Full Circle Issue 1
Editorial
The big news this month is the announcement from Dell that they will ship both desktop and laptop machines with Ubuntu pre-installed. You may say "It's only one company," but correct me if I am wrong, (and I'm sure you will), but Microsoft began their rise to dominance from just one deal with IBM. And if Microsoft can do it, we can do it... and better!
I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the Ubuntu community who helped make the full circle pilot issue such a roaring success! I wish I could name you all one by one but it'd take up the entire issue! Within one week we had over 25,000 downloads! As I write this editorial we are heading for the 55,000 mark. Within days of releasing issue #0 we had a flood of emails from volunteers wanting to translate full circle. As I write this we have six translations for download now with several more on the way. If you would like to translate this magazine into your native language please visit our wiki translation page (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMagazine/TranslateFullCircle), read the guidelines, and get to it!
If family history is your thing then we have a special treat for you with a review of GRAMPS - the Linux genealogy software - next month we hope to have an exclusive interview with its creator.
Maybe you're more of the DIY type? In our How-To's this month we have the in's and out's of those directories are on your hard drive, the first in my series of Scribus tutorials, an introduction to MythTV and lots of other good stuff.
I hope you enjoy this first issue and remember; myself and the team are all on our website forum at www.fullcirclemagazine.org and also on irc, channel #fullcirclemagazine on the irc.freenode.org server. Come say hello!
All the best,
Ronnie
News
Dell partners with Ubuntu!
With many people speculating on whether Dell would ship a distro of Linux pre-installed on its laptops, it came as something of a surprise to see that Dell CEO Michael Dell uses Ubuntu 7.04 on his home laptop!
Within days the worlds worst kept secret was out; Dell announced that it would indeed begin shipping some of its laptop and desktop machines with Ubuntu 7.04 : Feisty Fawn.
This was sparked by Dell asking its customers what they would like to see in future Dell machines. Much to Dell's surprise, many of its users asked for Linux to be preinstalled!
All respect to Dell for listening to its customers, following through on their promise to give the customer what they want and taking the bold move of using Linux. Bravo!
Sunnz - sunnzy@gmail.com
DID YOU KNOW ?
Each Ubuntu release is named after an animal (eg: Hedgehog, Badger, Fawn). Prior to Feisty Fawn was Edgy Eft, what kind of animal is an Eft?
'During the time right after metamorphosis, many North American Newt species go through a phase called the 'eft phase'. In some cases their skin changes color, but efts always live their life on land. Only when the eft reaches adult hood will it begin to live its life in a more aquatic fashion'
(Wikipedia)
Linux: Violating Microsoft Patents?
Brad Smith, Microsoft's top lawyer, has stated that open source software violates 235 of the software giant's patents including 42 in the Linux kernel, 65 in the Linux interface and related design elements, and 46 in OpenOffice.org.
"What's fair is fair. We live in a world where we honor, and support the honoring of, intellectual property. [Open source needs to] play by the same rules as the rest of the business," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Prosecuting the violations could prove problematic for Microsoft as several major supporters of open source hold a number of patents which could possibly be used to attack Microsoft's own software including Windows.
Ubuntu goes mobile
The BBC News website reports that:
A version of the increasingly popular Linux operating system Ubuntu will be developed for use on net-enabled phones and devices.
The Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded project aims to create the open source platform for initial release in October 2007.
The operating system will be developed by members of the Ubuntu community, along with staff from chip giant Intel.
Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6634195.stm
Ubuntu Tribe - The Movie
From the Press Release:
Ubuntu Tribe is a semi documentary cyberomantic comedy, filmed under the Dogme 95 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogme_95) rules. The short movie, still in development, will be distributed on-line under the Creative Commons license.
The original version will be in Euskara with two subtitled versions; one in English and one in Spanish.
The project is still in development. And you can be active part of it. If you have an idea or wish to offer your point of view please let us know at info@ubuntutribe.com.
You can find out more, and view the trailer at the official page: ubuntutribe.com
