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It is not often that you fail to find half a dozen free software programs to fill a particular niche -browsers, e-mail clients or file managers to name a few; so it was with both surprise and disappointment that I nearly drew a blank in my search for an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) for GNU/Linux. Yes, Freevo and MythTV have this feature built in, but installing and configuring them just to get your mitts on an EPG looks like overkill. I wanted a simple, stand-alone EPG programme. I got TV-Browser and I got a hell of a lot more than I bargained for. Read the full article at Freesoftware Magazine.

If you build your own GNOME packages from source or use GARNOME to help in the process, get ready as GNOME 2.26.1 has just been released. GNOME 2.26.1 incorporates bug fixes, translation updates, and documentation changes since the release of GNOME 2.26 just one month ago.

All major development efforts are now being focused on GNOME 2.28 and planning for GNOME 3.0, but another point release for the 2.26 series will come next month...

According to a number of Linux distributors, a bug in the udev service under Linux can be exploited to obtain root privileges. The kernel uses udev to dynamically create device-specific files and folders (/dev/) for input and output, so that only devices which are actually connected appear in /dev. udev is not a direct component of the Linux kernel, but is included and activated by default in almost all Linux distributions which use 2.6 series kernels.

SSL acceleration is a technique that off-loads the processor intensive public key encryption algorithms used in SSL transactions to a hardware accelerator. These solutions often involve a considerable up front investment as the specialized equipment is rather costly. This article though looks at using off the shelf server hardware and open source software to build a cost effective SSL accelerator.

As we have outlined before and shared benchmarks of in the past, the Intel graphics driver stack has been going through some significant changes. The Intel graphics driver now has a proper memory manager in the form of the Graphics Execution Manager, there is upstream kernel mode-setting support, and a new 3D component is coming soon in the form of Gallium3D. With all of this invasive work going on, regressions are currently prevalent from stability problems to graphical corruption to slower 2D performance. While these are problems users will face with the new distribution updates in H1'09, some have been trying out different driver configurations in order to circumvent the situation. Canonical, for example, had been toying with the idea of enabling greedy migration heuristics by default.

The Pupeee Linux developers have released version 4.2 of their Asus Eee PC optimised open source netbook distribution. Version 4.2 of Pupeee is based on Puppy Linux, which was recently updated. The focus of Pupeee is speed, ease of use and Eee PC compatability.

Six months ago we pointed out the best Android apps to boost your mobile productivity, but since then more free applications have appeared in the Market that offer useful features you don't want to miss. Let's take a look at a few notable free apps that make getting things done with your Android handset easier and more fun.

Synchronizing two machines (such as a laptop and a desktop computer) is easier and faster when you use rsync, which boasts an efficient algorithm and options for just about everything you might need. And if a command-line operation isn't your thing, several graphic tools make using rsync easier still.

This article is an overview of 4 most popular IM clients available on Linux, and particularly in the upcoming release of Ubuntu, Jaunty Jackalope. I included only graphical applications here, but I'm sure I'll make a review of several command-line clients in the near future too. I also decided not to include Sim and KMess, since currently they only offer versions for KDE3.

What the heck is going on in Boston? Apologies to any Bostonians in the audience, but something is in the water, at least in the education and law enforcement districts. Once again, the "Cradle of Liberty" is in the news as the Defenders of the Fourth are forced to rush in to defend the baby against the hand that rocks the cradle.

As with most things in OpenBSD, adding Xfce to the operating system isn't as easy as it is in Debian, Ubuntu or many other Linux distros. There is no "meta package" in OpenBSD for Xfce. I believe that with GNOME and KDE, it's possible to add one or two packages from the OpenBSD repository that call in most of what you need for the desktop environment. To install Xfce, however, you must use pkg_add to bring down more than asome three dozen individual Xfce packages.

Besides seeing 3D acceleration for their hardware in an open-source driver, one of the other leading requests from ATI Radeon customers has been to see improved power management within the ATI X.Org driver stack. There is Dynamic Clocks support and some other power management capabilities, along with some more innovative ways, but ATI's PowerPlay is not fully implemented in the open-source stack. Today though committed to the xf86-video-ati driver is support for two new power management features. The two new power options in this open-source driver are ForceLowPowerMode and DynamicPM, both of which are xorg.conf options.

Google’s Android mobile operating system is likely to see increased adoption as hardware buyers tightening their purse strings consider netbooks and other types of mininotebooks in lieu of full-size laptops. The least inexpensive netbooks tend to run Linux or Android, and HP, Dell and Acer are all expected to have Android-based netbooks in the works. Right now, Microsoft Windows XP dominates the netbook market, at least within the United States.

Google is giving developers an early look at the next build of Android, and it has released a software development kit for Android 1.5. Code-named "Cupcake," the latest version of the Linux-based operating system adds numerous features to the Google-backed OS. One of the complaints of the Android-powered T-Mobile G1 is that it lacks an on-screen keyboard, but Android 1.5 fixes that issue.

Google's decision to only including support for a subset of Java classes in its App Engine development platform, is a major mistake, according to Sun Microsystems' chief open source officer, Simon Phipps.

Event will take place April 25-26 in Bellinghan, WA. In addition to sponsoring and exhibiting, Zenoss Vice President of Community, Mark Hinkle, and Zenoss Community Manager, Matt Ray, will be delivering two presentations. “Sleep Soundly at Night: Network Monitoring with Zenoss Core” will cover the basics of using Zenoss Core to collect data and view networks, demonstrating how Zenoss provides a workflow to manage network events with a single view into all aspects of IT infrastructure. "Commercial Open Source, Balancing Community and Commerce” will tap into the symbiotic relationship between community and product – recognizing that building and maintaining a large community of users requires a dedication to the contributions of all users while providing a valuable product without limitations.

So-called open core software is essentially a subset of open source -- a vendor gives away a free version under traditional open license and sells a commercial version with advanced features. Some open source purists see this as undermining the purpose of open source, but open core proponents say it's the key to a new business model.

The process of software development is one with multiple layers. At the base layer is the code which developers write, which is then compiled by the build system that puts the code together so it is ready for deployment. Code analysis vendor Coverity is now expanding its analysis beyond just the static code layer to include the sometimes overlooked build system.

SugarCRM is a webbased CRM solution written in PHP. SugarCRM is available in different flavours called "Editions" ("Community" (free), "Professional", and "Enterprise"). For a detailed overview of the different editions, have a look at the SugarCRM website. In this tutorial I will describe the installation of the free Community Edition on Debian Lenny. With the modules My Portal, Calendar, Activities, Contacts, Accounts, Leads, Opportunities, Cases, Bugtracker, Documents and Email, SugarCRM Community Edition offers everything that can be expected from a CRM solution.

As a UN agency, WIPO has a mandate to serve the greater good of humankind. Adding competency on Free Software and Open Standards to WIPO would make this knowledge easily available to policy makers around the world.