Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

Google Maps opened up a whole new world of mapping on the Web, making it easy for companies and individuals to put their data on a map. But if you want more control over how your maps look, or have data that doesn't really work well with Google Maps, there are other options, including serving your own data with Geoserver. Geoserver implements the Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Feature Server and Web Coverage Server specifications, with an integrated Web Map Server. The current stable version is 1.6.5, although the developers recently released 1.7.0-RC2. Written in Java, it's available for Linux and Unix variants and for Windows, and it requires a Java Runtime Environment, such as Sun JRE 6, to run.

Bad standards and standard wars are an all too common part of modern information technology. Now, IBM has announced that it's not going to put up with them anymore. And, yes, Microsoft, IBM is looking at you. In a statement, Ari Fishkind, public affairs manager for IBM Research's Development and Intellectual Property section, says that "IBM is announcing a new corporate policy governing its participation in the technology standards community. As members of that community, we are formalizing a commitment to behave in a progressive and transparent way as we promote open, high quality standards."

HP and Oracle are teaming up to release the HP Oracle Database Machine. The HP Oracle Database Machine has some analysts predicting that Oracle will disrupt the data warehouse market, as Oracle issues a direct challenge to data warehouse leaders like Teradata. Not too long ago, Microsoft sought to shake up the data warehousing market with the purchase of DATAllegro. Not to be outdone, Oracle jumped into the fray at its Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco. But instead of an acquisition, Oracle pulled the covers off a project three years in the making—the HP Oracle Database Machine..

[So let me get this straight, Oracle is making hardware? Oracle entering the hardware business with or without HP's help; is a major move for them and the market. - Scott]

While the top brass at Sun Microsystems might seem to be clueless about the company sometimes, there are plenty of people who know where the bread gets buttered - or doesn't. They know that Solaris and the servers that run it are what really matter at Sun. And that means Sun's OpenSolaris project and its related Solaris commercial distribution are still the key to success or failure for Sun Microsystems.

Life-saving scientific research is being stifled by a "broken" patent system, according to a new report. "Blocking patents" are delaying advances in cancer medicine and food crops, says the Canada-based Innovation Partnership, a non-profit consultancy. The full benefits of synthetic biology and nanotechnology will not be realised without urgent reforms to encourage sharing of information, they say.

Novell is getting into network access control via an OEM agreement with StillSecure that initially provides a stand-alone product but also includes plans to ensure that software works well with Novell’s ZENworks configuration management. Called ZENworks Network Access Control, the Linux package is based on StillSecure’s Safe Access, and can be downloaded from Novell’s site for use on customer-provided server hardware. (Compare client management products.)

In June, updates on two browsers were released: Firefox version 3 and Flock version 2 beta. Those in the know are already aware that the Flock browser was built with Firefox 3 code as its foundation. So here are some specifics for those who deal with requests from patrons for alternative browsers on library laptops or desktops or who may want a better understanding of the differences between Firefox and Flock.

Ziproxy is Web proxy server, but rather than cache content the way Web proxies like Squid do, it's designed to compress the content that it fetches from the Web before forwarding it to the Web client. It can be useful for serving mobile devices like handheld Internet tablets that cannot take full advantage of high-resolution, high-quality images, or where the browser client is running over a mobile data plan where speed is low and bytes are expensive.

T-Mobile introduced the first Google Phone, the HTC-made G1, Tuesday morning at Guastavino's, a cavernous banquet and wedding space on New York City's Upper East Side. We were there to record the event, capturing 23 pictures with our iPhone.

To a lot of people, Ubuntu represents the most end-user-friendly nongeek-compatible Linux distribution. But there are other commercial distributions that work even harder to create a desktop experience that is, frankly, Windows-like. The two most well-known of these are Xandros and Linspire (formerly Lindows). Since Xandros recently acquired Linspire, that leaves it pretty much in sole possession of that segment of the marketplace. Xandros tries to set itself apart from the majority of popular distributions in two ways. First, by making the installation and administration procedure as simple as -- or simpler than -- the best free distributions. Second, by integrating commercial software offerings into its package management system.

Network access control (NAC) aims to unify endpoint security, system authentication, and security enforcement in a more intelligent network access solution than simple firewalls. NAC ensures that every workstation accessing the network conforms to a security policy and can take remedial actions on workstations if necessary. For example, NACs can check if a workstation has antivirus software installed and, if not, NAC will limit the workstation's access to the network. In some cases, if NAC is capable of remedial measures, it can force-install an antivirus program on the workstation so that it will conform to the security policy. Although NAC can improve the security of your environment, most commercial NACs cost several thousand dollars. However, using NAC does not need to be that expensive. PacketFence, a free open source NAC application, gives you the security of NAC for free.

In a continuing series of articles highlighting that GNU/Linux is a viable replacement operating system, today we're putting the newest release of the popular Ubuntu distribution through its paces.

Almost every laptop on sale today comes equipped with the Kensington security slot on the side or back, through which you can connect a theft-deterring locked steel cable. The system's down sides are (a) that a would-be thief can damage or destroy your equipment trying to yank the cable out, and (b) that you have to buy the cable separately. As an alternative, the free software utility Adeona won't preemptively deter theft, but it will help you track down your stolen equipment and better the chances of its recovery by police.

There was no Gentoo 2007.1 release that made it out last year, and we now know for sure that there will be no Gentoo 2008.1 release this year. The Gentoo Release Engineering Team has canceled the Gentoo 2008.1 release that would have otherwise been expected in the next three months...

The first phone to implement Google's Open Source Android mobile platform— theeagerly-anticipated T-Mobile G1—made its maiden voyage today, launching to the expected fanfare and with the surprise appearance of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin— on rollerblades.

Earlier this month, I had the luxury of inspecting a new Omatek Smartbook at the Ministry of Education in Ghana. The Smartbook is a low-cost laptop aimed at the education market, and one look at it and you know its an XO laptop derivative:

Elgg is an open source application for rolling out a social network. It installs like any Web-based software, but instead of a blog or a wiki, it gives you all the components of a social networking site -- your own MySpace! It's popular with educational institutes and used by several universities across the world, in addition to powering social networks of companies such as Swatch. The new Elgg 1.0, released last month, is modular in design, making it easier for developers to build social networks around the platform.

I know, I know…you’re wondering why this is in the open source blog. The reason is simple: I have used open source operating systems for a long, long time now. I have championed against Microsoft for over ten years. But when Techrepublic liked the idea of me writing some Vista content for them, I couldn’t say no. Of course this meant me actually using Vista. So I thought it would be interesting for the open source crowd to get my initial reaction to my explorations with Windows Vista. You know, see how (or if) it stands up to Linux. It was a hard pill to swallow for me. It might be a equally as hard for you. Let’s find out. Shall we?

A commenter on one of my articles recently asked: "Why is it that true believers feel the need to replace every last proprietary app?" He continued: "VMware, Skype, and Google Earth are best-of-breed and free-as-in-beer." Over the last year or two, such sentiments -- often rudely expressed -- have become increasingly common in the free and open source software (FOSS) community. But, when you think for a while, they miss the point. If free software is to achieve its goal of guaranteeing that users can control their computing, then a completely free operating system is a basic necessity. An almost completely free operating system is both short-sighted and not enough to give users the control of their own computers that is supposed to be FOSS's ultimate goal.

After months of speculation and anticipation, T-Mobile and Google on Tuesday unveiled the G1, a new smartphone manufactured by HTC and the first commercially available handheld to run Google's Android mobile operating system. In the U.S., T-Mobile subscribers can immediately order the G1. The handset will be available in black, white and brown at select T-Mobile retail stores and online on Oct. 22.