A month ago NVIDIA had introduced the Video Decode and Presentation API for Unix (VDPAU) that brought PureVideo-like features to Linux. Our initial benchmarks of this video decoding API within NVIDIA's binary driver were quite favorable as it was able to dramatically cut down on the CPU usage when playing H.264 video files.

Since I gave a presentation on this topic at the OFE Conference in Geneva at the end of February I have meant to post something about it here. As some of us stated before, if anything, the OOXML debacle has achieved one thing: raising awareness for the need for higher quality standards and standards development processes.

"This weekend I upgraded my machine to Gobuntu, the entirely-free-software (but see below) version of Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. Since I’m specifically named as the use case (!) it seemed like the right thing to do. First, the good news: it all seems to be working fine.

Recently I came upon a company called System 76 promising to bring pre-installed Linux hardware to the masses. At first I was a bit skeptical as I’ve seen this promise time and time again. So I requested review hardware thinking it would be nothing more than vapor ware. Surprisingly, however, the hardware arrived. Even more surprising was that the hardware was really quite nice.

Attention developers: This "improvement" you call kernel mode setting is pretty much a regression for users of my particular video chip, the Intel 830m, and could be equally useless for other Intel video hardware. Do you think that maybe figuring out why kernel mode setting doesn't work in these cases is the thing to do?

While Linux runs great on most any hardware, it runs even better on a machine with ample memory and a recent CPU. Upgrade options abound for even the most hardware hacking averse. In this monthly roundup we'll take a look at options to get your Linux system running even better.

OpenCores is an organization owned by ORSoc that invests in open source hardware. Their site hosts many hardware projects that ship the source code (Hardware Description Language in this case) with the GNU Lesser General Public Licence.

Recently I came upon a company called System 76 promising to bring pre-installed Linux hardware to the masses. At first I was a bit skeptical as I’ve seen this promise time and time again. So I requested review hardware thinking it would be nothing more than vapor ware. Surprisingly, however, the hardware arrived.

We need to give ATI some bad press. Unlike NVIDIA, they refuse to provide driver support for GNU/Linux. They can't continue to get away with this: Many Windows users are starting to want GNU/Linux compatible hardware, because they have "the switch" in mind.