One of the complaints lodged against Linux systems is that they update too frequently. Die-hard Linux users compulsively update their systems, always running the latest bleeding edge version of the kernel or various applications. At least, that’s the impression that many non-Linux users have about die-hard Linux users. Dell, who have been offering Linux on some laptops for two years now, have recently made it known that they won’t be updating to the latest and greatest version of Ubuntu any time soon.

Day Three of Optimum Online Ultra. We discussed it at some length during yesterday’s podcast, which, need I remind you, ended in an explosion. You never know what’s gonna happen here at CrunchGear! Anyway, today I present a cruddy video showing how long it takes to download a Linux ISO—Ubuntu, from this mirror—because it seems like the cool thing to do.

Linux users, rejoice! We’ve been a minority for a long time, but we’re slowing gaining more and more traction in the world. Word is that in the last twelve months, Linux use online has increased two thirds, up from 0.69% to 1.02% Sure, it’s still a trivially small number, but the continued growth of our favorite free software operating system has some pretty interesting ramifications.

March 13, 1994 saw the release of version 1.0 of Linux, everyone’s favorite UNIX-like operating system! What started as “just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu” has grown into a robust system that’s used by mega-corporations all over the globe. Originally tied solely to x86 hardware, the Linux kernel now supports “Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, AMD x86-64, AXIS CRIS, Renesas M32R, Atmel AVR32, Renesas H8/300, NEC V850, Tensilica Xtensa, and Analog Devices Blackfin architectures; for many of these architectures in both 32- and 64-bit variants.”

A bunch of granola chewing hippies freedom loving technologists sent a letter to President Obama, encouraging him to consider open source software. Signed by representatives from Novell, Red Hat, Unisys, and a bunch of other open source solutions companies, the letter is well-written piece of advocacy. Of course, not everyone supports the initiative.

Cuba is trying to eliminate its dependency on Microsoft Windows by launching and promoting a homegrown version of Linux called Nova. Government officials say they want to ween as many of the country’s computers off Windows just in case the operating system has hidden hooks into the CIA, NSA, etc. Can’t have that, now can they? Linux, free and open source, also gels with the country’s ideology. Hooray for Cuba, then.

It’s true what they say: show regular people a Microsoft operating system that they haven’t seen yet and a Linux desktop environment that they’ve never used and they won’t be able to tell the difference.

Russian programmer Dmitry Zavalishin is working on a revolutionary new concept for an operating system. In Zavalishin’s Phantom OS, snapshots of the entire system will be continually saved to disk, preserving state for running applications and active data. There are no files in the traditional sense, instead a file is merely an object with persistent state. Neat!

Intel hasn’t had a history of liking the idea of netbooks since the low price point of the Atom processor that most of them are based on doesn’t allow for very high profit margins. Well, it looks like Intel has realized that netbooks are here to stay because they’ve just taken the wraps off their own flavor of Linux optimized for the Atom processor: Moblin.

Hey guys! Guess what! It’s another post about how Windows is kicking the crap out of Linux! Robin Harris over at ZDNet asserts that “Microsoft has kicked Linux to the curb, claiming an 80% attach rate for netbooks.” Wow!

Oh Windows 7, is there anyone who doesn’t like you, other than John Biggs? In an interview, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder and head MF in charge of popular Linux distro Ubuntu, had many nice things to say about the newest OS on the block. He says it’ll bring a new kind of competition to the table.

I still haven’t tried the Windows 7 beta, but everywhere I look I see more and more people speaking very positively about it. Truth be told, I’m less and less interested in operating systems: the overwhelming majority of things I use my computers for are done through my web browser, so the OS is becoming less and less relevant to me. I use Ubuntu, but according to some Windows 7 will put the final nail in the coffin of desktop Linux.