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The third release of Xubuntu, the variant of Ubuntu with the lightweight Xfce desktop, appeared last month. Feisty Fawn (version 7.04) uses the final gold code of Xfce 4.4.0 rather than the release candidates in Edgy Eft (version 6.10) and Dapper Drake (version 6.06). I had very positive experiences with both Edgy and Dapper so I had very high expectations for Xubuntu Feisty Fawn. In some ways the new release does take a step forward but in some truly important areas it took a couple of steps backwards and has been something of a disappointment.

In a recentlkml thread the concept of dumping an image of the kernel's memory to swap when the kernel hits a bug was discussed.

Learn how to construct and deconstruct a simple multicluster using the General Parallel File System (GPFS), and remotely add an existing GPFS cluster to another cluster. GPFS is the parallel file system from IBM for AIX 5L and Linux clusters made up of System x and System p computers.

The lead developer of the Hugin panorama-stitching application, Pablo d'Angelo, has proposed a new open database for collecting camera lens information that could be used to correct systematic distortion in photographs. The database would be populated by user-submitted calibration data and some data donated from a competitor, but the exact format and licensing of the database are still under consideration. One developer's suggestion would make proprietary software that uses the database pay for the privilege.

Redmond itself will be up against software patents in a few years, says Ubuntu founder who believes Microsoft's real threat is the same as everyone else's.

TrueCrypt is free software that encrypts data “on-the-fly”. You can create an encrypted hard drive, a separate partition or a directory with TrueCrypt. It doesn’t encrypt simply the content of files but their names and the names of the directories as well. Moreover there is no way to check the size of the encrypted volume. TrueCrypt is available for Windows and Linux. |

gFTP is a complete, easy-to-use file transfer tool for the Linux desktop. In spite of its name, gFTP can transfer files using more than standard File Transfer Protocol; it provides several features that make it more than just another FTP client.

Develop and deploy a sample application using the Spring MVC framework.

Elitegroup Computer Systems is known for their array of products from desktop computers to graphics cards and motherboards. At hand today we have their NF650iSLIT-A motherboard, which is powered by NVIDIA's nForce 650i Chipset and caters toward the computer enthusiast crowd, but can it really deliver?

Driving to your favorite beach only to find it covered with dead fish is no fun. Scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, have eliminated the guessing game by using Linux and open source software to give surf seekers some cool online tools for picking the best beach.

"ANY rule which reduces your rights is unacceptable," explained Theo de Raadt [interview] in a brief discussion on theOpenBSD -misc mailing list,"especially when the full consequences of such a set of rules may be unclear -- which it always is." The comment was in response to a query about why Intel's firmware was considered non-free. Theo went on to explain:"Normal free software has no'contract law' issues, because it is simply given away under'copyright law with almost all author's rights revoked'. Contract law works differently, because it is based more on the principle of'you got something, now you have to give something back'. The minute you see a URL like that explaining things in such a way, you should realize that the addition of'rules' means you are in a different legal system."Copyright has no way to apply such rules, therefore [the Intel firmware] is not free."read more

The recent survey of Associate Professor Alan D. MacCormack proves again statistics are lies with his study "Developers Do Not Want GPL 3 to Police Patents". Still, eWeek found it important enough to mention. Knowing a thing or two about statistics and how to manipulate them, I thought let's see how well the professor does.

... it's just a subset of the overall Dell forum, but it has a Linux logo, complete with Tux (that's it above). And here's the Dell Linux Engineering Web Site, where the project's Wiki lives.

Last week you may have read a number of articles quoting Jim Zemlin, the Executive Director of the Linux Foundation, responding to a Fortune article appropriately titled Microsoft Takes on the Free World. The big news in that article was to be found in the gnomic statements by Microsoft's General Counsel, Brad Smith, in which he articulated (after a fashion) its current patent intentions in relation to Linux and other important open source software. You can read the Foundation's formal response now in a Viewpoint piece written by Jim and just posted at the Business Week site.

The Helsinki District Court has ruled that de-encrypting CSS protection encoding used to prevent the copying of DVDs is not illegal.

The start-up focused on e-mail and calendar software for servers adds support for the up-and-coming version of Linux.

A long coming interview between the Libervis Community and Sun Microsystems representative is finally here. We have asked Patrick Finch, the leader of the OpenSolaris Content project and one of the guys working on FLOSS within the company, questions which we collectively believe might be of interest to anyone who uses or values Free Software.

As you're reading this, there are fewer than 24 hours left to donate to the Tux500 project! Donations end at Noon EDT (UTC-4) on Saturday, May 26. If you've been waiting to donate, don't wait any longer... Let's make that Linux logo as large as we possibly can!

Agreement applies to use of Linux in IBM's System z mainframe systems, which currently use software from Red Hat rival Novell.

The law school professor says he'll continue his advocacy of open source, but wants to step out of the limelight.