Legacy file formats are evil. They tend to have no written specifications, and when you start reverse-engineering them, you often discover layers of questionable solutions built on top of even more questionable solutions that are carried around for backwards compatibility sake.

So why go through pains of supporting them at all? Simply put, because it's the legacy which isn't always in the past really, because businesses don't like upgrades. Designers keep local cliparts in all kinds of arcane file formats, big publishing houses keep using DOC instead of DOCX, and system integration companies still toss around VSD files.

Read the full thing at http://libregraphicsworld.org/articles.php?article_id=41

Well, done at last! After some time gathering opinions from readers and quite some more time testing each one of the contenders, I have finished my comparison of the best of the best in KDE distros.

...Want to know the winner?? Read on!!!

Read the full thing at http://cristalinux.blogspot.com/2011/09/king-of-kdistros.html

I took the plunge to migrate my personal / business desktop PC from Mandriva 2010.2 to Mageia 1 today (Sunday, 4 September 2011). I used the instructions from this page: Migrate from Mandriva Linux. Specifically the section titled, “b) Upgrading inline, using urpmi (CLI)”. The migration is roughly three quarters done as I type this. I decided to try to use the PC while I ran the migration from console 1 (Ctrl Alt F1). In preparation for this I closed programs I suspected would be most affected.

Read the full thing at http://blog.eracc.com/2011/09/04/open-source-live-migration-of-mandriva-to-mageia/

I tested Mandriva 2011 "Hydrogen" on a live USB, first made with MultiSystem and then made with UnetBootin. I was surprised that Mandriva booted after having the live USB made with UnetBootin, because for the last few years Mandriva ISO files have failed to work right with UnetBootin.

Read the full thing at http://dasublogbyprashanth.blogspot.com/2011/08/review-mandriva-2011-hydrogen.html?m=1

When users complain about GNOME 3, inevitably they compare its release to KDE 4.0's. One KDE developer has told me that he dislikes the comparison, but, in the absence of other parallels, it continues to be made.

However, one part of the analogy that hasn't been explored is KDE's recovery from its user revolt, and whether GNOME is in any position to emulate that as well.

Read the full thing at http://www.datamation.com/open-source/what-gnome-can-learn-from-kdes-recovery-1.html

As Thomas does not blog and this is quite impressive, I had just to do a video and provide it here. Without further ado I present smooth window resizing with KDE Plasma 4.8:

Watch the full thing at http://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2011/08/smooth-window-resizing/

Reviews of Linux distributions: I've read a lot of them, and I've write some too, I've been thinking about how a good review should be, what it should include, and what it should aim to.

In the comments section of the blog of my friend's blog, started a nice discussion. In the review the writer stated that he has only installed the distribution under test in a virtual machine. One commenter said: "... To write a good review, you need to really install the distribution in you computer, and use it for some fair amount of time, not just install it in a virtual environment"

Read the full thing at http://garron.me/linux/how-to-write-linux-distribution-review.html

SSH has many features which are helpful when working regularly with files on remote servers; together they can give a vast increase in productivity over the bare use of SSH. If you regularly use SSH, it’s worth spending a little time learning about these and configuring your environment to make your life easier.


Read the full thing at http://blogs.perl.org/users/smylers/2011/08/ssh-productivity-tips.html

Bash history is very powerful. Understanding how to effectively use the bash history expansions will make you extremely productive on the Linux command line.

This article explains 15 examples that uses bash history expansion features: http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/08/bash-history-expansion/

Ever heard of WebKit2 and wondering what it means from a Qt perspective? Here’s an attempt to explain QtWebKit and QtWebKit2 in simple terms. I make no attempt to be completely technically correct, it’s meant to be able to explain terminology to the WebKit uninitiated.

Read the full thing at http://blog.forwardbias.in/2011/08/on-webkit-and-webkit2.html