Filed under: Linux, Open Source
Moblin netbooks are coming - can Linux based netbooks find a market?
by Paul O'Brien Sep 22nd 2009
When netbooks first started hitting the market, they were low on raw power, storage and profit margins, meaning that they were ideal candidates for running the Linux OS.
Asus, who arguably kicked off the whole netbook market with their Eee PC machines, originally shipped their devices with a variant of Xandros Linux and robust SSD drives. As the market matured, Asus moved to match their competitors by concurrently offering a more traditional Windows XP / hard drive option, and only recently ceased to offer the Linux configuration.
Despite the fact that Windows XP devices dominate the market, it seems Intel's 'Moblin' initiative could bring the Linux movement back to the massive Netbook marketplace.
Speaking at the first Linuxcon Conference in Portland, Oregon this week, Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, said "You're going to see this week interesting new netbooks coming out that are killer. They have the cool factor and they're priced right". Jim believes that the Netbook segment is moving towards providing a free device on a wireless service contract, with a model similar to that used in the mobile phone industry today. His (questionable) assertion is that this drives down costs and encourages a low cost model that only Linux can work with, as it removes the Operating System licensing cost - something Microsoft simply aren't able to do.
Last week we let you know about an amazing hack that 
While this isn't a software-related story, it should be relevant to anyone that is considering buying a Dell computer. The Consumerist has a post with what they are calling 
The head of Toshiba's Italian division says the company is thinking about giving customers the option of ordering Tecra, Satellite, Portege and Qosmio notebooks 
Rumblings and rumors surrounding pre-installed Ubuntu on Dell machines have been flying over the last few days, and 
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
