http://news.softpedia.com/news/All-Linux-Distributions-Get-the-Secure-Boot-Bootloader-311259.shtml

All Linux Distributions Get the Secure Boot Bootloader

Matthew Garrett, ex-power management and mobile Linux developer at Red Hat, proudly announced last evening, November 30, that a usable release of the Secure Boot bootloader is now available for download.

Dubbed shim, this software is designed for all Linux-based operating system that want to support secure boot and that do not want to get in cahoots with the greedy Microsoft Corporation.

“ I am officially (rather than merely effectively) no longer employed by Red Hat, and this binary is being provided by me rather than them, so don't ask them questions about it."

http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/20303.html

no longer employed by Red Hat, and this binary is being provided by me rather than them, so don't ask them questions about it.

http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Linux-Foundation-struggles-with-Microsoft-s-Secure-Boot-signing-service-1754209.html

Linux Foundation struggles with Microsoft's Secure Boot signing service

UEFI logo Despite several attempts, the Linux Foundation's James Bottomley has not managed to get Microsoft to sign the mini bootloader for starting Linux on systems with UEFI Secure Boot.

Apparently, Microsoft's support team replied that the file is not a valid Win32 application, to which Bottomley responded by noting that obviously it isn't a Win32 application because it is a 64-bit UEFI binary – and says that he didn't receive any further reply.

negotiated with VeriSign to create a joint signature service – but that VeriSign had wanted several million dollars for such a service.

http://news.drweb.com/show/?i=2679&lng=en&c=14

The first Trojan in history to steal Linux and Mac OS X passwords

August 22, 2012

Russian anti-virus company Doctor Web is reporting the emergence of the first cross-platform backdoor to run under Linux and Mac OS X. This malicious program is designed to steal passwords stored by a number of popular Internet applications.

BackDoor.Wirenet.1 is the first such Trojan capable of running under any of these operating systems.

(it sends gathered keyboard input data to intruders); in addition, it steals passwords entered by the user in Opera, Firefox, Chrome, and Chromium, and passwords stored by such applications as Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Pidgin.

Think he's got it a little bit backwards, as win8/Metro is going after *nix in the mobile market, where Android outsells the Apple OS.

On the desktop unless someone does what Google did for or in the mobile market, packaging *nix so the user doesn't have to deal with it -- only the apps that are installed -- it's not gonna happen, *nix isn't going to be popular on the desktop. Google *may* come through in the future, now that the landscape's changing, but too many variables for it to be more than idle speculation.

Now maybe up to ~8 years ago I would have been in 100% agreement with the ZDNet author, that *nix couldn't make it on the desktop because good hardware drivers were Windows only, 'cause PC users tended to be more in the minority, by necessity more of a nerd or geek. That's changed, a Lot. WR wouldn't be happy running *nix, because not only couldn't he get all of his games, he couldn't get the most out of his graphics hardware. But the newer, more casual user is more likely to get their apps & games from an app store, e.g. the Angry Birds phenomena, & more likely to use a lower powered PC/laptop with integrated graphics & sound. Rather than a slew of ATI & Nvidia graphics variants, you've got 2, one each made by AMD & Intel. You've also got increasingly faster, more powerful mobile CPUs, that could become rivals to the lower end products from AMD & Intel. A version of Android [Chrome?] could work, & increase sales at Google's app store too.

As far as win8 itself goes, I don't see it initially making a huge difference to PC/laptop users, at least with the PCs/laptops sold nowadays. It's a slightly faster win7 without the extras, e.g. no Aero, with better memory & disk mgmt. If you heavily rely on desktop Gadgets you *might* use Metro instead, but otherwise power users won't see or use it -- there's already several Start Menu replacements or use Jump Lists or one of the desktop docks. I also expect makers like Dell & HP will add their own solutions. I predict those folks who suffered almost unendurable angst waiting for Angry Birds to be ported to Windows will, OTOH tend to like Metro just fine. The biggest change brought about by win8 *may* be Google striking back, &/or Facebook moving to enter the fray -- they've got plenty of cash to buy coders/developers.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/windows-8s-downfall-still-doesnt-give-linux-a-chance/20975

Windows 8's downfall still doesn't give Linux a chance

Summary: As much as I'd like to see Linux rise from the depths of obscurity to give Microsoft and its Windows platform a serious run for its money, it's just not going to happen -- at least not any time soon.

Having spent a considerable amount of time with a variety of Windows 8 builds on a broad array of hardware platforms, and I'm now almost certain that a Windows 8 flop is inevitable. Whether it flops as hard as Windows Vista did remains to be seen, but I can't see Microsoft's forthcoming operating system being as well-received -- or as well-loved -- as the aging Windows XP or the incumbent Windows 7.

What does this mean for Linux? Nothing.

Microsoft might repeatedly use the phrase "fast and fluid" to describe Windows 8, but to me it's "clumsy and impractical".

Purely FWIW... :)

I'm disabled, so mostly home bound -- I can easily get out but it's tiring, so 90+% of my time is spent at home. As such I've had zero need of a tablet, but my oldest son was very generous & bought me one to play with. It runs Android ICS, & using it I think provides some insight into the potential *nix market in general -- here's my very objective thoughts on the matter...

*nix on a desktop is cool, but, it's a geeks' OS, that for non-geeks can have all sorts of niceties layered on. If it's properly set up I can give my wife or most anyone else a *nix PC/laptop that they can immediately use, but it's a sort of package deal -- what they get is what they get... I can't expect them to add apps/games, nor keep it up to date themselves. There have been attempts to take *nix beyond that -- the closest IMO was the old Linspire effort with Walmart -- but today it's still IMO something that requires 1) someone(s) to act as your IT dept., & 2) a willingness to go without the seemingly endless supply of new apps & games you have access to on other platforms.

[You can of course learn to deal with *nix, become a bit of a nerd yourself, but that's not been the case with the PC/laptop market when it's grown large enough to include everybody, not just the more tech inclined that are the earliest adopters.]

Now the Android OS is built on *nix & it takes care of those 2 problems -- you don't need someone to hold your hand much less your own IT dept., & there are plenty of apps & games to keep you busy trying new stuff out. On the downside lots of the software you'd expect to use is still missing, & everything is buggy enough that if Microsoft was behind it you'd hear no end to the screaming. The chief complaint I've read [& BTW agree with] is that Android is Too open, it's too easy for anyone to change it to suit their needs, so in effect there are all these mini-versions of Android out there being used -- it's hard enough for a developer to write a bug free app for one OS, nevermind several versions running on all sorts of hardware.

Ironically it would seem that to more seriously take on Windows [or Apple], would require becoming more like Microsoft & Apple. More top-down control, more rules, less freedom, less innovation -- just what many *nix folks despise about MS & Apple to begin with. It could happen, but it would take a company like Google or perhaps a country like China taking a more authoritarian stand, setting firm, more-or-less absolute boundaries.

https://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/has-microsoft-opened-the-door-to-the-linux-desktop/11282?tag=main;top-stories

Has Microsoft opened the door to the Linux desktop?

Summary: Microsoft has alienated its hardware partners and will soon be rolling out a version of Windows that many people already dislike. Will the Linux desktop finally get its shot for the big-time?

Thanks Microsoft! You ve given the Linux desktop another chance to make it big.

Microsoft has been going out of its way to tick off its partners.

First, Windows 8 has an interface, Metro, that only a mother could love. Metro will require Windows users to re-learn everything they know about how to use Windows. Then, Microsoft announced Surface, a vaporware tablet that leaves all its partners’ Windows 8 tablet plans in disarray. , Finally, adding insult to injury, Microsoft stabbed its smartphone partners in the back by announcing Windows Phone 8, which made all currently shipping Windows phones obsolete. So, if you’re in the PC business do you really want to work with Microsoft or is it finally time to look for a partner that really wants to work with you rather than use you?

Shuttleworth was, however, not talking just about the North American and European Union market, but the world market. It’s in China and India where Canonical, with its partner Dell have found that people really will buy PCs without Windows.

Think about it. Chrome OS is just the popular Chrome Web browser running on Linux. If you know how to use a Web browser you can use a Chromebook. Unlike Windows 8’s Metro there is no learning curve what-so-ever.

Thanks, Mikiem. :)

Wanted to mention something called Geexbox - http://www.videohelp.com/tools/GeeXboX

Basically a Linux LiveCD ISO already set up with Media Center or Home Theater type apps -- it does look nice when you start it, & thought some might like to try it out. It can be burned to a CD you boot from, but it's really set up to store persistent data on a USB stick. If you have VIrtualBox, either installed or using the portable start [launcher], you can also attach the ISO to a VM & keep the default boot order where the CD comes before any hard drives... don't need a real VM with an OS installed.

Sorry for being about 3 years late. But see Capriccio for a new great score editor. Its free, very functional.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/16/microsoft_centos/

Microsoft welcomes CentOS Linux onto virtualized Windows

Red Hat support hurdles lowered for Hyper-V
OSBC Microsoft is taking a swing at Red Hat, promoting freebie Linux CentOS on Windows Server via its hypervisor and offering technical support for service providers

There is another product called Fiddlehead that shares one PC with multiple users but instead of only Linux applications it allows for Windows apps. You can see this product at http://www.myfiddlehead.com and they have a blog at http://www.myfiddlehead.com/blog

Thanks everyone for the continued interest!

takes time to bake a baby... :)

Hi Jaddis,

Found these, they may still be interesting to you (I'm 9 months late):

http://lilypond.org/web/

http://www.denemo.org/ (Denemo is a graphical musical score editor, and serves as a frontend to Lilypond.)

http://musettemusic.com/index.shtml

and a few older ones ( a site and a list ) :

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2000/Igor.html

http://www.freebyte.com/music/#free_notation

Hope it helps (even 9 months later)

QD

You may also be interested in MuseScore. It supports unlimited staves, multiple lyrics, key changes, and MusicXML import/export.
http://musescore.org/

two sets of input (mouse, kb) and 2 monitors.

Look on their site. They suggest that in case relatives, friends, or other visitors come along, they can use your computer without messing up your installation. (At least, that's what they said about the Live CD for Windows users) And yes, you do need two of everything, because it's impossible having two users on a local computer using it at the same time and doing different stuff without using two of everything. In case you are one of those "visual" people, go on their main site userful.com and there will be a Dotto Tech clip showing how the system works.

Maybe I'm thick but what exactly does this do and in what circumstances would you use it? You're saying it splits a computer in 2 but then you need 2 of everything.... I don't understand :-(

K8

Here's a little Canadian product that I'd like to share with everyone. It's from a company called Userful and what they do is make software that splits your computer into two or more so that it can be used in libraries, schools, or Internet cafes. My local library uses them and I don't find them too bad. The performance isn't too bad even if people are working at the same time (it's timesharing all over again!). The product is called DiscoverStation and incorporates something called Desktop Multiplier. DiscoverStation is a full-blown Linux distribution based on Fedora, and Desktop Multiplier is a program for computers already running Linux. Right now, they're offering a Live CD for Windows users or a 2-user license for Linux users. The Live CD is pre-licensed and just requires you to insert the CD and reboot. The page with more details are at:
http://userful.com/products/free-2-user
(Note for you McAfee SiteAdvisor users: the site seems to be rated red because one of their programs seems to have a trojan in it. I guess that the code might need to have some trojan-like functionalities to actually work properly. However, that has nothing to do with this product and everything else is clean.)

You will need a dual-head (or two) graphic cards, two monitors, two keyboards, and two mice. You can also have one of each just to get the feeling of the system, but that may be pointless.

WARNING: In case you decide to download and install DiscoverStation (no, not Desktop Multiplier, the separate app for Linux, but the full Fedora distribution), make sure you really want it, because once you insert the CD, reboot, and type install, once it boot up it will FORMAT YOUR HARD DRIVE!!! So be sure to back up your system before you do this. It happened to me, but good thing I found out a good utility to restore deleted partitions and my Windows CD and some DOS (more Linux, really) skills. So, be careful. Do note that the Live CD is only a Live CD, so it won't change your system in any way, so it's safe.

While you're there, visit kiosk.userful.com. They have an offer there to ship you a copy of the DiscoverStation DVD and two free prepaid kiosk cards. Get it while you can; 100 copies available only. I still haven't received mine yet...

Thanks guys these look great!

Finale Notepad maybe?
http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/

http://making-music.blogspot.com/2006/01/big-list-of-free-music-making-software.html

Scroll down past the first list.

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if any of you know of a free program that allows you to write down your own music? I have a few songs that I have come up with and I would like to be able to write them down and print them out.

Thanks!

Be careful with anything thats 'thinstalled' or 'portable' as they could contain backdoors and other nasty code.

So make sure it comes from a legit site.

Once again.. after a short 5 minute or less review on Linux: its cool! its user interface is much like Windows- its quite easy to use. instead of the usual start button, there is the Aplications button, another button as the control panel. basically, the whole windows start menu and taskbar is at the top of the desktop.

On the desktop screen i saw some familiar icons such as My Computer, Recycle bin etc. Surprisingly, i didnt know that Linux has its own "Task Manager" too. I guess that progams may stop responding in Linux.

And the portable application for running Linux was unable to resize the window frame when i change Linux screen size- it stop responding! :(

To sum up, I find that Linux is a good alternative to Windows if buying a Mac is over your budget. but the downside is that you cant run GOTD's giveaways in Linux unless you get Wine(or something like that).

i've never tried linux/mac before except Windows...

alexiussg, how about you download it, try it out and tell us all what you think?

I would like to know if this portable version is good or not...

"Good" for what?

hi!
Portable linux from
(http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/09/19/portable-qemu-persistent-pendrivelinux/)
I would like to know if this portable version is good or not... and post it here?
thanks! :)