Tag: opensource

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Broadcom has released open source Linux Wifi 802.11n drivers

In a welcoming step, Broadcom finally released the the source code of its wifi (802.11n) Linux drivers under open source license. The source code can be found on the Linux staging-next tree at git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/gregkh/staging-next-2.6.git in the in the drivers/staging/brcm80211 directory. The open source drivers will support current chips (BCM4313,BCM43224, BCM43225) and it also acts as a framework to support future chips by Broadcom.

This can be considered as a significant move made by the company, as Broadcom chips are widely in use on laptops and netbooks in the market. Its competitor, Atheros, has already open sourced its drivers back in 2008, which in turn, made Atheros drivers much better supported on various operating system platform compared to Broadcom.

Previously, Linux users with Broadcom chip, have to rely on NDISwrapper utilities to enable the wifi functionality on their laptops.

[source][via]

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DateDiff – A simple JavaME mobile app to calculate the day differences between two dates

There are times where I am required to calculate the day/month/year differences between two dates, which I found a little bit troublesome to do repeatedly even if it is just a simple estimate. So in turn, I created this mobile app to do the job, which greatly increase my productivity! Here i’m releasing the source code to DateDiff, which is coded and compatible with all JavaME phone:

DateDiff mypapit

DateDiff.jar – binary (MIDP 2.0)
datediff_src.zip (source code)

DateDiff is copyrighted by me, and is licensed under a BSD-like license, you can read the terms of use from the ‘About’ menu or from the source code.

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vrms – check your Ubuntu for Non-free packages (Virtual Richard M Stallman)

vrms is an application that checks for non-free packages or components installed in your Debian-based system (including Ubuntu) and subsequently display a statistic of how many percentage of your system is non-free.

vrms can be installed using Synaptic Package Manager :

VRMS - Virtual Richard Stallman

To execute it, just type “vrms” in the terminal, here’s an example of vrms output for my system :
[javascript]
mypapit@mypapit-desktop:~$ vrms
Non-free packages installed on mypapit-desktop

bsdgames-nonfree rogue, the classic dungeon exploration game
Reason: No commercial use
fglrx-modaliases Identifiers supported by the ATI graphics driver
latex2html LaTeX to HTML translator
linux-generic Complete Generic Linux kernel
linux-restricted-modules- Non-free Linux 2.6.28 modules helper script
linux-restricted-modules- Restricted Linux modules for generic kernels
nvidia-173-modaliases Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
nvidia-180-modaliases Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
nvidia-71-modaliases Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
nvidia-96-modaliases Modaliases for the NVIDIA binary X.Org driver
rar Archiver for .rar files
sun-java6-bin Sun Java(TM) Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 (architecture
sun-java6-demo Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 6 demos and example
sun-java6-jdk Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 6
sun-java6-jre Sun Java(TM) Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 (architecture
sun-java6-plugin The Java(TM) Plug-in, Java SE 6
tangerine-icon-theme Tangerine Icon theme

Contrib packages installed on mypapit-desktop

jetty Java servlet engine and webserver
nvidia-common Find obsolete NVIDIA drivers
openttd reimplementation of Transport Tycoon Deluxe with enhan

17 non-free packages, 1.1% of 1601 installed packages.
3 contrib packages, 0.2% of 1601 installed packages.
[/javascript]

So if you prefer a completely free (as in freedom!) operating system, you can use install gNewsense instead of Ubuntu.

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BluePad: Controls Presentation from Your Phone

Recently I had todo a lot of presentations which made me thinking into getting presentation pen, but since my E71 includes a pre-installed Wireless Presenter (WiPresenter), I’ve buried that thought, who needs an expensive presentation pen when a phone can perform equally when?

Bluepad remote control

But as WiPresenter is only compatible with Microsoft Windows operating system, I’m forced to use keyboard or mouse-clicks to control my presentations when I’m using Ubuntu Linux operating system. This is a drawback as I could perform the task easily thru my phone when I’m on Windows XP.

EnterBluepad, an application which enables your mobile phone to act as a Bluetooth controller. Bluepad consists of two applications, a server and a client. The server application sits on your operating system, monitoring for incoming Bluetooth connection. The client application requires a JavaME compatible mobile phone with JSR-82 (Bluetooth) feature.

The installation is straightforward for both client and server side application, the only thing to remember is to activate bluetooth on mobile phone before starting the client application. After that, you can start OpenOffice Impress and use the the phone to remotely control the presentation.