Showing headlines posted by dave

Welcome to this year's 36th issue of DistroWatch Weekly. The first full week in September should be an exciting one for users and fans of Free Software - GNOME 2.12, Ubuntu 5.10 Preview, and SUSE Linux 10.0 RC1 are all expected to hit the download mirrors later this week. But before that happens we will take a brief look at the "smart" package manager in Mandriva, check out "SUPER", a performance-enhancing subproject of SUSE Linux, and revisit the Linspire versus Freespire controversy. Our featured distribution of the week is Elive, a great live CD featuring the Enlightenment window manager - a project that is also the recipient of our US$250 August 2005 donation. Happy reading!

The disgruntled developers behind Mambo, an open-source software for publishing Web sites, have launched their own version of the project, called Joomla.

In the wake of Apple's decision to move from PowerPC to Intel, other vendors are stepping in to meet the Power demand.

Massachusetts state government may stop using Microsoft Corp.'s popular Office software by 2007, unless the giant software company adopts a file format compatible with other software brands.

I received an e-mail from Simon Romanski, director of information systems at Fulfillment America, asking about the nature of open source software and its intersection with commercialism. Open source software (the code) is free and open. You can pay for support, packaging, reliable distributions. If in what's called commercial open source, the code isn't all free, then should it be marketed as open source? It's a bit of a long story, so forgive the length.

Norway's best known IT export, DVD Jon, has hacked encryption coding in Microsoft's Windows Media Player, opening up content broadcast for the multimedia player to alternative devices on multiple platforms. Jon Lech Johansen has reverse engineered a proprietary algorithm, which is used to wrap Media Player NSC files and ostensibly protect them from hackers sniffing for the media's source IP address, port or stream format. He has also made a decoder available. Click Here

Linux PC enthusiasts may be tired of hearing about all the ways Microsoft PCs are taking over the living room. Having conquered most home offices and dens, Windows is now running such entertainment apps as MP3 players, CDs and DVDs with its XP Media Center Edition, complete with a PC-friendly remote control that’s similar to a cable TV or home electronics controller. But Linux can also play in the home entertainment arena, with help from a package called Linux Infrared Remote Control.

Hurricane Katrina has left individuals and families with urgent needs, and relief agencies will work hard to prepare food, clothing, and shelter for them. However, a huge number will be unable to return to their homes for weeks or even months. Free, readily-available public access to the Internet can provide a crucial lifeline for them during this time.

I had the joy in recent overseas travels to encounter a group who had been attending a Linux Open Source convention. They turned out to be veterans and pioneers of the Open Source movement, but they were not enamoured about the way Open Source was commercially maturing – making this an unhappy group of travellers! Like the wedding guest in 'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' I listened to their tale of woe and found that some of their less emotional observations were of interest.

200 plus groups from over 60 countries are participating in the second annual Software Freedom Day (SFD) on September 10 to showcase the excellent range of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and demonstrate how it can be used to save money and gain freedom in every sector of the information society.

If you've ever wondered what all the excitement surrounding the Resource Description Framework (RDF) or the Semantic Web is about, then I have good news. You can explore both without leaving your Web browser, using Piggy Bank.

After what the developers involved call 'a ton of hard work all around,' Firefox 1.5 Beta 1, also known as the 1.8 Beta 4 milestone, will be released on Thursday 8th September. The news was relayed web-wide by Mozilla Developer News, and is certain to be welcomed by Firefox browser devotees who have been waiting for the first beta test version of the next major upgrade to their increasingly popular open-source browser.

Called Linspire Five-O, the operating system, normally available for $49.95, is available for free until Sept. 6.

If you've ever tried to explain how a particular feature or application works without actually showing it, you know how difficult that can be. A good software demo can really save the day for anyone from developers wanting to demonstrate their software to home users trying to explain to their family members how to create a simple document. If you want to create a software demo, you don't have to buy an expensive closed source application such as Demo Builder, Viewlet Builder, or Turbo Demo. Instead, you can use free software tools that may already be installed on your machine, namely the GIMP and Impress. Here is how to create a software demo that includes some essential elements: cursor movements, button clicks, animated menus, and callouts.

This week, advisories were released for courier, libpman-ldap, simple proxy, backup-manager, kismet, php, phpldapadmin, maildrop, pstotext, sqwebmail, polygen, audit, freeradius, openmotif, freeradius, openmotif, php, ntp, openoffice, lesstif, libsoup, evolution, kernel, selinux- policy-targed, policycoreutils, xen, dbus, evince, poppler, phpWiki, phpGroupWare, phpWebSite, pam_ldap, and mplayer. The distributors include Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, and Red Hat.

The state proposes an open document format initiative where Microsoft Office would be replaced. If it's an electronic document, it has to be "created and saved" in an open format by 2007 in Massachusetts. The state recently updated its Enterprise Technical Reference Model to reflect this requirement...

Fifteen cities and towns across Australia will stage events and give away free software to mark Software Freedom Day on September 10, the vice-president of the local coordinating body, Linux Australia, said.

"Grid computing is the domain of the enterprise-level business." Not anymore, thanks to a new on-demand grid service from IBM that puts Linux-powered grids in the hands of small- to medium-sized businesses.

Mozilla's Firefox browser now officially exists in the eyes of Microsoft. In a filing with the SEC, Mozilla was acknowledged for the first time by the software giant as a competitor. Even as we wait, and wait, and wait, for Microsoft's next desktop contribution, the MS crew remains confident about its ability to keep up.

Red Hat is accusing Microsoft of getting its facts wrong in its latest attack on Linux security. In an update on security at Microsoft’s recent worldwide partner conference, the company’s security head Mike Nash took aim at Linux and singled out Red Hat.