Announcements

Non-Commercial announcements

Open Source Applications Foundation restructures

The Open Source Applications Foundation, which still plans to produce the "Chandler" personal information manager someday, has announced a set of changes. Founder Mitch Kapor is moving away from the foundation, and will not be funding it at the same level. "OSAF will maintain a smaller staff during the next phase of the project. While figuring out the new funding model, it is prudent for the organization to reduce expenses. OSAF's paid staff will go from 27 people to 10 people. While I expect that most former staff members will move on to other endeavors, we certainly welcome them to remain involved with OSAF and Chandler in some capacity. Developers will retain commit privileges, for example."

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Commercial announcements

Everex Unveils CloudBook Ultra-Mobile PC at CES

Everex has announced a new Ultra-Mobile PC. "Measuring 9" in length and 2 pounds in weight, the Everex CloudBook caters to users seeking the latest in mobile computing. With its 1.2GHz VIA C7-M ULV mobile processor, the laptop averages 5 hours of battery life on a 4-cell, lithium-ion battery. Unlike many of its competitors, the CloudBook also features 30GB of internal storage, digital video output (DVI-I), 4-in-1 card reader and 1.3MP webcam."

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Guardian Digital promotes Least Privilege security

Guardian Digital is promoting the Least Privilege security method. "Guardian Digital, the developer's behind EnGarde Secure Linux, the worlds first open source security platform, are announcing today that 2008 will showcase a huge resurgence in the exposure and awareness of 'least privilege' engineering as a metric for vendor security. The company states this future re-emphasis on application access is likely, especially considering the increased effectiveness of targeted phishing attacks made possible from social networking sites."

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John Lilly becomes Mozilla Corp. CEO

From current Mozilla Corp. CEO Mitchell Baker's blog, comes the announcement that she will no longer be the CEO. She is moving into a different role within the organization and current COO John Lilly will be the new CEO. "As a result I've asked John to take on the role of CEO of the Mozilla Corporation, and John has agreed. In reality John and I have been unconsciously moving towards this change for some time, as John has been providing more and more organizational leadership. It is very Mozilla-like to acknowledge the scope of someone's role after he or she has been doing it for a while, and this is a good part of what is happening here."

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OpenMoko Launched as Mobile Device Company

OpenMoko has announced its incorporation. "OpenMoko, creator of the first completely integrated open source mobile platform, today announced it is now a separate company of world leading motherboard, graphics and mobile manufacturer, FIC."

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Open-Xchange announces new CEO and board positions

Open-Xchange has announced a new CEO and a new board of directors member. "Open-Xchange Inc., the leading independent provider of open source collaboration software, today named co-founder and chairman of the board, Rafael Laguna as the company's new president and CEO. Former SUSE CEO and Open-Xchange board member Richard Seibt becomes chairman of the board. The company also announced that former Nixdorf CEO Bernhard Woebker joined the board of directors as a new member."

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Purple Labs Joins LiMo Foundation

Purple Labs has announced its joining with the LiMo Foundation. "Purple Labs, a leading supplier of embedded Linux solutions for mobile phones, announced today that it has joined the LiMo Foundation and will support the organisation's mission to develop a world-class Linux-based software platform for mobile devices. In joining the LiMo Foundation as an Associate member, Purple Labs becomes the first commercial Linux platform for feature phones in the consortium, thereby extending the LiMo initiative to mass-market mobile handsets."

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Splashtop shipping on ASUS motherboards

DeviceVM has announced the availability of its Splashtop platform on four new ASUS motherboards. "Built into a computer's motherboard, Splashtop uses Linux to run users' favorite programs seconds after they turn on their computer. Programs included in Splashtop are customized for each manufacturer. In the case of ASUS Express Gate, they include a web browser, Skype, a VoIP and Instant Messaging client and the ability for ASUS to update Splashtop remotely. "We've seen a great response to our initial Splashtop products and we're excited to be partners with an innovative leader like DeviceVM," says Jackie Hsu, President of ASUS Computer International."

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New Books

Head First JavaScript and Head First Software Development--New from O'Reilly Media

O'Reilly has published the book Head First JavaScript & Head First Software Development by Dan Pilone and Russ Miles.

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Install, Configure, Manage and Administer Xen Servers with New book on Xen

Xen Virtualization is a new book from Packt Publising that helps Linux administrators to use Xen virtualization for development, testing, virtual hosting or operating systems training. Written by Prabhakar Chaganti this book is a practical guide for supporting multiple operating systems with the Xen hypervisor.

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Resources

451 Group: Open source funding fell in 2007

The 451 Group has put up an article on the fall in funding for open source companies in 2007. "Disclosed funding deals were down 40.7% to $323.87m for the full year, compared to $546.3m in 2007. While a reduction in funding had been expected after the huge levels seen in 2006, a dramatic reduction in funding during the fourth quarter meant that total funding for 2007 was also lower than the $334.82m raised in 2006."

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An Open Software License 3.0 explanation

Lawrence Rosen has posted a lengthy explanation (and advocacy piece) on version 3.0 of the Open Software License. "Compare the patent provisions of OSL 3.0 to the patent provisions of the GPL variants; OSL 3.0 uses simpler and more precise language and reflects no political, anti-patent agenda. Further, it recognizes and respects patents and licenses them appropriately for open source purposes."

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Contests and Awards

LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards voting is open

The LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards is accepting votes until February 21. "The Members Choice Awards allow the Linux community to select their favorite products in a variety of categories. Awards will be given out in 27 categories this year, including Server Distribution of the Year, Desktop Distribution of the Year, Browser of the Year, Office Suite of the Year, Desktop Environment of the Year and Database of the Year."

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Calls for Presentations

Fosdem 2008 GNOME devroom call for talks

A call for talks has gone out for the GNOME devroom at FOSDEM 2008. "As for the last few years, we'll have a GNOME devroom at FOSDEM (23/24 feb in Brussels), and as always, we're looking for people who want to give talks in that devroom. This year, the half day dedicated to cross desktop talks has been extended to cover the whole Sunday, though talks that are appropriate for that day go from talks about actual cross desktop topics to talks which are gnome/kde specific but can be of interested to the other communities." Submissions are due by January 27.

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LinuxWorld San Francisco call for papers

The LinuxWorld conference and expo has put out a call for papers. The conference will be held in San Francisco in August 2008. "LinuxWorld Conference & Expo is the world’s most comprehensive marketplace for open source products and services. Combining in-depth educational sessions with displays of innovative products and solutions on the exhibit floor, LinuxWorld provides business decision-makers with information and resources to implement Linux and open source solutions into business infrastructure and enterprise networks."

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PostgreSQL Conference East: Call for Papers

A call for papers has gone out for the PostgreSQL Conference East. "PostgreSQL Conference East is being held on the weekend of March 29th and 30th, 2008 in College Park, Maryland. The conference will have a series of talks, mini-tutorials and tutorials and we are now accepting submissions!"

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Upcoming Events

The Open Group announces additional presenters at EAP Conf

The Open Group has announced new speakers for the EAP Conference. "The Open Group, a vendor- and technology-neutral consortium focused on open standards and global interoperability within and between enterprises, today announced an expanded lineup of keynote presenters, panel discussions and expert case studies for its highly anticipated 17th Enterprise Architecture Practitioners Conference. David Linthicum, managing partner for ZapThink, will return to deliver the opening keynote address at the conference, to be held January 28-30, 2008 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. In addition, the plenary sessions will include end user panels and case studies featuring American Express, HSBC and Marriott International."

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What's new in PostgreSQL 8.3 - Breakfast with Bruce Momjian

PostgreSQL Community leader Bruce Momjian will be holding a group breakfast on January 24 in London, UK. "If you're interested in chatting about 'What's New in PostgreSQL 8.3', or just enjoying breakfast with peers, join PostgreSQL Community leader Bruce Momjian to learn more at this upcoming event. With the imminent general release of PostgreSQL 8.3, this is an ideal opportunity for PostgreSQL users and community members to learn more about the improvements being made to further strengthen the PostgreSQL solution."

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Audio and Video programs

Podcast: LF interviews Linus Torvalds

The Linux Foundation has announced the launch of a series of podcasts with "open source visionaries"; the first such visionary is Linus Torvalds. The first half of the interview is available now (in MP3 or Ogg format); a transcript has also been posted. "I try to avoid using the word community because it's misleading in so many ways. It's misleading in the sense there is no one community; it's everybody tends to have their own issues that they care about and they may - may or may not have anything to do with another person who's ostensibly in the same community."

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