Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

The Linux Foundation (LF) announced that OpenSUSE's Build Service will be incorporated in its Linux Developer Network (LDN). Claimed to be the only development platform that enables software to be packaged for all major Linux distributions, the OpenSUSE Build Service was released in a 1.6 version that adds ARM support.

The first "Request For Comments" was released 40 years ago on the 7. April, 1969. These written discussions of the "Network Working Group" became the basis for the open internet standards. 40 years ago on the 7. April 1969, the first Request For Comments was released. In RFC 1, Steve Crocker described the software architecture of the emerging ARPANET. The original RFCs were actual contributions to discussions within a "Network Working Group" of manageable size (RFC 2 is a direct answer to RFC 1). As the group was still working on the ARPANET setup, the first RFCs were exchanged on paper by post.

As Android gains more popularity, it may start showing up on netbooks, which would be a good thing. However, there's a potential downside: The further Android gets from its roots, the greater the likelihood it will not be able to run native Linux applications that haven't been ported to the Android environment. A second Linux sandbox could be the answer.

The Kerberos developers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have reported multiple vulnerabilities in their network authentication suite. Attackers can reportedly exploit a weakness to cause a SPNEGO GSS-API application crash, including the Kerberos administration daemon (kadmind). A remote attack could also cause a key distribution center (KDC) or kinit program to crash.

When it comes to the world of graphics, Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator and DTP applications such as Quark and InDesign, stand head and shoulders above the rest and are the defacto standards for graphics professionals. But they're not open source, even if a little Wine hacking gets them running. If you're committed to doing your graphics the open source way then we have a few suggestions, and a couple of handy tutorials to get you up and running.

Most Linux Twitter clients look pretty much the same; they look like the interface on Twitter.com. Which is all right, but David Harding introduces us to two that are a little different. Twidge is a command-line Twitter client that is perfect for netbooks, for scripting repetitive tasks, and for blocking certain updates from friends that you really don't need to see. Tircd gives you a friendly, familiar IRC-style interface.

The Australian government has ditched its plan to fund a privately built fiber-to-the-node broadband network. Instead, it will directly build an open-access, 100Mbps+, fiber-to-the-home network that will reach 90 percent of Australian homes within eight years.

David Coursey at PCWorld knew full well he'd opened a can of worms when he asked why anyone would want an Android netbook. Personally, I'd rather have an Ubuntu Netbook Remix powered one, or one with an operating system tailored with the latest Moblin Image Creator utility, but I'm sort of one of those types anyway. I love and use open source software, nearly exclusively. I think the last time I really sat down to run Windows was when I transferred Windows XP on to my husband's newly built "mostly playtime" machine. As much as I love open source software, however, I am a stronger advocate for having the right tool for the job, and using the software that works best for the user and the task at hand.

After weeks of private negotiations, IBM was poised to buy rival Sun Microsystems for a reported $7 billion. Negotiations apparently broke down on Sunday when Sun's board rejected a reduced offer. But beyond allowing IBM to reclaim from Hewlett-Packard the title of world's biggest computer company, why would the company even want Sun, a sprawling Unix vendor that has struggled for years to even show a profit? The answer, according to insiders at both companies, lies in Sun's intellectual property.

Google has announced that it has added Java to Python as the supported languages on its App Engine service. Adding Java was the first and most popular request from developers and users that was filed in App Engine's issue tracker. App Engine launched with only Python support with an App Engine API added to access the shared database and other functionality.

Another idea came to me after reading Software AG Deputy CTO Mike Miko Matsumara's blog, who thinks that with this deal collapsing, we might see the return of Sun Co-founder, Scott McNealy. Whether that happens or not, the company should also pursue an option of going private. The four Sun co-founders - Scott McNealy, Bill Joy, Vinod Khosla and Andy Bechtolsheim - swing enough clout in the Valley to help put together a rescue package. Given how easily Palm has been able to raise additional funding, I don't think Sun will have trouble raising the capital. Bad as it is - down 10.7 percent from fiscal 2008 - Sun will post revenues of just over $12 billion. And it still has a few billion dollars in cash.

The Linux Foundation (LF) announced that it will help companies excise the Microsoft FAT filesystem from their systems to avoid the fate of TomTom, which recently settled with Microsoft over alleged patent infringements over FAT. Meanwhile, other open-source leaders are suggesting a standardized FAT substitute may be in the offing.

Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst has issued a statement praising President Obama for bringing a culture of inclusion and transparency to the United States government. Whitehurst also takes the opportunity to encourage broader open source adoption.

President Obama came to office with the promise of change. His administration has pledged to create an environment of openness and participation. Some have already called him the “open source president” such as consultant and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos. There’s no better time than now. Transparency builds trust. Participation solves problems. And we believe that open source provides an answer. Red Hat is excited that the Obama administration recognizes the value of open source beyond software. Open source principles are changing how we learn, how we share information, how developers create, and how companies do business. Now it has the opportunity to change our government.

Europe is opening up by leaps and bounds, from the Gendarme in France to German embassies around the world. There is one more to add to the score, as last week the Hungarian government announced it too will be going Open Source, in a big way.

What Microsoft really wants from TomTom isn't money, but building fear about Linux in other companies. Microsoft wants you to believe you need a Microsoft license to deploy Open Source software. Bruce Perens analyzes the unfortunate outcome of the TomTom/Microsoft patent settlement.

Zend Technologies has built an application server for PHP that it hopes can slowly convert frustrated Java programmers as well as those relying on Java on the web and in the enterprise. On Tuesday, the company is expected to unveil the Zend Server, a paid-for PHP stack that comes with service agreements and support and the free Zend Server Community Edition.

The next step for Sun Microsystems Inc., after its apparent failure to reach an agreement with IBM on an acquisition, is to continue looking for a buyer, change its management — or just keep plugging along and pretend that nothing ever happened. In terms of a sale, it's entirely possible that Sun could attract bids from Cisco Systems Inc., which is trying to move into the server business, or Fujitsu Ltd., which makes servers based on Sun's Sparc technology, or even Hewlett-Packard Co., as part of its perpetual market-share battle with IBM.

Reports surfaced late this evening that computing giant IBM — which has been in talks for some time to buy Sun Microsystems — has pulled its $7 billion offer to buy the struggling company. According to reports, IBM withdrew the offer after Sun's Board of Directors made "onerous" requests following IBM's decision to lower its offer for the firm. IBM initially offered $9.55 per share, but dropped that offer to $9.40 — less than a $1.00 premium on Sun's current stock price — due in part, it says, to the discovery that far more senior employees than originally expected are covered by "change of control" contracts. Such agreements cover senior executives — who often face replacement on acquisition — should the company be bought or otherwise come under the control of someone other than its Board.

Last month, a group called The Author's Guild raised loud objections to the text-to-speech feature in Amazon's new Kindle 2. They claimed that reading a book out-loud is a violation of US copyright law. We had hoped that Amazon would stand up to this legally baseless bullying and support their customers. But, instead, they caved, and allowed publishers to deactivate the Kindle's text-to-speech capabilities using the device's built-in DRM.