NVIDIA Linux, 8000 Signers, Linux Days
Topping Linux news today is the rumor that NVIDIA is working on their own Linux distribution. Michael Larabel reported today of a new power management governor being developed for upcoming kernels and Mageia said they'd see you at Chemnitz Linux Days. Chris Sherlock offered tips for "LibreOffice newbies" and Microsoft claims 8,000 companies have signed up for SQL on Linux in the first week. "Docker puts containers on a diet" and the Linux Foundation is offering a free course on cloud infrastructure technologies.
Michael Larabel at Phoronix.com reported today that rumors of an NVIDIA Linux operating system are being discussed on "Reddit and elsewhere." A screenshot is given as proof but Larabel said he's not convinced anything of the sort is really in the works. He said NVIDIA already has SHIELD TV using GeForce Now that a Linux gaming OS might cut into and, besides, NVIDIA already has the corner on the Linux gaming market. 'I can't really think of any competitive advantage NVIDIA could come up with for "NLINUX."' He added if they are working on such a beast it would probably be for developers to port their games to Linux.
Also at Phoronix today, Larabel reported that a new ACPI frequency scaling governor is being developed by Rafael Wysocki. The new governor, schedutil, is designed to adjust according to callbacks and data from the scheduler instead of timers. This should enable it to adjust the freq scaling faster and more precisely. It should show up in Linux 4.7.
A lot of speculation surrounded and followed Microsoft's latest announcements with many questioning some its statements and motives. Most surmise it's only because Microsoft needs Linux and Open Source that it's changed its tune. Several have said that if Microsoft truly wanted to show its new leaf, they'd stop suing companies for dodgy patent infringement claims. Today Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols stated that's pretty much how he sees it. Most of the patents Microsoft is suing over are for ideas already in the public domain. Microsoft will never give up that revenue stream. Why should they when companies like Canonical and Red Hat sign deals with them despite their actions? "So long as Microsoft can profit from Android patents while still working with open-source enterprises, the company has no reason whatsoever to change its ways." Relatedly, Neowin.net today reported that 8,000 companies, many Fortune 500, have signed up to test drive SQL Server on Linux.
Chris Sherlock today posted a little getting-started guide to developing LibreOffice. While pointing to a general guide he recently admired, he helps folks get an idea where to start. He said if you want to develop for LibreOffice, you'll need "some level of C++ skill" and the "ability to read other's code." From there he offered specific examples, advice, and lots of helpful links.
In other news:
* Mageia will be at Chemnitz Linux Days 2016
* KaOS Linux: clean, simple, and solid
* Everyday Linux User Review Of Netrunner 2016.1
* Docker Puts Containers on a Diet
* Free Open Source Cloud Infrastructure Course