Interface Designer, OMG! Ubuntu! tech journalist and co-founder, Google and Ubuntu fanboy, part time musician, private pilot, geek. @humphreybc on Twitter.
Garron Haun wrote in to us yesterday to let us know about a project he founded called Linux 4 Hope which aims at rejuvenating donated computers by installing Ubuntu, and then giving them to people in need around his local community.
Ubuntu user and Python developer Jonas Frei sent us an email with a new project he's working on that's aimed at making Ubuntu updates easier to access, and consistinify (new word, do you like it?) Update Manager's presence in the panel.
The developers behind highly anticipated open source RTS game 0 A.D. have announced another update, Alpha 6 "Fortuna" which brings with it a bunch of bug fixes, new textures, map overhauls, sounds, new unit stances, and even a flight mode as a proof of concept for the versatility engine.
Linus Torvalds has announced the release of Linux kernel 3.0 on his Google+ profile after a short delay earlier this week. So what's new? Well, not a lot really. The new release sees a few new patches and standard affair, as well as a bit of older cruft removed, but as Linus explains in his announcement to the Linux kernel mailing list in May, 3.0 won't feature a bunch of new stuff, rather it's simply a version bump to bring the kernel up to 3.0 after almost twenty years of existence. Make the jump for the full rundown.
Half the battle of wanting to contribute to open source is knowing where to start. I remember when I first started contributing to Ubuntu I found it difficult to discover a project to contribute to, especially since I'm not a developer. The Ubuntu community are aware of this, and as such, they've brainstormed a new event that's happening right now.
It's not often that a laptop fills a particular purpose gracefully, and Samsung's first laptop running Google's new Chrome OS does a pretty good job. However before you read on, you should first set your expectations. Laptops running Chrome OS, or Chromebooks as they've come to be known, aren't designed to replace your main laptop or desktop computer. They're not targeted at people who want to do everything and anything with a personal computer. They're specifically designed for certain tasks, and they handle these very well, but sometimes you'll be left wondering why obvious features are missing.
Development tools for Ubuntu - there are a few of them, but which one is the best for C++ development? We dig around in and get our hands dirty with the first iteration of our new series, Ask OMG! where we try to answer reader questions. Read on for a full rundown on the most popular IDEs for Ubuntu!
Yesterday, Google unveiled its new social network and competitor to Facebook, 'Google+.' The service aims to bring the search, phone, advertising, video chat (seriously, what doesn't Google compete in nowadays) giant into the realm of social networks, currently dominated by Mr Zuckerberg's Facebook. We don't usually cover social networks on OMG! Ubuntu!, but we figured that the introduction of Google+ means a lot to the future landscape of the Internet, and the fact that invites are scarce (luckily we were sent a couple) compelled me to write a run-down article covering some of the basic features.
Little-known Italian hardware manufacturer Ekoore have announced two new tablet computers running Ubuntu 11.04, and a third running Android. Apparently named after programming languages, the Ekoore Perl has an 11.6" 1366 x 768 screen, and the Python has a 10" screen. The former measures in at 0.55" thick and the latter at 0.62" making for a fairly comfortable - although slightly bulky - size. For comparison, the Apple iPad 2 is 0.34" thick. As for the guts inside, the tablets appear to be little more than a stripped down netbook. Make the jump for more details and pricing.
One of the many criticisms that the Ubuntu Software Centre has come under since its launch is how difficult it's been to get paid, commercial applications submitted for inclusion in the Paid Apps section. Ever since we released Volley Brawl a couple of months ago, I've had numerous emails from publishers and developers asking me "how on earth did you do that?! We've been trying to contact Canonical for months now to get [game] into the Software Center to no avail." Thankfully it's a problem Canonical are all to aware of, so they've been working on a Developer Portal similar to that of the Android Market or iOS App Store. Developers or publishers can submit their app, add a title, description, price, category and more.
Independent Ubuntu computer manufacturer System76 refreshed their popular 15.6" Serval Professional line earlier this year, upgrading the laptop with an impressively fast second gen Intel Sandy Bridge i7 quad core processor, powerful Nvidia graphics, a lovely 1080p display and lots of options for optical drives and storage. On the outside this model sports a refreshed chiclet-style keyboard, a larger multitouch trackpad, improved aesthetics, and a soft rubber finish. The result is a ridiculously powerful and good looking desktop replacement from System76, and in the base configuration starting at $1,369 USD, competitively priced against other similarly spec'd computers including the latest MacBook Pro.
Canonical's Creative Strategy Lead Ivanka Majic is taking a break from coordinating the design of Ubuntu to enjoy her honeymoon on a motorbike trip from the top of North America to the bottom of South America.