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ROX is one of the genuinely interesting file managers available for the major platforms - GNU/Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, and Windows (under Cygwin). As can be inferred from the manager’s website, ROX-Filer is a project aimed to move the best features of RISC OS onto Linux and Unix platforms. Its small footprint and configurability are its unquestionable hallmarks.

Lighttpd is a secure, fast, standards-compliant web server designed for speed-critical environments. This tutorial shows how you can install Lighttpd on a CentOS 5.0 server with PHP5 support (through FastCGI) and MySQL support.

From recent media reports, casual readers could easily believe that OpenOffice.org, the popular free office suite, is fragmenting. Slashdot reported last week that Novell is backing an official fork, while Ars Technica suggested that if what was happening fell short of a fork, then it was still "serious fragmentation" and "not a good thing for the OpenOffice.org community." However, a closer look at the situation shows that what is happening is less of a dramatic split than the airing of long-time grievances and the media's discovery of a long-established institution.

For Firefox users who are constantly referring to multiple pages, tabbed browsing is not a feature, but a way of life. There are enough of us that the Firefox addon page lists more than 110 extensions related to tabs. These extensions feature everything from simple add-ons to various means of saving tab addresses and sessions to thumbnails and collections of functions, as well as one or two uncategorizable ideas.

SSL is especially suited for HTTP since it can provide some protection even if only one side of the communication is authenticated. In the case of HTTP transactions over the Internet, typically, only the server side is authenticated. This workshop explains how to setup a virtual host using OpenSSL and TinyCA on an OpenSuse 10.2 server.

The following are the key arguments they introduce against the unbundling of Microsoft Windows from consumer PCs, along with an explanation as to why these arguments from the 'unbundling sceptics' are invalid:

A look through most department store catalogues reveals a bevy of alleged “deal” laptops; you know the type – cheap and cheerful, sub-$1,000 – but far from bleeding-edge specs. These may be naff at resource-hungry Windows apps but can be a great Linux machine for no extra cost. But can you check out any hardware gotchas prior to purchase, and be sure the Penguin will run?

I feel that is important for me to further analyze the benefits of open source software. In a previous post, I highlighted the cost-savings of open source and did not mention any of the other advantages that it provides. This post should provide a more balanced view of open source and the intrinsic benefits that free software provides.

This year, the iPhone has been all the rage. Rumors flew for years before its release, ads flew after. Everywhere you look you can spot the chic slic shine of the iPhone, from TV, to movies, to the streets of every major city (and everyday more and more outside the city). But AT&T and Apple’s decision to not only lock the phone but also actively discourage users from unlocking themselves, has left more than a bitter impression of the device’s parents in my mind. In light of this, I’d like to discuss, The Great Hope, the open-source alternative, the OpenMoko.

I've been engaged with the OpenOffice.org community for a number of years, and I'm as aware as anyone that it has had some historic issues with its contribution processes. However, all the signs I see suggest those have been or are being addressed - most notably via the Engineering Steering Committee, but with a number of other important changes (including huge improvements in responsiveness on patch integration in response to earlier complaints). I hear there's more to come, too - Jim Parkinson, the VP who employs all Sun's contributors to OpenOffice.org, has a blog on the blocks about a new OpenOffice.org Advisory Board.

After reading the feedback from our readers here and at various websites around the world in regards to my recently published article "How to Quit Windows & cope with Windows Withdrawal Syndrome", I have identified a few more fears which home users have when they quit Windows and switch to Linux. I believe that Microsoft has gained a strong hold in our minds based upon many myths and fears which I already discussed in my above mentioned article. These myths are fears will haunt us for ages until we openly accept and adopt the freedom of Open Source, even with some of its apparent shortcomings. Following are a few myths and facts which play a role in whether a home user shifts from Windows to GNU/Linux.

Welcome to this year's 41st issue of DistroWatch Weekly! The big openSUSE 10.3 release week is now behind us. All went without a hitch and many users are enjoying the newest software, improved package management, and extended support for the latest hardware in this new version. No major bugs have been reported so far, but let's wait for the first reviews before concluding that this is indeed openSUSE's best release ever. In other news, Mandriva Linux 2008 has been released to "early seeders", Ubuntu has begun accepting pre-orders for "Gutsy Gibbon", and Judd Vinet has resigned as the lead developer of Arch Linux. Finally, don't miss the featured story of this week - a Susan Linton's report on the major new release from Puppy Linux, version 3.00. Happy reading!

JD Frazer, Illiad of UserFriendly fame, has made a scientific discovery! A new element. I know you always wanted to know what 117 would turn out to be on the periodic table of elements.

For quick and effortless web development - Quanta Plus is steadily becoming a worthwhile competitor to the commercial web editors on the market. Quanta Plus's features include multi-document interface, WYSIWYG editing and templates. Among the advanced features your will find team development, plug-in support and a PHP debugger. The objective of the team behind Quanta Plus is simply to developer the best tool for web development.

Rob Weir of IBM has just posted a lengthy reply to concerns raised by Marbux and Gary Edwards (OpenDocument Foundation). There is so much to be said to not only complement but also correct Rob’s assessment, but here we shall only refer to the parts which are associated with Novell and the other relationships Microsoft has formed in order to combat ODF adoption and make ODF a second-class citizen.

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue #60 for the week September 30th - October 6th, 2007. In this issue we cover the freeze of the Gutsy archive, a Gutsy countdown script for websites, Philipp Kern joining the MOTU Team, the release of UbuntuBolivia by the Bolivian LoCo Team, Ubuntu Forums interviews, and, as always, much much more!

Linus Torvalds has launched a blistering attack on security programmers who object to adding the Smack application to the upcoming 2.6.24 Linux kernel. In an often heated exchange, Torvalds accused security programmers of being too concerned with theoretical problems and not enough with practical applications. Smack uses Linux Security Modules (LSM) which some researchers believe could be used to aid attacks on systems using the code. The researchers would prefer to see Security-Enhanced Linux as the option of choice.

The Amarok team is giving away an iAudio player. Kudos to them, but also to Cowon, a company that has boldly proclaimed support for GNU/Linux for some time now.

Novell fired its first legal salvo against the bankrupt SCO Group when it sought to lift the Lindon company's bankruptcy protections so it can recover millions of dollars in licensing fees it claims SCO wrongfully "hijacked." The Waltham, Mass., software developer is seeking to lift a bankruptcy stay on litigation against SCO so a federal court trial in Utah can proceed to determine the amount of licensing fees Novell is entitled to, and for a constructive trust to be put in place to protect those funds. SCO CEO Darl McBride said in bankruptcy court papers that Novell has claimed the licensing fees could amount to more than $37 million plus interest.

Well there you have it, Awn 0.2 has been released! With over six months since the last release, you'd think we were working on something as complicated as Gnome, but I think there are enough new features to show where the time has gone ;-). I'd like to highlight a few of the main features that have landed into trunk over the recent weeks, and others that I maybe haven't mentioned before.