OStatic

Even though it's a point release, the latest Amarok comes with some major new features and all the benefits of the 2.2.0 release. Dubbed Weightless, the 2.2.1 release is full of bug fixes and polishing from 2.2.0 release as well as improvements to music management, podcasts, and the ability to update Amarok scripts.

Amarok is already speedy when processing large media collections, but this release includes a tweak to take it up a notch. In the past, Amarok would scan an entire directory -- including sub-folders -- when the main directory had changed. Now Amarok can just breeze through the main directory if the subdirectories haven't been modified, making it even faster. And it's plenty fast already: I've passed a 57GB collection through Amarok in just a few minutes.

Wikipedia pushes for Ogg Theora. Wikipedia?s move to support Ogg Theora for video uploads may be the last chance to break the proprietary video monopoly.

Amazon shows need for open eBook standards. The company violated the privacy of Kindle users when it remotely deleted copies of Orwell?s 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindle Readers.

An open alternative for Palm Pre iTunes users. How about the KDE Amarok 2 media player?

Open source and social media: community, collaboration, freedom. Open source is the natural platform for fast-evolving social media and social networking.

Whom does the Google Chrome OS really threaten? Could the real targets be you and your privacy?

?T-Mobile's next-generation Android phone, myTouch, coming up July 8th. The 3G phone is a big step for Android.

Why Ubuntu has become the flag bearer for Linux. It's not just because of Canonical's investment.

PostgreSQL version 8.4 is now out and available for download. Improvements to the open source database focus on administration and monitoring.

10 awesome features of Krunner in KDE 4. Here's a screenshot-driven tour.

Amarok music player 2.1: One step forward, two steps back. There are several improvements, but also several issues.

With clouds, license arguments become fog. Does it matter if you are using a license out there??

After 5 months of work, there's a new version of the Amarok music app. The playlist can now be customized to only show the information you care about, matching the way you use Amarok.

Unix turns 40: The past, present and future of a revolutionary OS. The future of the operating system is clouded, but its legacy will endure.

Intel buys Wind River: the end of the Wintel duopoly? Wind River is a leader in embedded devices, and will become part of Intel's strategy to grow its presence outside the traditional PC.

ARM: Android needs more work before it will sing on netbooks. Moblin and Windows Embedded CE may be in ARM's future, executive says.

U.K. considers emulating data.gov. The government is considering launching an open source data website, similar to the data.gov site launched by the U.S. government in May.

In the mood for picking up skills with some new open source apps and extensions? Here are five popular collections we've done on free applications, books, tutorials, and more:

7 Free Resources for Eye-Popping Graphics and Animation. From free clip art, to free web design templates, to a free desktop publishing app, to resources for animation in Blender, here are some gems.

6 Ways to Get Much More Out of GIMP. GIMP is a long-standing and hugely respected open source graphics program. Here are good ways to learn and optimize it, including a free online book.

OStatic's Firefox Superguide. The Firefox browser has one distint advantage over other browsers: thousands of useful extensions. You'll find the best ones here, and other Firefox goodies.

Over 35 Free, Essential Open Source Resources and Apps. This is our uber-roundup of open source applications and resources, divided into categories. It's packed with apps, tutorials, free online books, and more.

8 Free, Open Source Tools for a Better Digital Music Experience. Here you'll find how to put a new, slick open source OS on an old iPod, software apps that extend beyond iTunes, and how to maximize your musical experience on Android.

Sun CEO: Open source equals free advertising. By being freely distributed, our products build their own audiences, says Jonathan Schwartz.

Another 100,000+ week for Fedora 10. It's been gaining users at impressive rates.

How to install Google Earth 5.0 on Ubuntu. It's not available by default in the Ubuntu repositories, but here's how to manually get it going.

Round two of a long-time Windows user's switch to Linux. The second installment is here, and the first here.

Red Hat's Google Web Toolkit play: The untold story of world domination.....

Sun upgrades OpenSolaris, signs OEM deal with Toshiba.....

The best Linux/FOSS podcasts of 2008.....

A leap forward--Mozilla's Thunderbird 3 E-mail beta.....

Amarok media player gets a facelift.....

Linux users have been in love for a long time with the Amarok music player and it's also been gaining attention lately as great alternative to Apple's iPod and iTunes vendor lock-in. In fact, Amarok is even going mainstream, appearing on must-have lists at Web sites like Lifehacker. Developers announced this week that the first alpha release of Amarok 2.0 is available with some great new features and a cool user interface.