Linux in the news

HP balks at patent provision in GPL update (ZDNet)

According to this ZDNet article, HP is worried about the patent covenant in the GPLv3 draft. "'Suppose somebody added into the Linux kernel some feature that might go into a Linux distribution, (a feature) we had intended to retain as a differentiator and that we were not expecting was going to become open source,' [HP attorney Scott] Peterson said. 'Our mere redistribution of that would mean we could no longer enforce that patent.'"

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VMware and Xen clash over Linux virtualization patch (InfoWorld)

InfoWorld looks at virtualization support and the Linux kernel. "It seems VMware has been working on a hypervisor-based virtualization technology, similar to Xen's, for an upcoming release of its commercial virtualization product line. Like Xen, VMware's technology will work better on Linux if the Linux kernel gives it a little help and so, like Xen, VMware has been submitting long lists of patches to the kernel developers for review and possible inclusion in the kernel. And wouldn't you know it, the Xen group's patches and VMware's patches are totally incompatible with each other." (Thanks to bjg)

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Day one at Black Hat (NewsForge)

NewsForge covers the first day of the Black Hat security conference. "Jeff Moss opened the Black Hat Briefings this morning with a short talk before introducing the morning's keynoter, Dan Larkin. The ballroom was packed beyond seating capacity, and attendees lined the walls around the room. Almost the first words out of his mouth this morning were "I want to dispel the myth that Microsoft bought a track for Vista." The crowd was appreciative of Moss's approach, and he followed that by saying "I've already sold my soul. You can't do that twice, in the same year." They loved it."

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Day two at Black Hat (NewsForge)

Joe Barr covers the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. "I got a tip from an unimpeachable source last night that William Arbaugh of Komoku was ahead of the wave in the rootkit detection business, so his presentation -- with Jamie Butler of fu and fu2 rootkit fame -- was the first session I attended this morning."

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Melbourne gets linux.conf.au guernsey (ZDNet)

ZDNet Australia reports that the 2008 linux.conf.au will be held in Melbourne. "A Web site outlining the Melbourne organising team's plans noted they had missed out in previous efforts to host the conference and acknowledged the efforts of their Tasmanian competition."

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Is Apple serious about open source? (Linux-Watch)

Linux-Watch looks at the Darwin kernel. "When Apple announced that it was moving Mac OS X to the Intel platform, one thing that didn't get much attention was that Apple would not be open-sourcing the Intel Darwin kernel. Now, Apple has reversed its course and has quietly announced that it will open-source the kernel after all."

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Google: the Godfather of Open Source? (Linux Journal)

Glyn Moody looks at Google and free software in the Linux Journal. "After the dotcom meltdown, key people were forced to find new jobs, with several ending up at the increasingly important OSDL. Against this background, Google's growing collection represents a return to the earlier pattern of concentration of programming talent at one company. But this time, their work is only indirectly related to Google's principal markets."

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Four countries commit to 4 million Linux-powered OLPC laptops (DesktopLinux)

DesktopLinux reports that four countries have committed to buy laptops through the One Laptop Per Child program. "OLPC program director for Middle East and Africa Khaled Hassounah confirmed to DesktopLinux.com July 31 that Nigeria has indeed committed to buy 1 million machines, and then revealed that Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand also have placed similar commitments."

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The state of OpenOffice.org (NewsForge)

Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier talks with Louis Suárez-Potts about OpenOffice.org developments. "It's been nearly a year since OpenOffice.org 2.0 was released, so I sat down with Louis Suárez-Potts, chair of OpenOffice.org's community council and community manager, at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) in Portland, Ore., last week to see what's on the OpenOffice.org development roadmap. Suárez-Potts says that development is moving along nicely, but it will probably be a while before we see OpenOffice.org 3.0. Suárez-Potts says that OpenOffice.org is concentrating on smaller releases that add features to the OpenOffice.org 2.0 architecture."

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Linux expert sees expanded role for Ubuntu on the server (SearchOpenSource)

SearchOpenSource.com interviews Benjamin Mako Hill. "Ubuntu has always been a perfectly good server OS. Part of the problem though is that historically Debian has been really good for servers, and Ubuntu was really good for the desktop. People assumed that because there was so much effort given to the desktop by Ubuntu developers, then the server side would not work at all. But the truth is we [at Ubuntu] have been running the OS on our servers ever since the Warty Warthog release.3wThe success of the desktop distribution really distracted people from that good effort on the server side."

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KDevelop Authors Talk About Their Coming Releases (KDE.News)

KDE.News talks with KDevelop authors about things to come. "KDevelop is the premier Free integrated development environment. The project is currently working towards KDevelop 3.4 with a bunch of new features and a major new version KDevelop 4. To find out what's coming up in one of KDE's most important projects KDE Dot News spoke to three of the authors about their current work and future plans."

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The state of Firefox (NewsForge)

Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier talks with Mike Schroepfer from Mozilla Corp. "At the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Ore., last week, I had the opportunity to sit down for a few minutes with Mozilla Corp.'s Mike Schroepfer to talk about Firefox development, security, updates to JavaScript, and cooperation with Linux vendors and other downstream providers of Firefox."

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Novell turns its focus toward growth (Boston Globe)

The Boston Globe has an interview with Ron Hovsepian. "When Ron Hovsepian was named chief operating officer of Waltham's Novell Inc. in November, investors were already calling for the ouster of then-chief executive Jack Messman. In June, Messman's critics got their wish, and Hovsepian got one of the toughest jobs in the software industry. Hovsepian recently spoke with Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray on how he expects to meet the challenge that defeated his former boss."

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Interview: PortableApps brings open source to USB (NewsForge)

Mayank Sharma talks with John T. Haller about the PortableApps project. "On the project's Web site you'll find several portable applications: Portable VLC player (audio and video player), Portable NVU (HTML editor), Portable Firefox (Web browser), Portable Gaim (instant messaging), Portable Thunderbird (email client), Portable AbiWord (word processor), Portable OpenOffice.org (office suite), Portable GIMP (image editor), and several others, each with a dedicated support page and forum."

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Phil Thompson Talks About PyQt (KDE.News)

KDE.News talks with Phil Thompson, the author of the Python Qt bindings. "PyQt makes a profit - it is self funding. It's not just sales of licenses, it is also the spin-off work that sometimes arises from a sale. For example I'm spending the rest of the year working with a customer on making greater use of PyQt within their organisation."

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A Five Minute Guide to Opposing DRM (Linux Journal)

Linux Journal looks at some reasons to oppose DRM. "What strikes me, though, is that, for all the loathing of DRM, how rarely the reasons for opposing it are spelled out. In some cases, the reason may be that people consider them too obvious to be worth mentioning, but, too often when I've probed, people haven't even heard of the possible objections. These objections begin with the fact that the case for DRM has yet to be made, and continues with arguments about consumer rights, privacy, competitiveness, and industry standards."

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Automate interactive transactions with Expect (Linux.com)

Michael Stutz explores expect in a Linux.com article. "Did you ever wish you could automate your interaction with a program, making a script that can smartly handle an interactive session? You can -- with Expect, an extension to the Tcl programming language whose purpose is to communicate with interactive applications. You can write Expect programs that automate live sessions, handling any tasks where a user interacts with the system. This suggests a multitude of uses, but where it has been most popularly applied is in software testing and in automating network transfers, such as site updates or downloads."

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Documenting the GIMP's file format resolves technical and political issues (NewsForge)

NewsForge looks at the GIMP's file format. "The GIMP finally has a documented file specification. The free image editor has long been criticized over the fact that its native image format XCF was not publicly documented. Recently the issue came to a head, sparked unintentionally by discussions over the proposed OpenRaster graphics interchange format. Once the argument cooled off, however, an independent developer decided to tackle the problem head on -- to the benefit of all."

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JDBC 4.0 Enhancements in Java SE 6 (O'ReillyNet)

Srini Penchikala examines upcoming changes to JDBC 4.0 in an O'Reilly article. "Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) version 6 (code name Mustang), is currently in its second beta release and is scheduled to be delivered in October of this year. Java SE 6 includes several enhancements to the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) API. These enhancements will be released as JDBC version 4.0. The main objectives of the new JDBC features are to provide a simpler design and better developer experience. This article provides an overview of the JDBC 4.0 enhancements and what benefits they offer to enterprise Java developers."

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Processing RAW image files on Linux (Linux.com)

Linux.com looks at manipulating RAW format pictures using open source tools. "The easiest way to sound like a professional when you talk about photography these days is to grumble about the deficiencies of RAW file converters. The ability to save pictures in RAW format rather than JPEG or TIFF is what distinguishes a "pro level" camera from a consumer device. But rather than mentioning your camera's specs outright, the shrewd move is the heavy sigh followed by lamentations about your tireless search for the perfect software to properly manipulate your beautiful work. Let's take a look at how to do it using Linux and open source."

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Manage your time with Remind (Linux.com)

Linux.com takes a look at Remind. "One thing most people are bad at is remembering things -- anniversaries, deadlines, schedules. Computers, on the other hand, are very good at tracking things -- so long as you have a way to tell them to do so. Remind, a GPLed calendar and alarm application from Roaring Penguin, is a good way to keep track of your appointments and commitments on your computer so you don't need to worry about keeping them in your head."

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CBR's Open Source VIPs, Part One (Computer Business Review)

Computer Business Review lists some of the VIPs of Open Source. "The CBR Open Source VIPs represent the individuals who are considered to be the most influential people in open source right now. As can be seen by our first entry - who tops the list thanks to alphabetical ranking - it also includes some blasts from the past, because their influence still resonates today." (Found on Groklaw)

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Linux memorabilia sought for 15th anniversary display (Linux Devices)

Linux Devices reports that the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA is seeking Linux historical items. "The Computer History Museum is inviting LinuxWorld attendees to bring Linux-related memorabilia, for display in a booth celebrating the 15-year anniversary of the kernel. Suitable items include historical prototypes, early business plans for Linux and open source companies, and early photographs of key figures in the Linux and open source movement. The Museum began soliciting Linux-related pre-1998 artifacts earlier in the year, and has already collected a number of items for display at the Expo, and for its permanent collection, it says."

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Mozilla calls on user community today for testing (NewsForge)

NewsForge reports that today is a test day for calendar applications Sunbird and Lightning, "Participants may submit test cases on any aspect of either program, from scheduling and printing to searching and device syncing. Previous test case writing experience is not required, and at least three team leaders will be available on the #calendar-qa channel on irc.mozilla.org throughout the day to answer questions."

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