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Over on his blog Sebastian Kügler talks about the status of Akonadi, how the migration of Kontact to Akonadi is going, and in general where the direction of development is leading. As a status update, sebas notes "Initially, we had planned to release the new Kontact along with the restof the KDE Applications 4.5. This did not quite work out, so we pushed the release back a bit, and are planning to release it along with one of the 4.5.x updates. The current plan is to release the Akonadi port of Kontact still this year. In contrast to our usual releases, this step is a bit different. We want to avoid hassle for the end-user as much as possible, so we are extending the beta phase until we think the quality is sufficient for the high demands of users, which is especially important in Kontact, where you likely spend a lot of your time."

I'm starting to get the feeling that education companies dislike FOSS operating systems. Pearson's Online education system, which is java and flash based, refuses to let you login unless you are using Internet Explorer AND Windows.

One of the most common programs on Linux systems for packaging files is the venerable tar. tar is short for tape archive, and originally, it would archive your files to a tape device. Now, you're more likely to use a file to make your archive. To use a tarfile, use the command-line option -f . To create a new tarfile, use the command-line option -c. To extract files from a tarfile, use the option -x. You also can compress the resulting tarfile via two methods. To use bzip2, use the -j option, or for gzip, use the -z option.

While the new kernel versions mainly correct minor bugs, X.org's next generation X Server offers a range of improvements. Various code segments released by AMD developers allow the X.org open source drivers for Radeon GPUs to utilise the 2D and 3D acceleration features available with Radeon series 5000 graphics cards.

As I have said before, I started searching for top 10 xkcd comics initially but ended up with nearly 20 of them. So here is the part-2 of my favorite 10 xkcd comics. Between, don't miss top 10 xkcd comics part-1.

HTC and Google in apparent alliance to launch Chrome-based tablet later this year. More details are emerging of a Chrome-based tablet PC expected to be launched by Google before Christmas. The tablet PC is expected to run Google's Chrome operating system and will be manufactured by HTC.

In this article, we will cover the following topics about databases in PHP 5 Content Management Systems: * Database dependency * The role of the database * Level of database abstraction * Ease of development * Keeping up with change * Database security * Pragmatic error handling

The Bordeaux Technology Group released Bordeaux 2.0.8 for Linux today. Bordeaux 2.0.8 is a maintenance release that fixes a number of small bugs. With this release we have updated firefox to 3.6.8, Added support for Apples Safari 5.0 Web Browser, Updated to the latest winetricks release and fixed desktop shortcuts.

Open source business intelligence (BI) software vendor Pentaho recently named Doug Johnson as the company's new executive vice president and chief financial officer. With more than 20 years experience in an assortment of technology companies like Black Duck Software and Discreet Logic, Johnson brings strong business and leadership acumen to the table. Take a look at what he has to say about his new role with Pentaho, the challenges facing BI companies, and what open source app he'd most love to have.

As the industry call for cloud interoperability grows more fervent, open-source enterprise software company Red Hat has submitted its cloud platform, Deltacloud, to the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force) as a potential standard for cloud interoperability, the company said Wednesday. "We do not want Deltacloud to be under the control of any one particular vendor, including Red Hat. If you want true interoperability and true portability, you need a third-party governance structure," said Red Hat cloud product manager Bryan Che during a webcast outlining the company's cloud-computing road map.

An update today brings helpers and multiple docks to Avant Window Navigator from the AWN trunk PPA. "Multiple docks" means you'll be able to run multiple instances of Avant Window Navigator, each with its own configuration.

Although it won’t help Linux run Windows-specific software applications, this easy hack produces an Ubuntu desktop that looks and feels a lot like Windows 7. It’s particularly suitable for reviving older PCs or laptops on which the main activities will be web-browsing, email, document writing, and streaming music and videos from the web.

In a previous article I presented two new patch concepts (bcache and flashcache) for improving performance but using SSD’s as a caching mechanism for hard drives. In reality the caching is achieved by using a block device to cache another block device, but practically it’s using an SSD to cache hard drives. I’ve been waiting for some time for a patch that increases performance by using a cache that is larger than the disk cache and faster than the disk. SSD’s fit that bill pretty well, especially given their fantastic read performance compared to disks.

LinuxCertified Inc, a leading provider of Linux training and services, announced its next Embedded and Real-Time Linux Development class to be held in San Francisco Bay Area from September 15th - 17th, 2010.

POSIX thread programming defines a standard set of C programming language types, functions, and constants—and pthreads provide a powerful tool for thread management. To use pthreads to the fullest, you'll want to avoid the common mistakes. One common mistake is forgetting to join joinable threads, which can create memory leaks and cause extra work. In this tips-oriented article, learn the basics of POSIX threads, see how to identify and detect thread memory leaks, and get solid advice for avoiding them.

Well you can ask them "are you PCI complaint?" However you shouldn't take their answer at face value. Recently, pretending to be a potential customer with an e-commerce website, I asked 10 random Linux hosts if their shared hosting plan was PCI compliant. 6 said no or no, its not possible on a shared hosting plan, which for the most part is true, especially if its less than $50/mo. As far as shared hosting goes you really should avoid looking at that all together if you are looking for the most secure, as well as a PCI compliant environment. However 3 hosts said yes, they are PCI compliant on their Linux shared plans, which is rather hard to believe.

The Apache Software Foundation, best known for the self-named popular open source Web server, has a variety of other technology that can help enterprises with databases, search, development, and more. Here’s an overview of the best.

Fear #2 (Cost!): Let’s look at skill-sets first. When you hire an employee who labels themselves a Windows Server Administrator, you are generally getting someone whose expertise on servers stops with Windows. Yeah, sounds extremely obvious, but I am addressing an important point. When you hire someone who labels themselves as a Linux Server Administrator, you are generally getting someone who knows both Linux and Windows server administration. Emphasis on the word “generally” as not all windows server admins know only Windows and not all Linux admins are well rounded.

I started a new job last week, as Technical Architect of Ubuntu. I'm thrilled to be here, I couldn't have crafted a more perfect job if I'd written the job description myself. I've been reflecting this week on how I got here. Many people know me for my involvement in Parrot, Perl, or Python, but my first love in free software was Linux, specifically Debian.

Ever looked at your Linux based N900 and think "You know what this needs? It needs to be bigger!" Yea... I didn't think so. I felt the same way, but I also knew that the 500$ investment I had made in my N900 was worth protecting.