least three people smile each day.
• What other people think of you is none of your business.
  
• Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

LIFE

• Do the right thing!
• Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
• GOD heals everything.
• However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
• No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
  
• The best is yet to come.
• When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
  
• Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Software libre! Cuba develops own free Linux called 'Nova'

Nova Baire is based on Linux variant Gentoo

February 12, 2009 (Computerworld) Cuba released its own distribution of the free Linux operating system this week, as the communist island seeks to wean its citizens and institutions from what it says is insecure, capitalist-produced Microsoft Corp. software, according to a report.

The Reuters news service reported Wednesday that the new version is called Nova, and was introduced at a technical conference in Havana.

Based on a Linux variant called Gentoo that is popular with highly technical users, Nova has been in development since 2007, according to the Associated Press, after Free Software guru Richard Stallman visited the island and persuaded government officials to move off Windows.

Microsoft software, such as Windows, is widely used in Cuba, though much of it is pirated, according to Reuters.

Continue reading from the SOURCE

IT Management Slideshow: 10 Areas Where Open Source is Open for Business

1. Operating Systems
2. Customer Resource Management (CRM)
3. Enterprise Resource Management (ERP)
4. Mobile Computing and Communications
5. Business Intelligence
6. Applications Development
7. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Telephony
8. Web Browsers
9. Virtualization
10. Security

To view the slideshow click the SOURCE

Nato's cyber defence warriors

By Frank Gardner Security correspondent, BBC News

Nato officials have told the BBC their computers are under constant attack from organisations and individuals bent on trying to hack into their secrets.

The attacks keep coming despite the establishment of a co-ordinated cyber defence policy with a quick-reaction cyber team on permanent standby.

The cyber defence policy was set up after a wave of cyber attacks on Nato member Estonia in 2007, and more recent attacks on Georgia - so what are they defending against and how do they do it?

Tower of Babel

Nato's operational headquarters in Mons is a low, drab three-storey building - part of a sprawling complex set in rolling farmland south of Brussels.

Nato officials refuse to say who they think is behind the attacks

The blue and white flag of the 26-nation alliance flutters in the cold breeze alongside the spangled banner of the EU.

Inside the canteen it is like a Tower of Babel with almost every language of Europe competing to be heard above the clatter of trays and dishes.

Our escort, a German army officer in immaculate uniform, leads us down a corridor to a hushed room where 20 or so military analysts sit hunched over computers; their desert boots and camouflage fatigues strangely out of place for a windowless room in Belgium.

This, explains Chris Evis, is the Incident Management Section, which he heads.

Click here to continue reading...