U.K. Officials Suggest to dump all the Microsoft software and start using Linux and Open Office. The Linux and GNU software offer a free or a very low cost alternatives to Microsoft software, so why to expend on a system which is expensive if you can have it free or at low cost. In words of Prime Minister David Cameron:

In terms of spending less, what about migrating the whole of government (the NHS, education etc.) from Microsoft products to Linux and open-source software like Openoffice.

Source: Business Week News

I was at the mall today, looking at all the fancy new games (and old ones) on the Wii. I found pretty ridiculous that some 3 year old games were at the same price as some of this year's.

Back in high school and college, I used to "invest" in video games (both money and time), more than I did today. But even then, I don't remember spending that much money. I have a Xbox at home - not the 360 one, the old brick. It sits in the basement, acting as a media center these days. I recall buying old games on it at ridiculously low prices - the lowest being 2$. But from the looks of thing, I don't think I'll be doing that on the Wii - unless I end up with some mini game compilation.

It makes me think of how much it costs to like Star Trek. I remember shopping for the Voyager series - about 60$ per season. And there are 7 of them. Let me say, at that price, the lure of torrents is very strong. I can resist, but for many, resistance is futile. I mean, it takes a lot of motivation to spend that much on a TV show that started in 1995, even if I loved it.

I instead turned my eyes on music - I got the soundtracks of The Elder Scrolls III and IV (Morrowind and Oblivion for the quick ones). For about 16 bucks, I'd say it was a pretty good deal. The music is just great - if you liked the game and its music, you'll certainly love the soundtrack.

That being said, there seems to be some cool items in the linux.com store - I'll have to check that back some day. People stopping by to ask you about fresh kernels? Priceless.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFZw7yihGT0&feature=player_embedded 450x300]

Speechless, all is true. I need to download that app :D

Well, not all in life is programming, and after have the best software of the world (yes, I'm talking about Linux), you can give a new look to your desktop with this collection of 75 of the best (in the author words) wallpapers featuring Tux, enjoy!!!

Source: Designora

The Background
This is my first article so be kind! I am a developer and a Linux user of over 10 years which may be surprising given my low age. One of my favourite things to do in Linux is to test out software and websites that I build because I strive to make everything as multi-platform as I can (saving on porting costs, hardware costs and software costs wherever possible).

The First Problem
One of the problems for me with Linux is that it can be hard to keep track of exactly what is installed in the system (For those of you suggesting apt, yum or alike consider there are over 25 packages just for X and well over 250 in a standard Linux install and then there are those miscellaneous dependencies we all add because programs won't function without them).

The Next Problem
My next problem is that I have multiple clients all with different needs, one person wants a .NET program (fine use MONO), the next person wants Java, the next C++, the next AIR, the problem is that the system gets clogged up with junk and I have neither the time, patience or inclination to do anything about it.

The Solution
My solution is simple I use virtual machines within VirtualBox to build and test the machines, it means that I no-longer have to reboot my entire PC if I accidentally compile and run (while(true){ continue; }) or similar. It also allows me to keep my main system as static (and therefore stable) as possible and it has a number of added advantages.

Added Benefits
If you use VirtualBox you can make all of your data transitory or "portable", you can connect it to an external E-sata hard-drive and reap much the same performance as a regular pc, you can also set up clustering within the guest by adding bridged virtual Ethernet connections to "defer" the CPU load to other computers and with VirtualBox comes one other advantage, "native mode" the application can run as if it were a native application on the host PC without any of the possible security risks (due to the VM sandboxing the App).

The End
So this is the end of my short article on de-clogging the fluff, I welcome all questions and suggestions as I'm not much of a writer and want to improve.

This is my first blog.

I have been wondering how society can benefit from music services like Spotify. What comes to mind is the relaxing effect music has. Now you cant just label any particular kind of music relaxing. It may vary greatly from person to person and his or hers state of emotion.

I don't know if this works but you could collect lists of songs from users that they tag with 'These songs help me when I'm feeling' sad, angry and so forth.

Of the millions of listeners of these services there has to be at least a dozen of whom you get an emotional match.

This way you also know you are not alone.

In the early days of the Linux.com relaunch, we had users flock to new community functionality, and received great feedback. The site is now kicking butt and taking names. We have been hard at work adding new social and sharing features to make the site useful to the growing global Linux community. We have also fixed a lot of bugs and made the site more stable so it can grow as the community grows. I have listed some of the notable new features.

Alright, so I should tell you from the start that games are my bussiness, yeap no linux stuff on here yet. Maybe if a lurk around linux.com more i will have time and knowledge to write something about what I am doing on my linux.

I know that some of you are really bored at work and because of this  you just want that god damn program to end and go home, but I found a solution( well not really a solution but a workaround, in programming terms, to this problem), I always power on my computer and get some gaming on jocuri cu motorete going so that the time can pass more easily and fun!

Till next time, yours truly Alexandru Petru!

P.S. Maybe i made your day a little bit less boring, good luck!

To make the UI of Firefox lighter similar to the Chromiums one, you can accomplish that by installing some add-ons. These are the add-ons that I have:

• compact menu 2 - to transform the menu into a drop-menu button.
• in about:config:
  browser.allTabs.previews = true
  to make the top-right corner arrow display a thumbnail list of tabs
• optionally uncheck the status bar from the view menu, e.g:
  View --> Status Bar.
  To see the links, it's good to install the add-on Fission, enable all or any checkboxes.
  It would be advisable to remove the search bar at the right corner, and use the Awesome bar, e.g:
  ?myQuery to search something.
• install the add-on xclean - adds a little icon to remove the selected text, useful if one needs two stuff to copy, one with the mouse, and other with the normal clipboard, so the selection wont replace the content

And that will be all, to ensure speed, install any adblocking add-ons, speed optimizers, etc.