Now in a closed beta  and currently only for Ubuntu(specifically, 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope”), is a new service from Canonical called Ubuntu One.  Similar to Drop Box, Ubuntu One is a service that will sync files with multiple computers and also let you share a file with other Ubuntu One users.

Free accounts get 2 GB storage, and those who pay $10 per month get 10 GB of storage in the cloud.  Get in the queue if you’re running Ubuntu, so you can check it out.

Although it may not have happened yet when you read this, the Jaunty Jackalope is now streaming around the internet to anxious Ubuntu fans and early adopters.

Some of the things that are in this release are:

• Gnome 2.26
• Improved handling of multiple monitors.
• X.Org Server 1.6
• Wacom tablet hot plugging
• Faster booting
• Ext4 Filesystem Support
• Server Edition includes “Cloud Computing” features and Turn-Key Mailservers.
• Missing on their website is the new Osdnotify system for notifications.

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This press release came down on Friday, but I wanted some time to digest the lengthy press release because there’s more than just Android on a E-Ink display in this release.

First, the headline is that MOTO Development Group has the first example of Android running on a E-Ink display.

E-Ink displays are like the displays that run the Amazon Kindle.  They are low power, black and white screens for the moment.  Imagine having a color version of this with a touchscreen layer on top.  You could probably gain some battery life with these screens or at the very least have a Android powered eReader.

Also in the press release is this little tasty tidbit:

MOTO labs is working towards customized solutions that employ not only Android but Ubuntu, Linux, and Adobe AIR platforms for custom web-connected application development. We are actively extending our multi-touch and gestural interfaces expertise to these platforms. MOTO is also developing prototypes for better remote management of connected devices with a range of approaches from Mac & PC based device management applications to over-the- air wireless firmware and software updates. Stay tuned to labs.moto.com for more on this thread.

So what are they getting at?  Is Moto working on a Mid?  What about the Adobe Air thing?  Maybe a mobile phone that runs Air applications?  It’s anyone’s guess.  Make sure to keep checking the site for more details.  I certainly will.

As we prepare to give thanks for all the things we’ve been blessed with over the past year and eat a bunch of food, I was thinking of one thing I am most certainly thankful for and that’s Open Source Software.  Without it, I could not be writing this post as we are a user of FOSS or Free and Open Source Software here at Gear Diary.  Most of us use Firefox and the software that runs it is WordPress.  With out FOSS, much of the internet wouldn’t exist. So I thought it appropriate to list and write about 10 things in the FOSS community I am most thankful for.

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Still being very geeked about the announcement from Neuros, at lunch I was perusing the forums on the Neuros site and discovered just how hackable the Neuros Link will be.  The answer is: VERY

The Neuros Link is running Ubuntu 8.10 according to Joe Born’s post in the forum and the specs page.  That means that you can pretty much run any variant of Ubuntu on it.  Joe himself has installed Boxee on the Neuros Link, so it may even be possible to get Mythbuntu running on the box since you can probably add a USB Tuner to it as well.

UPDATE: Found more….the Neuros Link runs a Athlon CPU, so it’s x86 box!  This is VERY good news!

We’re nearing the release of the Intrepid Ibex, and I thought I would share some of my thoughts after having used both Ubuntu and Kubuntu versions of the venerable and popular Ubuntu Linux.

First, since there’s not a large Linux audience on Gear Diary, I will do a little explaining.  The Linux Kernel was first developed by Linus Torvalds in or around 1991.  He was designing it as a replacement for the Minix kernel.  It’s hard to say when it truly started to take off, but the most important thing Linus did was release the kernel under the GPL, which then lets anyone who wants to modify the kernel.  Since the kernel is GPL, anyone can download a copy, modify it if they wish and then redistribute it  – so long as there is credit and a copy of the GPL included with it.

Since it is GPL, many others have taken the Kernel, the GNU utilities and other GPL software and then distributed it.  First, was SLS.  Then Slackware, then Redhat and Debian.  So as the years have gone by, there’s been distribution after distribution…more distributions than I can count.  Some think this is a bad thing, but I think it is a very good thing, as it gives the user a choice of which tools they would like to use.

My choice (or choices) as of late have all been Debian based.  My top two favorite distributions of Linux are Ubuntu and Kubuntu.  The main difference between the two is that Ubuntu uses the Gnome Desktop as its interface, while Kubuntu uses KDE.

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It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by.  A lot has happened in the Linux world.  While the economy is in the crapper, Linux is growing in both the easy of use and the strength of its community.

Ubuntu was at the show this year and had machines from System 76 showing off Hardy and giving out CD’s.  There were at least 5-6 different CD’s they were handing out in this booth alone.  This includes, Ubuntu Desktop and Server in 32 and 64 bit versions.  They also had Kubuntu in both 32 and 64 bit versions as well as a remix of Kubuntu with the shiney KDE 4 Desktop.  That doesn’t cover the myriad of other Ubuntu based remixes out there.  Ubuntu has firmly entrenched itself as THE Linux distro that is in everyone’s bag. Continue Reading