OStatic

Video editing software for Linux is, to put it nicely, quirky. Some editors only work with specific file formats, some work nicely for basic video editing but can be wildly temperamental on seemingly identical machines, and some are powerful to the point of overkill for the average user.

PiTiVi is a non-linear video editor based on the GStreamer multimedia framework. After hearing some positive comments, and seeing development efforts really picking up on the project, I decided to take it for a spin. It is very much in development, but not in the traditional sense. It feels very stable, and the interface isn't confusing or a hindrance. It is, at the moment, very basic when it comes to functionality. There are not plugins or extensions currently available (though feature requests are welcome). However, the project has taken the time to plan its path forward -- and with the basics down, I can't see why real headway won't come quickly.

As the Ubuntu Developer Summit (UDS) kicks into high gear, the hopes, dreams and plans for the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 release are taking shape. Over at Ars Technica, Ryan Paul reports on Canonical developer Michael Casadevall's presentation highlighting some of the technical nuances of making Android applications run on Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

Ubuntu's popularity aside, it is still esoteric -- Google has the upperhand in non-open source enthusiast name recognition. This no doubt plays into netbook manufacturer's opting for Android on netbooks, even though (as Paul states) Android is still very much a smartphone platform. Android can be modified, of course, but Ubuntu (or any Linux distribution) are already lightweight desktops potentially requiring fewer modifications to work well on netbooks.

Will adding Android compatibility make Remix a more attractive platform option? Can it really hurt?

One of the best things about technology and its innate hackability (intentional or otherwise) is the endless variety of seemingly mismatched hardware and software that end up working (logically, even) once a hack is finished. The combinations are limitless -- using a stationary bike to power your NetBSD toaster, installing Linux on an XBox 360 -- and range from useful, to potentially useful, to just because I can.

There have been some hacks done to the Nintendo Wii, enabling people to create and test homebrew applications and travel the globe, virtually, via balance board and Google Earth. The Wiimote has been configured to control a few open source applications, such as MythTV. Now, as CNet's Eric Franklin reports, Google software engineer Matt Cutts has gotten his Wii Fit balance board to communicate with his Linux box (he's using Ubuntu) via Bluetooth and roughly 200 lines of Python code.

My apologies to The Highlander franchise (except for The Quickening, which I'll never mention again -- ever) for not accepting the there can be only one approach for every aspect of my life. And to bMighty's Matthew McKenzie, I owe a giant round of applause and thanks for stating quite eloquently something I've been thinking about for some time but have been unable to tame into a post.

McKenzie discusses the importance -- or relative lack thereof -- of Net Application's revelation last month that Linux surpassed 1% of the operating system market share. While statistics has the unique distinction of being an area of mathematics that doesn't flat-out discourage creativity in calculation, and the gathered data depends as much on where it is collected as how it is interpreted -- I feel he's right in his conclusion it's not a win, or a loss, or even terribly indicative of a trend.

Framed in the overall marketshare terminology, the information (or how it was gathered and calculated) isn't necessarily questionable, it's more that it's meaningless. It's nebulous, even when one looks at several months worth of data. I agree with McKenzie that Freeform Dynamics' look at how Linux is used in various business settings answers an actual question -- and the answer can be used to ask further questions, form opinions -- and maybe one day even explain to some degree what 1% of the market share really means.

The Ubuntu Project may have just unleashed a legion of Jackalopes upon the world, but is well aware that time waits for no animal, real or cryptozoological. This is why the first alpha version of Ubuntu 9.10, the Karmic Koala, is now available for brave testers everywhere.

Keep in mind that this is the first alpha, just opened for development. This means not only that it should be kept far, far away from production machines, but that many of the nifty new features that will be in the final Karmic release aren't there at all yet, never mind perfected. Currently, however, there is a new kernel based on the 2.6.30 release, and the latest development version (2.27.1) of the GNOME desktop environment. Applications are being updated (and added) quickly, and there's definitely a wild ride (and a lot of bug-squashing fun) ahead for interested testers.

There's one little domain name out there that's had a wild ride this year. In January, a rather cryptic post went up on Linux.com, a SourceForge web property, that said updates had been slowing -- and were as of that point ceasing -- because changes were in the works. Then came the silence on the wire.

In early March came the announcement that the Linux Foundation was taking the reins at Linux.com, transforming it from something rather static into something that could better capture the spirit of learning, experiencing, and giving back that is an enormous part of the operating system's allure. Input from existing Linux.com members and others interested in having a say was gathered through the IDEAFORGE submission tool, and the Foundation got to work at making these wishes a reality.

At this very moment, the little domain name is embarking on the next leg of its journey. The Linux Foundation is officially unveiling the new Linux.com, a product by the community, for the community.

I've never had any deep-seated issues when it came to flashing the BIOS on any of my systems. It's generally something I don't worry about unless it's clearly necessary, because it traditionally meant hunting down floppies that worked or figuring out whether the motherboard in question could flash from CD or USB. My motherboards of late have included handy (proprietary, but still undoubtedly handy) flashing utilities that took the whole media search out of the equation. Problem is, I can only use these handy utilities on Windows, and only one computer in the house fits that description.

All right, there is one emotionally scarring BIOS update in my past. When I built the MythTV box, the motherboard had a sensor that was confident my processor was hitting the 180 degree Celsius mark, and was subsequently shutting down. Of course, the sensor was misreading the temperature, a known issue with this motherboard, and a BIOS flash would put it right. The problem was the motherboard could only flash via floppy, and the one working floppy drive in the house was in another computer. The chassis for the MythTV box didn't have a floppy bay at all, so I ended up holding a floppy drive over the open case while the BIOS flashed.

The likelihood of these sorts of situations happening in the future for those using Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems (including Mac OS X) has just been minimized. The Coreboot project has released the 0.9.0 version of flashrom, which it says is faster than many vendor flash utilities, scriptable, and requires no physical access to the machine in question (no floppy drive, no keyboard, and no monitor? No problem!).

openSUSE recently announced the dates and agenda for its very first Community Week. Much like the Ubuntu team's OpenWeek, the purpose of Community Week is to assemble and introduce new contributors all over the Linux-using world to each other, and the openSUSE Project. And while developers are a vital part of an open source community and are encouraged to attend and get involved in openSUSE's Community Week, participants don't necessarily need programming skills -- only a willingness to learn, connect and pitch in the skills they possess.

Community Week kicks off on Monday, May 11th and concludes on May 17th. Most of the events take place on Freenode, with individual components (such as openSUSE-specific discussions on KDE, GNOME, or marketing) having their own unique #openSUSE-project channels and schedules.

As the story broke yesterday that Novell and Intel were joining forces to encourage OEMs and ODMs to use the Linux-based Moblin platform on netbooks and small devices, a number of comments -- and questions -- began swirling in the open source world.

InfoWorld wonders if the collaboration efforts aren't a bad omen for Novell's SUSE Linux, while CNet's Matt Asay thinks the move could be a positive one for Moblin and Novell, and one that could ultimately give Google's Android a real fight.

The Linux Foundation has published a general overview of how Linux is increasingly powering cloud computing. The short document, written by the Linux Foundation's Amanda McPherson, examines in a very accessible manner what cloud computing is, where it began, how Linux became one of its pillars, where it is headed, and how Linux is getting it there.