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Osmo, a compact yet feature-rich personal information organizer for Linux, separates itself from the pack of other calendar applications due to its light weight and easy-to-use design. The GPL-licensed Osmo includes a datebook calendar, a to-do organizer, and a contacts list, all with lots of intuitive options. Osmo is so new that it isn't included in many distributions' software repositories yet, but the source is available through SourceForge.net. Installing from the source isn't difficult. The only dependencies are the GIMP Toolkit (GTK+) and libxml2, which come with most distributions.

Intel is displaying four new ultramobile PCs designed around its Menlow chips at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), including highly anticipated devices from Lenovo and Toshiba. The Lenovo device runs a Linux OS from Chinese developer Red Flag Software and boasts a 4.8-inch touch screen, an onboard camera and other features. Intel personnel at a booth detailing its Menlow chips called the Lenovo device and two others "Mobile Internet Devices," saying that their smaller screen sizes and use of the Linux OS make them different from ultramobile PCs, a category created by Microsoft.

I don't know you, but frequently the usual Windows user shows me a photo dvd slideshow edited with the usual programs for video editing. Yes, I can use Windows too (note: no one of my computer have Windows installation), but I love to use Linux distro (particularly Ubuntu). So I chose to learn cinelerra and I discovered that, over first impression, it's a software very easy to use. The envy of the "Windows users" is priceless.

Surprisingly one of the media establishment's darling devices at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is fully open, runs Linux and invites hacking - er, customization. The device is the Neuros OSD, a $200 video recorder that allows you to archive, organize and play back all of your video media, such as live television, DVDs, VHS tapes, etc. The acronym "OSD" stands for "open source device". Hot dog, this is our kind of gadget!

News this morning that the OLPC project is working with Microsoft to deliver a dual-boot XO laptop is causing shock waves among many of the OLPC faithful. Nicholas Negroponte was quoted in the ComputerWorld story as saying, "We are working with them very closely to make a dual-boot system so that, like on an Apple, you can boot either one up. The version that's up and running of Windows on the XO is very fast, it's very, very successful. We're working very hard to do both."

Updates about Python, KDE and Perl sections. Nominations for new Project Lead underway.

eZ Publish is an enterprise open-source CMS (content management system) and development framework with functionality for web publishing, intranets, e-commerce, extranets, and web portals.

Sometimes you stumble across an article that makes you wonder whether people are spreading FUD or whether they are really that ignorant. When you take it down, bit by bit, it becomes more and more obvious how ridiculous their statements are.

Last week I started a series of blog entries about my personal view of challenges and priorities for this year. That first entry was about open standards and today I’m going to look at free and open source (FOSS). Incidentally, the first item on this list was on the previous list as well. Needless to say, this is a big topic and one that encompasses a broad range of opinions. My list will be different from someone who runs a FOSS project, someone whose primary and perhaps sole business is FOSS, someone in academia, and someone who is strictly a user of software.

If you run an ecommerce site, you may want a content management system (CMS) to help manage your online product line. VirtueMart, available under the GNU GPL and fully integrated with Joomla!, does that and more. It provides a full ecommerce solution in a LAMP environment.

The Mozilla Coporation, the non-profit open source organisation behind the ever-popular Firefox and Thunderbird, has announced a change in its upper ranks. Chief executive Mitchell Baker has stepped down and has been replaced by chief operating officer John Lilly. Baker will remain as chairman of the organisation.

Coverity, which creates automated source-code analysis tools, announced late Monday its first list of open-source projects that have been certified as free of security defects. Eleven projects made the list: Amanda, NTP, OpenPAM, OpenVPN, Overdose, Perl, PHP, Postfix, Python, Samba, and TCL.

[As Slashdot points out, compare this article to Information Week's sensationalist gutter reporting posted earlier. - Sander]

Open source code, much like its commercial counterpart, tends to contain one security exposure for every 1,000 lines of code, according to a program launched by the Department of Homeland Security to review and tighten up open source code's security. Popular open source projects, such as Samba, the PHP, Perl, and Tcl dynamic languages used to bind together elements of Web sites, and Amanda, the popular open source backup and recovery software running on half a million servers, were all found to have dozens or hundreds of security exposures and quality defects.

Wikia Search, an open source community edited search engine, was released in its first alpha version this week. Conceptualised by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, it came as a response to concerns over the lack of transparency in the way that Google ranks its searches.

Packt is pleased to announce a new book “SOA Approach to Integration” which shows how to define SOA integration architecture, what technologies to use, and how to best integrate existing applications with modern e-business solutions

Human error and evolving phishing attacks will compel organizations to tighten control over application access, not just user access. Guardian Digital, the open source security pioneer, forecasts an increased need for comprehensive control over Internet and employee resources with 'least privilege' engineering in 2008. "Most vendors don't stress least privilege enough in their development architecture, especially with the increasing threats from human error and employee liability" says CEO Dave Wreski. "Security in 2007 has shown just how effective attackers can be at gaining authorized access to corporate resources. One of the best ways to protect against this is to lock down application access, not just user access."

gOS 2.0 is released into the wild. gOS 2.0 is built on top of Ubuntu Linux 7.10. Instead of the more popular KDE or Gnome desktops, gOS uses the lightweight Enlightenment E17 interface. Rocket comes with Google Gears. This is Google's beta online/offline synchronization technology. GOS 2.0 also includes a new browser-based Web-cam application, gBooth, that was written specifically for gOS. It's designed to work with Facebook. gOS comes with dedicated shortcuts to Google Reader, Talk and Finance and Google search integration into the desktop itself. It also provides access to online storage via Box.net. Screenshots at The Coding Studio.

"Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. For Freedomware. I have a feeling I'll be repeating this for quite a while to come. And then... there will be an organization founded to do just that.. Oops.. not telling any more. ;) - Keeping you in suspense, another great way to market!"

The Linux creator said copyright owners would have to agree to licensing changes, and those who didn't would have to rewrite code. Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux operating system, still has no plans to license the Linux kernel under version three of the GNU General Public License anytime soon.

Open-Xchange, a German open-source groupware company with long ties to SUSE Linux, is changing its top management team. Rafael Laguna, who played a major role in merging SUSE with Novell, is now Open-Xchange’s president and CEO. And former SUSE CEO Richard Seibt is now OX's chairman of the board. While at SUSE, Laguna and Seibt worked closely together and are widely credited for helping SUSE's transformation into one of the world's major Linux distributors.