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● 03.18.09

● Links 18/03/2009: SunBM and Cisco+GNU/Linux

Posted in News Roundup at 8:11 pm by Dr. Roy SchestowitzContentsGNU/LinuxGNU/Linux

=> ↺ Where Ubuntu Fits Between Apple, Microsoft

• Moreover, I can’t recommend Windows systems at the moment because the industry is stuck in purgatory — between Windows Vista and Windows 7.

• As a result, Ubuntu continues to fill a niche where (A) Apple can’t compete on price and (B) Microsoft can’t compete on quality. Ubuntu remains a solid, predictable, reliable choice on a growing number of desktops, notebooks and netbooks. Assuming Canonical doesn’t mess up Ubuntu 9.04’s delivery (Jaunty Jackalope) in April, this should be a banner year for Ubuntu’s continued desktop growth.

=> ↺ 5 Technologies that will shape the future of Linux

• Following a small list of 5 technologies that will in my opinion shape the future of linux.

• 1. The rise of the MID

• [...]

• 2. 3 Dimensional screens

• [...]

• 3. 3 Dimensional touch screen

• [...]

• 4. Cloud computing

• [...]

• 5. Virtualization

=> ↺ The Russians Are Coming…

• [Via Google Translate: The company ALT Linux and OpenGO (Ventox Boundless Brasil) announce the opening of the representation of ALT Linux in Brazil.

• Such a move by the ALT Linux is due to a desire to gather around the repository Sisyphus the widest range of developers and is part of a strategy to expand the market by other countries...]

=> ↺ Dell Goes Thin with Adamo

• In a note last week, Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, wrote about “a new paradigm of low-cost computing” based on cheap processors and a version of Linux — rather than Microsoft’s Windows operating system. To reenforce their point, the analysts built a $250 PC that they say is perfectly functional (though its case is a cardboard box).

=> ↺ Platform Computing Announces New Linux Cluster Management Solution Developed with HP

• Platform Computing, the global leader in High Performance Computing (HPC) management software, announces the release of the Platform HPC for ICE-Linux, a solution developed with HP, which combines the power of Platform Computing with the multi-systems management of HP Insight Control suite for Linux (ICE-Linux). The solution will allow customers to easily deploy HPC cluster environments using an out-of-the-box software solution that supports superior performance, growth and scalability while reducing cost and complexity.

=> ↺ Linux and luxury: Behind the scenes on the Emirates Airbus A380

• We take a look at the Emirates Airbus A380′s high-tech luxuries and Linux-based Panasonic Aviation eX2 in-flight entertainment system.

=> ↺ Claromentis constructs new view on Linux

• A Linux information management solution dedicated to construction companies, architect, engineers, and oil companies has been launched byClaromentis.

=> ↺ VirtualBox Gets 3D Acceleration For Linux Guests

• Linux guests under VirtualBox 2.2 and later can now have OpenGL acceleration support, permitting they are running a modified driver stack. Also introduced in VirtualBox 2.2 Beta 1 was OVF (Open Virtualization Format) appliance import and export, Hypervisor optimizations for improved performance, Intel VT-x and AMD-V are enabled by default on new virtual machines, and experimental USB support for Solaris hosts. This release also has experimental support for Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” host operating systems.

=> ↺ Linux is more than just a Novel Concept

• All operating systems have their respective pros and cons. But if you are a Linux enthusiast, you shall be amazed to find the flexibility and presence of tools available.

=> ↺ Battle of OS: Linux vs Windows

• Every time I browse news on Linux I come across headlines implying that war is going on between Linux and Windows. This always leaves me a bit puzzled as most of the free software people I have met or read about are rather peaceful and open-minded, though there are exceptions who like to play with guns.

Audio

=> ↺ Special Source 6 Released

• Another interview from OLF. This time I talk with Jon “Maddog” Hall about his nickname, sustainable computing, and the Open Moko phone. You can download/watch the episode here. I think I will stop titling my interviews “Special Source” and just have them be regular episodes from now on. It seems they are all I have time for lately.

=> ↺ The Software Freedom Law Show

• In this episode of the Software Freedom Law Show, Karen and Bradley interview Karen F. Copenhaver of the Linux Foundation and Choate, Hall, & Stewart, LLP, and also answer a listener’s question.

=> ↺ Podcast Season 1 Episode 4

• In this episode: Jim Zemlin wants a united front for netbooks, Codeweavers starts on DirectX 10 for Linux, has Firefox been exploited, can we help people who are new to Linux, and should proprietary software be easy to install?

Cisco

=> ↺ The Linux part of Cisco’s Unified Computing System

• Cisco isn’t happy with just being the data center and Internet networking big dog. The company now wants, with its Unified Computing System, to be the data center alpha dog. Cisco will be producing its own high-end 64-bit blade servers with Intel Nehalem processors, which will be powered by VMware, Windows Server 2008, and, pay attention now, Red Hat’s RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux).

=> ↺ Cisco declares war, embraces open source

• While Cisco’s Unified Communication technology is hardly open source–Cisco has built its own proprietary Ethernet, for heaven’s sake!–the initiative will largely depend on open-source software. In my conversations with executives involved in the initiative, Red Hat, specifically, and open-source proponents, generally, are deemed to be critical to its success.

Kernel Space

=> ↺ The Linux Kernel Saves Animals, Gets New Logo

• Tux, the Linux penguin mascot, will be taking a break during the Linux 2.6.29 kernel cycle. Committed to the Linus’s kernel tree last night is a new temporary logo known as Tuz. Tuz is a Tasmanian Devil, which is a species in danger of becoming extinct. The Tasmanian Devil is native to Australia and during this year’s Linux.Conf.Au conference it was decided that Tuz will stand in for Tux for one kernel release in order to raise awareness for this creature. Tux will return with the release of the Linux 2.6.30 kernel.

=> ↺ The kernel gets a new logo

=> ↺ Kernel Log – What’s new in 2.6.29: Part 8 – Faster start-up and other behind the scenes changes

• Following the eighth pre-release version of 2.6.29, development of the next major kernel revision looks to have hit the home straight. A glance at the changed files and code makes it clear how hard the kernel hackers have been working on 2.6.29, with more new lines of code added over the current development cycle than ever before.

=> ↺ On Configuring The Linux Kernel For Debugging

• The point of this “Learning Linux” blog is to discuss learning more about Linux. In the next several blogs, at least, leading up to the training at the Collaboration Summit, we will look at topics that will be addressed in one of the training classes. To whet your appetite.

=> ↺ Comux 001100 ( hey it’s a palindrome! )

Environments

=> ↺ GNOME 2.26

• And with these additions, you have GNOME 2.26. Examined on its own merits, GNOME 2.26 is a rock solid desktop manager that offers ease of use which should translate into more productivity for the end user. Also, with its new Exchange features found in Evolution, GNOME 2.26 should appeal heavily to businesses wanting to integrate Linux clients into their Microsoft Exchange networks.

=> ↺ Introduction to the xmonad Tiling Window Manager

• What good is having a large display if you’re constantly rearranging windows to fit them on the screen? I got tired of try to fit a web browser with other smaller windows and decided to try xmonad, a tiling window manager that could do this for me.

Distributions

=> ↺ DIY Laptop v2

• Now that I’ve explained about the hardware, you’re thinking to yourself, “Great, a microcontroller, it’s been done…but what can it do?” Well, the answer is a resounding “more than the last version!” My goal is to eventually reach parity with an early 1980’s home computer, and this one is getting pretty darned close. And now, the software specs of the “Linaxe” OS (all crammed into 4 kilobytes!)…

PcLinuxOS

=> ↺ Review: PcLinuxOS 2009.1

• While slow in arriving, and a bit behind the times in some areas, PcLinuxOS 2009.1 is still a very good distribution for new users. I didn’t have quite the enthusiasm for this version as I did for the original, but I still enjoyed it and found it to be a good distribution by which new users could get their feet wet and begin experiencing the Linux world.

• So rest easy PCLOS Devs, your distro stays on my recommended list of distributions for new users. And while it’s indeed a bit behind, considering where you came from to get to here, you did a very good job. But we will be looking forward with eager anticipation to your next release. One preferably with KDE 4.2 or greater running under the hood.

=> ↺ PCLOS 2009 [Screenshots]

=> ↺ The Perfect Desktop – PCLinuxOS 2009.1

Red Hat

=> ↺ Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT): Stock of the Day

• When the New York Stock Exchange needed a computer operating system to handle its vast amount of daily transactions, it did not look to the perennial tech-bellwethers like Apple or Google.

=> ↺ Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT): Growing Business, Strong Balance Sheet, and Buying Back Shares

• When the New York Stock Exchange needed a computer operating system to handle its vast amount of daily transactions, it did not look to the perennial tech-bellwethers like Apple or Google.

Ubuntu

=> ↺ Ubuntu Gets Complete Support from RightScale Cloud Management

• RightScale, a provider of automated cloud management platform, recently announced full support for the popular Ubuntu distribution as part of the RightScale Cloud Management Platform.

=> ↺ Unreleased ATI Catalyst Driver Appears In Ubuntu

• Last year when Ubuntu 8.10 was released it had shipped with an unpublished ATI Catalyst driver since the proprietary ATI drivers available to the public were not compatible with X Server 1.5, which was used by this Ubuntu release. Now with Ubuntu 9.04 coming around the corner and the ATI Catalyst driver lacking X Server 1.6 support, we have run into a similar situation.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ World’s greenest PC?

• CompuLabs is a month from shipping what may be the smallest, most energy-efficient PC ever. The Fit-PC2 is based on an Atom processor up to 1.6GHz, and can be ordered with Ubuntu 8.04 pre-installed on a 160GB SATA drive or SSD.

=> ↺ StorCenter Ix2 Network Drive Gains Remote Access, AFP

• The StorCenter ix2 uses an embedded Linux kernel to operate. It provides media serving capabilities, Bluetooth and video surveillance support, and comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port and USB 2.0 ports that can be used for printers, so it can act as a print server as well.

=> ↺ VDI tool gains snappier Linux support

• NoMachine says its Linux-friendly X Window System compression technology will by tapped by virtual thin client management software specialist Leostream. The NX technology will reportedly enable Leostream’s “Connection Broker” management software to better support Linux desktops, applications, and sessions in VMWare VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) environments.

=> ↺ SmartQ 5 MID scores itself Ubuntu, a ridiculously low price tag

• The touchscreen device, which features a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 screen, is now running an ARM-friendly Ubuntu distro, and has been given the low, low pricetag of 899 Chinese Yuan, about $132.

=> ↺ MPC Data and Renesas Little Blue Linux development kits

• MPC Data and Renesas Technology Europe have announced the Little Blue Linux range of professional embedded Linux software development kits (SDK’s).

• The first Little Blue Linux Professional SDK targets the popular low-cost RSK+7203 development kit from Renesas Technology Europe. Featuring a high performance 200MHz SH7203 from Renesas’ SH-2A microcontroller family and running the latest stable and royalty free Linux BSP and cross-development tools from MPC Data, the evaluation board and SDK offers a painless transition to embedded Linux.

=> ↺ Surgeons Turn Man’s Finger Into Computer Memory Stick

• The device contains some of his favorite programs and a copy of the Linux operating system.

• “I simply put my finger into the USB port of a computer and pull out the hand if I need it,” Javala explained. “Afterwards the finger goes back on.”

Wind River

=> ↺ Thread-happy telecom chip gains CG Linux

• Amid rumors that Sun may be acquired by IBM, Sun announced a port of Wind River’s Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) to its multi-threading UltraSPARC T2 processor. Sun says Wind River Linux 3.0 is available on several Sun UltraSPARC-T2 systems.

=> ↺ Sun and Wind River Deliver Carrier Grade Linux for Next-Generation Networking on Sun’s UltraSPARC(R) T2 Processor

=> ↺ Wind River Linux platform adds multicore support

• Based on Linux kernel 2.6.27 and GCC 4.3, Wind River Linux 3.0 comes with packages for multimedia, graphics and HMI (human-machine interface) technologies, such as X.org, GTK+, GNOME or GStreamer.

Phones

=> ↺ HTC Promises at Least 3 More Android Phones in ’09

• “Android is a free, open source mobile platform,” Google spokesperson Carolyn Penner told LinuxInsider. “This means that anyone can take the Android platform and add code or download it to create a mobile device without restrictions. We look forward to seeing what contributions are made and how an open platform spurs innovation.”

• Perhaps HTC is being spurred by the openness of Google, but Weinberg points out that it could have problems meeting its ambitious goals for Android smartphones.

Sub-notebooks

=> ↺ HP Mini 1000 Netbook – Running Linux

• Is Linux on the HP Mini right for anyone other than me? Linux in general seems like a good fit for netbooks — it does everything a typical netbook user will probably need, it’s usually pretty efficient, and it can be customized by vendors in ways that Windows can’t be. (Look at HP’s “Mobile Internet Experience”, for example. Without being told that it’s Linux, you’d never know it.) As a long-time Unix developer, I’m perfectly at home with a terminal and a text editor alongside Firefox and Thunderbird, so it suits me just fine.

• I should note that though installing Ubuntu with Wubi is very easy, installing the Netbook Remix packages on top of it might be a bit too daunting for new Linux users. On the other hand, installing the entire Netbook Remix at once is possible, but is also somewhat technical, and it requires partitioning the drive like a more traditional Linux installation. If you try Linux on the Mini, feel free to let us know how you fare in the comments; I’ll try to help as much as I can.

=> ↺ HP Mini 1000 Netbook Review

• With all the netbooks on the market in the last year or so, it almost makes a person wonder if the days of full-sized notebooks are numbered. Considering the economy the way it is, people are looking for a bargain and these little netbooks sure can provide one.

=> ↺ Kogan claims cheapest 10in netbook

• Another interesting point is Kogan’s choice of operating system: the Ubuntu-based gOS.

• “By using the gOS operating system, we are bringing our customers one step closer to cloud computing. The operating system facilitates easy access to a number of Google services, as well as a host of easy to use, powerful open source programs,” said Kogan.

=> ↺ Kogan launches 10-inch, Linux-powered netbook

• Marketing success story Kogan Technologies has announced what it claims is Australia’s cheapest 10-inch netbook computer powered by the Linux-based gOS operating system.

=> ↺ The quiet Ubuntu Netbook revolution

• Let’s say Microsoft earns $8 per copy of Windows XP shipped, which might actually be high, at least with the larger OEMs. At that point, the price differential between shipping Ubuntu or Windows XP is slim. But once Microsoft eventually turns off the XP spigot and requires OEMs to ship Windows 7, will Microsoft be able to command a hefty premium on its brand alone?

• I doubt it. Canonical has permanently reset the Netbook operating system price point in its favor, at a level where it can compete vigorously while Microsoft must compete reluctantly. Microsoft, in short, is now playing by Ubuntu’s terms.

Free Software/Open Source

=> ↺ Open source enables companies to collaborate

• Dave Neary gave me his speaking slot at OSiM USA. I have two challenges, make a talk to fit his title and abstract (although you can almost always safely ignore the abstract) and give a good talk in 20 minutes of time. Here are some thoughts I have. (The title of the talk is Increasing Ecosystem Collaboration through Open Source but I’ll let Dave blog that talk.)

=> ↺ EnterpriseDB’s Postgres Plus Wins Jolt Product Excellence Award

• EnterpriseDB, the leading enterprise-class open source database company, announced today that Postgres Plus has won the 2009 Jolt Product Excellence Award in the Best Database Engines and Data Tools category. The Jolt Awards honor products that have “jolted” the industry with their significance and have made the task of creating software faster, easier, and more efficient. Winners were selected from among hundreds of qualified nominations and were chosen by a team of twenty esteemed industry insiders, columnists, and technology leaders.

=> ↺ InSTEDD Unveils Open Source Software Suite and Training Lab to Help Global Humanitarian Sector Improve Disease Detection and Disaster Response

• InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters) today unveiled three new open source software tools and its first training lab, all designed to improve early detection, preparedness and response capabilities against global threats. InSTEDD empowers humanitarian organizations, local communities, and government ministries by filling a collaboration gap through sustainable innovation – a unique and effective combination of user-centered design, software development, and on-the-job training.

CMS

=> ↺ #CMSShowdown: Ultimate Showdown of Content Management Systems

• Today marked the day of the very first “Ultimate Showdown of Content Management Systems” which occurred at South by Southwest Interactive. This event was an attempt to pit open source content management systems against each other in an effort to determine which one was the greatest. With a presentation style reminiscent of Iron Chef, the popular Cooking television show.. Open Source CMS leaders Joomla, WordPress and Drupal were pitted against one another.

=> ↺ Newspapers Going Online-Only Should Look at FOSS Content Management

• Nobody at OStatic has ever needed outside support for Drupal, which we run on, and many other sites, such as Fast Company and The Onion, do fine with Drupal. (We’ve provided many free Drupal resources here.) It’s hardly the only open source content management choice, though. For newspapers and other people considering an open source content management platform, OpenSourceCMS remains an excellent way to take the reins of several different free CMS systems. The site allows you to try Drupal, Joomla, WordPress and many other platforms, and you can spend hours functioning as site administrator, watching video tutorials and more. I expect to see a lot of newspapers moving to these platforms in the coming years, as they make more and more economic and publishing sense.

Academic

=> ↺ Daden Launching Open-Source, Platform Agnostic Tool For Virtual Worlds Training

• The core code for PIVOTE is open source, and Burden hopes others will get involved. Daden itself will be providing a hosted service and plans to create environments for organizations looking to use PIVOTE. That lets Daden focus on the virtual world and the universities pay attention to teaching.

• [...]

• Other universities are already in discussion with Daden to work with PIVOTE and some partners are already planning on implementing it. Likewise, Burden said he’ll be talking to other virtual world developers over the coming months, starting with OpenSim as well as Forterra and Twinity. The more platforms PIVOTE is available on, the more appealing it will be.

=> ↺ University of Southern California Brings Financial and Administration Applications to the Web with Hippo

• The University of Southern California (USC) has deployed the new version of Apache Jetspeed, the open source enterprise portal that is maintained and serviced by Hippo, on which it successfully runs its Staff Intranet since 2006. The system covers USC’s Financial Information Systems and Administrative Information Services departments. It provides users access to university research, administration, and financial systems through a web-enabled architecture and a Web 2.0 enterprise portal.

Security

=> ↺ How to Lie with Maps: When Open Source and National Security Collide

• This is not the first time that the world of Open Source and the desire for national security has slammed together. The most notable of these was the release of Phil Zimmerman’s PGP software in the mid 1990s. But is this really an issue of national security?

=> ↺ Forum Highlights Needed U.S. Actions To Fight Cyberwar

• Open-source software, in which the source code is in the public domain instead of under copyright and can be changed and improved by users, would mean potential cyber attackers couldn’t hide harmful problems in the code, said Bill Vass, president of Sun Microsystems Federal.

• In terms of state-sponsored cyberattacks, “if you open source it, they can’t hide anything in the code,” Vass said. “Everything gets fixed before it’s exploited.”

=> ↺ US Defense Dept. goes public with some open source plans

• As a next step in open source, the DoD is teaming up with the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) on a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) that will allow over 50 federal administration applications to be publicly distributed under an open source license.

=> ↺ DoD to Open Source Corporate Management Information System

• “Secondly, since CMIS is now released under an open source license, commercial, academic and non-profit entities can adopt and support the system, as long as they adhere to the license agreement. There are two license variants available from OSSI, the Open Software License v.3.0 and the Academic Free License v.3.0,” he said.

=> ↺ DISA to open source administrative software

• The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) plans to open source a suite of programs that it developed for administrative tasks. The agency has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) to help release the source code of the programs.

Events

=> ↺ 451 CAOS Links 2009.03.13

• No doubt this is the calm before the storm given the number of FOSS related events scheduled to takes place before the end of the month:

• • CommunityOne East March 18-19, New York * LibrePlanet Conference 2009 March 21-22, Cambridge * Open Source ISV Forum March 23, San Francisco * SDForum Global Open Source Colloquium March 23, San Francisco * EclipseCon March 23-26, Santa Clara * ApacheCon Europe 2009 March 23-27, Amsterdam * Open Source Business Conference March 24-25, San Francisco * Eclipse Open Source Executive Strategy Summit March 26, Santa Clara

=> ↺ The Eclipse Foundation’s Mike Milinkovich on EclipseCon and Open Source Opportunities

• As we posted yesterday, the EclipseCon conference is coming up next week. It will feature many open source movers and shakers, including Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. Mike previously held executive positions at Oracle, IBM and WebGain.

• [...]

• Eclipse has such a wide range of technology it is always hard to single out ‘hot topics’ but I think there are going to be 3-4 areas of particular interest: 1) Eclipse runtime technology based on Equinox and OSGi is very popular and generates lots of interest. 2) Eclipse modeling technology and specifically the area of domain specific languages, 3) e4, our next generation of Eclipse, will get lots of attention, and finally 4) mobile application development.

=> ↺ Gran Canaria Desktop Summit Announces Call for Participation

• The conference is soliciting a variety of proposals — topics geared specifically for those attending GUADEC or Akademy, presentations with “cross-platform” appeal, and Spanish language presentations for GUADEC and Akademy. Currently, submissions are being accepted for topics specific to either GUADEC or Akademy, but the Local Programme and Spanish language events should be announcing their submission guidelines shortly.

=> ↺ National seminar on embedded design

• “Embedded Design with GNU-Linux” will be held under the aegis of the Barton Hill Govt Engineering College Free Software Cell at the college on March 21.

Mozilla

=> ↺ Firefox popular in the Philippines

• It’s great to hear that Firefox is so well-loved in the Philippines. If you know of any Philippine Firefox communities, please feel free to leave a comment. Also, if there are any Philippines-based statistics services that cover browser market share (like Net Applications or AT Internet Institute (formerly xiti monitor) , please let us know about them. We’d love to know more about the Firefox users in the Philippines.

=> ↺ Mozilla releases Fennec Beta 1

• The first beta of Mozilla’s Fennec mobile web browser has been released for Nokia’s N810 Internet Tablets running OS2008 (“Maemo”). The beta is the twelfth development milestone and is intended to get feedback from users, testers and Web developers. The Fennec team also want to encourage add-on developers to port their existing add-ons and create new ones for the mobile browser.

=> ↺ about:mozilla – Firefox, Weave, AMO, Calendar, Add-ons, Mozilla.org, MDC, and more…

• In this issue…

• • Firefox 3.1 beta 3 released * Weave M5 development milestone * AMO’s “Recommended” rotation explained * Help support the Calendar project * Latest issue of about:addons * Mozilla.org redesign: round 1

Server (‘Cloud’)

=> ↺ Open Source Hadoop Cloud Gets Commercial

• Scaling systems on a distributed basis to handle petabytes of information is no easy task, though it’s one that the open source Apache Hadoop project delivers for such big names as Facebook, Google and Yahoo.

=> ↺ Open Enterprise Interview: Mike Olson, Cloudera

• It’s always hard to tell whether startups will flourish, but among the most critical factors for survival are the skills of the management team. The fact that less than three hours after I sent out some questions about Cloudera to Mike Olson, one of the company’s founders, I had the answers back would seem to augur well in this respect.

• Olson explains the background to the company, and to Hadoop, the software it is based on: what it does, and why business might want to use it; he talks about his company’s services and business model, and why he thinks cloud computing is neither a threat nor an opportunity for open source.

=> ↺ Cloud Computing: Not Just Open Source, but Like Open Source

• One of the many interesting replies that Cloudera’s Mike Olson gave in his Open Enterprise interview yesterday concerned whether cloud computing was a threat or oportunity for open source. Here’s what he said:

• I think it’s orthogonal. Cloud computing is about how you deliver software; open source is about how you develop and distribute it. The big cloud players are generally good citizens in the open source world, and open source software powers the cloud companies and the Internet generally.

• Nonetheless, one of the key issues is what is required to created truly open cloud computing services. Open source software is just part of this: portability of data stored in the cloud is also a key element. But there’s another vitally important aspect that I’ve not seen discussed much before.

=> ↺ Free-floating ERP: SaaS-based, open-source enterprise apps sit on Amazon cloud

• Compiere, a supplier of open-source, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based business applications, says it has added the first full-scale ERP software suite to the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud.

Business/Funding

=> ↺ Economy conspires against proprietary software

• Back in the good old days, enterprises paid through the nose for software and didn’t ask too many questions. Those days are gone.

=> ↺ Recession: a chance to deploy open source security solutions

• If you’re an IT worker who has wanted to implement some open source systems that could improve security on your organization’s network, such as “invisible” logging servers, secure integrity auditing servers, and proxy servers for mobile workers, this may be a familiar source of frustration for you. The financial paranoia engendered by a recession might just be able to help out, however, as long as you know how to make use of the opportunity.

=> ↺ Three Open Source companies for Trading Desk sol

• Three leading commercial open source companies have been selected to deliver a complete trading desk solution that gives the financial services industry a way to automate a majority of business functions done by most trading desks today.

=> ↺ No recession woes for open source

• With the pressure of the recession bearing down on companies, several industry experts expect adoption of open source software to grow, as a result.

• Michael Barnes, VP of software and Asia-Pacific research, Springboard Research, told ZDNet Asia in an interview, there has been increased interest over the past three to four months in open source.

Sun

=> ↺ Sun’s Network Innovations (3 of 4)

• I’ve only touched on two of the three opportunities opened by mass adoption. And with that as a teaser, I invite you to return for the final blog entry, talking about what might be the most valuable of them all – a market enabled by the innovations described above, and set to transform the entire marketplace. Embodying the phrase, The Network is the Computer.

=> ↺ IBM Sun acquisition: Good for Unix and Linux. Bad for HP

• IBM is reportedly in talks to acquire Sun for a whopping $6.5 billion. At this early stage, its not known whether this is a fact or just a rumor.

• But just for the sake of argument, let’s consider what a powerhouse IBM Sun would be. In my opinion, it would be a boon to both the Unix and Linux markets.

=> ↺ Sun breaks through the clouds

• I guess by first that means if you don’t include Sun Grid or its kicker, Network.com, which was aimed at developers and startups as far as I can remember as well as corporations looking to offload some Solaris work to Linux or Solaris machines (that was the Sun Grid) and then only Solaris (that was Network.com).

=> ↺ Sun begins new push into cloud services market

• This will be Sun’s second attempt at on-demand computing services. A few years ago it launched the Sun Grid Compute Utility, where companies could “rent” computing cycles on an hourly basis. The service attracted few customers and Sun stopped signing up new ones last year, though it said it will continue to support them for now.

Government

=> ↺ IT: Head of IT Venice region: ‘Open source wherever appropriate’

• “Open source applications needs to be used wherever appropriate, according to our regional law on information technology pluralism”, said Bruno Salomoni, head of the IT department at the administration of the Veneto region in Italy, at a conference last week. He called on local public bodies to investigate how much of their software development may be reusable by other public administrations.

Licensing

=> ↺ Medscribbler Commercial Physician Office EMR Goes Open Source

• Medscribbler electronic medical record (EMR) uses handwriting recognition on a Tablet PC for a HIPAA compliant computerized medical practice and document management solution.

=> ↺ Journal of Cheminformatics and Blue Obelisk

• The Blue Obelisk is starting to change this. It has consistently argued for Open Data, Open Source and Open Standards (ODOSOS). It’s meeting next week at the ACS – I am very sorry I shan’t be there.

=> ↺ zAgile’s Wikidsmart Revolutionizes the Enterprise Wiki

• Wikidsmart is available for download at www.zagile.com and licensed under the open source AGPL v3.

=> ↺ Open Source Voxel Viewer 1.8 Released!

• After years without a release, Project Perfect Mod has released a new version of the Open Source Voxel Viewer. For those who aren’t aware of this tool, OS Voxel Viewer is a tool that can be used to preview voxels, placing them in a scene with a ground, sky, etc. It’s a really great tool for voxel makers.

Programming

=> ↺ “Ruby on Rails” comprehensively renovated

• Following two release candidates, the official version 2.3 of the open source Ruby on Rails web framework has now been released. Although David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Rails, had originally said in 2007 that there would now only be evolutionary changes in Rails, version 2.2, with its introduction of i18n API, multithreading and experimental support for Ruby 1.9, was a comprehensive release and now version 2.3 introduces further substantial changes.

=> ↺ Musing about purchasing and opensource and tenancy agreements

• I also like the idea of the environment being treated as a commons, even if we have to conjure up the concept of “private commons” and “public commons”. I know that it sounds unwieldy, but it’s a start.

Standards/Consortia

=> ↺ Daniel Schwill releases Tables 1.5 – Organize and Present Data

• This version offers among other things the following new features: Improved import of documents in the OpenDocument format as well as a new exporter for the OpenDocument format, a new cell format for currency, a new region setting for the cell format and LinkBack support as a client application.

Leftovers

=> ↺ I hate Windows

• I was able to boot in Safe Mode with Networking and get Firefox downloaded. I then used that to research this crap and found plenty of pages giving removal instructions. Unfortunately, they were all wrong – apparently the creators of this junk have seen all those pages that would interfere with their scam, so they have changed the names of files and registry keys. I couldn’t find anything that had more current information, so I went to System Restore.

Censorship/Web Abuse

=> ↺ Web Directory Of Attorneys Upsets D.C. Bar

• The association wants an online directory that compiles profiles of lawyers — from the bar’s own Web site, no less — to cease and desist, arguing that posting information about Washington lawyers for commercial purposes violates copyright laws and privacy rights.

=> ↺ Australia secretly censors Wikileaks press release and Danish Internet censorship list, 16 Mar 2009

• The first rule of censorship is that you cannot talk about censorship.

• In late 2008, Wikileaks released the secret Internet censorship list for Denmark, together with a press release condemning the practice for lack of public or judicial oversight. Here’s an extract from the press release:

=> ↺ Home Office Utterly Clueless on Pornography

• Against the background of countries like Australia secretly blocking Wikileaks, this use of unappointed censors that are never questioned or even checked by any kind of review body is really getting dire. When will these politicians come to their senses?

=> ↺ Kingsnorth report reveals shocking police campaign of intimidation against protesters

• Earlier today Lib Dem MP David Howarth held a meeting in Westminster to present a highly disturbing and potentially explosive report on the way police in the UK are criminalising legitimate protest. The report, produced by the Climate Camp’s legal support team and entitled Policing of the Kingsnorth Climate Camp: Preventing Disorder or Preventing Protest?, is devastating for the police.

Copyrights

=> ↺ Google: Internet disconnection a “disproportionate” penalty

• Google has made its position on “graduated response” rules clear: Internet disconnections are a disproportionate penalty for online copyright infringement.

=> ↺ Google Provides Numbers On Just How Often DMCA Takedown Process Is Abused

• Some entertainment industry lawyers have been going around lately, pitching a fable that the DMCA isn’t really that bad, since bogus takedown notices are somewhat rare. However, some new evidence from Google suggests quite a different story.

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