TooMuchGreen

Reports estimate up to a quarter of all home computers could be part of a global bot-net.

A what?

A “bot-net”, a network of connected computers used with predominantly malicious intent by a central hacker.

Control is gained through installation of the “bot” via a worm or virus with the resulting PC resource invariably used for carefully orchestrated bulk spam attacks on the hackers internet site of choice (Known as distributed denial of service attacks – DDoS, for short). The effects of these attacks can quite literally cripple an online presence of any size.  Read more... (estimated reading time 1:54 mins)

Desktop Linux for business has it’s own set of demands addressed by the likes of Active Directory integration through Likewise Open & MS Exchange connectivity through Gnome Evolution (both offered in the latest release of Ubuntu 10.04) however back at the socially networked media hungry home PC things are a little different, luckily that’s where Linux Mint lives and the latest release is most certainly a housemate you’ll enjoy having around.  Read more... (estimated reading time 3:11 mins)

To promote and advise on the suitability of modern day Linux as the refined and viable enterprise desktop client it has become MEBBI™ Solutions are working together with NTI Leeds to produce and run a regular “Desktop Linux” workshop for platform and system integrators. The day will be hosted at NTI’s superb training facility at Old Broadcasting House in Leeds and is presently introduced as follows..

Integrate to Enable
Across todays IT enterprise is a growing realisation for the alluring benefits of open source software.  Read more... (estimated reading time 1:22 mins)

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 BETA2 was released yesterday, increasingly resplendent in it’s sharp and stylish new branding with the installation procedure now receiving the “Light” treatment.

Not only is the fresh artwork fluid and attractive but content focus & flow is intelligently pitched to promote both new and existing features. We’re presented with an easy presentation covering all bases across business, media, social & cloud with a reassuring “support” slide to finish.

The best looking and most coherent Linux distro yet? Check out the screen-grabs -

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Although already a superb and proven operating system, Ubuntu hasn’t really pulled in the “visually slick” vote when compared to competitors such as Mac OSX, although until Windows 7 neither did anything Microsoft turned out, however with the release of version 10.04 they’ve applied stylish intelligence into developing the brand with a fresh look and feel they call “Light“.

Eye candy server side isn’t an issue of course, as proven by the Internets base infrastructure administered predominantly from the command line. At the back end of the WWW stability and scalability is king and Linux server is without a doubt the best tool for the job. In house enterprise management is obviously a different animal and for MS Active Directory & Exchange admin a functional GUI is necessary.  Read more... (estimated reading time 1:29 mins)

Check this out, it’s a Windows XP themed Ubuntu distro from China. Microsoft are “apparently” not going to take any legal action against the producers (Ylmf), although I’ll wager that’s said through clenched teeth

So, what’s the lowdown. Well, Ylmf is built on the latest version of Ubuntu (9.10) and includes all the standard goodies + a few extra niceties to compliment the blend. Here’s a brief run through of the install and a few added shots from the end desktop..

Initial splash, already nicely themed..

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Up and away from the industrial depths of server side technology and groupware the lighter side of the “home-user” Linux desktop continues to offer a changing face of optional identity. Obviously at ground level we have base GNOME, KDE and XFCE window managers but around the big three rotate a whole array of tweaked distros all claiming to offer the definitive desktop interface of today. Some are barely functional, some are too functional, some try too hard and are confusingly neither and some have completely missed the point, but, there are an odd one or two which actually survive the statutory 60 minute evaluation period and for me gOS is one such release.  Read more... (estimated reading time 2:10 mins)

I attended an Ubuntu evening this week at the Met Hotel in Leeds. Organised by the West Yorkshire fraction of BCS the seminar was hosted by Ubuntu’s Matthew Barker and was a promotional awareness event held to present an overview of the company, product and current/future direction.

Matthew’s presentation was incredibly positive and I was most warmed by the parallels with TooMuchGreen‘s corresponding ideals, it was also nice to see a couple of fun new acronyms pop up – JEDI & UFO. As we all know the I.T world loves its acronyms however these two are particularly choice. JEDI stands for Just Enough Desktop Infrastructure and UFO is the complimentary solution – Ubuntu + Firefox + Open Office (OK yes, that’s UFOO, but you get the idea).  Read more... (estimated reading time 1:23 mins)

There’s no doubting the ubiquitous predominance of Microsoft® Active Directory™ (AD) across business enterprise networks of the world (well done Microsoft), however in the emerging new age of browser based cloud application delivery an Ubuntu Linux desktop client is a distinct no brainer, why pay good money for software licensing and expensive high end hardware to (basically) just run Firefox?  Read more... (estimated reading time 1:42 mins)

Back end systems don’t really move at the same pace of the front end (or the pace it thinks it does) and most major developments are less flighty to instigate and adopt, there’s too much at stake and it’s invariably such a mammoth undertaking to totally replace or migrate a full business enterprise platform it’s done only when absolutely necessary, i.e when the back end dies or available system resource restricts adoption of newer enterprise functionality with a resulting impact on cross-business integration and communication.  Read more... (estimated reading time 2:50 mins)