Linux doesn’t come in a one-size-fits-all release and so making the right decision first time around can be a bit tricky. Here we offer a simple guide to choosing the right version (or “distribution”) of Linux.

Gentoo is not ideal for first time Linux users but is very popular among experienced users. Gentoo uses a packaging system that instead of installing pre-built software, downloads the source files for applications and compiles the software on…

OpenMoko has announced new distribution deals with hardware vendors. The agreements will make the Linux-based Freerunner mobile phone available to consumers in Europe and India.

Although the current version of the software shipped on the phone still has some rough edges and is primarily intended for developers, OpenMoko will provide updates via its web site and intends to gradually approach the point where the product is…

The Motion Picture Association of America tells the judge in the Jammie Thomas case that making a song available on a P2P network should count as infringement; proving that actual distribution took place is “often very difficult” and even “impossible.”

At the time of the Jammie Thomas trial, Thomas was found liable for $9,250 in damages per song for a collection of 24 songs that she made available online, for a total of $222,000 in total damages. Since there was no direct way to know if anyone…

The Electronic Frontier Foundation weighed in this week on the Jammie Thomas file-swapping case, where the judge has asked for public comment on whether just making a file available for download on a P2P network should count as copyright infringement. In its filing, the EFF goes for the jugular and shows that the RIAA’s entire approach is wrong.

Using this method, the RIAA would need to sue someone, take a look at the music on their computer, then try to convince a judge that at least some of this was reproduced without authorization or a fair use defense. The EFF suggests…

GPS cell phone uptake has suffered from a chick-and-egg situation in which the masses don’t find it compelling because of a lack of applications and services, and the industry doesn’t find the creation of such apps and services worthwhile because of a lack of users. But the new 3Gesus Phone “mainstreams” GPS in phones, which changes everything.

Related Links News stories Coverage from Apple's WWDC 2008 FAQ: Meet the new iPhone 3G 8 unanswered questions about Apple's iPhone 3G How to make the new iPhone work at work Update: Jobs unveils $199 3G iPhone Opinion: WWDC takes an…

Internet TV network Revision3 suffered a network failure during Memorial Day weekend as a result of a massive denial of service attack perpetrated by MediaDefender. Revision3 has asked the FBI to investigate the attack.

As we explained last year in our detailed examination of MediaDefender's peer-to-peer poisoning tactics, MediaDefender often serves and vigorously propagates fake or damaged files that are labeled in a manner that makes them appear…

Over the last few days a number of popular bloggers have complained, loudly, that its time to ditch Twitter and move to a decentralized version of the service that wont go down every time usage spikes…Chris Saad, co-founder of DataPortability and founder of startup Faraday Media, thinks he knows one way Twitter can be decentralized effectively.

I read blog posts and comments about twitter’s scalability problems for a while now. What i keep wondering is how come no one is looking at the traditional ways the software industry is scaling large scale data distribution issues. Look…

Aaron Wall explains how Google can make or break a business, and shares some tips and statistics that will help you better understand Google's business model.

For the keyword credit cards you can search Google to see what the search results look like, and look at Compete.com's keyword destination results. Notice how Compete.com shows the keyword share that each site gets…that is the percentage of…

One of the pillars of the RIAA’s legal campaign has been its assertion that making a file available for download equates to copyright infringement under the copyright act. A judge has resoundingly rejected the RIAA’s theory that making a file available over a P2P network constitutes copyright infringement.

EFF staff attorney Fred von Lohmann hailed the ruling as a "big victory," saying that the judge delivered the "most decisive rejection yet" of the RIAA's making available theory. In the four cases that…

Does “information want to be free”, or do artists have the right to eat? A great discussion by Trigger Happy author Steven Poole on intellectual property, writers and the internet.

The lesson from this is that change should not be feared. Grab the internet generation with both hands and use them to your advantage, rather than locking your doors and cowering in the corner with your old business model pressed tightly to your…

The openSUSE team is proud to announce the first Beta release of openSUSE 11.0! There are many exciting enhancements and features in the new release. Among these is the incredibly fast package management (libzypp), KDE 3.5.9 and 4.0.3, GNOME 2.22.1, a beautiful new installer, installable live CDs and much more.

Confirmed - first when you type “Live-System” it say that “no image” -> simply “return” required with no text. But after system started only console is avalible -…

From Knoppix to Puppy Linux here are 10 great distros to explore without having to reformat your hard drive.

GoblinX is a Live-CD that is based on the excellent Slackware, developed and maintained by Flavio de Oliveira a.k.a Grobsch and created by using Linuxlive scripts. It is directed towards those users whose appreciate quality applications and a…

Due to server complications, CBC decided to team up with mininova and let them seed the torrent files for Canadas Next Great Prime Minister.? It is great to see that mainstream broadcasters use BitTorrent to share their content online, and even better, that they use mininovas content distribution platform to do so.

This is good, we just need to get more networks on Bittorrent, BT is the best content distribution system for large files. I’m glad more people are realizing. What’s the problem with different BT sites? TPB is good, but…

The popular BitTorrent site Mininova is currently Beta testing BitTorrent powered video streaming. The new streaming feature allows users to watch videos instantly, streamed from .torrent files.

Streams are bad for long-time access anyway because few to none will save them and keep them on a disk. So this content might rarely become accessible elsewhere as download and if someone decides to pull the stream, the content is gone. Just…