Linus Torvalds released Linux 3.1 Monday and the new feature list is long and wide. Linux 3.1 includes a new iSCSI implementation and support for OpenRISC, Near-Field Communication chips, and -- get this -- Wii controllers.
OpenRISC is a project to build a free and open CPU under the GPL license and encompasses the CPU architecture, software development tools, libraries, and so forth. The implementation included in Linux 3.1 is the 32-bit OpenRISC 1000 family (OR1K).
RESEARCH: Network World Open Source Subnet
NFC support is interesting but not surprising. It is interesting because NFC is becoming the latest must-have feature for smartphones, and while Android is a Linux derivative, it is in its own development sphere (some would call that a fork). So there really isn't another form of Linux smartphone out there yet, now that MeeGo is dead. However, Intel is still trying. Last month it announced it had landed Samsung as a new partner and would be working on a new Linux mobile project called Tizen, dusting its hands of MeeGo.
While it's not surprising that Linux would add NFC support -- the kernel tends to support up-and-coming technologies -- the question is how one would actually use NFC if not on a smartphone. Apparently, NFC is viewed as an important attribute for netbooks, tablets and embedded devices such as keycards or ID cards. NFC can also act like a barcode scanner, reading NFC tags on displays in museums or retail shelves, directing people to audio or visual information according to the Kernelnewbies.org site. It also has Bluetooth qualities and can be used to beam contacts, files, media and applications between devices. Linux 3.1 adds a NFC subsystem and a new NFC socket family.
This release also includes the latest iSCSI implementation. It replaces SCST in favor of Linux-iSCSI.org SCSI and ends a longstanding and formerly contentious fight in the Linux community over which iSCSI technology would be included with the kernel.
Support for the Wii controller remote is equally interesting. With this you'll be able to use the WiiMote and other Wii controller devices with Linux machines for whatever creative purposes you can imagine (or program). There are a couple of ports of Linux available today that run on the Nintendo Wii console: Wii-Linux and GameCube Linux. But perhaps with Wii remote support baked in, gesture-based gaming will soon be an option for Linux devices -- like desktops. Many Wii controllers such as the balance board, Nunchuk, etc., support Bluetooth and can also interact with a computer that way.
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OpenRISC is a project to build a free and open CPU under the GPL license and encompasses the CPU architecture, software development tools, libraries, and so forth. The implementation included in Linux 3.1 is the 32-bit OpenRISC 1000 family (OR1K).
RESEARCH: Network World Open Source Subnet
NFC support is interesting but not surprising. It is interesting because NFC is becoming the latest must-have feature for smartphones, and while Android is a Linux derivative, it is in its own development sphere (some would call that a fork). So there really isn't another form of Linux smartphone out there yet, now that MeeGo is dead. However, Intel is still trying. Last month it announced it had landed Samsung as a new partner and would be working on a new Linux mobile project called Tizen, dusting its hands of MeeGo.
While it's not surprising that Linux would add NFC support -- the kernel tends to support up-and-coming technologies -- the question is how one would actually use NFC if not on a smartphone. Apparently, NFC is viewed as an important attribute for netbooks, tablets and embedded devices such as keycards or ID cards. NFC can also act like a barcode scanner, reading NFC tags on displays in museums or retail shelves, directing people to audio or visual information according to the Kernelnewbies.org site. It also has Bluetooth qualities and can be used to beam contacts, files, media and applications between devices. Linux 3.1 adds a NFC subsystem and a new NFC socket family.
This release also includes the latest iSCSI implementation. It replaces SCST in favor of Linux-iSCSI.org SCSI and ends a longstanding and formerly contentious fight in the Linux community over which iSCSI technology would be included with the kernel.
Support for the Wii controller remote is equally interesting. With this you'll be able to use the WiiMote and other Wii controller devices with Linux machines for whatever creative purposes you can imagine (or program). There are a couple of ports of Linux available today that run on the Nintendo Wii console: Wii-Linux and GameCube Linux. But perhaps with Wii remote support baked in, gesture-based gaming will soon be an option for Linux devices -- like desktops. Many Wii controllers such as the balance board, Nunchuk, etc., support Bluetooth and can also interact with a computer that way.
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