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According to multiple observers, Microsoft's OpenXML is on its way to becoming an ISO standard. The three sites that have been following the International Organization for Standardization re-vote on the OpenXML standard—Command Line Warriors, Open Malaysia and ConsortiumInfo—are all reporting that, barring some unforeseen circumstances, OpenXML will become an ISO standard. Since none of the authors at these sites is pro-OpenXML, it seems a foregone conclusion that Microsoft was successful in its OpenXML standardization efforts.

There hasn't been much of a stampede to implement Internet identity management in the consumer space. Microsoft's Passport was the first serious attempt. OpenID is the second, and as far as I know those two are it. Passport is like a zombie; it never quite dies, but isn't really alive either. It just shambles along, dropping body parts here and there, and often forgetting its own name.

Learn how to develop complex applications consisting of many components and Web services using BPEL V2.0. This article describes how to combine the Eclipse BPEL plug-in for development of processes and Apache ODE for their execution.

You can do your part to help tackle such global issues as disease control and climate prediction simply by volunteering your computer's resources to solve complex computational problems. The concept, known as volunteer computing, benefits universities and research institutions around the world, who conduct projects that often have humanitarian goals, such as predicting and controlling the spread of malaria in Africa.

Adobe is joining the Linux Foundation as part of an effort to show its commitment to Linux. It sure sounds all fine and nice, but there is still is a major problem in my view. Adobe does not lead with Linux, it barely stays even with Linux. Adobe's product releases for Linux

It was one security embarrassment after another for Apple the week of March 24. It began at the CanSecWest show, where the annual hacker contest challenged attendees to compromise a Vista system, a Ubuntu Linux system and a MacBook Air. The first day was reserved for preauthentication attacks and would have netted $20,000, but nobody took the prize.

How well does the BBB protect PC buyers, given that blanket statements like "prices subject to change at any time" are staples of print and web advertising? In my case, not at all.

I put out a list of open-source business influencers recently, knowing full well that it would cause some controversy. Few lists can be all-encompassing, and somebody is bound to feel slighted. You receive an award and go to thank the folks who helped you along the way with your project and you're bound to leave somebody out.

I have been covering Microsoft for over 25 years - I've even written a few books about Windows. During that time, I've developed a certain respect for a company that just doesn't give up, and whose ability to spin surpasses even that of politicians. To be sure, Microsoft has crossed the line several times, but it has always worked within the system, however much it has attempted to use it for its own ends. No more: in the course of trying to force OOXML through the ISO fast-track process, it has finally gone further and attacked the system itself; in the process it has destroyed the credibility of the ISO, with serious knock-on consequences for the whole concept of open standards.

ThemesWiki.org is a new website designed to provide users with comprehensive, free guides for designing Web Themes and Templates. This site intends to ease the web design process by providing tutorials for a large number of systems at a common location.

my wife Mitchie, also known as Hamidah. After ordering the parts for it some 3 weeks ago, the last of those parts finally arrived on Friday at noon, and with the help of our small one (she would report that the other way round; more to that later), I assembled the first ever ZaReason Mambo system, which Mitchie will keep and use for accounting.

Linux user groups across the region are ramping up efforts and activities this year to raise public awareness of open source and attract more members. The Beijing Linux Group (BLUG), for one, had a particularly busy year in 2007 and has no plans to slow things down this year.

Nowadays, Web browsers can act as front ends to many other kinds of applications. For instance, if you want to browse and open the files on your hard drive from within Firefox, turn to the Firefly extension.

Welcome to this year's 12th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Debian-related happenings form the dominant topic of this issue. The feature story is an interview with Chris Hildebrandt, one of the main developers of the increasingly popular sidux distribution. How do the developers of this project test and stabilise Debian's unstable branch? And who is behind the seductive artwork and theme that graces its fast and cutting-edge desktop? Read below for answers. In the meantime, the Debian Installer team releases the first beta for Lenny, while Ubuntu unveils its own beta of the upcoming "Hardy Heron" Long-Term Support (LTS) release. But it isn't all about Debian. In the news section, Novell hints at an upcoming release of SUSE Linux Enterprise 11, the Fedora board votes to remove pointers to the Fluendo codecs, the PCLinuxOS community releases a GNOME edition, and NetBSD celebrates its 15th birthday. Finally, don't miss the new distribution section where you'll find SliTaz GNU/Linux - at just 25 MB, it has to be the smallest desktop live CD ever created! All this and more in this week's DistroWatch Weekly. Happy reading!

Yesterday the long awaited and somewhat delayed WordPress 2.5 was released. Today, I updated my installation today and though I had a few problems the upgrade to the new version was definitely worth it.

Back in November of 2005, when polled on application areas that they would be reluctant to trust to open source, the following group of individuals - nearly to a person - pointed to mission critical databases. What’s changed since November of 2005? Little.

Asa Dotzler has been there from the beginning. As Mozilla's director of community development, he's had a hand in birthing some of the web's most successful open-source software projects, most notably the Mozilla and Firefox web browsers. Asa (pronounced A-suh) first got involved with Mozilla in 1998, when he was still an architecture student at Auburn University. He was interested in free software, but like many, he found the Linux distributions of the day too abstract. But when he heard Netscape had released its browser code under a free software license on March 31, 1998, he felt the urge to get involved. He knew web browsers -- and the problems with them -- so he eagerly offered his services.

This is another revision of the development version of KDE 4 environment. Lots of you have asked why it took me so long to publish this article. Well, I was just waiting for rev 790000, that ’s all. I hope that your curiosity will be satisfied since there’s been a lot of changes to describe this time.

This guide explains how to set up an SSH server on Debian Etch with public-key authorization (and optionally with disabled password logins). SSH is a great tool to control Linux-based computers remotely. It is safe and secure.

LXer Feature: 30-Mar-2008

In this weeks Roundup we have alternative development tools for Linux, hacker super bowl pits Mac OS Vs. Linux and Vista, is open source anti-American? and What CAN’T Linux do? Also, the Var guy suggests that Costco's not mentioning Linux in their marketing of the Eee PC is a good thing and in our FUD section we a couple of articles about the OOXML vote and our own Sander Marechal responds to Patrick Durusau's letter.