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AnnouncementsBrief items Collabora and Fluendo announce GStreamer partnershipCollabora Ltd. and Fluendo S.A. will invest in promoting the GStreamer multimedia framework through the creation of a cross platform software development kit (SDK), targeting desktop and server platforms like Linux, Windows and Mac OS X, and very soon to include leading mobile platforms, such as Android. "For 2012, the objective of the partnership between Fluendo and Collabora is to ease GStreamer adoption by providing a full-featured, well tested and high quality multimedia sub-system for desktop, server and embedded systems."
The Document Foundation, SUSE and IntelThe Document Foundation (TDF) has announced the availability of LibreOffice for Windows from SUSE in the Intel AppUp Center. The AppUp Center is an online repository designed for Intel processor-based devices. Also Intel is also becoming a member of TDF Advisory Board. "LibreOffice for Windows from SUSE is available in Intel AppUp(TM) Center as a special, five-language version featuring English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. As a validated Intel AppUp Center app, LibreOffice for Windows from SUSE features a new, smooth, silent installation flow and improved uninstallation cleanup."
EFF: New 'HTTPS Everywhere' VersionThe Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has released the 2.0 version of HTTPS Everywhere for the Firefox browser. "The "Decentralized SSL Observatory" is an optional feature that detects encryption weaknesses and notifies users when they are visiting a website with a security vulnerability – flagging potential risk for sites that are vulnerable to eavesdropping or "man in the middle" attacks."
FSFE launches Campaign For A Free Android SystemThe Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is launching its "Free Your Android!" campaign. "The lack of software freedom on smartphones and tablets is becoming increasingly problematic. Many apps spy on their users without their knowledge (Carrier IQ) and transmit personal data such as address books on the iPhone. Other devices are completely locked down, prevent users from uninstalling certain apps, or just do not receive updates. "Free Your Android!" promotes versions of Android optimised for user control, and an alternative market that only provides free-as-in- freedom apps. It also invites people to contribute to various initiatives and to identify essential apps that still have no free alternatives."
Mozilla to ship Boot to Gecko devices in 2012Mozilla has sent out a press release describing its announcements at Mobile World Congress. "In a joint press conference, Telefónica revealed their intention to work with us to deliver the very first open Web devices in 2012. These devices, architected entirely on the Web and built based on an HTML5 stack with powerful Web APIs, will mean significant advances in speed and cost reduction for mobile devices in the future. Attendees at the press conference were able to see a sneak preview of what is possible with HTML5 open Web technologies powering entire mobile device functions and experiences." There is also a teaser of sorts at openwebdevice.com.
The Software Freedom Conservancy and the Community for Open Source Microfinance Assume Leadership of the Mifos projectThe Software Freedom Conservancy and the Community for Open Source Microfinance (COSM) have announced parallel efforts to assume stewardship of Mifos. "“Mifos provides the software infrastructure for our community's efforts to lift people out poverty,” added Edward Cable, co-founder of COSM and Mifos Community Manager, who has also been a member of the Mifos team since 2007. “We look forward to working side by side with the Conservancy to advance this technology and help our community enable microfinance institutions to further extend their outreach to the poorest of the poor”."
Articles of interest If Android is a "stolen product," then so was the iPhone (ars technica)Ars technica digs into the history of touchscreen interfaces and phones to show that Apple (and Android) built on the shoulders of giants. In particular, prior art is shown for many of the "innovations" claimed by Apple, like slide-to-unlock and the pinch gesture. "By February 2006, [Jeff] Han brought a number of these ideas together to create a suite of multitouch applications that he presented in a now-famous TED talk. He showed off a photo-viewing application that used the "pinch" gesture to re-size and rotate photographs; it included an on-screen keyboard for labeling photos. He also demonstrated an interactive map that allowed the user to pan, rotate, and zoom with dragging and pinching gestures similar to those used on modern smartphones."
Transparency Launches as Linux of Drug Development (Xconomy)Xconomy takes a look at Transparency Life Sciences, which is trying to apply the open source development model to drug development. "[Tomasz] Sablinski hopes the population of registered users will balloon in the coming weeks, when Transparency begins reaching out to patient advocacy groups in the disease areas it’s working in: multiple sclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. 'What we’re trying to do is channel this tremendous Web energy into helping us create experiments that will answer the right questions,' Sablinski says."
New Books The Developer's Code--New from Pragmatic BookshelfPragmatic Bookshelf has released "The Developer's Code" by Ka Wai Cheung.
Machine Learning for Hackers--New from O'Reilly MediaO'Reilly Media has released "Machine Learning for Hackers" by Drew Conway and John Myles White.
Calls for Presentations Tizen Conference Call for papers and registrationThe Tizen conference will take place May 7-9, 2012, in San Francisco, California. Registration and the call for papers are open. The CFP deadline is March 8.
GUADEC 2012 Call for PresentationsThe 2012 GNOME Users And Developers European Conference (GUADEC) will take place July 26-29, in A Coruña, Spain. The call for papers is open until April 14. "For the 2012 edition, GUADEC comes to A Coruña in Spain, a city that has already seen several successful GNOME-related hackfests in the past three years. The conference will be held from July 26th to 29th at the Faculty of Computer Science of the University of A Coruña, with additional extra days afterwards for hackfests and meetings."
2012 Linux Plumbers ConferenceThe 2012 edition of the Linux Plumbers Conference will take place August 29-31, in San Diego, California. The call for microconferences is open. "These microconferences are working sessions that are roughly a half day in length, each focused on a specific aspect of the “plumbing” in the Linux system."
Upcoming Events Events: March 1, 2012 to April 30, 2012The following event listing is taken from the LWN.net Calendar.
If your event does not appear here, please tell us about it.
Page editor: Rebecca Sobol |
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