Owner: Linux Mini, Easy, Light 'n Small Linux URL:http://linuxmini.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Sat, 06 Oct 2007 03:29:25 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Find more info, reviews of small linux distributions such as Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux, dsl, GrafPup, Ubuntu, UbuntuME, Ubuntu Ultimate, SmoothWall, Wolvix and other small distros Site statistics:Click here
What is Compiz? 2007-10-05 12:16:00 Compiz is a window manager, that means it takes care of all the basic needs to interact with the windows on your desktop - like moving, minimizing and resizing.In GNOME the default window manager is Metacity. Most people won't have even heard about it, because it's integrated in the desktop environment and its name is nowhere mentioned. This results in the fact that the usual user isn't aware of the mere existing of such software or rather that it's a separated application that can be replaced like any other on Linux. The bottom line is: Ubuntu's desktop effects are not just an enhancement of the desktop environment but it replaces a specific part of it. Compiz has been integrated very well in the GNOME desktop of Ubuntu. Just like GNOME obscured the existence of Metacity, many people won't know they're running Compiz on Gutsy. Certain options of Compiz can be configured directly through the panel menu of GNOME in Gutsy.None of those entries are specifically related to desktop
What New in Fedora 8 2007-10-04 13:15:00 Fedora 8 Test 3 Release Announcement The Fedora Project is a Red Hat sponsored and community supported open source project. Its goal is the rapid progress of free and open source software and content.The Fedora Project makes use of public forums, open processes, rapid innovation, meritocracy, and transparency in pursuit of the best operating system and platform that free and open source software can provide. This is the last test release before the development freeze and a great time to test all those packages that you know and love. Test 3 is for beta users. This is the time when we must have full community participation. Without this participation both hardware and software functionality suffers.Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. Fedora is always free for anyone to use, modify, and distribute. It is built by people across the globe who work together as a community: the Fedora Project. The Fedora Project is open and a Read more:Fedora
Novell released Open SuSE 10.3 today 2007-10-04 13:08:00 Novell
today announced the availability of openSUSE® 10.3, the newest version of the award-winning community Linux* distribution. Available for free download or in a convenient packaged retail edition, openSUSE 10.3 provides everything a user needs to get started with Linux.To improve the user experience, openSUSE 10.3 includes a flexible Linux-Windows dual-boot configuration, improved user interface, Microsoft Office file compatibility with the latest OpenOffice.org office productivity suite, and enhanced multimedia support. “The openSUSE community continues to deliver innovations and has created a new version of openSUSE that will excite a wide range of computer users,” said Andreas Jaeger, director of the openSUSE project. “OpenSUSE 10.3 provides a stable and state-of-the-art operating system based on Linux kernel 2.6.22, and it contains a large variety of the latest open source applications for desktops, servers and application development.” Enhancements to openSUSE 10.
Yoper Linux 3.0.1 has released today 2007-10-03 21:05:00 Yoper offers you a fast, stable and desktop orientated operating system. It is based on the famous Linux
kernel and is usable for home computers. With the upcoming release it will be usable for business machines, too. Yoper offers you all the important applications on just one CD. Office, graphic, programming, and multimedia applications are already included and many more applications are available for download from our software mirrors. Yoper gives you complete freedom. Free software, free choice of applications that you want to use, the freedom to change your working environment to suit your needs. Get a taste of one of the fastest KDE based Linux distributions currently available. Release News from developer: We're proud to announce the distribution release of yoper 3.0.1Titanium. It is the first and only maintenance release for Yoper 3.0.We are already very busy working on Yoper 3.1, which is scheduled tobe released in Dec 2007.The focus for 3.0.1 has been bugfixing and updati
Linux LiveCD for repairing system and recovering data 2007-10-03 20:48:00 A new major version of SystemRescueCd, a Gentoo-based distribution with focus on disk partitioning and data rescue tasks, has been released. What's new? SystemRescueCd is a Linux
system on a bootable CD-ROM for repairing your system and recovering your data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system utilities (parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic tools (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It is very easy to use: just boot the CDROM. The kernel supports most of the important file systems (ext2/ext3, reiserfs, reiser4, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs, iso9660), as well as network filesystems (samba and nfs). Major version 0.4 has been released. It adds major features: PXE Network booting Support for amd64/em64t architecture (x86-64bits processors) Support the the sparc architecture (Sun architecture) System tools included GParted is a Partition M
The New Release of Puppy Linux 2007-10-03 20:28:00 Release notes for PuppyLinux
version 3.00 This Puppy is a massive upgrade from the previous (v2.17.1). I decided to aim for close binary compatibility with Slackware 12, with the objective of being able to install Slackware packages and have all or most of the required dependencies already in place. To that end, I used all the building block packages from Slackware 12, such as glibc 2.5, gcc 4.1.2 and gtk 2.10.13.Most of the libraries in Puppy are now from Slackware. Note, though, this does not in any way make Puppy a clone of Slackware -- apart from aiming for binary compatibility, Puppy is fundamentally unique from the foundations upward. Another major thing that I have done is totally rewritten the key scripts that control how Puppy boots up, is configured, and shuts down.This covers such things as pup_save file custom naming, frugal install into a subdirectory, pup_save file resizing and correct recognition of multiple pup_save files at bootup. Then there are some major breakth Read more:Release
UbuntuME: Ubuntu for Moslem 2007-10-02 10:31:00 UbuntuME stands for Ubuntu Muslim Edition is a free, open source operating system based on popular Ubuntu Linux. Its main feature is the inclusion of Islamic software, such as prayer times, a Koran study tool and a web content filtering utility. As we all know, Ubuntu is a great distro, easy to use for a novice user, with the most-used Office, Internet, Graphics and Video applications already installed but we think that for Muslim users it would be great to have “out of the box” Islamic software and tools installed as well. You can download UbuntuME based on Ubuntu 7.04 at here. If you have installed of other varians of Ubuntu, you can feel the UbuntuME taste with add manually the Islamic packages with download its manually like describe here: Download this package. Run a terminal and type: chmod u+x install-ubuntuME.sh sudo ./install-ubuntuME.sh You will be asked to accept the Java license and Zekr Quran translations. Then the configuration process will ask you if you want t Read more:Ubuntu
How To Boot Mandriva on a USB Disk 2007-10-02 09:45:00 As you know, running a Live CD is great, booting and running from a USB Flash drive is more great! It's fast. It's handy. It's beautiful. It's secure. And it's silent, no noisy harddrive or optical drive activity.This work is meant for USB Flash Memory devices, thus: USB Keys, Flash Drives, Pen/Thumb Drives, Sticks. You can also use an external USB hard drive (it needs a FAT32 formatted first partition!). For setting up: Don't boot with inserted USB Stick. Insert it after you booted successfully.Hardware Requirements:A PC/Notebook with a recent motherboard and BIOS. Most computers not older than 4 years should have an option in the BIOS to set the boot sequence to USB-HDD. With a BIOS update we got it working even with a 2001 motherboard.The minimum capacity of the USB Flash Drive/USB Stick: 256 MB for the Xfce version (Jordaan), 512 MB for the KDE version. 1 GB is fine too, even a 2 GB will work. If your motherboard does not support booting from USB, you can use a combination of
New Ubuntu Customized: Kiwi Linux 2007-10-01 09:37:00 Kiwi Linux
is a modified Ubuntu
live CD for the i386 architecture. It includes Romanian and Hungarian localisations, multimedia codecs, encrypted DVD support, Flash and Java plugins for Firefox, PPPoE GUI for accessing local Internet services (Clicknet and RDS) and write support for NTFS partitions.Now, the Kiwi 7.10 Beta LiveCD for i386, based on Ubuntu 7.10 Beta is available. Modifications to Ubuntu include:Romanian and Hungarian localization and language support packages besides English.Removed evolution, rhythmbox, ekiga, Asian fonts and languages other than en/hu/ro.Removed Windows apps from the LiveCD.Added audacious audio player, inkscape, thunderbird, vim, mc.Replaced totem-gstreamer with totem-xine, added libxine1-ffmpeg and libdvdcss2.Included firefox plugins for java, flash and mplayer.Improved networking support by enabling the pppoeconf GUI, adding firmware forthe speedtouch USB modem, including ndisgtk.Usplash artwork .The package repositories are the same as Ubuntu's,
Another Linux Mini Distro: Berry Linux 2007-09-30 16:20:00 Berry Linux
, which based in Japanese, but it provides English version too, is a bootable CD that features, automatic hardware detection. It supports many graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI, USB, and other peripherals. If you have network devices, DHCP is auto-configured so you can use the Internet. You can enjoy OpenOffice, the MS Office compatible office suite. The GIMP can be used to edit pictures and is included in Berry Linux.Berry Linux can be used as a Linux demo, Educational CD, or a rescue system. Because it is a bootable CD, you can try it out without touching your hard drive. If you like it, there is an option to install Berry Linux on your hard disk. (It needs 1.7GB of free space. Using the Berry Linux Installer). Berry Linux is based on Red Hat Fedora.Features of Berry:You can listen to mp3 using BMP/XMMS, and play DVD/DivXusing MPlayer, XINE and Xaffeine.You can edit files of Microsoft Word, Excel by OpenOffice(TM).Minimum Linux enviroment is available by using Berry Linux Read more:Berry
Absolute Linux has updated absolutely 2007-09-30 14:47:00 Today, the author of AbsoluteLinux
, Paul Sherman, has announced the availability of an updated release of Absolute Linux. So, it has version 12.0.6. Absolute Linux is another small light weight of Slackware distro with full customize with featuring the IceWM window manager.Assembled to make installation and maintenance of Slackware easier. Built for speed, stability, security, ease of use and development (if you are so inclined.) The change of previous release in this updated release are:Midnight Commander(mc), Dillo web browser and ggradebook addedto default packages.xdm updated for nice graphical login, when desiredicewm update: to include menu item to switch between graphic loginor text-based.Checkers menu item changed for better display.etc package: now includes script that switches login typeDevTray:Pulled AlsaAudio card handler. This originally had a bug withSB Live cards, takes up memory, and does nothing Asolute doesnot already do.Also new DevTray icon and tooltip, to avoid
The 1st stable NimbleX has done 2007-09-29 18:16:00 Finnaly, the 1st stable released of NimbleX sub100 was released. NimbleX sub100 is a Slackware-based live CD that takes less than 100 MB on the CD, but still manages to fit in the KDE desktop.As DistroWatch said for this distro's highlights:USB installer (slightly better than the one in 2007v2); added K3b so you can burn CDs and DVDs; added support for PDF files; more than 240 webcam models are supported; remote desktop for RDP and VNC protocols; added a modified version of Quax's kweb2mod to use software from the Internet; wizard to create the nimblex.data file to easily save changes; added Parted, iptables, Guarddog, wget, xfsutils, dosfstools, GRUB, gawk, less, unarj and nano.NimbleX has a special edition that is smaller than 100MB but still retains some functionality for a broad variaty of tasks.Image The most important stuff that you can find in this edition are: Kernel 2.6.21 KDE 3.5.7 XINE media player engine XMMS audio player GIMP image editor Kopete IM client
Hardy Heron: The Next Ubuntu 8.04 2007-09-26 10:46:00 We all know that Gutsy (Ubuntu
7.10) is released, a version that everyone is waiting for, but today you'll be informed about the release dates of Ubuntu 8.04, codename HardyHeron
.Officially announced on 29th August 2007, Ubuntu 8.04 operating system is scheduled to be released somewhere at the end of April 2008 and the important part is that it will be supported with security updates for 5 years on the server and 3 years on the desktop.So, without any further introduction, here's the anticipated release schedule: 29 November 2007 - Alpha 1 release20 December 2007 - Alpha 2 release10 January 2008 - Alpha 3 release31 January 2008 - Alpha 4 release21 February 2008 - Alpha 5 release6 March 2008 - Alpha 6 release27 March 2008 - Beta release17 April 2008 - Release Candidate24 April 2008 - Final release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS "Each new release gives us all an opportunity to shine, irrespective of which bricks in the project we are laying, and this is at the heart of our belief ? working toget
VidaLinux : Linux with Mac OS Sense 2007-09-26 10:34:00 Vidalinux is a promising new GNU/Linux
distribution based on Gentoo Linux and developed in Puerto Rico. It's currently in beta pending the first release -- and as such is full of bugs and problems. However, there's a bright future for this distro with its OS X-like GNOME interface and the new graphical front end for Gentoo's Portage system, Porthole.Many people rave about OS X's interface, from the colorful Aqua theme to the layout of the menus and icons. Vidalinux does its best to mimic OS X's look and feel, even to the point of including gDesklets, an applet that adds a desktop-based quicklaunch icon bar identical to the dock in OS X.The dock is handy in OS X because most Macintosh programs don't have a background shell like graphical programs in GNU/Linux, BSD or proprietary Unix. In Vidalinux, the gDesklets applet is only useful when you don't have programs running in front of it. Open one program and the gDesklet icons are hidden from view until you close, minimize, or hide Read more:Sense
hping: Your Linux Network Traffic Generator 2007-09-24 13:29:00 hping3 is a network tool able to send custom TCP/IP packets and to display target replies like ping program does with ICMP replies. hping3 handles fragmentation, arbitrary packets body and size and can be used in order to transfer files encapsulated under supported protocols. Using hping3 you are able to perform at least the following stuff: Test firewall rulesAdvanced port scanningTest net performance using different protocols, packet size, TOS (type of service) and fragmentation.Path MTU discoveryTransferring files between even really fascist firewall rules.Traceroute-like under different protocols.Firewalk-like usage.Remote OS fingerprinting.TCP/IP stack auditing.A lot of others. I've tried several traffic generators for Ubuntu, Fedora (and other) like scapy, NTG, Bit-Twist, but only hping meets my requirements. Recommended. Example: to generate 100 packets per second TCP traffic to 192.168.0.1 with packets containing arbitrary destinations, just execute: sudo aptitude install hpin Read more:Linux
, Generator
Linux for Professional Audio Recording and Editing 2007-09-23 13:04:00 Who say the applications and systems for audio recording and editing just only can doing within Microsoft Windows or Macintosh? Bullshit! We can do that in Linux
with some special Linux distros. One of them is Musix GNU+Linux, and it's opensource and absolutely free! Musix GNU+Linux is a Free Operating system intended for musicians and users in general. Musix GNU+Linux also contains an enormous collection of free programs. The system will boot from your CD/DVD drive, with no need to install anything on your hard disk. The programs currently support the Spanish and English languages.It is based upon the Knoppix distribution. The underlying system has been enhanced with the usual optimizations, but Musix is the only system I encountered that specifically offers the user a choice between a normal kernel (2.6.16) and one optimized for realtime multimedia performance (2.6.15-rt). That's a nice touch. Here are some key features of Musix GNU Linux:Master for CDPublish musical scoresPrin Read more:Audio
, Recording
The New Damn Small 2007-09-23 12:27:00 Damn Small
Linux has released candidate of the upcoming DSL (Damn Small Linux) 4.0 which contains the following fixes and improvements:Added taskbar buttons & click to focus in .jwmrcCorrected rdesktop icon to rdesktop.luaAdded emelfm - dropped mcUpdated association for *.gzCreated new Standard Boot floppy & PCMCIA modules floppy.Updated getman/man urlRestored SCSI modules - corrected cdrecordUpdated .torsmo_ip to fetch ethernet device from /procUpdated pendrive_usbhdd script to prompt for boot options.While being powered by JWM (Joe's Window Manager), DSL 4.0 includes powerful and useful applications for daily use, like Dillo, Netrik and Firefox web browsers, the Sylpheed e-mail client, Xzgv image viewer, Xpaint photo editor and the emelFM file manager. Below is a list of more great applications you can find inside Damn Small Linux:XMMS (mp3, ogg, mpeg, cd audio) and mp321 and ogg123 (that's right, you?ve got Music and Video)Vim, an enhanced ViAssorted Xbase utilities (Xcalc
CrossOver Linux 2007-09-17 09:55:00 CrossOver Linux
allows you to install many popular Windows productivity applications, plugins and games in Linux, without needing a Microsoft Operating System license. CrossOver includes an easy to use, single click interface, which makes installing a Windows application simple and fast. Once installed, your application integrate seamlessly with your Gnome or KDE environment. Just click and run your application, exactly as you would in Windows, but with the full freedom of Linux. CrossOver Linux lets you use many Windows plugins directly from your Linux browser. Plugins work on any x86 based Linux distribution and will integrate with most browsers including Firefox 1.x, Netscape 6.x, Konqueror, Mozilla, and Opera. CrossOver also integrates with Gnome and KDE to let you transparently open any Word, Excel or PowerPoint file. But even better, you can open these attachment types directly from any mail client.The author created two versions of Cros
Trinux? What is that? 2007-09-17 09:08:00 Trinux was a ramdisk-based Linux distribution that boots from a single floppy or CD-ROM, loads it packages from an HTTP/FTP server, a FAT/NTFS/ISO filesystem, or additional floppies. Trinux contains the latest versions of popular Open Source network security tools for port scanning, packet sniffing, vulnerability scanning, sniffer detection, packet construction, active/passive OS fingerprinting, network monitoring, session-hijacking, backup/recovery, computer forensics, intrusion detection, and more. Trinux also provides support for Perl, PHP, and Python scripting languages. Remote Trinux boxes can be managed securely with OpenSSH. Trinux gives you the power of Linux security tools without requiring a full-blown Linux install or the need to download, compile, install, and update a complete suite of security tools that are typically not found in mainstream distributions. First released in the Spring of 1998, articles on Trinux have appeared in Infoworld, SecurityPortal, Usenix SAGE, IT
FD Linux - Not Just for Floppy Anymore 2007-09-17 06:36:00 Fd Linux
is a very tiny floppy distribution of Linux, set to fit on one floppy disk (kernel and root fs are combined!). All binaries are based on Red Hat. Fd Linux is Adam Dosch's personal project. The intent of this floppy distribution was to be able to provide new linux users with low-end machines (e.g. 386) very useful set of networking related binaries that could be easily accessed at any time, in which you could use in almost any networked environment (libraries, colleges, offices, small home LANs, dorm rooms, etc.) Fd Linux has been optimized, tested and is able to run on as little as a 386 with 8MB of RAM! There is an immense collection of features embedded into Fd Linux: Built-in firewall supportIP-MasqueradingKernel and system-level loggingUser-friendly network setup scriptsext2 and vfat (Windows) file system supportIn depth set of module loading Read more:Floppy
YDL: Yellow Dog Linux 2007-09-13 12:24:00 What is Yellow
Dog Linux
?An open source, Linux operating system for home, office, server, and cluster users. Built upon the Fedora Core, Terra Soft has since the spring of 1999 developed and maintained YDL for the Power architecture family of CPUs. This focus and dedication has lead to the world's leading Linux for Power OS.What is included?Yellow Dog Linux combines a no non-sense graphical installer with support for a wide range of Power hardware, leading (but not bleeding) edge kernels and stable, functional compilers for code development. And of course, the foundation applications and servers expected for web, database, email, and network services. Greater than 2000 packages are included on the Install DVD.A history of dedication and innovation.Proven world-wide as the preferred Linux OS for the Power architecture, YDL v5.0 brings Terra Soft into its 9th year of Power Linux operating system development and support. What's more, v5.0 introduces E17 as the default desktop environmen
Google Desktop for Linux! 2007-09-11 13:56:00 It is almost three years since Google
launched its Desktop
search application for Microsoft Windows. The search major has now gone and done the same for Linux
...For those not-in-the-know, Google's Desktop application helps users search for information/files on their computers, which includes Gmail and Web search history. As the desktop index is stored locally on the computer, the application also helps users access their Gmail and Web history offline.Similarly, Google's latest Desktop for Linux will also help users index and find their data in PCs as well as on the Web. Reportedly, Desktop for Linux deploys Google's own desktop search algorithms, and not those of Linux.However the catch is that only computers with x86 processors can use the software. The newest Desktop supports the Debian 4.0, Fedora Core 6, Ubuntu 6.10, Novell Suse 10.1, and Red Flag 5 versions of Linux. And, the application uses either the KDE or Gnome graphical user interface (UI).Besides, Desktop for Linux sport Read more:Google Desktop
Fiire - Linux based Media Center 2007-09-11 13:50:00 Having Linux
based Media Center
doesn't burn a hole in your pocket, but enables you to have a good rig to sizzle your entertainment. Fiire is a company doing just that - it sells media boxes and remotes. Their rig is based on the FiireEngine; it's a $799 box which packs an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor, a 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, RAID support for 6 eSATA drives (that would take the total capacity to 6TB), with a motherboard having an on-board the NViDIA 6200 graphics chipset. The system has DVI, VGA, S-video, but unfortunately no HDMI. The FiireEngine accesses the company's FiireStation ($499-$899) set-top box to provide entertainment to wall-mount units. The remote provided, FiireChief ($149) controls the media center. You can have a "follow" wherein you can play a video in one room, move to the next room, and continue to watch the same video on a different screen in a different room. How cool is that? But I can see those dollars summing up to a way bigger amount. Well a cool con Read more:Media Center
Free ATI Drivers 2007-09-05 05:22:00 Fully-functional video drivers -- ones capable of handling 3-D acceleration -- remain one of the weak points of free software. The Free Software Foundation has declared them a high-priority project. Meanwhile, some distributions and even more users have resorted to using the proprietary drivers offered as free downloads by card manufacturers. One of the main projects attempting to provide complete, free drivers is focusing on developing the Avivo driver for the R500 and R600 cards from AMD/ATI, so-called after a specification first introduced in this line of cards. According to Jerome Glisse, who coordinates the development of the driver, progress is being made in the project, and "maybe by the end of this year, we might have some 3-D acceleration." The community of graphics experts in free software is a small one. Like many in the community, Glisse got his start in the now-defunct R300 project, which was designed to study 3-D acceleration in ATI ca Read more:Drivers
3 MythTV Linux distros compared 2007-09-05 04:59:00 My Series 1 TiVo is getting old, so I am planning an escape route based on MythTV, a free software system that turns an old computer into a personal video recorder. This week I tested three MythTV-specific Linux
distributions: KnoppMyth, MythDora, and MythBuntu. I found MythDora the best overall fit for my needs -- but there are important distinctions between the three that may lead you to a different decision. My curiosity toward MythTV-specific distros was touched off by MythBuntu's latest release earlier this month, Public Alpha 3. I run Ubuntu on my primary desktop machine, and had a relatively painless experience installing MythTV on it courtesy of the official repositories. Only while waiting for the MythBuntu ISO image to download did I decide to check out its competition. MythBuntu Public Alpha 3 is based on development builds of Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon," and provides users with MythTV version 0.20.1. It is available as a 423MB ISO imag
DSL, Damn Small Linux [Digg] 2007-08-23 23:14:28 The light and smallest linux distro in the word, just only 50 MB. It can boot from CD, usb flash disk and other media. Even it can run from Microsoft Windows via emulator. Read more:Small
, Linux
, Digg
Mini Linux PC breaks $100 barrier [Digg] 2006-09-27 20:00:04 A Taiwanese company is selling a tiny Linux
-powered mini PC that has a consumer electronics look-and-feel for $99, quantity one. Seems like a neat platform for a wide range of specialized applications and projects. Read more:Digg
, breaks
Tiny, sub-$100 PC runs Puppy Linux [Digg] 2006-08-23 16:21:38 This tiny device can serve as an ultra-low-cost platform for thin-client, kiosk, and electronic signage apps, or as an affordable PC for students and others in developing countries. Read more:Linux
, Puppy
, Digg
Intel plans to develop new CPU for ultra-low cost laptop computers 2007-10-16 11:44:00 Intel to Develop New CPU Architecture for OLPC UseIntel isn’t content to cede any portion of the CPU market to rival AMD and to compete on all fronts -- including the OLPC market -- Intel plans
to develop
a new CPU architecture.No current Intel processors fit the specifications for the one laptop per child notebook program (OLPC), so Intel is designing a new processor specifically for the ultra-low cost laptop category where the AMD 433MHz Geode LX-700 reigns king.Few specifications on the new Intel architecture are known at this time, other than it will be cheap and aimed at the specifications of the AMD processor currently being used in the OLPC system. Yahoo! News is reporting that Intel considered using existing mobile processors including modified versions of the Celeron M and the upcoming Silverthorne processors, which were specifically designed for mobile systems.Those processors were ruled out because Intel says the small size, low cost and low power consumption required by t Read more:Intel
, computers
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Google read your mail 2007-10-16 08:51:00 While in Britain last week, Microsoft
CEO SteveBallmer
took a swipe at just about everything - from one of the world's largest Linux vendors to a social networking company he may end up buying. He insisted that Red Hat violates MS patents. He compared Facebook to GeoCities. He even accused Google
of reading your email.At the UK launch of something called the Microsoft Startup Accelerator Programme, the Redmond supremo badmouthed his archest of arch rivals as he discussed the ins and outs of online advertising models.After telling his audience that Windows Live Hotmail generates relatively little ad revenue, he claimed that Google's Gmail suffers from much the same problem - despite nefarious activity from the Mountain View, CA outfit."Google's had the same experience - even though they read your mail and we don't," the Microsoft supremo said.You can watch the video here (registration required).His audience was shocked - and amused - but Ballmer insisted he was simply telling it li