A talk with Opera CEO Jon Von Tetzchner

Ask me which web browser I use the most and I won't even pause before telling you that Opera is one of the web browsers of my choice. I have always had a soft corner for Opera web browser going even way back when it was an ad supported one. There was this thin non-intrusive bar on the top of the browser which showed a couple of ads when you were browsing the net. But now it is a totally ad-free free web browser which is famed for its innovative features and relatively small memory footprint.

And Jon Von Tetzchner is the CEO of Opera which is a Norwegean web pioneer. The main income for Opera comes from operator deals with search engines such as Google, Yahoo and telephony providers T-Mobile, Vodafone, Telfonica and so on. This means that the end users get to use the world class products of Opera such as the desktop web browser and Opera mini - the web browser for mobile phones, for free while still making money for the company.

Read this exciting interview with Opera CEO Jon Von Tetzchner by Andrew Orlowski.

Compact disc turns 25

The compact disc was first manufactured in August 17 1982. Since its first appearance, it has been a very good run for the compact disc (CD). And last friday August 17, the now ubiquitous CD celebrated its 25th anniversary.

The CDs are engraved with a spiral of tiny pits that are scanned by a laser - the equivalent of a record player's needle. Because the pits are covered with plastic and the laser's light doesn't wear them down, the CD never loses sound quality. And because of this endurable quality of a CD, it became an instant hit with the music lovers around the world. Even to this date, go to any music store and you are sure to find aisles stacked with rows and rows of music CDs.

It is a truism that for all things related to technology, there is always an end in sight. And this is applicable for the CD too. For instance, it is claimed that the CD sales are on the decline. Mainly because nowadays there are portable devices such as iPods and flash memory sticks which have gigabytes of storage and which are smaller than the size of a CD which makes it the preferred medium to store and transport data. Then you have the internet boom which has made data transfer itself a non-issue for those who have access to the internet. Then there are the DVDs and HDVDs which store many times more data than what is possible in a CD. So in all respects the CD is on its way out. Nevertheless it has been a very honorable run for the CD. So here is hoping it will continue to celebrate its birthday for just a few more years ....

Introducing the Interactive Linux kernel map

Linux kernel contains well over 5 million lines of code spread over 100's of files. And it should be a real chore to keep track of specific functions in the different files.

Enter the Interactive Linux kernel map. This map is unique in the sense that all the main functions which play an important part in the functioning of various aspects of Linux kernel are listed in a pictorial format. What is more, the picture can be moved around in the page using the mouse pointer and also zoomed to various levels just by moving the mouse wheel (if your mouse has one).

Navigation using the mouse is done as follows :

• Wheel - zoOM
• Drag - Move
• Keywords, which are links which you can click and be taken to the respective pages.
  

Fig: Interactive Linux kernel map.

Let's say I want to find out more about the function sys_open(). I know that it belongs to the user space interfaces and in the storage section. Using the interactive Linux kernel map, I can easily navigate to the sys_open() link and voila! I am taken to another page which lists the name of all the files where this function can be found. Clicking on any link on this page takes one to the file and location in the file this function is used. Really cool. Even if you are not a programmer, you will find this tool really useful to troubleshoot or atleast pinpoint the problem if you have a better understanding of some of the functions used in the Linux kernel. SO without much ado, check out the Interactive Linux kernel map.

XOrg version 7.3 blueprint for Ubuntu

Ubuntu is fast on its way to achieving full XOrg ver 7.3 integration in its next major release - Gusty Gibbon. Some of the features that one can look forward to in Ubuntu when XOrg 7.3 is fully merged can be put in a nutshell as follows :

• One of the key features of Xorg 7.3 is better monitor autodetection. In integrating 7.3, the Ubuntu team will attempt to leverage this capability for as many graphics cards as possible. For those cards that lack drivers with xrandr support, they will retain the current system.
• Output hotplug, as well as on-the-fly output reconfiguration and mode switching.
• Input hotplug allows hotplugging of input devices, and also adds enhanced support for touchscreens and tablets provided xserver 1.4 is included.
• Better support for multiple input devices.
• A new intel driver replacing i810 and other intel drivers.

Then there is the prospect of a full featured GUI which allows one to edit and change the configuration of the XOrg server. At present if you want to change any aspect of xorg X server, you have to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file by hand. You can check out the blueprint for the merger of XOrg 7.3 in Ubuntu here.

More details of the xorg GUI including screenshots can be viewed here.

Fig: Dependency tree of XOrg 7.3

Ubuntu sources.list online generator

I have faced a number of times the prospect of entering the web address of the online repositories just because I some how tampered the contents of the sources.list file which is residing in /etc/apt/ location. Agreed, it is not difficult to fire up ones favorite editor and enter a bunch of lines by hand. But then it would be nice to have a tool which creates the code to be entered in your sources.list file automatically.

More specifically if the tool resides online, you can access it anywhere. Enter the Ubuntu sources.list online generator. The USP of this unique online tool is that you can create your own custom sources.list from various available sources and it takes only two simple steps.

So next time you are faced with re-building your sources.list file in Ubuntu, visit the Ubuntu sources.list generator and populate your sources.list file.

Related articles :
Using netselect-apt - Tip to select the fastest Debian mirror.
A Concise apt-get / dpkg primer - For new Debian users.
A list of Ubuntu/Kubuntu repositories

Installing Fedora - a video tour

Are you thinking of installing Fedora 7 on your machine ? If you are, then you should take a look at the Fedora 7 installation screenshots I had posted previously.

But if you need something even better such as a video of the installation steps then you should check out the three part video put together at linux.com.

Roblimo Miller the chief editor at OSTG has put together a series of three videos demonstrating all the steps needed to get up and running in Fedora 7. The videos explain the full installation of Fedora 7 from start to finish, First boot after the install and lastly Adding and removing software in Fedora 7.

The videos are made available in two formats ie. Flash and Ogg files and have been released under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. So you are free to download and share the videos with anybody.

I found all three videos to be clear, precise and to the point in explaining and showing each tasks. In short a must watch for all Linux neophytes interested in installing Fedora 7.

You can view the Fedora 7 video tour here. On a different note, I also found the Kubuntu 7.04 video tour equally interesting.

Poll - Which Window manager or desktop do you use the most ?

Nowadays, a majority of Linux users make use of a Desktop or a Window manager while working in Linux, irrespective of the flavor of Linux distribution. Some of us are more comfortable when using KDE while many others swear by Gnome. Again, lots of people use alternatives to the big two - Gnome and KDE for their own personal and practical reasons.

This new poll asks you which Window manager or Desktop you use the most while working in GNU/Linux or any other Unix.

One thing which I would like to highlight is that there is a slight difference between a Window manager and a Desktop. For instance, all Desktops can be considered to be window managers but not all window managers can be categorized as desktops. But for this poll, you can use the two words interchangeably.

So which window manager or desktop do you use the most ? You can cast your answer by participating in the poll. Like last time, the poll will be open for voting just over two weeks ie, till 31st of August 2007.