Announcements
Non-Commercial announcements
EFF: Adult Website Lawsuit Threatens Google Image Search
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has sent out a Media Release regarding a new threat to the Google Image Search. "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a brief Wednesday in support of Google Image Search, arguing that a federal district court should reject a request for a preliminary injunction that could shut the service down. In its lawsuit, adult entertainment website Perfect 10 claims that Google violates its copyrights by making and delivering thumbnail images of its photos as Internet search results."
EFF: European Report Threatens Consumers' Rights
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has sent out a press release concerning the European Commission's stance on digital rights management. "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has criticized a European Commission group for assuming that digital rights management (DRM) is the only way to foster development of the home audiovisual market. In comments filed last week, EFF European Affairs Coordinator Cory Doctorow took the Networked Audiovisual Systems and Home Platforms (NAVSHP) group to task for its report on developing a harmonized system of DRM requirements. Doctorow urged NAVSHP to explore approaches grounded in empirical research, not industry mythology."
Open Source EHR Katrina Relief Network (LinuxMedNews)
LinuxMedNews has announced the creation of the Open Source EHR Katrina Relief Network. "After the podcast call to action Jordan Glogau and Fred Trotter have decided to announce the Open Source EHR Katrina Relief Network. The idea is to use groups of open source volunteers to get clinics and hopsitals in Katrina effected areas up and running using open source medical software."
Real Networks-Microsoft: "FSFE is not and never will be for sale"
The Free Software Foundation Europe is encouraging the European Commission to continue putting pressure on Microsoft. ""Given that people were stunned by the apparently large antitrust fine of 500 Million EUR, it is interesting to see how Microsoft has now spent six to seven times that amount on the case just to make sure they won't have to compete in an open market.""
FSFE on the new "shared source" licenses
The Free Software Foundation Europe has sent out a pronouncement on the new "shared source" licenses announced by Microsoft. "According to FSFEs first glance, the 'Microsoft Permissive License' (Ms-PL) and 'Microsoft Community License' (Ms-CL) both appear to satisfy the four freedoms that define Free Software. In particular: The Ms-CL also appears to implement a variation of the Copyleft idea, which was first implemented by the GNU General Public License (GPL)."
1000 Applications at GnomeFiles.org (GnomeDesktop)
GnomeDesktop celebrates the 1000th application to be added to GnomeFiles.org. "GnomeFiles.org (GTK+ software repository) is celebrating 1000 applications added to its database. Since GnomeFiles' launch 1.5 years ago the site grew enormously and it now serves more than 22,000 web pages per day on average and it includes a recently improved cHTML version for mobile browsers (mostly optimized for PDAs and smartphones, less-featured phones should be using its WAP version)."
Happy Birthday OpenOffice.org!
OpenOffice.org is celebrating its fifth year of existence. "On this day, five years ago, the fledgling OpenOffice.org community provided the first public access to the source code donated from StarOffice by Sun Microsystems. The OpenOffice.org community had recently been formed, and declared it's intent "to create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data"."
A simultaneous release of OpenOffice.org 2.0 was also scheduled, but it has been delayed in order to fix some critical bugs, according to ZDNet.
SELinux Symposium Delegate Program
HP and Red Hat have announced the sponsorships of several delegates for the upcoming SELinux Symposium. "This is modeled somewhat on the Sun Regional Developer Program for LCA. In this case, delegates are nominated by the community and will be selected for the program based on their achievements in SELinux. This is for developers, documentors, people who help on mailing lists, people organize user groups, students doing interesting research etc."
Vote Against Software Patents
NoSoftwarePatents.com has announced another way to fight software patents in Europe and beyond. Florian Mueller, founder of the NoSoftwarePatents campaign, is running for "European of the Year". "This is a campaign for a cause, not for a person. A respected jury has nominated Florian Mueller as a figurehead of our movement, and he has made it clear that we will all be winners if he becomes elected. By voting for Florian in a public Internet poll, you and your friends - no matter where in the world you live - can send out a strong signal that politicians must act against software patents." (Thanks to John Rigg)
Commercial announcements
atsec and IBM to Make Red Hat Linux a Government Certified Trusted Operating System
atsec information security corporation is working with IBM to perform a Common Criteria evaluation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 on a broad range of IBM eServer systems. "Upon completion of the evaluation, Red Hat Enterprise Linux will have achieved a level of security previously reached by only a handful of trusted operating systems, providing security capabilities for commercial operating systems. The certification of Red Hat Linux will offer the government and businesses an unprecedented choice for security applications."
Coraid Unveils World's First Unlimited Capacity Linux NAS Server
Coraid, Inc. has launched a Linux-based network attached storage (NAS) server appliance together with a highly targeted Linux NAS distribution that integrates with the company's EtherDrive Storage to create a low cost network attached file server with unlimited storage capacity. A single Coraid CLN/20 Linux NAS server can literally have thousands of disks connected via Ethernet, and exported with NFS.InterMapper 4.4 is available
Dartware has announced the release of InterMapper 4.4, a network monitoring application. A number of new hardware probes are included.ITTIA embeds Linux and db.* in Oshkosh Trucks
ITTIA has announced the use of their embedded database systems by Oshkosh trucks. "Users of Oshkosh trucks require systems that work quickly and reliably, and Oshkosh expects the same from the software that helps keep their vehicles on top. The company spent significant time and resources to valuate various embedded databases before they selected an ITTIA database solution. The superior performance of db.*, coupled with ITTIA's technical support and training made db.* a great choice from a technical perspective. The open-source nature and low cost of db.* made the decision obvious from a business perspective."
Linspire announces discount program for schools
Linspire, Inc. has announced an educational discount program. "In a nationwide effort to help provide students with affordable computers, Linspire, Inc. today launched a new, low-cost licensing program for schools who wish to install a Linux desktop operating system as an alternative to the more expensive Microsoft Windows operating system. Through the program, educators will be able to sign up for single copies or per-unit volume license packs of Linspire at special educator rates."
OSDL's Mobile Linux Initiative
OSDL has sent out a press release for it's Mobile Linux Initiative, which is aimed at promoting the use of Linux in mobile phones. "MLI participants will work on operating system technical challenges, foster development of applications for Linux-based mobile devices, deliver requirements definition documents and use cases, and host complementary open source projects that support the initiative. MontaVista Software, Motorola, PalmSource, Trolltech, and Wind River are among the first members to participate in MLI."
PalmSource Joins OSDL
Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has announced its latest member, PalmSource, Inc. "PalmSource announced last year that it would build its new applications framework on and port its Palm OS platform to run on Linux. As a member of OSDL and an MLI participant, PalmSource will work with other Lab members and the development community to advance the use of Linux in mobile devices."
Belgian Research Agencies Purchase SGI Supercomputer
Silicon Graphics has announced the purchase of a new supercomputer by three Belgian research agencies. "Three Belgian research agencies, allied under the name "Space Pole," purchased a 56-processor SGI(R) Altix(R) 3700 supercomputer with 112GB of globally shared memory and integrated with a 4TB SGI(R) InfiniteStorage TP900 solution. The Space Pole will run Novell's SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, Ver. 9 on the new Altix system."
Solsoft Unveils Firewall Management Tool for netfilter
Solsoft Inc. has announced its Solsoft NetfilterOne, a graphical interface that will automate the design, deployment and documentation of security rules and policies as they pertain to a networked netfilter firewall.SugarCRM Receives $18.77 Million in Series C Funding
SugarCRM Inc. has announced the receipt of $18.77 million in Series C funding. "The size of the round reflects SugarCRM's status as the most successful open source enterprise application in the industry. The company's Sugar Open Source Edition has been downloaded more than 350,000 times since its introduction in July 2004, while Professional and Enterprise editions with advanced features and technical support have attracted over 300 commercial customers."
New Books
Prentice Hall Publishes: "Core Web Application Development with PHP and MySQL"
Prentice Hall has published the book Core Web Application Development with PHP and MySQL by Marc Wandschneider.Internet Forensics - O'Reilly's Latest Release
O'Reilly has published the book Internet Forensics by Robert Jones.Prentice Hall Publishes Self-Service Linux
Prentice Hall has published the book Self-Service Linux: Mastering the Art of Problem Determination by Mark Wilding and Dan Behman.
Resources
InterBase and Firebird Developer Magazine issue 2
The second issue of the InterBase and Firebird Developer Magazine is available for download.Automated Backups With rdiff-backup (HowtoForge)
HowtoForge presents a tutorial by Falko Timme on using rdiff-backup. "This tutorial describes how to do automated server backups with the tool rdiff-backup. rdiff-backup lets you make backups over a network using SSH so that the data transfer is encrypted. The use of SSH makes rdiff-backup very secure because noone can read the data that is being transferred. rdiff-backup makes incremental backups, thus saving bandwidth."
Contests and Awards
New Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has announced the creation of the "Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit", and a call for nominations. "This award is presented to the project or team responsible for applying free software, or the ideas of the free software movement, in a project that intentionally and significantly benefits society in other aspects of life."
The 2005 Golden Penguin Greater China Open Source Software Competition A Resounding Success
Sun Wah Linux Limited (Hong Kong) has announced the successful completion of the 2005 Golden Penguin Greater China Open Source Software Competition. "This is the largest OSS competition jointly organized by Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan and the Macau SAR. It aims at promoting the research and strategic development of new software, and encouraging the development and establishment of Open Source Software (OSS) in the Greater China Region."
SugarCRM announces developer contest (NewsForge)
NewsForge reports that SugarCRM will hold the SugarCRM 2005 Developer Contest to mark the 100th extension on the SugarForge.org project site. "The company is offering awards for three categories. SugarCRM plans to give away $500 for the best theme template, $1,000 for the best business and productivity module, and $1,000 for the most innovative module. The entries must be installable using SugarCRM's new Module Loader, and must be received by October 31. Winners will be announced on November 14, and developers may enter as many modules or templates as they want."
Education and Certification
Free embedded Linux training: one year after
Free Electrons has sent out a press release with a one-year report on its Embedded Linux Training course. "After the first release of the free materials of its Embedded Linux Training in October 2004, Free Electrons (http://free-electrons.com) released a summary of the numerous improvements brought to this training in 1 year: http://free-electrons.com/news/news.2005-10-15. A few highlights: 13 lectures or presentations (1000 pages, doubled in 1 year), 11 practical labs, a dedicated live distribution for embedded system and kernel developers, translations to several languages."
LPI offers free certification testing at LinuxWorld Frankfurt
The Linux Professional Institute will be holding free certification tests at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in Frankfurt, Germany on November 15 and 16, 2005.Red Hat Announces First Performance-Based Security Certification
Red Hat has launched the new Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS) certification program. "Adding to its award-winning Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) program, and Red Hat Certified Architect (RHCA) program, Red Hat Certified Security Specialist (RHCSS) is the first performance based certification focused on security competency for enterprise Linux servers."
Upcoming Events
KDE at German Events, October 2005 (KDE.News)
KDE.News has announced a number of upcoming German KDE events. "October in Germany is filled with a lot of local Free Software events and KDE is present at them. Join us first at Berlinux 2005 on Fri October 21 and Sat 22. Then we are off to Dresden for Linux-Info-Tag Dresden 2005 on Sat October 29. Read on for how we'll be helping the users to explore the full range of wonders in KDE."
LCA 2006 OpenOffice.org Miniconf CFP
A Call For Participation has gone out for the LCA 2006 OpenOffice.org Miniconf. The event will take place on January 23 and 24, 2006 in Dunedin, New Zealand. Proposals are due by November 4.PHP Quebec Conference 2006 Call for Speakers
A Call for Speakers has gone out for the PHP Quebec Conference 2006. The event will take place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 29-31, 2006. Submissions are due by November 4.PyCon 2006 Call for Proposals
A Call for Proposals has gone out for PyCon 2006. The event will be held in Addison, Texas on February 24-26, 2006. Submissions are due by October 31.Events: October 20 - December 15, 2005
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| October 20 - 21, 2005 | Zend/PHP Conference and Expo 2005 | (Hyatt Regency SF Airport Hotel)Burlingame, CA |
| October 20 - 21, 2005 | Australian Unix Users Group Conference 2005(AUUG) | Sydney, Australia |
| October 20 - 23, 2005 | piksel05 | Bergen, Norway |
| October 20, 2005 | O'Reilly European Open Source Convention(EuroOSCON) | (NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky)Amsterdam, the Netherlands |
| October 24 - 28, 2005 | 12th Annual Tcl/Tk Conference | (Red Lion Hotel)Portland, Oregon |
| October 26 - 27, 2005 | Internet Identity Workshop(IIW) | (Hillside Club)Berkeley, CA |
| October 29 - 30, 2005 | OpenFest 2005 | (Inter Expo Center)Sofia, Bulgaria |
| October 30, 2005 October 31 - November 11, 2005 | Ubuntu Below Zero | (downtown Holiday Inn)Montreal, Canada |
| November 6 - 9, 2005 | International PHP Conference 2005 | Frankfurt, Germany |
| November 7 - 9, 2005 | Open Source Database Conference 05 | (NH-Hotel Frankfurt-Mörfelden)Frankfurt, Germany |
| November 8 - 9, 2005 | Association Française des Utilisateurs de PHP(AFUP) | Paris, France |
| November 9 - 10, 2005 | Forum PHP Paris 2005 | Paris, France |
| November 12 - 18, 2005 | SC|05 | (Washington State Convention and Trade Center)Seattle, WA |
| November 13 - 15, 2005 | Firebird Conference 2005 | (Hotel Olsanka)Prague, Czech Republic |
| November 15 - 18, 2005 | Embedded Technology 2005(ET2005) | Yokohama, Japan |
| November 15 - 17, 2005 | LinuxWorld Germany | Frankfurt, Germany |
| November 18, 2005 | European Gentoo developer meeting | Schloss Kransberg, Germany |
| November 20 - 23, 2005 | 5tas Jornadas Regionales de Software Libre | Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina |
| November 29 - December 2, 2005 | FOSS.IN/2005 | (Bangalore Palace)Bangalore, India |
| December 4 - 9, 2005 | Large Installation System Administration Conf.(LISA) | San Diego, CA |
| December 5 - 7, 2005 | Open Source Developers' Conference(OSDC) | (Monash University's Caulfield campus)Melbourne, Australia |
Audio and Video programs
Beta Broadcast 004: Web 2.0 Day One (O'ReillyNet)
O'Reilly has announced a new edition of its online audio magazine. "This week, O'Reilly's audio magazine program Distributing the Future features day one from the Web 2.0 conference. John Battelle and Tim O'Reilly set the stage for this year's conference, Barry Diller talks about Ask Jeeves and Google, Bran Ferren explains why human interface is holding us back, and Philip Rosedale welcomes you to a Second Life."
Page editor: Forrest Cook