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Developers looking to build Ajax-style rich internet applications (RIA) are pretty much spoilt for choice at the moment. There are dozens of RIA tools and frameworks littering the development landscape, from those providing minimal sets of JavaScript libraries to heavyweight contenders such as Adobe’s Flex, Microsoft’s Silverlight and Google’s Web Toolkit (GWT). The Google offering, released under an Open Source licence, has quickly picked up a following by combining a wide range of useful and functional browser widgets and by using Java to drive the whole thing. Yep, that’s Java, not Javascript…

Learn how to use the new features of DB2 Express-C to store, query, and manipulate native XML documents using SQL/XML and XQuery. Create a new database, create a table with XML and relational columns, populate the table, and query XML data with XQuery.

This guest column by Kim Brebach, a consultant with an Australian technology marketing group, examines the Linux phenomenon from the perspective of a marketeer wondering why it hasn't caught on more, and what it would take to move it forward.

I can't believe I've never heard of Slackbuilds.org. It's a great way to get the software you want on your Slackware box.

While I definitely think some elements of Vista are definite improvements, 10 months of experience has shown me there are some things that just annoy me to my very core. Here are the three things that most make me wish I had the strength to move over to Linux — full time.

Not too long ago, open source meant starving developers; scant documentation; an ugly, outdated Web site; and software that lived in perpetual beta. Now open source software is becoming big business. “Now hiring” is a common sight on project home pages, and .org and SourceForge sites that used to point straight to source code archives are redirected to .com URLs that celebrate the commercial success of what started out as collaborations among unpaid coders of like mind.

The big names in open source enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, such as Compiere, get most of the publicity, but you have another choice: Nseer ERP, from the first Chinese company to open the source code to its ERP software. It offers a basic solution for small businesses. Like many other open source ERP applications, Nseer ERP is developed under Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and is based on a client-server architecture. It runs on Linux, Windows, and Unix, and supports databases such as MySQL, Oracle, DB2, and SQL Server; multiple languages (for the time being, only English and Chinese); and the IE, Firefox, and Netscape Web browsers. The latest version is v6.0.

Chris Bailey, UK ICT Hub FOSS in the VCS project, writes: As part of the work for the UK ICT Hub's FOSS in the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) project we are developing a new certification for FOSS use by not for profits, Free and Open Source Knowledge (FOSK). We are doing this in partnership with the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) whose certification for Linux system administrators has world wide recognition.

This week on Open News OOXML Fast-track Rejected, NetApp Sues Sun, and An Interview With Jono Bacon.

Installation has been done to evaluate HVM VM performance. CentOS 5 VM has been tuned exactly as advised at oracle-base.com. 1 GB memory was allocated for VM and it was installed on 16 GB partion (/dev/sdbX) of SATA HDD Seagate Barracuda 160 GB

East African cellphone company, Simba Telecoms, has introduced an innovative local money transfer service in Uganda. Tectonic speaks to Cape Town-based Jeshurun Consulting's development manager to find out what was used to build the system.

Blue GNU interviews Ian Lynch, well-known in and beyond the OpenOffice.org and OpenDocument community, to learn about the INternational Grades with Open Technologies (INGOTS), how the certification system works, and how it is progressing.

Microsoft Corp. and Novell today announced the opening of the Microsoft and Novell Interoperability Lab in Cambridge, Mass. Announced last fall as part of Microsoft and Novell's groundbreaking collaboration agreement, the opening of the lab delivers on a promise the two companies made to work together to create a joint development facility at which Microsoft and Novell technical experts will design and test new software solutions and work with customers and the community to build and support technologies that allow Microsoft Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise to work well together.

Achievement Awards Group, a South African motivational organisation, has implemented the open source voice over IP solution, Asterisk, to upgrade the capability of its specialist call centre and to react quickly to the needs of clients.

This tutorial shows how you can install and use AVG Antivirus on an Ubuntu Feisty Fawn desktop. Although there are not many Linux viruses out there, this can be useful if you often exchange files with Windows users - it can help you to not pass on any Windows viruses (that do not do any harm to Linux systems) to Windows users. AVG Antivirus for Linux is free for private and non-commercial use.

Xara Xtreme for Linux is a powerful, general purpose graphics program for Unix platforms including Linux, FreeBSD and (in development) OS-X. Xara Xtreme is based on Xara Xtreme for Windows . The source code was made available open-source in early 2006, and is being ported to Linux. The downloadable  version of Xara Xtreme for Linux  is working straight away on most Linux machines, but  the development is continuing daily. At the moment  two versions are available for download. The first is the recommended download because it will normally be the most stable. The second is the very latest, but untested version, built and published automatically. Warning: It may be unstable. Linux-Tip was using  the latest stable version provided as an “Autopackage Archive” on a Open Suse 10.2 Desktop. We recommend connecting your system to the Internet. In this case the script  can easily download and install the necessary packages automatically.

Read more at Linux-tip.net

When it comes to anonymous Web access, Tor is not the only fish in the sea. If you are looking for a lightweight utility that allows you to navigate the Web anonymously, JAP is more user-friendly. Similar to Tor, JAP sends a user's Web page request through multiple intermediary servers called mixes. Unlike Tor, however, JAP uses a predetermined sequence of mixes called a mix cascade. According to JAP's documentation, because each mix cascade handles multiple connections, it's virtually impossible to trace a particular connection to its user. If you are interested in a more detailed description of JAP's inner workings, take a look at the Architecture of the Anonymization Service article on JAP's Web site.

Assembled open source enthusiasts last night heard the programme manager for SITA's open source migration project, Arno Webb, speak about his role in directing the migration of government's many departments to open source.

Canonical hopes its Jeos--"just enough operating system"--will be used as a foundation to package software for virtual machines.

Michael Robertson, founder of MP3.com and Linspire, a Linux distributor, thinks the world is ready for a 'virtual' desktop on the Web. Is he right? Whatever else you can say about multimillionaire technology entrepreneur Michael Robertson—the founder of MP3.com; Linspire, a Linux distributor; and SIPhone, a VOIP company, to name but a few—he has chutzpah. In each of his business ventures, he's taken on giants, such as the music industry, Microsoft and Vonage. Now, with AjaxWindows, he's at it again, with Microsoft once more in his sights.