For those registered developers with NVIDIA Corp, the company has released their first release candidate of the forthcoming CUDA 5.5 platform…
Phoronix
NVIDIA Issues CUDA 5.5 RC: Better Debugging, Etc
June 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Better Font Rendering In Linux With Infinality
June 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Many of you have probably already heard of Infinality, but I’ve decided to write a post about it anyway, for those who aren’t familiar with it yet, because it greatly improves the font rendering on Linux.
Infinality is a set of Freetype patches that try to provide an improved font rendering for Linux and also, to allow easy customization so the users can adjust the settings to their taste. Using it, you can easily set the font style to emulate OSX, OSX2, Windows 98, WIndows XP or Windows 7 or you can use the “Linux” or “Infinality” (default) styles.
While Infinality is very useful for most Linux distributions, the Ubuntu font rendering is pretty good already, but even so, there are quite a few Ubuntu users who install Infinality, like Miroslav Hadzhiev (Мирослав Хаджиев), Ubuntu Bulgarian Translators admin, who says that: “[...] this [Infinality] project has brought me back to Linux. I work with documents all day long so the fonts are VERY important to me“.
Using Infinality in Ubuntu, the fonts are easier on the eyes and while you may not notice a major or even any difference at all in the screenshot below, you should see the difference after you’ve used Infinality for a while on your computer:
 |
| On the left: Infinality (using the Linux style); on the right: the default Ubuntu font configuration |
Click HERE to zoom in so you can better see the details.
The differences in the above screenshot are not very clear because like I was saying, the fonts in Ubuntu look good already, but you should notice a big difference between the default Debian font rendering and Infinality, in the screenshot below:
Here’s how to install Infinality in Ubuntu and Debian (with links to installation instructions for other Linux distributions) and set it up.
Install and configure Infinality for better font rendering in Linux
Ubuntu: Freetype with the Infinality patches can be installed in Ubuntu / Linux Mint by using a PPA. To add the PPA and install the required packages, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:no1wantdthisname/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install fontconfig-infinalityOnce installed, log out and log back in.
Debian: the PPA works on Debian 7 too (that’s actually how I’ve installed Infinality in the screenshot above – I’ve used “raring” for the version), but because I’ve only tested it for a few minutes, I can’t say how stable it is. If you want to use it in Debian, follow the instructions below on your own risk. An alternative way of installing Infinality on Debian can be found HERE.
To add an unofficial Infinality PPA and install all the required packages in Debian (32bit and 64bit), use the following commands:
echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/no1wantdthisname/ppa/ubuntu raring main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/infinality.list
echo "deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/no1wantdthisname/ppa/ubuntu raring main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/infinality.list
sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys E985B27BInstalling Infinality in other Linux distributions:
- Fedora (official Infinality repository) and generic installation instructions
- Arch Linux: the easy way | the generic way (AUR)
- openSUSE repository
- Debian installation instructions (build instructions and pre-built binaries)
Once you install Infinality, it’s time to configure it. To set the style you want to use, run the following command:
sudo bash /etc/fonts/infinality/infctl.sh setstyleAnd select the style you want to use. Available options are: debug, infinality, linux, osx, osx2, win7, win98 and winxp (I recommend using the “linux” style, obviously, but you can try any style, then remember to log out and log back in – you can easily select a different style later on by using the same command). To use the Windows or OSX style you’ll also need to use the Windows or OSX fonts.
Optional: next, open /etc/profile.d/infinality-settings.sh with a text editor as root – I’ll use Gedit below:
sudo -H gedit /etc/profile.d/infinality-settings.shAnd in this file, search for USE_STYLE (it should be USE_STYLE=”DEFAULT” by default) and change it to one of the following styles (I recommend using “UBUNTU” here but you should also try the default to see which one you like better):
- DEFAULT – A compromise that should please most people;
- OSX – Simulate OSX rendering;
- IPAD – Simulate iPad rendering;
- UBUNTU – Simulate Ubuntu rendering;
- LINUX – Generic “Linux” style – no snapping or certain other tweaks;
- WINDOWS – Simulate Windows rendering;
- WINDOWS7 – Simulate Windows rendering with normal glyphs;
- WINDOWS7LIGHT- Simulate Windows 7 rendering with lighter glyphs;
- WINDOWS – Simulate Windows rendering;
- VANILLA – Just subpixel hinting;
- CUSTOM – Your own choice;
- Infinality styles:
- CLASSIC – Infinality rendering circa 2010. No snapping;
- NUDGE – CLASSIC with lightly stem snapping and tweaks;
- PUSH – CLASSIC with medium stem snapping and tweaks;
- SHOVE – Full stem snapping and tweaks without sharpening;
- SHARPENED – Full stem snapping, tweaks, and Windows-style sharpening;
- INFINALITY – Settings used by the Infinality developer;
- DISABLED – Act as though running without the extra infinality enhancements (just subpixel hinting).
In this file you can change many other settings but if you don’t know what they do, only change the style. Then, save the file, log out and log back in to see the changes.
Reverting the changes
For Ubuntu, to remove Infinality and revert all the changes made by using the instructions above, use the following commands:
sudo apt-get purge fontconfig-infinality
sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:no1wantdthisname/ppaOnce the PPA is purge, log out and log back in.
For Debian, if you’ve added the PPA and want to revert the changes, use the following commands:
sudo apt-get purge fontconfig-infinality
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/infinality.list
sudo apt-get updateThen (still for Debian), downgrade the Freetype package using the following command, presuming you’re using Debian stable:
- 32bit:
sudo apt-get install libfreetype6/stable- 64bit:
sudo apt-get install libfreetype6/stable libfreetype6:i386/stableNote: you also need to downgrade libfreetype6-dev if it’s installed and also, libfreetype6:i386 may not be installed. You may want to check if those packages are installed by using “apt-cache policy” (example: “apt-cache policy libfreetype6-dev”).
Thanks to Miroslav Hadzhiev for the tip and info!
Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog
Linux Desktop Security Could Be A Whole Lot Better
May 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The security researcher that uncovered a host of X.Org security issues went beyond just evaluating the X.Org libraries and looked at other Linux desktop packages too. There’s many security-related bugs outstanding within the Linux desktop ecosystem and Ilja van Sprundel believes “things could be better by several orders of magnitude.”..
Phoronix
Science finds a better foundation for research in the open
May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Imagine a world in which reproducible, repurposable, open scientific research is the norm. Certainly there are potential stumbling blocks ahead:
- confidentiality of sensitive medical data
- embargoes on potentially high-risk research findings
- the conundrum of how to facilitate commercial applications whilst reconciling the needs of the academic innovator with those of investors
QEMU 1.5 Supports VGA Passthrough, Better USB 3.0
May 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Just three months after the exciting QEMU 1.4 release, QEMU 1.5 is now available with many exciting and new features for those using this open-source software in a virtualized world. There’s the VFIO VGA pass-through support, USB 3.0 improvements, and much more…
Phoronix
Get Better Linux Desktop Performance And More With pf-kernel
May 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
pf-kernel is a custom Linux Kernel that comes with some popular patches not merged into the mainline Kernel, such as:
- -ck patchset with BFS CPU scheduler: Con Kolivas’ ck1 patchset which includes the BFS scheduler that brings better desktop interactivity and responsiveness;
- BFQ I/O scheduler : using this patch, the disk should be virtually as responsive as if it was idle, no matter what the load is (this is available by default in Sabayon and CyanogenMod);
- TuxOnIce: an alternative suspend / hibernate framework that uses image compression, supports any number of swap partitions and/or files, has the ability to cancel hibernating or restoring the image by pressing escape key and more;
- UKSM: Memory De-Duplication;
- EnhanceIO: a driver based on EhanceIO SSD caching software derived from Facebook’s open source Flashcache project that’s useful for using SSDs as cache devices for traditional HDDs.
As an example, below you can watch a video recorded by Paolo Valente, who is behind BFQ, demoing the performance of the BFQ disk I/O scheduler on a hard disk:
(direct video link)
Warning: Some things such as graphics drivers may not be compatible with pf-kernel since it may be a lot newer than the Linux Kernel used by default on your Linux distribution so be careful and only install it if you know what you are doing. Also, options (like Zram) available in your Linux distribution Kernel may not be enabled in pf-kernel. I’ve tested this in Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) with and I didn’t encounter any issues (Bumblebee works with proprietary Nvidia drivers, etc.) but this may not be the case for you since it depends on your hardware and Ubuntu version.
Install pf-kernel in Ubuntu / Debian
Download the latest pf-kernel version for Ubuntu / Debian from HERE.
You’ll need to download two files: linux-image and linux-headers which have the same version (e.g.: 3.9.2), for your architecture. For instance, on 64bit, you’ll need “linux-image-3.9.2-pf_1_amd64.deb” and “linux-headers-3.9.2-pf_1_amd64.deb” (3.9.2 is the latest version at the time I’m writing this) and put the downloaded files in some folder, let’s say a “kernel” folder in your home directory.
Then, to install it, use the following commands (assuming you’ve placed the deb files in a folder called “kernel” in your home directory):
cd ~/kernel
sudo dpkg -i *.debOptional: for TuxOnIce to work, firstly enable hibernate since it’s disabled in Ubuntu by default. Then, download the tuxonice-userui deb for your Ubuntu version / architecture from HERE and install it, then run the following command to get the TuxOnIce text user interface to work:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/tuxonice-userui/tuxoniceui /usr/local/sbin/tuxoniceui_textThat’s all you need to do for TuxOnIce to work (if hibernate is working on your machine, obviously).
And finally, restart your computer.
If later on you want to remove pf-kernel and go back to the Linux Kernel you were using before, remove the installed packages using Synaptic (linux-image-*-pf and linux-headers-*-pf) or, to do this automatically via the command line, use the following commands:
pfkernel=$ (dpkg --get-selections | grep linux-.*pf | sed -e 's/-pf.*/-pf/g')
sudo apt-get remove $ pfkernelAnd then restart the computer.
For other Linux distributions or if you want to compile your own Kernel, see the pf-kernel homepage for download links.
seen on lffl.org, image via wikipedia
Web Upd8 – Ubuntu / Linux blog
Pichai: Google I/O 2013 to focus on services, helping devs ‘write better things’
May 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
New Android head says 'It’s not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system'
Newly-appointed Android head Sundar Pichai has promised "amazing things for developers" at this year's Google I/O developer conference, due to begin this Wednesday. In an interview with Wired Pichai, who also heads up Google Chrome, says that it isn't a time when the company has "much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system," suggesting major device launches won't be the focus of the conference.
Having recently taken over from Android co-founder Andy Rubin, Pichai offered his thoughts on a variety of subjects, including Android updates, Google's relationship with Samsung, Facebook Home and the challenges of managing two operating systems.
Some bite-size snippets –
- On the relationship between Chrome and Android: "Android and Chrome are both large, open platforms, growing very fast. I think that they will play a strong role, not merely exist. I see this as part of friendly innovation and choice for both users and developers."
- On Facebook Home: "It’s exciting that Facebook thought of Android first in this case. Android was intended to be very customizable. And we welcome innovations. As for the specific product, my personal take on it is that time will tell."
- On Samsung's Android dominance: "The relationship is very strong on a day-to-day basis and on a tactical basis. So I’m not that concerned. Historically the industry has had long stable structures. Look at Microsoft and Intel. They were very codependent on one another, but it served both of them well."
- On future Nexus hardware: "You will see a continuation of what we have tried to do with Nexus and Chromebooks. Any hardware projects we do will be to push the ecosystem forward."
- On slow Android updates: "We are thinking about how to make Android handle updates better. We see ways we can do this. It’s early days. We’re talking with our partners and working our way through it. We need time to figure out the mechanics, but it’s definitely an area of focus for me and for the team."
- On what to expect from I/O this year: "Both on Android and Chrome, we’re going to focus this I/O on all of the kinds of things we’re doing for developers, so that they can write better things. We will show how Google services are doing amazing things on top of these two platforms."
Hit the source link to check out the interview in full.
Source: Wired
     |
Android Central – Android Forums – News – Reviews – Help and Android Wallpapers
Wine 1.5.29 Brings Better JavaScript Performance
April 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Fieldrunners 2: Tower defense just doesn’t get any better
April 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A tower defense sequel that is a worthy successor to the original
Tower defense is one of those genres that really translates well to a touch-only device, and one game that has made that extremely apparent is Fieldrunners. For coming up on two years now, it has been a staple in the Tower Defense category on Android and iOS alike. If you've been playing it from the start, there's no doubt you've been waiting for the sequel — even more so as we saw it launch on iOS first.
The wait is now over, and whether you're an old pro or new to the entire genre, we think you're going to be impressed. Stick around with us after the break and see what Fieldrunners 2 is all about.
| |
Android Central – Android Forums – News – Reviews – Help and Android Wallpapers
Mesa 9.2 Brings Better Performance To Intel Ivy Bridge
April 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Following on from our earlier Nouveau Gallium3D benchmarks of Mesa 9.2-devel earlier this week, for our first benchmarks this Saturday we have tests of Intel HD 4000 “Ivy Bridge” graphics when running Mesa 9.2-devel and compared to the Git branches of Mesa 9.1 and 9.0. Overall, there’s some more open-source Intel graphics performance improvements to look forward to with this next Mesa release.
Phoronix
Apple ‘hipsters’ lament that the company was better before it became cool
February 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
5 tips for creating better mobile interfaces for the web
February 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The mobile revolution has changed user expectations of how they interact with different products. Meeting these changed expectations requires a huge amount of re-thinking from user experience (UX) designers. Pascal Mangold, CEO of Magnolia, recently explored this trend in an article on how the mobile revolution is challenging open source product interfaces and explained how Magnolia CMS, an open-source enterprise-grade Java Content Management System, redesigned its web-based interface to give its users an innovative new “driven by touch” content management experience.
LXer Linux News
