Will Microsoft open source Internet Explorer or destroy it?
Internet Explorer has lost market share to Chrome, Firefox and other browsers over the years. Is it finally time for Microsoft to open source IE? Or should it be destroyed?
Peter Bright at Ars Technica considers the possibility of open sourcing IE:
But Internet Explorer is closed from end to end. While the same kind of logical separation as is found in Safari and Chrome exists—the Internet Explorer shell is separate from the Trident rendering engine—both components are entirely proprietary.
This puts Internet Explorer at a disadvantage. While the Web community has a multitude of different priorities and agendas, and the different participants frequently do not see eye-to-eye, it nonetheless has a consistent attitude of openness. Web standards are developed in public, and except for Internet Explorer, Web browsers (or at least, the most important parts of browsers, their rendering engines) are likewise developed in public.
Lily Hay Newman at Slate considers the possibility of the complete destruction of Internet Explorer:
Microsoft needs to continue its process of euthanizing IE. With so many outdated versions of the browser floating around, the potential compatability and security problems are immense. So Microsoft has a little less than a year to rein this in and get everyone excited about Spartan.
It honestly doesn’t seem hyperbolic to call the end of support for Windows XP a disaster. When Microsoft realized that it needed to kill XP off for real, it suddenly had to confront a huge population of mostly oblivious users. Hopefully the company learned from that, and will get the word out as it decisively wipes Internet Explorer from the digital Earth.
Stream content from your Linux computer to your Chromecast
Google's Chromecast has been sitting in the top ten of Amazon's list of best selling electronics for quite a long time. But it hasn't offered an easy way for Linux users to stream content from their systems. Linux.com will show you how to do just that in a helpful tutorial.
Swapnil Bhartiya reports for Linux.com:
Google continues to add new features to Chromecast, except for one much-needed feature: native support for playback of local content. There is no _easy_ way to stream content sitting on your smart phone or desktop to Chromecast. Let me be honest, there are some Chrome apps which can play videos stored on your computer, but none offer a desirable solution.
I have created a local file server on my Linux box, which allows me to access movies, music and images from any device over the local network. Then I use an Android app which works as a remote to access and stream these files to the Chromecast. And I will show you how to do this, too.
Linux graphics apps ready for professional use?
Linux has plenty of graphics applications, but are they up to snuff for professional users? Datamation explores the topic and finds that Linux graphic apps have come a long way indeed.
Bruce Byfield reports for Datamation:
Tools like Blender, GIMP, Inkscape, and Krita are mature products, and are improving with every release. Yet if you ask designers why they don't use these apps, the response is no different than when these apps were struggling through their infancy over a decade ago: they aren't ready for professionals. However, that claim is becoming increasingly hollow, to the point where today it often sounds like denial.
Just as with free fonts, today free graphic applications offer approximately the same as their proprietary counterparts. If they fall short in particular cases, frequently, so do proprietary graphics software. Circumstances vary. Yet speaking generally, the idea that a professional designer must be reliant on proprietary apps is as outdated as imagining that Linux must be run from the command prompt. If that is your perception, it is years overdue for an update.
Did you miss a roundup? Check the Eye On Open home page to get caught up with the latest news about open source and Linux.