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A patent dispute pitting open source advocates for online learning technologies against Blackboard, the industry giant, became more bitter Thursday with the announcement that a formal request had been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to revoke 44 of Blackboard’s patent claims.

[I know this is a re-post but it is nice to see this coming from a 'non' FOSS source. - Scott]

Discover how to use Eclipse, DB2 Express-C, and WebSphere Application Server Community Edition -- all free to download, use, and deploy -- to create cutting-edge lightweight applications with relative ease. This tutorial shows you how to move an application from a conventional design, using JavaServer Pages (JSP), to one based on Ajax technology.

On November 23, the OpenSUSE project announced the first 10.2 release candidate. In its usual way, LWN posted that announcement; we tend to have a relatively large number of readers who are interested in software of great novelty and questionable stability. This time, however, a recent LWN subscriber took exception to our having posted the announcement:

"If I had know that LWN is going to support Novell's betrayal of the FOSS community by helping disseminate SuSE I wouldn't have spent the money."

The Damn Small Linux project team released an update to its aptly named operating system today. DSL v3.1 sports a 2.4.26 kernel and the Fluxbox window manager in a -- shall we say -- relatively tiny package. Despite its minuscule size (50 MB), DSL crams a lot of functionality into an easy-to-use desktop.

[DSL is one of my favorites, it brought an old P-II system of mine back from the dead. - Scott]

The Mozilla Developer News Weblog is reporting that the trunk will be closed for Gecko 1.9 Alpha. This would be the first of many trunk alphas, which would be released every six to eight weeks. The Mozilla Quality Weblog has announced a community test day, on Friday, December 1, 2006 running from 7:00am to 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time. This equates to 5:00pm Friday to 1:00am Saturday UTC/GMT.

In a perfect world, you could compile a brand-new Linux kernel without the need for much configuration and without error. According to Linus Torvalds, the new 2.6.19 Linux kernel is such an entity. "It's one of those rare "perfect" kernels," Torvalds wrote in a Linux kernel mailing list posting announcing the new kernel. "So if it doesn't happen to compile with your config (or it does compile, but then does unspeakable acts of perversion with your pet dachshund), you can rest easy knowing that it's all your own d*mn fault, and you should just fix your evil ways."

This article includes a HelloWorld example in which you install and configure the ATF, then use Eclipse and Dojo to create a basic Web application.

For all the efficiency and continued evolution of Debian's APT tools, some gaps in package management functionality remain. One of the largest ones is that, when a package is removed, any other packages that depend on it are not removed. The result is a growing number of orphans on the system -- that is, packages that serve no purpose for the system as a whole, although in some cases they continue to be useful individually. Similarly, while you can keep track of security announcements for Debian or distributions derived from it, the basic package system has no way of telling you which vulnerabilities might affect your system.

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) announced today that it is asking the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to re-examine Blackboard's patent on a technology used for Internet-based education support systems, in an attempt to invalidate the patent. SFLC's action comes on behalf of the Sakai Foundation, Moodle, and ATutor.

It is my privilege to announce on behalf of the team members of the PCLinuxOS Magazine Project sponsored by MyPCLinuxOS.com, the December 2006 issue (#4)  is available for download!  Our previous issues can also be downloaded.

Some highlights include:

1. Network File Systems
2. Reviews of Music Players
3. Thumbnail Images and Galleries
4. Connect to AOL in Linux
5. Setting up a Printer in a Windows Workgroup
6. Much, Much More! 

A lot has been said about the hows of the Novell-Microsoft deal, but what about the whys? What motivated Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian to initiate a deal with Linux's No. 1 Enemy? In this interview, Hovsepian reveals the business realities behind the move, and that when it comes to Microsoft, Novell knows full well who it's dealing with.

Until now, there hasn't been a really good Linux distribution for digital content creation. Debian-based 64 Studio, which has just achieved its 1.0 release, is described by some as "the best distribution ever created for multimedia workstations, such as digital audio recording and video editing."

A standard Java scripting engine API to play withOver the years there have been several times where I've had to implement a mini-language and language processor for some specific requirement or another.

Memory is a precious commodity in computers. Generally the more you have, the better. Yet your application has to run alongside other applications, and each wants its own area of memory. What happens when there's not enough to go around? Mulyadi Santosa explores the memory management principles in the Linux kernel to explain how the Out of Memory killer works--and how to avoid it.

Red Hat, a provider of open source solutions, is all set to launch JBoss solutions in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore at the 'Power of Open Source Middleware Technologies' seminar on December 5, 2006. At the event, Red Hat will introduce Red Hat Application Stack, the newly tested and fully integrated open source stack and JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite (JEMS) to enterprise companies and partners, as per a statement issued by the company.

Can mainstream companies use open source methods to develop their own software? Lynne Ellyn, CIO of DTE Energy, is finding out.

[Gee, I didn't know the Open Source Initiative had changed its name. I just hope they didn't fuse the FSF and OSI! Don't you just love it when the honchos think they know what they're talking about? - dcparris]

The term 'Computer Crime' sounds very hi-tech and when heard of we usually imagine extravagant laboratories,super computers and brilliant minds in front of them. But the biggest criminals of computer crimes are the people doing the lowest level of work with computers and that is because computer software are the most valuable and vulnerable parts of the system. The unauthorized use of computer software for the commercial or personal gain is commonly known as 'Software Piracy'. What makes software piracy this huge is the way to execute it being so easy, simple and virtually harmless. People think nothing of making extra copies for sharing with friends, co-workers and others. In many third world countries people are not even aware that what they are doing is something illegal.

[Definitely an interesting perspective on so-called 'piracy' - dcparris]

Birmingham City Council has defended its year-long trial of desktop Linux, claiming it to be a success, despite an independent report showing it would have been cheaper to install Windows XP.

[Aha! We knew there was more to this than met the eye! - dcparris]

Support from Software Partners Along with Training and Technical Services Promotion Will Help More Customers Take Advantage of Advanced Workgroup and Networking Services on SUSE Linux Enterprise

THE MAKER of printer ink and creator of spy scandals, HP has announced that it has just flogged its 100,000th Linux based server in Blighty.