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Indian outsourcer Wipro Ltd. is set to develop open-source business software and offer systems integration services around the open-source database from software vendor Ingres Corp., which will be marketed jointly by the two companies. The tie-up with Wipro is one of a number of systems integration partnerships that Ingres plans with Indian outsourcers, said Vivek Bhatnagar, Ingres' country director for India, on Wednesday.

The government could save more than £600 million a year if it used more open source software, the shadow chancellor has estimated.

Repeated efforts at Nationwide Mutual Insurance to try Linux on the mainframe faced internal opposition, some of it from IT employees worried that a mainframe-based server Back up your business with HP's ProLiant ML150 Server - just $1,299. consolidation would be a threat to their jobs. They "fought tooth and nail to keep it from happening," said James Vincent, a mainframe systems engineering consultant at Nationwide. Their resistance taught Vincent a lesson that he put to use after the Linux project was finally approved in 2005. Part of Vincent's job involved working with the employees who had feared the project, including IT staffers who worked on Unix systems.

Even if it fails, 'One Laptop per Child' will have an enormous impact on the computing landscape.

In the United States, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has reached out to the community with advocacy campaigns and the consultation process on the next version of the GNU General Public License. By contrast, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is focusing much of its community outreach on the creation of a group it calls the Freedom Task Force (FTF). Although relatively new, the FTF is already starting to make its mark on free software in Europe in the fields of education and compliance, and with its unique approach to the problems of copyright.

KwikByte is shipping a tiny, low-powered ARM-based SBC (single-board computer) aimed at applications such as kiosks and streaming audio clients. The KBAT9261 ("BAT6") is based on an Atmel ARM9 processor, supports PoE (power-over-Ethernet), runs Linux and native development tools, and is available with an optional enclosure.

Blue Cliff, Inc. has announced the development of a non-proprietary open source laboratory interface to VistA-Office Electronic Health record system (VOE). Blue Cliff is a Hawaii-based software consultant and development company specializing in providing installation, configuration and customization support for VistA and its derivatives.

LinuxChix, a social networking group for women who use Linux and other open source software, was formed in 1999 by Deb Richardson, a Linux user who was frustrated by the attitudes of many other Linux-oriented groups. Since then, the organisation has grown dramatically, and there are currently more than 40 regional LinuxChix chapters around the world. Until February, LinuxChix had chapters in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney. Following discussions at the Linux.Conf.Au conference in Sydney in January, members realised that a national group would better serve the country. Last month the groups united to form AussieChix, a new nationwide chapter that makes the group more accommodating to women from across Australia, whilst also improving the communications between the members of the previous chapters.

Linux server revenue grew slightly in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the latest research from IDC. But while overall Linux usage is growing, the number of physical Linux servers being shipped to enterprises may be suffering due to the trend of virtualization.

If you're a FOSS enthusiast who keeps fit by exercising or playing sports, it's time you used an open source application to track your activities. With these programs you can get a good overview of your exercises or create diagrams and statistics for specific time ranges and sport types.

MindTouch has become the first company to be officially certified by VMware as a supplier of virtualised wiki software.

Australia's future economic prosperity will depend on it embracing the principles of community-driven technologies such as Linux and Second Life, according to Glen Boreham.

Red Hat's Fedora Core 6 Linux distribution has reached another big milestone, racking up two million installed users barely two months after tallying 1 million installed users. With the new threshold crossing, it is unclear whether Fedora 6 is the No. 1 Linux distribution in use today, but internetnews.com has learned that preliminary discussions are underway that could see Novell's OpenSUSE Linux distribution partner with Red Hat's Fedora to drive open statistics about Linux use.

An ultra-efficient new RISC-based processor architecture has gained its first Linux distribution support, according to representatives of the open source T2 SDE project. The project's cross-platform Linux build tools now support Atmel's AVR32 architecture, project representatives say.

A freshly installed copy of Firefox is a great software package, but what makes this open-source browser so special is the ability to customize it via extensions and themes to really make it yours. The problem is, there are so many available add-ins, it's tough to know what's worth installing and what's just going to junk up your system. That's where we come in. We've ferreted out 20 of the best extensions and add-ins used and recommended by hardcore Web surfers, developers and IT pros. Whether you're looking for more streamlined surfing, improved look and feel, cool design tools or serious Web development help, there's something (and more than likely several things) here for you.

A school district technology director is making wholesale changes in her employer's IT system by migrating most of 5,000 Windows desktops to a new setup based primarily on Linux-powered desktop PCs and thin clients. The change aims to reduce annual costs, offer many more applications, and use less energy. Windsor, Calif. School District IT administrator Heather Carver is migrating most of the district's 70 servers and most of its 5,000 desktop machines from a mostly-Windows environment that is quickly becoming obsolete to a new mixed environment that includes PCs running SUSE Linux, Wyse Linux thin-client terminals, and a smattering of Mac and Windows machines.

David Carr has written an article about Second Life entitled "Second Life: Is Business Ready For Virtual Worlds?" David is not the first person to write about doing business in Second Life, but he has managed to dig up some interesting information relating to Second Life's true population and technical infrastructure. If this information is accurate, it casts serious doubt on the potential for Second Life to be an effective medium for conducting mainstream, enterprise business activities such as meetings, mass product demonstrations, and large-scale virtual conferences -- at least in the short term.

An Australian consulting company specializing in software reverse engineering is demonstrating its capabilities by analyzing popular open source projects, such as the Linux 2.6.20 kernel. Arian Systems's "SilverBullet" generates detailed program information and graphics offering a "clear view" into undocumented legacy software, according to the company.

Zak Greant belongs to the first generation of adults to mature with free and open source software (FOSS). Starting with his discovery of the PHP programming language a decade ago, Greant has grown along with FOSS until today he is a consultant advising companies and projects on legal issues and corporate strategy. Recently, he founded Foo Associates, a small consulting company where he plans to continue promoting the values of the FOSS communities in business.

Hewlett-Packard is closing custom deals for thousands of desktop PCs running Linux, which has the company assessing the possibility of offering factory-loaded Linux systems, an HP executive said.