While this is a slap in the face to both Canonical and its legion of users it’s great to see a major PC builder offering Linux-based systems in their range, it gives the penguin posse the reliability of a brand name and should also raise Linux’ profile and bring new users in from the chilly, bug-riddled wasteland that is MS.

This decision brings Dell into line with HP, who also offer SUSE systems. This is therefore firm progress and another arrow in MS’s back, so dancing in the streets is keenly suggested.

From the article it sounds like Dell’s target market is OEM’s rather than consumers, but if I guess right once the machines are produced the demand from non-OEM users will be so loud and so large we should soon see the range expanded to indulge them.

The question now is, do the other brand-name makers have the required masculine accessories to join Dell and HP at the party and offer their own penguin-powered boxes? We’ll have to wait and see, but if the profits are strong enough to tempt them this could be the year Mr. Balmer’s worst dreams come true…

According to one scribe at Forbes Magazine, a publication not exactly famous for scare stories or inadequate research, the gnomes at Symantec are now facing a class-action suit for [allegedly] using fake results and scary text in their software to compel users to pay for upgrades or renewals.

The lawsuit claims the company designed its programs to scan users machines and give doom-laden warnings of potential threats…even when nothing was found. In a statement a Symantec spokesman says the firm “does not believe the lawsuit has merit and will vigorously defend the case.”

If – and it’s not as bizarre an idea as it sounds – they lose it will be interesting to see MS’s response. Will they drop Norton and go with another vendor, or just leave users at the mercy of the technological Swiss Cheese that is ‘Windows Firewall’?

Stay tuned, kids – this could get good…

Those who create the Redmond Virus have already been faced with a court case that cost them millions in fines and induced a deep public distrust of their products and methods yet the arrogance persists, apparently unchecked. If you need to lock other people’s machines from being able to use a product you don’t make and therefore don’t approve of you’re either scared of its effect on your oppressive monopoly, irreparably evil or dumber than dirt.

Here’s the article – You be the judge…

The merest outlines of such an event are horrific. You can just picture the scene – Try to watch a movie on Netflix and an inescapable parade of on-screen boxes will ask if you’re sure you want to…for about half an hour. And when – or more likely if – you get past that stress point the whole system will go down in a flurry of blue-screens and you’ll have to reboot every electircal device in your home and start all over again.

And of course Norton Anti-Virus will be there to offer intrusive, distracting and unwanted ‘help’ during every possible twist of this teeth-chipping fiasco.

The benefits of Linux over the system created by these avaricious heathens is already extensive but I propose we make room for this story, just in case the Myans were right and it comes true.

What do you think?

The relief and freedom is made even more enjoyable by the news regarding Mint’s growing popularity, which is being almost solely achieved at the expense of Ubuntu.

While it’s sad to see a great distro losing its way Ubuntu’s woes are an entirely self-inflicted wound. Unity was a mistake. It turned a wonderfully capable desktop OS into something Fisher Price would be proud of. It was then imposed on the users without even a way to even remove parts of it they didn’t use or didn’t like.

This imposition caused enormous unrest among the Ubuntu faithful and the rise in popularity of Mint is just one tangible result. Mint’s user base is now booming while Ubuntu’s declines, and when the newcomers discover Mint Debian, which is even faster than Mint and removes any need to even upgrade I predict the Ubuntu crowds will dimish a great deal further.

Will Mr. Shuttleworth and his team find a compromise and stop the rot? No-one knows, but unless the imposition of Unity is reconsidered the end of Ubuntu’s formerly unasailable position as the predominant Linux OS could be closer than he and his friends would ever care to know.

They have the time to undo this, backed by a great deal of good will from the users. But it requires an admission that imposing Unity against the clearly expressed will of a great swathe of their supporters was a conscious mistake.

The very future of their OS rests on their willingness to put their hands up and confess. We must now wait and see if they have the nerve…

The silence was apparently due to Clem and the posse having trouble deciding whether to stick with the old and fading Gnome 2.3, or explore a new frontier and embrace Gnome 3 as the front end. Their solution – widely hailed on the blog for its elegance – is to use version 3 but add an interpreter so it looks and works like Gnome 2, thus reducing the culture shock.

The best news, of course, is what we’re not going to get – Unity. It continues to decimate the Ubuntu fan-base and could have easily done the same for Mint, but it’s still excluded and I’m sure the sense of relief among Mint fans was rightly enormous.

But something’s not right: When the Ubuntu camp are building an update they release Alpha and Beta versions for testing by the more hardcore geeks. Mint 12 has had none; We’ll get a release candidate on or about November 11 and the final version should emerge nine days later. And that’s it.

So either the Mint developers are allergic to bugs and simply never create them or the team were so absorbed by trying to make Gnome 3 palatable they didn’t even have time for a Beta. We’ll find out in about two weeks.

Ubuntu 11.10 still features Unity, but even with several bugs solved it’s causing friction and people are shopping for a distro without it. If the Mint team can make Gnome 3 work and keep the bugs to a minimum this could truly be the version that takes Ubuntu’s #1 spot.

The Mouse House have reportedly hired Robert Ben Garant – whose previous convictions include Ben Stiller’s historical oddity ‘Night at the Museum’ – to create the screenplay for a Disney-fied version of a famous Japanese graphic novel called ‘Tuxedo Gin.’

The story concerns a young street-fighter who lapses into a coma and only has enough karma to come back to life as an animal. But it must weigh under 15-pounds, so he chooses a penguin.

The degree of visibility and public recognition this film could give Linux defies measurement. And if the dudes at Disney can add an Ubuntu symbol to the movie somewhere they’ll sell more copies of the Blu Rays and T-shirts than they can possibly print.

There’s no date for release yet but you can expect the Linux lovers to start forming lines any day now…

The original ‘64′ debuted way back in 1982 and grew into a major success for the Commodore team. The new version has no mouse or monitor, and also lacks a DVD drive or WiFi.

But for some reason it still costs $595.

The outside looks the same, but thankfully the interior has been updated to allow for the passage of time – You get a dual-core Atom processor, 2GB of RAM and ‘Nvidia Ion2′ graphics power that can run 1080p video, a 160Gb Hard Drive, plus some USB ports and a decent card reader.

You can also add cool stuff like a bigger drive, Blu Ray and the now essential WiFi options – but that makes the price even more scary.

The good news is that under the hood lies Ubuntu 10.10. Open Source, baby!

If you’re feeling nostalgic and in the mood for some wrist-bending fun, here’s the address. If you get one please let us know how it works for you…

OMG

Photo by Steve

The nD is a handheld console which will sell for just $20 – it’s cost price – and run a customized Linux OS. Games will then be sold through an ‘App Store’ with makers getting 90% of the price and the nD’s creators keeping the rest.

You can find full specs and details at their web site — The-nD.com. And here’s the firm’s YouTube channel where you can review the latest promotional video.

Personally I’d say this is a workable idea – Sell the consoles at cost price and a lot of folks can afford them. You then make the real money from the games — for which you just created a large block of demand.

Apple is sure to have a fit and try threatening lawsuits but I can see this new gizmo drawing quite a few fans.

What’s your reaction?

The dudes at Canonical have held onto Gnome 3 as the desktop but sadly the prepubescent eye-bleach that is Unity is still there.

The main changes from Alpha 1 are an upgrade to Firefox 5, the replacement of Evolution with Thunderbird as the email client [and about time!] plus the arrival of Deja Dup to help users make backups. And to the dismay of many, Synaptic is no longer part of the package.

There’s also a new Kernel – 3.0 rc5, plus new GTK themes and some tweaks have been made to the scroll bars.

But remember – Alphas are no place for wimps. These things can break down. A lot. If you want to help squash bugs you can try this, but use a live CD or USB stick. Otherwise keep away.

If you’re feeling geeky and brave you can get the ISO’s from here….