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Linux in the newsRecommended Reading The Commons Doesn't Have a Business Plan (O'ReillyNet)Andy Oram looks at the concept of the commons, as it applies to open source and free software. "This article explores how this concept fits in with free software, also known as open source software. I will also touch on some ways that business imperatives, imprudently pursued, can weaken the commons, that fertile field from which the most promising future businesses will emerge."
At the Forge - Getting Started with Ruby (Linux Journal)The Linux Journal offers an introduction to Ruby. "Ruby was designed to be an 'object-oriented scripting language', and it indeed feels like a cross between Perl and Smalltalk. It assumes that you understand object-oriented programming and probably is not a good first language for someone to learn. But if you are familiar with both objects and Perl, then you quickly can learn to do many things with Ruby."
The Virtual Internship: Taking Control of Your Future by Becoming an Open Source Developer (O'ReillyNet)This O'ReillyNet article advises young job seekers to work on open source projects. "When you contribute to an open source project, you may start off doing some of the same kind of menial chores that you would do in an internship. These may include reviewing documentation, comments, and source code, and submitting small patches to fix the inevitable typos and small mistakes that you'll find. This housekeeping not only familiarizes you with the project's policies and code, but helps you to gain the trust of the project's committers."
The SCO Problem Novell Files Answer and Counterclaims (Groklaw)For those of you joining us in morbidly watching the long, drawn-out end of the SCO saga: Groklaw has Novell's counterclaims in the "slander of title" suit. "Novell tells the court that SCO contacted Novell after Darl McBride took the helm, and they asked Novell to go in with them in a 'Linux licensing program'. Novell refused to participate, calling it a 'scheme'. It was in that context that SCO asked Novell to give them the Unix copyrights. They repeatedly made such requests, asking Novell to amend the Novell-Santa Cruz agreement to give SCO the copyrights. Novell repeatedly said no." Novell is also asserting a claim to all of the "licensing" money SCO received from Sun and Microsoft.
Companies Microsoft Talks Tough on Linux (eWeek)eWeek reports that Microsoft devoted a 40-minute session at its annual financial day to the competitive threat posed to its business by open source software and Linux. "Asked if he is concerned about the gains that Linux has made, especially in the enterprise, Ballmer said Linux has not gained much share in the enterprise other than for Web hosting and HPC. "They certainly haven't gained at our expense. I am not worrying; I'm focusing," he said."
Novell seeks outside help with Linux (News.com)News.com reports that Novell plans to start opening up the development of SUSE Linux. "The first stage of Novell's effort will begin next week with the first public beta test release, [Linux marketing director Greg] Mancusi-Ungaro said. Next, Novell will accept bug fixes and suggestions from outsiders, and, eventually, more active development. By the spring of 2006, Novell will make the product's underlying source code available and will provide publicly accessible servers that can be used to build the software, he said."
Linux Adoption Kenosha Finds Big Savings in Linux (TopTechNews)TopTechNews looks at the successful deployment of Red Hat Linux on Penguin Computing hardware in Kenosha, Wisconsin. "Ruth Schall remembers when vendors and fellow I.T. directors would look at her network and scratch their heads. "I would get calls and people would think we were freaks. They'd say, 'What are you doing?'" recalls Schall, director of MIS for the city of Kenosha, Wis. "But people don't consider us quite so strange anymore." Now, instead of expressing surprise at the broad use of Linux, Kenosha's peers are calling for advice."
Legal Software Patents Don't Compute (Spectrum)IEEE's Spectrum has an article on software patents which tries to draw a reasonable line between inventions which are patentable and those which are not. "But while demolishing the distinction between software and math, Turing and Church's work offers a natural division between patentable machinery and unpatentable mathematics--exactly what we have been looking for. Let the devices that implement state machines--physical objects such as computers--be patentable, and the states to which they are set--information such as programs and data--remain unpatentable. The distinction meets the goal of ensuring that pure mathematics is not patentable while letting those who design faster and better computing devices patent their inventions."
Cisco Files Suit to Gag Researcher, Security Conference (eWeek)eWeek covers a recent lawsuit by Cisco and ISS against Michael Lynn. "Cisco Systems and Internet Security Systems have asked a U.S. District Court to issue a restraining order against a former ISS researcher and Black Hat over the leak of information about security holes in Cisco's Internetwork Operating System. The two companies jointly filed an injunction and temporary restraining order Wednesday against researcher Michael Lynn and the Black Hat Briefings Conference, demanding that Lynn and Black Hat Inc. stop disseminating information on security holes in IOS (Internetwork Operating System) that Cisco Systems Inc. alleges was illegally obtained."
New EU Law Proposed - Criminal Sanctions for IP Infringement (Groklaw)Groklaw takes a look at an EU law proposal. "They probably mean well. They are thinking about criminal gangs and counterfeit goods that may, in some cases, actually harm or kill people, as well as the revenue lost. So EU lawmakers have come up with a proposed law that ensures that "all intentional infringements of an intellectual property right on a commercial scale, and attempting, aiding or abetting and inciting such infringements, are treated as criminal offences.""
Interviews Jonathan Riddell Interviewed about Kubuntu (DistroWatch)DistroWatch has an interview with Jonathan Riddell on the Kubuntu Project. "The Kubuntu distribution is a partner project of Ubuntu Linux. Designed for those who prefer KDE over GNOME, Kubuntu maintains the usual high development standards of its parent project, while providing users with the latest KDE packages throughout the distribution's release cycle. We caught up with Jonathan Riddell, the initiator and lead developer of Kubuntu." (Found on KDE.News)
LQ Radio Interview #3 - Asa DotzlerLQ Radio has interviewed Asa Dotzler of the Mozilla Foundation. In the interview, Asa covers how he got turned on to Open Source and Firefox, why the FF 1.1 release morphed into 1.5, where Firefox and the Mozilla Foundation are headed and more. Total running time is 1:21. A BitTorrent is available. You can also download the show directly (in mp3 and ogg format) or as a Podcast.
Resources The Daemon, the GNU and the Penguin - Ch. 16 (Groklaw)Groklaw presents chapter 16 of the online book The Daemon, the GNU and the Penguin by Dr. Peter Salus. This chapter covers The Hurd and BSDI.
Sharing files between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office (NewsForge)NewsForge shows how to share files between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office. "Even if you're the most dedicated OpenOffice.org (OOo) user in the world, sooner or later you'll be asked to share files with someone using Microsoft Office. Some free software advocates refuse outright, or suggest outputting to HTML, PDF, or RTF formats, but these aren't always options -- especially if your boss is the one doing the asking. However, with a few preparations and a sense of what works and what doesn't, you can usually share files with Microsoft Office users with a minimum of headaches on both sides."
Reviews The Arrival of NX, Part 1 (Linux Journal)FreeNX Development Team member Kurt Pfeifle begins a series of articles on FreeNX, on Linux Journal. "NX is a new technology that allows one to run remote X11 sessions across slow or low-bandwidth network connections. User experience with NX is one of excellent responsiveness. Users with previous remote X11 session experience are stunned by NX's speed and its snappy application interaction. Moreover, NX also can connect to remote RDP and VNC sessions and offer big performance wins over TightVNC and rdesktop remote access."
A PBX for everyone with Asterisk@Home (NewsForge)NewsForge reviews Asterisk@Home. "Asterisk, the open source private branch exchange (PBX) from Digium, has the power to change the telecommunications industry in much the same way that Linux is changing the operating systems market, but it needed work to simplify installation and configuration. The recent release of Asterisk@Home, a Linux distribution dedicated to making Asterisk easy to install and configure, is a big help."
Miscellaneous VoIP security prototype gets an airing (News.com)News.com covers Phil Zimmermann's efforts to provide a secure way to make phone calls over the Internet. "The prototype, called "zfone," should be available online at the end of August, along with accompanying documentation, Zimmermann said. The VoIP client is based on the open-source Shtoom VoIP phone client, with added cryptography."
'Free' Danish beer makes a splash (BBC News)Here's some free beer for Friday afternoon. "Most important, the students released the recipe under what is called a Creative Commons licence. "You're free to change it," says Mr Nielsen. "But if you use our recipe as the basis for your beer, you have to be open with your recipe as well. That's the legal framework that follows the beer." You can even sell your own version, as long as you credit Our Beer for the recipe." (Thanks to Paul Sladen)
Firefox Builds on Its Success (eWeek)eWeek looks at Firefox and changes at the Mozilla Foundation. "Concerns about developer burnout and a lack of overall management had led to Mozilla naming Mike Schroepfer its new director of engineering. According to Mozilla President Mitchell Baker, Schroepfer will initially focus on product planning and delivery for Mozilla's upcoming new releases, such as Thunderbird 1.5, Firefox 1.5 and Gecko 1.9. Once that's in hand, he'll work on managing Mozilla's development employees."
Rating system to evaluate open-source software (News.com)News.com has this report (from the NY Times) on a rating system for open source software. "The initiative, Business Readiness Ratings, is to be announced Monday at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Ore. The rating system, the sponsors say, will employ an open-source model with scores determined by those who use certain programs and contribute their judgments. The idea can be seen as a software version of the Zagat survey of restaurants--rankings determined by customers."
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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