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In early September we shared that UVD2 and XvMC is coming to Linux and that two new library files had begun shipping with the ATI Catalyst driver: AMDXvBA and XvBAW. Earlier this month the Unified Video Decoding 2 (UVD2) support was then enabled by default in the Catalyst 8.10 driver. These video acceleration improvements to the ATI Linux driver aren't exactly end-user friendly yet, but today we have information on how those interested can begin using the X-Video Motion Compensation extension with their ATI hardware along with what the XvBA extension will provide users in regards to advanced video acceleration that is very similar to Microsoft's DirectX Video Acceleration.

Google and three IT solutions providers plan to launch a coordinated open source blitz in Australia, The VAR Guy has learned. Here's the scoop.

Among other merits, Python is an ideal language for writing server-side scripts, allowing you to integrate interactive behavior with HTML. Persisting dynamic content to an underlying database is fairly straightforward. By installing an appropriate Python DB module, you get the ability to interact with the database of choice from within Python code, moving your application data in and out of the underlying persistent store. This article by Yuli Vasiliev will walk you through the process of building a simple Python application that interacts with a MySQL database. In a nutshell, the application picks up some live data from a web site and then persists it to an underlying MySQL database.

From the "but where is RHEL 6?" files: Red Hat is out today with a beta release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.3. If I'm not mistaken this should be the last major update to RHEL before the release of RHEL 6 which should come sometime in 2009. RHEL 5.3 adds a long list of enhancements to Red Hat's flagship Linux distribution.

The internet as we know it today predominantly runs on Linux. There’s an extremely high probability that the internet connection you’re using right now is connected thru a Linux server - and routed thru many other Linux servers along the way.

I interviewed Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu to get his view on the Microsoft Azure announcement. Vembu thinks that you have to respect a player as formidable as Microsoft, but wonders how smoothly Microsoft can make the transition from high margin desktop software to the low-margin cloud.

Five of the top 10 most downloaded distributions on Distrowatch use the Debian package system. It has developed a rich infrastructure of utilities -- not just the core commands apt-get and dpkg, but also such less well-known commands as apt-cache, apt-spy, and apt-listbugs. In addition, an array of other scripts, some mashups of existing utilities, and some original, are regularly available on sites like openDesktop.org. Such scripts help to streamline the process of keeping a Debian-based package system in working order, and provide information to help you make better decisions about software installation.

In today's installment of the classic Networking 101 series, Charlie Schluting guides us through the vital innards of OSPF, the Open Shortest Path First routing protocol: LSAs (Link-State Advertisements), packet types, and area types. Knowing these things ensures you will always understand your routing infrastructure, and never make daft mistakes.

Linux developer Canonical has released important security updates for the Ubuntu kernel, strongly recommending upgrades for releases 6.06 LTS, 7.10 and 8.04 LTS and corresponding versions of Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu.

Windows Vista gets a bad rap for its hefty hardware requirements, but it's not alone. Apple's MacOS X platform has left a lot of Macs with PowerPC G3, G4 and G5 chips out in the cold. However, Linux isn't just for the Intel set; here’s how Ubuntu to can bring new life to your old Mac too.

Appnr is a web-based directory for Ubuntu packages (including the official repositories and third-party packages from Medibuntu, Google, and the Canonical Partner repository). You can use it to browse and install packages directly from your browser. It is like Synaptic for your browser.

Today Yahoo! officially introduced their "open strategy" platform, Y!OS. The Yahoo! Open Strategy platform consists of three development components, the Yahoo! Application Platform, the Yahoo! Social Platform, and the Yahoo! Query Language.

Sun's recently released VirtualBox 2 is one of the best virtualization applications for desktop users. It's available in two wallet-friendly flavors, with a few extra features in the closed-source variant. The software sports a nice graphical user interface, but few users realize that it can also be completely controlled via a powerful command-line interface.

The Gutenprint project develops filters for the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) to operate with a range of commercial printers. Gutenprint 5.2.1 is now available with numerous changes and improvements.

When you think about portable gaming gadgets, it's hard to rattle off a hefty list of possibilities. They mostly follow a path of heavy marketing -- the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable are heavily advertised, and their sales are strong. But some hardcore gamers have become attracted to devices exclusively designed and marketed for homebrew or do-it-yourself applications.

Comix is a user-friendly, customizable image viewer. It is specifically designed to handle comic books, but also serves as a generic viewer. It reads images in ZIP, RAR or tar archives (also gzip or bzip2 compressed) as well as plain image files.

Open Learning Exchange Nepal (OLE Nepal) in cooperation with Nepal's national Department of Education, launched a pilot-program to integrate OLPC XO laptops in regular school classes at two rural sites in April 2008. OLE Nepal is one of the first organisations to do this kind of laptop deployment, and so it comes across a lot of problems for which there's just no guiding light that you can just follow. How do you make suitable educational software? How does the hardware hold out under these conditions? How do you prepare teachers that themselves often don't have any experience with computers?

Just a few more days. Yes, the U.S. presidential election is a mere week away, but there's another countdown going on. Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition, the Intrepid Ibex release, is set to go live on Thursday. The beta has excited both users and potential users of the popular distro because of its rich mobility functionality, including 3G support.

They're back! John Van Ostrand and his gang of idealists put on another great money-losing all-volunteer effort to get Linux users and developers to connect in Toronto last weekend. An estimated 250 people attended the one-day Ontario Linux Fest at the Days Hotel near Toronto's major airport. Among the 27 sessions were keynotes from Jeremy Allison of Samba fame and numerous interesting sessions on everything from Nintendo Wiimote integration in X to an introduction to a group called Geekcorps that seeks to bring usable computers and the Internet to rural West Africa.

A few weeks ago I discussed the main features of the Chrome browser and Google’s motives; at that point I was like the poor child, nose pressed against the window pane, looking inside at the sumptuous feast at the master’s table. I, like all GNU/Linux users, hadn’t been invited. Same as ever. Crossweavers decided to gate crash the party and bring their own drink too. In short, in just eleven days from the launch of Chrome they built a version running under Wine, and although their products are proprietary and they usually reciprocate by giving code back to free software like Wine, this time they gave it away for free. Thus did Chrome become Chromium and I had a chance to download and install it. Reader, I benchtested it. Read the full review at Freesoftware Magazine.