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Announcements
Non-Commercial announcements
European Cities will suffer from software patents
The Free Software Foundation Europe has sent an open letter to an EU official concerning the effect of software patents on European cities. "This will become a significant cost factor for three main reasons: Both software developers and users can be asked for almost any amount of money the software patent holder chooses. Many developers and companies will not be able to pay such demands and thus go out of business, turning tax-payers into people in need of social welfare. Finally, the price of the remaining software companies products will increase because of the need to refinance their software patent expenses and also because of reduced competition in the market."
FFII: The patent directive and the European constitution
FFII has sent out a lengthy release containing a letter from Jonas Maebe on how the European Council reached its decision on the patent directive, and what the implications are for Europe and the proposed EU constitution. "There was simply no qualified majority (possibly not even a simple majority) in the Council for this text. It was purely due to diplomatic inertia and fear of doing something against whatever is customary that it slipped through. Unless the Constitution says somewhere 'the written rules always have precedence over diplomatic customs and fears', it won't change this."
Commercial announcements
eEye Announces Retina 5.2 Network Security Scanner
eEye Digital Security has announced version 5.2 of its Retina Network Security Scanner. "Retina 5.2 is one of the first in the industry to provide security and IT professionals with a more in-depth view of the Linux, UNIX and other non-Windows(R) devices on their network."
Empower Technologies to Exhibit at ESC
Empower Technologies has announced that it will be demonstrating its Linux-based LDK5910 platform at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco on March 6-10, 2005. "The LDK5910 combines LEOs, the OMAP5910 dual processor and an evaluation module (EVM) to afford a new level of cost and production efficiency to application development."
Etnus Announces TotalView for IBM Blue Gene/L
Etnus has announced the availability of their TotalView debugger for the IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer. "TotalView is an advanced 32- and 64-bit graphical debugger providing software engineers with complete control over parallel and threaded applications written in C, C++ or Fortran. Not your average debugger, TotalView also provides unique, proprietary memory debugging technology that neither instruments code nor alters libraries."
Mandrakesoft signs agreement with French Ministry of Education and Research
Mandrakesoft has announced the signing of a distribution agreement with the French Ministry of Education and Research. "Mandrakesoft today announced an agreement with the French Ministry of Education and Research which allows the distribution of its line of products and services to Higher Education institutions, including universities and research laboratories, throughout France."
Micro Focus Launches Support for 64-bit Linux
Micro Focus International Ltd. has announced at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco general availability of Server Express(TM) for 64-bit Linux applications running on Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor-based platforms.
PalmSource Joins the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum
PalmSource, Inc. has announced it has joined the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF) as an Associate member. ""We are pleased to join the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum and collaborate with other industry-leading companies and the open source community to advance the development of Linux-based products," said John Ostrem, lead scientist of PalmSource. "With PalmSource's recent acquisition of China MobileSoft and the Company's Linux expertise, we believe PalmSource is poised to make significant contributions to the CELF as it develops Linux-based phone software products.""
Plextor releases open source SDK for video
Plextor Corp. has announced the availability of a free Linux Software Developers Kit (SDK) for ConvertX video capture devices. "Licensed under the GNU General Public License, the Linux SDK supports the popular Video for Linux 2 (V4L2) and Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) specifications. It also supports deprecated Open Sound System (OSS) applications via the OSS compatibility layer provided by ALSA. The new driver, which requires the Linux 2.6 kernel, includes sample code that can be reused in open source or proprietary applications to help developers get started quickly."
Bootable Linux iPods from Terra Soft
Terra Soft Solutions has announced that it is shipping iPods which are configured to boot Yellow Dog Linux. Note that Linux does not run on the iPod itself (though that is possible); instead, the iPod serves as a boot drive for Apple G4/G5 systems. Click below for the details.
XACML 2.0 Access Control Markup Language Approved as OASIS Standard
The OASIS standards consortium has approved the XACML 2.0 Access Control Markup Language as a standard. "To meet the needs of a wide range of users across many different environments, XACML 2.0 incorporates new profiles for Role Based Access Control (RBAC), Privacy, and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). XACML 2.0 profiles also provide integration and hierarchical resources for the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) OASIS Standard."
New Books
Signate's Asterisk Book and CD Set
Looking to set up your own VOIP private branch exchange? Signate is offering a book and CD set which includes a Linux distribution and the Asterisk PBX system.
Syngress Releases "Black Hat Physical Device Security"
Syngress has published the book Black Hat Physical Device Security by Drew Miller.
"Intrusion Prevention and Active Response" Released by Syngress
Syngress has published the book Intrusion Prevention and Active Response by Michael Rash and Angela Orebaugh.
"Jakarta Struts Cookbook" Released by O'Reilly
O'Reilly has published the book Jakarta Struts Cookbook by Bill Siggelkow.
Resources
Electric Cloud Creates Open Source ''GNU Make Standard Library''
Electric Cloud has announced the release of their GNU Make Standard Library (GMSL) under the GPL. "Until now, when developers wished to create a complex Makefile they were often forced to code, from scratch, common functions, or search the Internet for snippets of GNU Make code that could assist them. Now, with the GMSL, GNU Make developers have a single free collection of functions implemented using native GNU Make functionality. The GMSL includes list and string manipulation, integer arithmetic, associative arrays, stacks, debugging facilities and more."
FSF Europe Newsletter
The March 6, 2005 edition of the FSF Europe Newsletter is online with the latest FSFE news.
Linux Gazette #112
The March issue of Linux Gazette is out. Articles in this issue include Running XBoard in Irssi, by Jason Creighton, RSA 2005 Conference and Expo, San Francisco - Special Report, by Howard Dyckoff, Free as in Freedom: Part Three: Open Source to the Corporate Bazaar, by Adam Engel, Experiments with the Linux Kernel: Process Segments, by R. Krishnakumar, and more.
The LDP Weekly News
The March 9, 2005 edition of the Linux Documentation Project Weekly News is online with the latest documentation additions.
LPI January Newsletter
The January 2005 edition of the LPI Newsletter is online with the latest Linux Professional Institute news.
Updated Wheeler on Open Source: Look at the Numbers!
David Wheeler has recently updated his article on Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS, FLOSS, or FOSS)? Look at the Numbers!. (Found on LinuxMedNews)
Contests and Awards
GNOME 2.10 Splash Screen Contest Results (GnomeDesktop)
GnomeDesktop has announced the closure of the GNOME 2.10 splash screen contest, the winning selection has been chosen.
Upcoming Events
Debian-Edu developer meeting in Nafplion, Greece
The Debian-Edu developer meeting will be held in in Nafplion, Greece on April 15-17, 2005.
Libre Software Meeting 2005 : Call for Contributions
A Call for Contributions has been posted for the Libre Software Meeting 2005. The event will be held on July 5-9, 2005 in Dijon, France.
Linux Server Virtualization D.C. Event
A Linux Server Virtualization event will be held in Herndon, VA on March 22, 2005.
LugRadio Live 2005
LugRadio Live 2005 is the expo for people who like some fun with their Linux. It will be held June 25, 2005 at the Terrace Bar, Molyneux Stadium, Wolverhampton, UK.
Open Source Business Conference Announced
The second annual Open Source Business Conference (OSBC) will be held in San Francisco, CA on April 5 and 6, 2005.
Events: March 10 - May 5, 2005
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| March 10 - 16, 2005 | CeBIT 2005 | Hannover, Germany |
| March 12, 2005 | Gentoo UK 2005 | (University of Salford)Manchester, UK |
| March 12, 2005 | Third Hungarian PHP Conference | Budapest, Hungary |
| March 14 - 17, 2005 | Emerging Technology Conference(ETech) | (Westin Horton Plaza)San Diego, CA |
| March 20 - 25, 2005 | Novell BrainShare 2005 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| March 21 - 24, 2005 | Bellua Cyber Security Asia 2005 | (Hotel Borobudur)Jakarta, Indonesia |
| March 21 - 24, 2005 | Open Source Modeling and IDEs Workshop | (Caribe Royale All Suites Resort & Convention Center)Orlando, FL |
| March 23 - 25, 2005 | PyCon DC 2005 | (GWU Cafritz Conference Center)Washington, DC |
| March 26 - 27, 2005 | YAPC::Taipei 2005 | Taipei |
| March 30 - April 1, 2005 | PHP Quebec | (Crowne Plaza Hotel)Montreal, Canada |
| March 31 - April 1, 2005 | Black Hat Briefings Europe 2005 | Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| April 1 - 3, 2005 | Twisted Sprint | Hobart, Tasmania |
| April 5 - 6, 2005 | Open Source Business Conference(OSBC) | (Westin St. Francis)San Francisco, CA |
| April 7 - 8, 2005 | Black Hat Briefings Asia 2005 | Singapore |
| April 10 - 15, 2005 | 2005 USENIX Annual Technical Conference | Anaheim, California, USA |
| April 12 - 15, 2005 | Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference 2005 | (Westin Hotel)Seattle, WA |
| April 15 - 17, 2005 | Debian Edu/Skolelinux workshop | (Nafplion)Athens, Greece |
| April 18 - 23, 2005 | linux.conf.au 2005 | (Australian National University)Canberra, Australia |
| April 18 - 21, 2005 | MySQL Users Conference and Expo 2005 | (Santa Clara Convention Center)Santa Clara, CA |
| April 18 - 20, 2005 | LinuxWorld Conference and Expo 2005 | (Metro Toronto Convention Centre)Toronto, ON |
| April 18 - 19, 2005 | Debian Miniconf 4 | Canberra, Australia |
| April 19 - 20, 2005 | San Francisco techCongress | (Rickey's Hyatt)Palo Alto, CA |
| April 20 - 23, 2005 | ACCU Conference 2005 | (Randolph Hotel)Oxford, England |
| April 21 - 24, 2005 | 3rd International Linux Audio Conference(LAC2005) | (Center for Art and Media (ZKM))Karlsruhe, Germany |
| April 23 - 24, 2005 | LayerOne Technology Conference | (Pasadena Hilton)Pasadena, CA |
| April 25 - 30, 2005 | UbuntuDownUnder | Sydney, Australia |
| May 2 - 7, 2005 | DallasCon 2005 | (Richardson Hotel)Dallas, TX |
| May 2 - 4, 2005 | Samba eXPerience 2005 | (Hotel Freizeit)Göttingen - Germany |
| May 4 - 6, 2005 | CanSecWest/core05 | Vancouver, B.C. |
Web sites
KDE Wiki Gains New Host and Sponsor (KDE.News)
KDE.News has announced the movement of the KDE Wiki Home page. "I'm pleased to announce that the KDE Wiki has been moved to a new hosting solution sponsored by our very own Jason Bainbridge of the the KDE Web Team. As you might have noticed, we had outgrown the previous server which had been hosting both the Dot and the Wiki. After extended downtime and performance issues often related to having both services on the same machine as well as limited administration resources, Navindra Umanee and I decided to search for an alternate host for the Wiki."
Miscellaneous
The latest version of the 'Cal-Induce Act'
Ed Felten comments on the latest version of a proposed California law which would require that all peer-to-peer software have built-in copyright and porn filters. "Fourth, it's not clear what the bill says about situations where there is no workable filtering software, or where the only available filtering software is seriously flawed. Is there an obligation to install some filtering software, even if doesn't work very well, and even if it makes the P2P software unusable in practice? The bill's language seems to assume that there is available filtering software that is known to work well, which is not necessarily the case."
Page editor: Forrest Cook
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