Showing all newswire headlines

Recent developments in the OpenChange and KDE open source projects are set to bridge a “missing link” in messaging and groupware compatibility from Microsoft's Exchange to open source clients. Many open source groupware suites lay claim to this holy grail of interoperability, but the software to synchronise address book, task and calendar information with Exchange is sold as a proprietary extension.

Suggest that Microsoft's Windows operating system will one day become open source, and knowledgeable observers will give you a baleful look--maybe even laugh in your face. "I had to chuckle," says Forrester Research analyst John Rymer, in response to my query on the subject. "No, I don't think Windows will ever become open source code." OK, so Windows will never become an open source project in the same vein as Linux, with 2,000 developers worldwide submitting code. Microsoft has enough trouble with its own developers submitting code, never mind all those outsiders. And I'll concede that some Windows source code probably will never see the light of day.

Intel isn't exactly known for its dalliances with operating system software beyond that belonging to Microsoft, so it's a pleasant surprise to find out that its first Linux OS is ready and raring to go. Almost. The company's Moblin project has borne fruit about a year and a half after it began, with the introduction of the first alpha release of the open-source OS based on Linux.

If there is one Web addiction that I have not been able to tame, it's collecting add-ons for Firefox. I currently have 43 add-ons actively running in my browser, and I have an additional two that I use in Thunderbird. As a staple of the Web experience, browsers have come a long way. When Firefox began allowing developers to create add-on applications, browser usability was greatly improved.

One of the biggest selling points for Linux is its scalability. At one end of the scale, Embedded Linux is everywhere from the vehicle management system in your car to the smartphone in your shirt pocket. At the other end of the scale, 439 of the top 500 supercomputers run on Linux. A Linux distribution can be seen as modular, and most of the parts that comprise a distribution can be separated into high level building blocks that can be arranged to make up the components of a specialised subset. For instance, that can be a dedicated server system, or a desktop arrangement that fulfills a specific set of user requirements for graphical or office work or a developer workstation.

With over 180,000 open source projects in its repository, SourceForge.net has a lot of files it needs to track and serve. It can become a challenge to manage all those downloads. For the most part, Sourceforge relies on a system of globally distributed mirror sites that help to deliver open source application files and programs to users.

PureWave Networks is using Linux, a Freescale processor, and an off-the-shelf middleware package from Enea to create its next generation of WiMAX base stations. Due later this year, the base stations will aim to bridge the gap between macro and pico WiMAX stations, says the company.

The next two releases of Silverlight will take Microsoft's media player in completely new directions, the technical executive in charge has promised. The corporate vice president of Microsoft's developer division Scott Guthrie told the company's Channel 9 "whole new areas you can't do today will start to open up" with Silverlight 3 and 4.

Don't be alarmed if it looked like the entire internet was infected with something earlier this morning—Google apparently tagged every search result, including its own sites, as something that "may harm your computer." The glitch seems to be fixed now (11:50 a.m., EST), and the tips we received from watchful readers came in between 9:52 and 10:20 a.m. EST. We'll update if any official word on what happened comes out of Mountain View.

[Apparently I missed the whole thing.. - Scott]

The Wine development release 1.1.14 is now available. What's new in this release: Various bug fixes for Internet Explorer 7. Many crypt32 improvements, including new export wizard. Better support for windowless Richedit. Improvements to the print dialog. Many fixes to the regression tests on Windows. Various bug fixes.

Ah yes it is that time of year again for U.S. citizens. So when we started looking for an online tax tool that worked with Linux we were disappointed and surprised.

We've all been there: You're tracking down some evil bug, and you have the sudden chilling realization that you're going to have to re-factor an enormous chunk of code to fix it. You break out in a cold sweat as you run a quick grep over the source base: hundreds of lines of code to change! And the change is too complex to do with a script because it depends on the calling context, or requires adding a new variable to every caller.

NVIDIA has already released quite a few Linux drivers this year already that improve their VDPAU support and stabilize their OpenGL 3.0 implementation. Yesterday AMD had then released its first proprietary Linux driver of 2009 that brought OpenGL 3.0 support. While both sides are off to a good start, what else do you want to see from them and their drivers in 2009?

Some folks will never ever understand FOSS, or anything worthwhile, because they think the universe starts and ends with money, and that the pursuit of money justifies anything.

Linux Australia assert they are the peak body for Linux user groups around Australia and represent some 5,000 Australian Linux users and developers. Yet, the 2009 elections roused a mere 66 voters. Why didn't people vote? (And, in a related incident, why can't I please all the people all the time?)

Embedded Linux has now been around for a decade and consistently ranks as one of the top OS choices for device development. But, does it still have its mojo?

Hear a live interview with ZDNet's TechBroiler blogger Jason Perlow. This is Jason's second visit to Frugal Friday. Jason was the first guest on the show with the topic of Virtualization. This week he explains how Linux will get you through these tough economic times.

The next two releases of Silverlight will take Microsoft's media player in completely new directions, the technical executive in charge has promised. The corporate vice president of Microsoft's developer division Scott Guthrie told the company's Channel 9 "whole new areas you can't do today will start to open up" with Silverlight 3 and 4.

When Sun Microsystems announced financial results this week, The VAR Guy had a moment of clarity: Sun is looking more and more like a larger version of Novell. And The VAR Guy means that in a complimentary way. Here’s why.

A former Unix engineer for Fannie Mae was indicted for planting malicious code on the corporation's network that was to 'destroy and alter' all of the data on the company's servers this Saturday.