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The Zenwalk team on July 2 released its first live CD version, ZenLive 2.6, featuring a 2.6.16.16 kernel and the latest (v4.3.90.2) XFCE windowing environment. The new distribution takes advantage of the latest current Zenwalk updates, which include extensive UDEV support.

Net Neutrality is a snowball.That is, it's an idea that started small but grew steadily as it rolled forward, gaining mass and speed as it accreted the passions and opinions of many -- on all sides of the issue. Today the topic is so large and complex that it's hard to find where it began. It has also become so highly politicized that it may sink the telecom reform legislation that carriers have been working on sincethe last round of reform, in 1996.

Debian has issued an update for xine-lib. This fixes a weakness, which can be exploited by malicious people to crash certain applications on a user's system.

One IP attorney says the suit, which relates to JBoss' Hibernate 3.0 object mapping technology, could have serious ramifications for the Linux company and other software developers.

Tired of bogus software patents? So are we! To combat these annoying and often dangerous legal weapons, EFF has launched the Patent Busting Project to take down some of worst offenders.

I am, as you may have noticed, unequivocally in favor of the adoption of free and open source software by schools and governments. I have also spent a considerable portion of my career in ed-tech creating tools that support interoperability via open standards like RDF, iCalendar and SIF. Open source and open standards are two good things. So I have found it difficult to explain precisely why it is a bad idea for K-12 Open Technologies, a recent intitiative by CoSN, IBM, and the Hewlett Foundation to lump them together and promote the two concepts as "open technologies."

The task of debugging huge computer programs can be made faster and easier by using new software tools developed by programming experts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

ARinfotek is shipping an entry-level, fanless network security appliance platform said to draw just 2.4 Watts. The Teak 3011 is based on an x86-compatible AMD Geode processor, comes housed in a compact steel chassis, and targets security appliances for SMBs (small- and medium-sized businesses).

Following the successful community-based marketing efforts that raised awareness of the FireFox browser, another grassroots organisation is planning a similar campaign to market the OpenOffice.org suite. The campaign's first project is to place a full back page advert in New York's free daily <i>Metro</i> newspaper.

Leader of the OpenOffice.org Native Lang confederation raises suspicions about Microsoft's ODF converter plugin.

So now I'm a blogger. Well, this column has been a kind of journal anyway, a chronicle of my life and times in the world of Linux sound and music software, and hopefully it's as enjoyable for you to read as it is for me to write. You can expect little change from the style and content of my previous articles, despite my imminent bloggification, but in accord with the popular definitions of a blog I'll be a little less formal and sometimes a lot more personal. Not that there's much fuel for acrid controversy in the world of Linux sound and music software, but there are issues occasionally and I'd like to speak plainly regarding them.

A new era is halfway here, and nobody has recognized its impact--even though we've all participated eagerly in its arrival. The way we educate ourselves to use and program computers is shifting along many of the same historic lines as journalism, scientific publication, and other information-rich fields. Researchers have pounced on those other trends, but computer education remains short on commentary.

The strategic programmes and initiatives offered by IBM include educational initiatives such as the setting up of a Linux education programme to certify Maltese students, selected by the Government, as Linux Entry Level Administrators.

From the VS. dept.:
Ubuntu caused a lot of friction with and for Debian. In discussions with its founder, Mark Shuttleworth, and other Ubuntu developers during (and before) Debconf6, I was able to spell out the main criticisms from the Debian perspectives of the way Canonical/Ubuntu is handling things (without a claim to completeness). These criticisms mainly stem from discussions with fellow developers over the past 18 months, and I largely support all of them. I am publicising them here to help make the status quo more transparent.

Critics say the installable software plug-ins created by the Open XML Translator project are a stopgap measure that will probably not be acceptable to governments in the long run.

A computer science facility that had been running without a hitch for years is shut down as a Microsoft system is set up across the board. Was it a knock against open source, or just classroom politics?

[Anybody got a rope? I have pitchforks, scythes and torches. -- grouch]

Contributor Jaqui Greenlees had a few problems with his attempt to install Ubuntu Linux so he decided to confront one of the developers for some answers.

[Is this FUD or real? Is there a worse website? -- grouch]

Opinion: Don't believe for one second that Microsoft is actually "supporting" ODF.

After the launch of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS, Canonical is announcing the availability of Opera 9 for Ubuntu. With just a few clicks of the mouse, all Ubuntu users can download and install the latest version of the Opera browser.

Wireless security firm Network Chemistry recently released a cross-platform, free software security tool called RogueScanner in conjunction with its wireless network protection package RFprotect. RogueScanner, licensed under the GPL and the latest of three free software security modules available from Network Chemistry, allows you to monitor your network for rogue wireless devices. Release 1.0 comes in both Windows and Linux versions.