Announcements
Non-Commercial announcements
Another GPL win in Germany
The gpl-violations.org project has announced that it has won a court case against D-Link in Germany. "On September 6, 2006 the district court issued its judgement, confirming the claims by gpl-violations.org, specifically its rights on the subject-matter source code, the violation of the GNU GPL by D-Link, the validity of the GPL under German law, and D-Link's obligation to reimburse gpl-violations.org for legal expenses, test purchase and cost of re-engineering." (Thanks to Atul Chitnis).
An update from One Laptop Per Child
Christopher Blizzard, who heads up Red Hat's contributions to the One Laptop Per Child project, has posted an update on the status of the project. "One of the areas that's under heavy discussion right now is around the use of crypto on the laptop. This includes the use of signing for messages between the laptops and signing of software itself. We have neither made choices about what libraries we want or what the exact role will be for all these bits, but we are exploring the goals for which crypto plays a role." (Thanks to Rahul Sundaram).
Commercial announcements
Eric Raymond Joins Freespire
Eric Raymond's remarks on support for proprietary codecs has led a number of people to suggest that he should be working with Linspire instead of a fully-free distribution. He appears to have heard: Linspire has announced that Mr. Raymond has joined the "Freespire leadership board." "In recent weeks, Raymond has surprised many by speaking publicly about the 'necessary compromise' that open source advocates must be willing to make, by providing for an easy way for open source software to work with key proprietary technologies for which there are not yet adequate open source alternatives. Freespire is the most prominent desktop Linux distribution to embrace this concept."
InfiniBand Trade Association Ratifies iSER Storage Protocol
The InfiniBand Trade Association has ratified the iSER (iSCSI RDMA) Storage Protocol for InfiniBand. "The InfiniBand Trade Association today announced that it has released a new annex to the specification providing support for iSER over Infiniband. The iSER annex extends InfiniBand's support for high performance storage. At 10-20 Gbps bitrates, InfiniBand's performance is now more than triple that of FibreChannel, and at only half the cost. Subsequently, InfiniBand has six times the price performance advantage of FibreChannel. iSER is a new IETF standard extension to iSCSI that includes support for RDMA-enabled networks such as InfiniBand; the new annex closes the loop by mapping the iSER extensions onto InfiniBand."
Link Linux Shares to Trade Publicly
Link Linux Inc. has announced: "its intention to initiate public trading in the near future. The Company filed a form 211 application on August 1st, 2006, has responded to NASD comments, and is preparing for public trading upon the expected NASD approval. Link Linux is expected to trade initially on the pink sheets, under the symbol LLNXF.PK."
MontaVista releases Mobilinux 4.1
MontaVista Software has announced a new release of Mobilinux. "Mobilinux includes tools to help reduce footprint, saving on RAM and Flash. Mobilinux 4.1 incorporates technologies such as uClibc, squashfs and DirectFB and developer tools focused on memory analysis, which allow for significantly reduced total memory footprint."
Novell gets a delisting notice
Novell has announced that it has received a notice of delisting from the NASDAQ market. The company is behind on its quarterly filings because it is having to go back and figure out how to cope with its "stock-based compensation practices" problems. One of Novell's lenders has also declared Novell to be in default on its loan as a result of this delay.Novell shipping Xen with SLES 10 Server
Novell has sent out a press release proclaiming that it is now shipping Xen with SLES 10 Server. It is interesting to see the market they are targeting: "Novell will support Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 running on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Intel Virtualization Technology, up through and including Level 3 (or core engineering) support. That means Novell will provide technical support for the Xen hypervisor if a customer uncovers an issue running a virtual instance of Red Hat Linux and that issue is not reproducible in a native, or non-virtualized, environment."
Nuxeo switches to Java EE
Nuxeo has announced a switch to Java EE on its ECM platform. "Nuxeo, the leader of open source ECM, today announced that the next version of its ECM platform, currently known as "Nuxeo CPS", will be based on open source Java technologies and renamed "Nuxeo 5". Nuxeo 5, which will be released on November 15, is a complete ECM plaform enabling the management of the full document lifecycle, either in "web client" mode or in "rich client" mode. The Nuxeo 5 platform is the answer to the business process efficiency and compliance needs that western companies are facing today."
SGI Altix XE Cluster Solution Offers Simplicity, Advanced Software Environment
SGI has announced enhancements to its recently debuted SGI Altix XE cluster offering. "With the SGI(R) Altix(R) XE 1200 Cluster Solution, SGI makes it easier than ever to select, deploy and manage Linux clusters."
Virtual Bridges announces WIN4BSD product
Virtual Bridges has announced the availability of Win4BSD. "Virtual Bridges, a provider of enterprise and SMB solutions using virtualization for business, announced today the release of Win4BSD Pro Desktop Win4BSD Pro Desktop runs as a FreeBSD/PC-BSD application and allows users to run Windows Applications and Desktops with seamless ease on the BSD platform."
Xi Graphics, Inc. Releases Graphics Drivers for ATI FireMV Cards
Xi Graphics, Inc. has announced the availability of Linux drivers for several ATI video cards. "Xi Graphics, Inc. announced today that it has added Linux and Solaris X Window System ("X") graphics driver support for ATI's FireMV 2400 and FireMV 2200 graphics cards to its Accelerated-X(TM) Summit Series product line. Both PCI and PCIe versions of the cards, as well as 32-bit and 64-bit x86 computer platforms, are supported."
New Books
How to Cheat at Managing Information Security--latest from Syngress
Syngress has published the book How to Cheat at Managing Information Security by Mark Osborne.Programming Python, Third Edition - New from O'Reilly
O'Reilly has published the book Programming Python, Third Edition by Mark Lutz.Building a VoIP Network--latest from Syngress
Syngress has published the book Building a VoIP Network by Larry Chaffin.Addison-Wesley requesting help on new C++ CD
Addison-Wesley is requesting help on a new CD. "With the successful publication of "Effective C++, Third Edition Scott Meyers and Addison-Wesley Professional are now planning to revise the CD based on that work. To begin, we wish to survey both users and non-users to understand your needs and desires for any new version."
Resources
First draft of the GNU Free Documentation License v2
The Free Software Foundation has announced the availability of the first discussion draft for version 2 of the Free Documentation License. There is also a variant called the "Simpler FDL" available for comment; both versions can be found on the FSF site.British Library releases manifesto on IP and DRM
The British Library has released a manifesto [PDF] on intellectual property and digital rights management. "This paper outlines the issues that the UK faces and the British Library's recommendations in support of a healthy and innovative knowledge economy." (Thanks to Giacomo A. Catenazzi.)
RFID reader design available under Free Software / Open Source license
The OpenPCD.org project has announced the availability of a 13.56MHz RFID reader featuring a free hardware design and entirely Free Software for firmware and drivers. "OpenPCD supports many popular 13.56MHz based RFID standards such as ISO 14443 type A and B, ISO 15693 and Philips(R) Mifare(TM), among others. It interfaces with a host PC using USB. As opposed to existing RFID reader vendors in the market, OpenPCD.org gives full access to all its hardware and software design to anyone, for free."
Contests and Awards
Akademy Award Winners (KDE.News)
KDE.News has announced the winners of the Akademy Awards Ceremony. "Day Two of Akademy 2006 and the speakers conference was brought to a close with the Akademy Awards Ceremony. And the Winners are: Boudewijn Rempt, Alexander Neundorf, and Laurent Montel."
Call for nominations for 2006 Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit
The Free Software Foundation has sent out a call for nominations for the 2006 Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit. "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. We look to recognize projects or teams that encourage collaboration to accomplish social tasks. A long-term commitment to one's project (or the potential for a long-term commitment) is crucial to this end." Nominations are due by October 31.
OO.o Template and Clipart Contest announced
A new OpenOffice.org Template & Clipart Contest has been announced. "The Documentation Project is holding a competition for templates and clipart, and there is *prize money.* The goal is to increase our trove. Frankly, we don't have enough; users are feeling deprived. That means over 50 million people. You can help change that... and also maybe win some money. Worldlabel.com (www.worldlabel.com), which has been long a strong champion of OpenOffice.org, has set aside USD 5,000 for prizes. Winners will also have the option of including their winning entries in the OpenOffice.org installation sets available from the site."
Python Game Programming Challenge winners announced
The winners of the third PyWeek Python Game Programming Challenge have been announced. Winning games are: Bouncy the Hungry Rabbit and Typus Pocus.Taleo Wins 2006 Enterprise All-Star Award
Taleo Corporation has announced the winning of the Network World Magazine All-Star Award. "Taleo Corporation (Nasdaq: TLEO), the leading provider of on demand talent management solutions, today announced they were named a recipient of the 2006 Enterprise All-Star award. Presented by Network World magazine, the annual award program recognizes the exceptional use of network technology to further business objectives. Taleo's migration of its core data IT infrastructure from UNIX to Linux and resulting improvements in business performance was recognized by editors at Network World magazine."
Education and Certification
SugarCRM Introduces Sugar University
SugarCRM Inc. has announced Sugar University. "Sugar University offers online, self-paced training as well as personalized, instructor-led web-based learning sessions. Sugar University is available today and can be found at http://university.sugarcrm.com."
Calls for Presentations
FOSS.IN 2006 call for participation
A call for participation has gone out for FOSS.IN 2006. The event takes place in Bangalore, India on November 24-26, 2006, submissions are due by October 8.The speaker and talk registration for the event has also been announced.
PyCon 2007 submission now open
Submissions are open for PyCon 2007. "The deadline for submitting a proposal is October 31st. For more information, see the Call For Proposals at http://us.pycon.org/TX2007/CallForProposals. We're also accepting proposals for three-hour tutorials for the day before the conference." PyCon 2007 will be held on February 23-25, 2007 in Addison, Texas.
Upcoming Events
Third Desktop Architects Meeting, Portland
The Third Desktop Architects Meeting will be held at the OSDL facility in Portland, Oregon on December 7-8, 2006.First International Meeting of the Fellowship of FSFE in Bolzano, Italy
The first international Meeting of the Fellowship of FSFE will take place in Bolzano, Italy on November 11, 2006. "Following up on an idea proposed by the Fellows themselves, and organised in part by the Fellowship of FSFE, Fellows from all over Europe will be coming together in the afternoon of 11 November 2006 in Bolzano, Italy, to discuss issues of digital freedom in general, and the work of FSFE and the Fellowship in particular."
GNOME plans October Boston summit (DesktopLinux.com)
DesktopLinux.com has an announcement for the Boston GNOME Summit. "The GNOME development will host its sixth Boston Summit Oct. 7-9 at the MIT Media Lab. The Boston Summit is a three-day "hackfest" for GNOME developers and contributors, the team said on its website."
linux.conf.au 2007 update
The Linux.conf.au event will take place in Sydney, Australia on January 15-20, 2007. "linux.conf.au 2007 meets demand by extending the official conference period to a full week, and broadening the scope and number of community organised streams, called "miniconfs". "linux.conf.au is regarded as one of the world's best events for Linux and Open Source developers - this year, we have received more responses to our Call for Participation than ever before", says Jeff Waugh, lead organiser, "Our audience demands quality and diversity, so for 2007, we are extending the main conference period to six days, promoting our much-loved miniconfs and adding fresh ideas such as Open Day.""
Events: October 5, 2006 to December 4, 2006
The following event listing is taken from the LWN.net Calendar.
| Date(s) | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| October 2 October 5 |
Security OPUS Infosec Conference | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| October 7 October 9 |
GNOME Boston Summit | Boston, MA, USA |
| October 9 October 13 |
ApacheCon US | Austin, TX |
| October 9 October 13 |
13th Annual Tcl/Tk Conference | Naperville, IL |
| October 11 October 12 |
Eclipse Summit Europe | Esslingen, Germany |
| October 11 October 12 |
Linux World Conference and Expo | Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| October 12 October 15 |
Eighth Real-Time Linux Workshop | Lanzhou, Gansu, China |
| October 18 October 19 |
International Conference on IT-Incident Management and IT-Forensics | Stuttgart, Germany |
| October 18 October 22 |
Pike Conference 2006 | Riga, Latvia |
| October 19 October 21 |
HackLu 2006 | Kirchberg, Luxembourg |
| October 19 October 20 |
DC PHP Conference | Washington, D.C. |
| October 20 October 22 |
aLANtejo 06 | Évora, Portugal |
| October 20 October 22 |
RubyConf 2006 | Denver, Colorado |
| October 22 October 27 |
Colorado Software Summit | Keystone, CO, USA |
| October 23 October 24 |
Mono User and Developers Meeting | Cambridge, MA, USA |
| October 23 October 26 |
Enterprise Architecture Practitioners Conf | Lisbon, Portugal |
| October 25 October 26 |
LinuxWorld UK 2006 | London, UK |
| October 25 October 27 |
Plone Conference 2006 | Seattle, WA |
| October 26 October 27 |
IT Underground | Warsaw, Poland |
| October 26 October 27 |
Free Software and Open Source Symposium | Toronto, Canada |
| October 28 | LinuxDay 2006 | Many of them, Italy |
| October 31 November 2 |
Zend/PHP Conference and Expo | San Jose, CA |
| November 1 | Ingres Users Association Conference | London, England |
| November 4 November 8 |
I Jornadas técnicas KDE de | Zaragoza, Spain |
| November 4 November 11 |
Open Source in Performance and Exhibition | London, England |
| November 5 November 8 |
International PHP Conference | Frankfurt, Germany |
| November 5 November 10 |
Ubuntu Developer Summit - Mountain View | Mountain View, CA, USA |
| November 6 November 10 |
Colorado Python seminar | Estes Park, CO, USA |
| November 7 November 9 |
2006 Web 2.0 Conference | San Francisco, CA |
| November 9 November 10 |
Forum PHP 2006 | Paris, France |
| November 10 November 12 |
Chicago Perl Hackathon 2006 | Chicago, IL, USA |
| November 11 November 17 |
Supercomputing 2006 | Tampa, FL, USA |
| November 11 | FSFE Fellows Meeting | Bolzano, Italy |
| November 12 November 14 |
Firebird Conference 2006 | Prague, Czech Republic |
| November 14 November 16 |
LinuxWorld Cologne | Cologne, Germany |
| November 16 November 17 |
III Latin American Free Software Conference | Iguassu Falls, Brazil |
| November 16 November 17 |
Conference on Software Patents | Boston, MA, USA |
| November 18 | Richard Stallman speaks in Seoul | Seoul, South Korea |
| November 21 November 24 |
15th International Conference on Computing | Mexico City, Mexico |
| November 24 November 26 |
FOSS.IN 2006 | Bangalore, India |
| November 25 | FAVE 2006 - free software multimedia event in London | London, UK |
| November 27 November 30 |
PacSec Applied Security Conference 2006 | Tokyo, Japan |
| December 1 December 2 |
PHP Conference Brasil | Sao Paolo, Brazil |
| December 2 December 3 |
Technical Dutch Open Source Event | Eindhoven, the Netherlands |
| December 3 December 8 |
Large Installation System Administration Conference | Washington, D.C. |
If your event does not appear here, please tell us about it.
Web sites
The Family Guide To Digital Freedom
A new web site has been launched. "The Family Guide to Digital Freedom will explain, in one place and in normal language, what everybody should know about software and other digital technologies, and above all the real reasons why they should care: in this modern world, our rights and quality of life heavily depend from how software is being used around us."
portal.linuxaudio.org launched
The new LinuxAudio.org portal has been launched. "In an ongoing effort to consolidate online Linux audio resources, Linuxaudio.org has launched a new portal which encapsulates all sub-domains hosted under the linuxaudio.org umbrella."
Page editor: Forrest Cook