Announcements
Non-Commercial announcements
Dutch parliament opposes patent directive
Here's an FFII release stating that the Dutch parliament has voted - narrowly - for a motion asking the Dutch government to oppose the adoption of the European patent directive next week. "Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade Van Gennip has confirmed she will execute the motion as intended. It is now the Commission's turn to act."
FreeB 2.0 Draft API Specification Available (LinuxMedNews)
LinuxMedNews mentions the release of a new FreeB API specification draft. "Following up on the recent news release regarding Uversa's position as the new project maintainer of FreeBilling (FreeB) we are now releasing a draft API specification of version 2.0 for public comment and review. Read on for details and how to comment."
FSF Announces New Executive Director
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has announced the appointment of Peter T. Brown as its new Executive Director. The appointment follows the departure of Bradley M. Kuhn, who is taking up the post of Chief Technology Officer at the newly created Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC).FSFE: "Microsoft seeking to bypass decisions of European Court"
The Free Software Foundation Europe sent out a press release concerning a recent ruling by the EU Commissioner concerning software interfaces. "Software interfaces determine how computers communicate with each other to exchange information. This information is important for several Free Software projects. One of these is SAMBA, which connects the UNIX and GNU/Linux world with Microsoft's operating system and works against the monopoly that Microsoft has established on the operating system market. Without access to the software interface information, SAMBA will have a hard time keeping up."
GNOME-UK group launched
The GNOME-UK group has announced their existence. "GNOME-UK is about organising and promoting GNOME awareness in the United Kingdom. This includes, among other things, organising stands and Linux Events, such as the Linux Expos in London."
Linux Installfest workshops in Davis - February 20
The Linux Users' Group of Davis (LUGOD) has announced another Linux Installfest. The event will be held on February 20 in Davis, California.Perl Foundation Funding Goals: 2005-2006 (use Perl)
use Perl has posted an update on the funding of the Perl Foundation. "Allison writes "Thanks to amazingly generous members of the Perl community The Perl Foundation was able to fund Damian Conway, Larry Wall, and Dan Sugalski in 2002-2003. In 2005-2006 we hope to repeat this pattern and fund Larry Wall, Patrick Michaud, Leopold Tötsch, and a second Parrot developer."
SourceForge.Net Update (SourceForge)
The January 26, 2005 edition of the SourceForge.Net Update is online. Topics include a Java programming challenge, the project of the month, site statistics, the top 25 projects, and more.
Commercial announcements
Interactive SQL 2.0 for PostgreSQL is available
Version 2.0 of Interactive SQL, a database utility for building, executing and processing PostgreSQL queries, is available for evaluation.InterMapper 4.2.4 Available
Version 4.2.4 of InterMapper, a commercial network mapping utility, is available. "This version makes it easier to install the WISPerMapper version of the program, improves paging support on Unix computers, and fixes many bugs."
Developing on Linux gets professional with Komodo 3.1
ActiveState has released Komodo 3.1, the newest version of the integrated development environment (IDE). Komodo 3.1 now offers cross-platform developers a GTK2+ based user interface, improved Linux desktop integration, faster debugging with Python, support for Subversion, improved UTF-8 and PHP5 support, and increased performance on Linux.World's first real-time Linux system for parallel computing based on Itanium® 2 processor
Mandrakesoft has announced the release of a Linux system capable of real-time computing on Itanium® 2 based parallel computing platforms (Symmetric Multiprocessing and cluster computing). Developed for the "ITEA-HYADES" research project which is intended to adapt standard technology for applications that require real-time response, associated with heavy, parallel computations, the new system has already shown its capabilities in two innovating research applications.Microsoft on indemnification
Microsoft Corp. has sent out a press release, citing research from IDC and Forrester Research that confirms the strong intellectual property protection customers receive from Microsoft. The release includes testimony from customers who chose Windows over Linux. "According to Stephen Graham, group vice president of Global Software Business Strategies at IDC, "Recent media focus on industry intellectual property disputes has brought the issue of indemnification to the forefront, and all signs point to this issue continuing to grow in significance. End users would be well advised to carefully review all software contracts to assess potential exposure, including the extent of coverage provided by vendors for legal costs and damages and the specific criteria for engaging this protection.""
ModViz Announces Virtual Graphics Platform 1.0
ModViz, Inc. has announced the release of version 1.0 of its Virtual Graphics Platform: "a leading standards-based software solution that virtualizes 3D graphics intensive applications across clusters of commodity-based computers."
MontaVista launches Mobilinux Open Framework for Linux Phones
MontaVista Software has announced the launch of their Mobilinux Open Framework. "The Mobilinux program encourages leading semiconductor, mobile software, and phone integrators to create reference architectures for handset vendors and mobile operators looking to build Linux handsets."
Novell Teams With IBM to Promote SUSE on the POWER architecture
Novell, Inc. has announced a joint promotion with IBM. "Novell and IBM have launched a joint promotion to encourage software developers to build their applications for Novell's SUSE(R) LINUX Enterprise Server on IBM POWER platforms. SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9, with the scalability and performance enhancements of the 2.6 Linux kernel, combined with the processing capabilities of IBM POWER5 processor-based servers, including IBM eServer OpenPower, IBM eServer BladeCenter JS20, IBM eServer pSeries and IBM eServer iSeries, provides a strong foundation for a full range of applications."
Novell's LinuxWorld announcements
Novell has made several announcements this morning. Here are just a few:- Novell Hardens Linux for the Enterprise: looks at a comprehensive range of Linux offerings for the enterprise to harden Linux for mission-critical operations.
- IBM and Novell give SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 new security certification.
- Novell Launches Open Source Collaboration Server Initiative: announces the formation of Hula, a new community project to create an open source collaboration server.
OSDL Issues First Release of Desktop Linux Capabilities Document
The Open Source Development Labs has announced the availability of Desktop Linux Capabilities, version 1.0, a document created with the participation of key industry vendors, large end user customers and leaders in the development community that defines a target for what will make Linux desktops successful in the enterprise.The php|symphony Series
php|architect has announced the php|symphony training series, starting on February 23. "php|symphony series is a series of great talks designed to dramatically improve your knowledge of PHP by introducing you to new ideas presented by some of the very best speakers and authors in the PHP world. Each talk is delivered through our exclusive online training system, designed to work with practically any operating system capable of running Macromedia Flash, including Windows, MacOS and Linux, over a 28.8kbps or faster Internet connection."
Red Hat to Present at NCInvest 2005 Regional Investor Conference
Red Hat, Inc. has announced that it will present at the NCInvest 2005 Third Annual Regional Investor Conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on February 16, 2005. A replay of the presentation will be made available online.Turbolinux Reaches Profitability in 2004, Both in Japan and China
Turbolinux, Inc. has announced that it has achieved profitability in two Asian offices. "Turbolinux, Inc. announced today that its Japan office and Chinese subsidiary have achieved substantial profits both in gross sales and net income for the year 2004".
Linux World Press Releases for Thursday
The flood of press releases for the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo has begun, here is the first round:- Qlusters Founder to Present at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in Boston
- LSI Logic Launches 8-Port MegaRAID SATA II Storage Adapter
- Computer Associates President & CEO-Elect Added to Keynote Lineup
- Egenera Inc. to Speak and Exhibit at LinuxWorld
- BakBone's NetVault for Linux Named Finalist in LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards
- Sun to Showcase Openness, Interoperability, Security and Innovation
LinuxWorld Announcements
LinuxWorld started today in Boston, bringing with it the usual flood of press releases and articles. Here are just a few:- Novell announced it has contributed portions of Novell eDirectory to the FreeRADIUS and Samba projects.
- Novell announced the availability of Novell(R) Security Manager powered by Astaro.
- SGI announced the latest version of its SGI ProPack(TM) software performance suite is now fully supported on SUSE(R) LINUX Enterprise Sever 9.
- KDE.News covers the KDE exhibit.
More LinuxWorld announcements
- AMD, in collaboration with XenSource announced that it will port Xen to AMD64 technology.
- Oracle announced the creation of a dedicated Linux Test Lab.
- PathScale and Sun announced the results of standardized performance tests on PathScale's EKOPath Compiler Suite.
- Trolltech announced that over 50 vendors are designing, building or shipping devices based on Qtopia(R) and related Trolltech software for embedded Linux.
- News.com has some photos available.
LinuxWorld Announcements for February 16
Here are the LinuxWorld announcements for Wednesday, February 16, 2005:- Arkeia and SGI are offering a High-Performance Backup Solution.
- HP has opened the European Open Source Utility Performance Center.
- IDG World Expo announced the winners of its Product Excellence Awards.
- MySQL has launched the MySQL Network for Corporate Enterprises.
- Palmida has released a system for controlling software IP assets.
- PathScale has announced the addition of 15 new members to its PathScale FastPath reseller program.
- Rocketcalc has announced new Opteron-Based Cluster Appliances.
- Scalix announced support for the IBM eServer zSeries platform.
- TimeSys has launched a Carrier Grade Linux 2.0 Upgrade Program for Telecom Manufacturers.
- Unisys will hold the TuxMasters Invitational student programming contest.
- Xandros has announced the launch of Xandros Surfside Linux.
Contests and Awards
digiKam Artwork Contest (KDE.News)
KDE.News has announced a digiKam photo management application artwork contest. "Photo management application digiKam and KDE-Look.org are teaming up to have a contest for the best new Superimpose Templates which will be included in digiKam's next release. The prizes are a digital memory card and kde-look t-shirt."
Upcoming Events
Big Nerd Ranch Announces April PostgreSQL Bootcamp
The Big Nerd Ranch will be holding another PostgreSQL Bootcamp on April 18-22, 2005 near Atlanta, GA.The San Francisco techCongress
The San Francisco techCongress has been announced. The event will be held in Palo Alto, CA on April 19-20, 2005. "The San Francisco techCongress will examine the common best practices across industries and frank discussions of and pitfalls to those solutions, advantages and benefits."
GNOME.conf.au 2005 announced
GNOME.conf.au will be held in Canberra, Australia on April 19, 2005 as part of the Linux.Conf.Au conference. Also, the UbuntuDownUnder conference will take place from April 25-30, 2005.Free Audio and Video Event, Bristol, UK
The Free Audio and Video Event will be held in Bristol, UK on August 13, 2005. "We are putting on a Free Audio/Video Event which will cover a range things including Audio Software for Music and Radio Production, Video Editing, Visuals and 'Creative Commons' Type licencing. This is a user event focusing on what is possible with Free, Open source and FLOSS Software."
Events: February 17 - April 14, 2005
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| February 17, 2005 | Linux World Conference and Expo | (Hynes Convention Center)Boston, MA |
| February 18, 2005 | Fedora Users and Developers Conference(FUDcon1) | (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)Boston, Massachusetts |
| February 24 - 25, 2005 | UKUUG LISA/Winter Conference | Birmingham, UK |
| February 25, 2005 | Dutch Perl Workshop | Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| February 26 - 27, 2005 | Free and Open Source Developers' European Meeting(FOSDEM 2005) | Brussels, Belgium |
| February 28 - March 3, 2005 | EclipseCon 2005 | (Hyatt Regency)Burlingame, CA |
| February 28 - March 1, 2005 | Asia Debian Mini-Conf 2005 | Beijing, China |
| March 1 - 2, 2005 | JBoss World 2005 User Conference | (Omni/CNN Center)Atlanta, GA |
| March 2 - 4, 2005 | Security-Enhanced Linux Symposium | Silver Spring, Maryland |
| March 2 - 3, 2005 | Asia CodeFest 2005 | Beijing, China |
| March 2 - 4, 2005 | The 5th Asia Open Source Software Symposium | Beijing, China |
| March 2 - 4, 2005 | The Free and Open Source Software Workshop | (Al Assad National Library)Damascus, Syria |
| March 4, 2005 | LPA AGM | Rivonia Sandton, South Africa |
| 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 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 |
Miscellaneous
O'Reilly Launches MAKE Magazine
O'Reilly has announced the publication of a new magazine called MAKE. "The urge to make things is primal and unstoppable. In service of that universal urge, humans grab the tools and materials at hand--while a previous generation picked up a saw and bullnose rabbet plane, today's makers are likely to reach for a soldering iron and Cat 5 cable. MAKE, a new magazine from O'Reilly Media, celebrates and inspires those who are driven to make cool and unusual things with technology, for the pure fun of it."
Page editor: Forrest Cook