Unixster

This tutorial shows how you can set up a Kubuntu 9.04 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge. Kubuntu 9.04 is derived from Ubuntu 9.04 and uses the KDE desktop instead of the GNOME desktop.

This week at Phoronix began by learning that Compiz is now running on ATI R600/700 GPUs when using the latest open-source Mesa / DRM stack. Owners of ATI Radeon HD 2000/3000/4000 series graphics cards are now just a step away from finding "out of the box" open-source 3D acceleration support. On that same day there was also the release of the OpenGL 3.2 specification, but that didn’t come as a surprise.

What sounds like DRM is really a cool open source journalism tool. That’s my take-away from Associated Press to build news registry to protect content — a press release that went up on 23 July. After you get past the opening paragraphs, which are pure paranoidese…

If you’re feeling a little dizzy, maybe it’s because you marched in circles too long on Pi Approximation Day. Or perhaps your head is spinning over the news that Microsoft donated about 20,000 lines of driver code to the Linux kernel. Or it could be that DRM has you shaking your head back and forth in violent frustration. Just don’t go pounding it against the nearest wall.

This morning VIA’s Bruce Chang had submitted the DRM code for the Chrome 9 IGP with a request that it be pushed into the mainline Linux kernel. The DRM alone isn’t usable to an end-user without a Mesa driver or something else to take advantage of this kernel component. VIA previously expressed interest in a Gallium3D-based Chrome 9 driver, but now today we find out they have no intentions on creating an open-source Chrome 9 3D driver. Instead, they just want this DRM into the mainline Linux kernel so that it can be used by their binary blob and to hopefully have some open-source developers come along and create a free software driver from their incomplete documentation.

It’s easier than ever for Linux users to avoid closed, proprietary applications and drivers. But life is complex, and there are still times when a Linux user’s choices are not as simple as FOSS/non-FOSS; for example, multimedia is a minefield of patented codecs, binary blobs, and DRM. So what’s a freedom-loving Penguinista to do?