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Managed services -- those IT tools that consultants use to remotely manage customer networks -- are increasingly built on open source and OpenBSD. Here's the scoop, from MSPmentor.

You've almost got to feel sorry for Google. It tries to do something cool with its annual Summer of Code program, but some sourpusses just have to spoil the idyllic 60's vibe. Google this month announced the 174 project organizations it is supporting in the 2008 GSOC.

There are a lot of people that confuse Free Software (and Open Source) with Shareware. Though all three types Free/Open/Share may well be available for free (as in zero cost), there are some fundamental licensing issues that make them each separate and distinct.

Matt Asay makes one crucial observation in Microsoft’s dilemma: The importance of the downstream: To work within the open-source community… Microsoft must stop polluting the downstream with patent encumbrances. (Emphasis in original.) This is my problem with Microsoft’s patent pledge, with the Microsoft-Novell deal over codecs for Monopolight, and just about everything coming out of Redmond except for the pretty words of the open source interoperability lab.

We got the chance to talk to a lot of developers at JBoss World, including Mark Proctor. In case you don’t know the name, he’s the leader of the Drools project, also known as JBoss Rules to the enterprise folks.

CostCo’s in-store promotional materials for the Eee PC from Asus barely mention that the sub-notebook runs Linux. That may be a smart move.

The systems management space has been dominated by proprietary vendors like IBM Tivoli and HP OpenView for years, though in recent years open source upstarts are trying to make a dent. Among those upstarts are GroundWork and Hyperic, both of whom are out this week with new product releases.

CinelerraCV (the community developed version of Cinelerra) has announced that the new video editor they are working on will be called "Lumiera".

Last weekend a group of developers gathered in Berlin at the KDAB office for an Akonadi sprint. The goal was simple, getting Akonadi in shape for the first public release of Akonadi when KDE 4.1 is released. In the couple of days they met, they made an amazing amount of 270 modifications to the KDE repository, and worked on average from 10am to 3am to make a big step into reaching that goal.

Filling out tax returns has traditionally been an area where Linux comes up short compared to the proprietary platforms, but you actually have several options for using commercial income tax products on a Linux platform. Here's a quick look at three commercial tax offerings I found that work just fine using Ubuntu 7.10 and Firefox 2.0.0.12, even though two of the three vendors warn Linux users they are not supported. Translation: Don't look for vendor help if you run into problems.

The SourceForge OpenEMR group would like to announce the recent addition of two board members, Dr. Michiel Bosman of the Netherlands and Dr. Mark Leeds of Florida.

Twenty-two organizations across 60 countries are taking part in DocumentFreedomDay (DFD) to raise awareness about what happens when formats are no longer supported by proprietary software. Inspired by the five-year-old SoftwareFreedomDay, the DFD initiative is being driven by supporters of the OpenDocumentFormat Alliance and other organizations such as the Free Software Foundation Europe, which is currently hosting the DFD's Web site.

["guerrillas", is an interesting choice of words.. - Scott]

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), which provides legal representation for free and open source software (FOSS) projects, is extending its services with the creation of a new law firm called Moglen Ravicher LLC. Named after the SFLC's legal directors, Eben Moglen and Dan Ravicher, the new firm will offer the SFLC's existing services to for-profit clients.

To sum things up: The letter from PKN recommending KT to abstain has been kept secret, Currenlty there is no (required) concensus about OOXML in KT182, There is still no official decision of PKN concerning the OOXML, A couple of lawsuits are possibly on the way, EU investigation is in place. Stay tuned, things are boiling!

This document describes how to set up iTALC on Ubuntu 7.10. iTALC is an open-source classroom management solution that lets you view and control other computers in your network. It lets you remote-control other computers, show the teacher's screen on all students' computers, lock workstations, send text-messages to students, power on/off and reboot remote computers, etc.

OpenOffice.org 2.4 is now released and ushers in new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements.

Texmaker is an editor for the document markup language LaTeX. It lets you concentrate on the content of a document, while the underlying LaTeX engine takes care of the layout. Whether you are experienced with LaTeX or just starting out, Texmaker makes LaTeX easier to tame. It is GPL-licensed, cross-platform (running on Linux, Unix, Windows, and Mac OS X), and extremely stable

CodeWeavers, developer of software that makes it possible to run Windows applications on Mac and Linux operating systems, yesterday announced CrossOver Games. Crossover Games is a tool allowing users to play Windows games, including World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and many Steam games including Team Fortress 2, Counterstrike Source, Civilization 4, Peggle, and many others.

Adobe today announced an online, free, version of its popular Photoshop application. The Flash-based Photoshop Express application is a stripped down version of Photoshop allowing users to manipulate and store their images online. And because Photoshop Express is Flash-based the application will run across most operating systems including Linux, Mac and Windows.

It's the most anticipated matchup in the hacker world: Linux versus Mac OS X versus Vista. Who will get hacked first? That's what organizers of the CanSecWest security conference hope to discover this week as they give show attendees a shot at hacking into the three laptops they've put on display here in Vancouver. The catch? They have to use a brand-new 'zero day' attack that nobody has seen before. The prize? US$20,000, plus you get to keep the laptop.