The Growing Linux on Power Ecosystem

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December 17, 2014

Earlier this month, a report by the Linux Foundation identified that Linux deployments are up 14 percent over the last three years, while Windows is down 9 percent. In addition, Linux solutions have grown 23 percent since 2013. What this further confirmed is that our strategy for IBM Power Systems growth is aligned with market realities: that Linux continues to grow in both the cloud and in enterprise application deployments â€“ and more and more enterprises are turning to the value of Linux. (Source: ZDNet)

Linux has been a growth area of focus for Power for the last 18 months. New applications for big data analytics, mobile and social â€“ whether on premises or in the cloud â€“ are being developed on an open source stack of software. Last year, we announced a $1 billion investment in new Linux and open source technologies for Power Systems servers. That investment also included the introduction of over 50 new Power Systems Linux Centers and expanded our footprint in IBM Innovation Centers worldwide; with them, weâ€™re offering resources to clients, software developers, business partners, academics and students to develop and deploy innovative next-generation applications on Linux on Power.

Read more at IBM Smarter Computing Blog.

Why is the Number of Linux Distros Declining?

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Datamation

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December 17, 2014

The number of Linux distributions is declining. In 2011, the Distrowatch database of active Linux distributions peaked at 323. Currently, however, it lists only 285. However, exactly why the decline is taking place and how much it matters remains unclear.

Distros have always come and gone. In fact, Distrowatch lists 791 distributions that have existed since it was founded in 2001, although less than forty percent have ever been in active development at any given time. These tallies may not be complete, since some distributions probably never register with Distrowatch, but they are as accurate as anyone is likely to offer.

Snappy Ubuntu Arrives for Google Cloud, Optimizes Docker Use

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OStatic

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December 17, 2014

As we’ve reported before, more than half of OpenStack deployments are being built on Ubuntu, according to the OpenStack Foundation, which backs the claim up with survey results. Ubuntu’s popularity with the cloud crowd is not lost on Canonical, which recently launched a new “snappy” version of Ubuntu Core. This minimalist take on Ubuntu can especially serve Docker deployments and platform-as-a-service environments.

Now, in a smart move, Google has adopted the Snappy core for use with Google Cloud. It’s a streamlined version of the Canonical Ubuntu Linux distribution tuned to run Docker and other containers along with Google Cloud. It provides the essential components for running Linux task in the cloud, but removes some of the bulk of the full version of Ubuntu.

New Ruby Benchmarks On GCC vs. LLVM Clang Compilers

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Phoronix

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December 17, 2014

Earlier this month were the independent benchmark results that saw Ruby built under Clang was faster than GCC when a developer running Debian was doing some basic compiler performance tests. Now another developer has done more extensive Ruby benchmarks on varying versions of GCC and Clang…

These are the New Faces of Android Wear

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The Verge

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December 17, 2014

Google has opened a section to the Play Store dedicated to serving new watch faces for Android Wear smartwatches. Until this new debut, which accompanies a significant software update for the Android Wear watches themselves, the only choices available were the standard ones preloaded by Google, a few extras provided by manufacturers like LG, and a few from grassroots fans who made their own. Now Google has an official development kit for new faces and a whole bunch of options already…

Multi-Stream Transport 4K Monitors To Become Better Supported On Linux

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Phoronix

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December 17, 2014

For a number of months David Airlie at Red Hat has been working on DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport (DP MST) handling for Linux. Keith Packard over at Intel is now playing with DP MST too for bettering modern 4K display support on Linux within X.Org Server based environments…

SuperX 3.0 Beta Continues To Polish The KDE Desktop Experience

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Phoronix

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December 17, 2014

SuperX is a relatively young Linux distribution that tries to ship a polished KDE desktop experience…

Rackspace Embraces OpenPOWER

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ServerWatch

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December 17, 2014

IBM’s efforts to expand and open the base of its Power server system architecture is growing today with the inclusion of cloud data center vendor Rackspace. Rackspace is now the 80th member company to join the OpenPOWER Foundation, which is now entering its second year of operations.

Calista Redmond, Director, OpenPOWER Global Alliances at IBM, explained to ServerWatch that IBM will continue to optimize its POWER8 systems while also enabling an open and collaborative model for those who want to build their own systems. POWER8 servers were first launched by IBM in April this year, with additional POWER8 servers announced in October.

Cloud Adoption Driven by Reliability, Business Continuity

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eWeek

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December 17, 2014

Nearly all U.S. respondents in the NaviSite survey reflected some level of concern in securing enterprise data as part of their list of IT priorities.

Samsung Believes Wearables ‘Will Create a New Era of Power Dressing’ in 2015

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The Verge

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December 17, 2014

The 2015 equivalent of the shoulder pads of the 1980s will be wearable technology, according to Samsung. Instead of a power suit, the business leaders of our decade will rely on connected wearables “to stay ‘always-on,'” and the first wave of that change will be smartwaches, of which Samsung already has five different varieties. This is the headline prediction from a set of five key trends that Samsung has identified for the coming year. It’s supported by the company’s research into business attitudes, which found that 47 percent of wearable tech users felt more intelligent, 61 percent felt more informed and efficient, and 37 percent claimed that the wearable helped with their career development.