Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

"Open source" has come a long way and with the new administration adopting the open source content management system Drupal to power the recovery.gov Web site, open source's visibility will likely get another big boost. Speaking from the standpoint of a developer, the number of tools, utilities and programs available under open source licensing continues to be very exciting. But it is also true that confusions still persist about what it is and, in particular, about its costs. "Open source" and "free" are not synonymous -- though there is a relationship between the two terms.

Every time you open a new tab, you are opening it to go somewhere. Sometimes it’s to do a search. Sometimes it’s to type in a new URL. Sometimes it’s to check an address you just selected. The only thing you are guaranteed to not want is a blank page. From the feedback from the last two rounds of new tab concepts, we know that the page needs to load instantly (even a small wait breaks user experience); that it shouldn’t be visually distracting; and that it should be a launch point into your daily activities.

In Microsoft vs. TomTom, Microsoft is suing TomTom in part because the guys from Redmond claim that TomTom's use of Linux in its navigation devices has violated three of its file-system related patents. One reason why Microsoft feels it can do this is that it already has patent cross-licensing agreements covering these patents with other Linux-using companies.

Not a lot of work has gone into Red Hat's Plymouth project since the release of Fedora 10, but now in the middle of the development cycle of Fedora 11 we are seeing some new work emerge. Plymouth is a boot splash program that leverages kernel mode-setting to provide a rich, flicker-free boot experience. In the past week there have been a fair number of commits to the Plymouth Git repository, which is the first time it has seen new work since early January.

Java Enterprise Edition 6 has passed the public review of the Java Community Process, but not by a unanimous vote. Java EE 6 (developed as JSR316) went to public review ballot last month and the results have now come in. The Apache Software Foundation voted against because of their long running dispute with Sun over the licence terms for the Java Compatibility Kit (JCK).

You don't see many physical gadgets coming out of the high-tech Demo conference anymore, the confab made famous as the launchpad for Palm Pilot and TiVo. What typically emerges now are tools and services around social media and productivity. Still, executive producer Chris Shipley says she saw more consumer hardware in advance of Demo than even during boom times, though only a few made it onto the conference stage. Times are tough, and Demo took a hit in attendance and in exhibitors: 39, down from more than 70 in peak years. Here's my take on a couple of interesting products this time around, a netbook computer with a twist and a network of cheap consumer webcams. Caveat: I haven't tested these yet.

Recently, Vital Wave Consulting, of TCO fame, did a in-depth Landscape Analysis of Low-cost Computing Devices. In that report, they came away with an amazing conclusion:

Not everyone who's into Linux is a dyed in the wool techie. While some people need to know the intimate workings of their PCs and what runs them, others are quite happy simply to use them. There will always a certain amount of crossover, but the one thing that neatly distinguishes the techies from the power users is the command line interface (CLI). Old-school Linux users swear that it's the only real way to do things properly, while the rest of us often avoid it like the plague. But what if we gave you just enough command-line knowledge to let you do all the important things, without having to don sandals and a fake beard?

The ReactOS team has just put out its latest newsletter, and it contains some interesting information on the progress being made. However, it also provides some definitive insight into what, exactly, the project is trying to recreate - a topic of some confusion. People were wondering what Windows version the ReactOS team was aiming its compatibility arrows at. Some claimed Windows 2000, others were sure it was Windows XP. As it turns out, the situation is a little more complicated than that, as the team looks separately at the kernel and Win32.

When I first began using Linux, I was fortunate that I had a few friends around who knew it well, and were able to answer my questions and provide support. Not everyone is so lucky. Fortunately, these days there are a multitude of ways you can get the info you need without calling up Cousin Ron the Computer Wiz. He’s probably busy recompiling his kernel anyway. Many of the things I’ve listed here are well known to long time Linux users, I’m hoping that those who are just starting out, or are considering the switch, can find a few useful resources for making your system work the way you want. Linux is meant to be tinkered with, there are examples and how-tos everywhere.

Debating the value of "my first time using Linux" articles was the pastime of choice recently in the open source blogosphere. Other topics of discussion included the Linux Foundation's takeover of Linux.com from SourceForge and the ongoing saga of why Linux isn't accepted by mainstream users yet.

If you’re not beginning to think green, you’re a release behind. In today’s world you have to think green. But how do you do that without installing a roof of solar panels? If you are using (or thinking of using) Linux, you’re one step ahead of the competition. In this article, you will find 10 solid ways to start thinking green in your IT department. It’s responsible, it’s smart, and it’ll save you money and time on this great planet.

A surprising decision from the second-highest court for US patent cases will put meaningful restrictions on the patentability of software here, Red Hat patent lawyer Rob Tiller said in a well-attended talk at the Southern California Linux Expo. In a surprise October ruling in the case of In re Bilski last year, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit "threw out wholesale" the existing test for software patentability, and substituted a new, stricter one. "The test has teeth," said Tiller, who, as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, IP for Red Hat, handles incoming patent threats and authored an amicus brief in the case.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Microsoft's suit against TomTom, which alleged infringement of eight of its patents - including three that relate to TomTom's implementation of the Linux kernel. I wrote there that this seemed part of a larger attack on Linux, and not just one on TomTom, as Microsoft nonetheless insisted.

Computerworld is undertaking a series of investigations into the most widely-used programming languages. Previously we have spoken to Alfred v. Aho of AWK fame, S. Tucker Taft on the Ada 1995 and 2005 revisions, Microsoft about its server-side script engine ASP, Chet Ramey about his experiences maintaining Bash, Bjarne Stroustrup of C++ fame and to Charles H. Moore about the design and development of Forth. We've also had a chat with the irreverent Don Woods about the development and uses of INTERCAL, as well as Stephen C. Johnson on YACC, Luca Cardelli on Modula-3, Walter Bright on D, Simon Peyton-Jones on Haskell and more recently, Larry Wall, creator of the Perl programming language.

Sure, it's handy being able to run Internet Explorer or Microsoft Office on Linux or the Mac thanks to WINE and Crossover Linux and Mac, but you know what's even cooler? Running WoW (World of Warcraft) or Guild Wars on them. That's why I'm really pleased to see that CrossOver, the company behind WINE, the programs that lets you run Windows programs on Linux and Mac OS, has just released new editions of CrossOver Games for Mac and Linux, version 7.2.0. At first, you might think, "Are they kidding, you can't run -- seriously run -- a demanding Windows game on Linux or the Mac." You'd be wrong.

Vinay Gupta is a Scottish-Indian engineer who designs low-cost homes for poor parts of the world or disaster zones, and then makes them freely available on the internet so others can do the building. His flagship is the Hexayurt shelter system, which costs around $200 (£142). It uses common building materials, including insulation boards - which, he claims, are a third of the cost of a tent. The business plan is to cut the price of essential goods and services to the point where the poor can afford them. Gupta is just one example of a global movement that offers an alternative to the scandalous tales of banking avarice that have saturated the world's media.

In a meeting with financial analysts last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laid out who he thinks are the biggest threats today to Windows on the client side. Surprisingly, Apple wasn't number one. It wasn't number two or three either. Referring to a pie chart at the meeting that gauges threats to Windows, Ballmer said that Windows itself, both licensed and pirated, were the top two threats to Microsoft in the client OS space, followed by Linux, then Apple. Ballmer quipped: "Windows license, number one market share. Number two market share goes to Windows pirated, or unlicensed. That's a competitor that's tough to beat; they've got a good price and a heck of a product, but we're working on it."

A security update for cURL, the file transfer utility, and its associated libcurl library has been released to fix a vulnerability which could allow an attacker to examine files on a system, or possibly even write files. The cause of the problem is the cURL (Client for URL) automatic redirection feature.

Indiana University has released open source software, called Variations, that allows you to create a digital music library system. College and university libraries may digitize audio and musical scores to provide to their users in an interactive, online environment, including streaming audio and scanned score images.