Open Source Cloud News Roundup: Week of Nov. 12

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November 15, 2012

This week in open source cloud news headlines ZDNet steps out with a series predicting the winners and losers in cloud computing. One key measurement of success is how much companies are in tune with the open cloud movement. Amazon could be in trouble there, says TechTarget, and needs to adjust its strategy to account for open source momentum. Also in the news this week: CloudStack is a contender; Rackspace’s OpenStack distribution has new features; and Nebula offers the hardware component to OpenStack software.

Can Amazon Web Services’ Cloud Offerings Evolve with the Times?
TechTarget

The cloud services market leader needs to adapt for an open source world to maintain its lead. This article explores ways Amazon could improve its pricing and services to maintain its edge.

Winners in the Cloud Revolution
ZDNet

VMware, Cloudera and Big Switch Networks are among the companies listed here that are poised to do well in the cloud. One key to future success? Companies must become contributors to open cloud projects, says Jack Clark of Cloud Watch. A follow-up article explores who he thinks the losers of the cloud will be.

CloudStack: Filling Two Niches In Open-Source Enterprise Cloud Management
ReadWrite Cloud

In case you thought otherwise, CloudStack is a serious contender among enterprise cloud platforms.

Nebula Aims to Deliver OpenStack Appliances
ServerWatch

Nebula is bringing a hardware component to the OpenStack software platform.

Rackspace Adds Storage Features to its OpenStack Distribution
ZDNet

The co-founder of the OpenStack IaaS platform has integrated features from the newest Folsom release into its private cloud distribution of OpenStack.

The Perfect Desktop – Kubuntu 12.10

By

Falko Timme

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November 15, 2012

The Perfect Desktop – Kubuntu 12.10

This tutorial shows how you can set up a Kubuntu 12.10 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge. Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop environment.

Android Takes 90 Percent Smartphone Share in China in Q3

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CNET

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November 15, 2012

The operating system owned 83 percent of the smartphone market during the second quarter. [Read more]

Valve’s Steam License Causes Linux Packaging Concerns

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Phoronix

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November 15, 2012

Valve’s initial roll-out of their Steam client for Linux is all centered around Ubuntu. With Ubuntu having the largest market-share on the Linux desktop, Valve is focusing upon proper Ubuntu support as their first priority. In the days that the Ubuntu/Debian package has been available of the Steam Linux Beta, it’s already been reported to work on other Linux distributions. Some Linux distributions have also begun to package the Steam Linux binary for their own platforms, but now there’s some concerns about doing this, at least from the Arch Linux camp…

Read more at Phoronix

Intel Introduces PowerClamp Driver For Linux

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Phoronix

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November 15, 2012

Linux kernel developers have created an Intel PowerClamp driver, which is an experiment with idle injection for Intel hardware to take advantage of power-efficient package-level C-states for power capping and passive thermal control. Separately, Intel RAPL (Running Average Power Limit) support is now exposed through TurboStat.

Read more at Phoronix

Skype for Linux 4.1 Arrives with Microsoft Account Support

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The H

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November 15, 2012

Microsoft’s Skype division has released a major update to its popular closed source VoIP, video and text chat software for Linux. Version 4.1 of adds support for Microsoft accounts and running multiple instances of the software.

CGit Maintainer Disappears, Security Hole Found

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Phoronix

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November 15, 2012

The maintainer behind the open-source CGit project, the popular web front-end to viewing Git repositories, disappeared some months ago. Since then a new maintainer has taken over work on this widely-used software while also discovering a nasty security hole that allows arbitrary command execution. A new CGit release has now occurred under the new leadership to address this problem…

Read more at Phoronix

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Ships Today, Earlier Than Planned

By

CNET

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November 15, 2012

Amazon’s new device originally was slated to hit the market Nov. 20. It starts at $299. [Read more]

Canonical Releases Upstart 1.6

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Phoronix

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November 15, 2012

While most Linux distributions have moved on to using systemd as their init daemon replacement, Canonical is still investing in their Upstart init daemon for Ubuntu. Upstart 1.6 has now been released and it presents several new features…

Read more at Phoronix

Cisco Acquires Cloud Management Company Cloupia For $125 Million

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TechCrunch

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November 15, 2012

Cisco has announced it plans to acquire Cloupia for $125 million. The software company helps customers automate their data centers.

Cisco sees Cloupia’s infrastructure management software enhancing its Unified Computing System (UCS) and Nexus switching portfolio. Cisco expects Cloupia will help better manage the automation of compute, network and storage as well as virtual machine and operating system resources.