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LXer Feature: 16-May-2007

The technology industry has been in a buzz since last Monday's Fortune article in which Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith claims that the GNU/Linux operating system infringes 235 of Microsoft's patents. Microsoft refuses to tell the community what those patents are, but they told you, Novell.

What if you cry yourself to sleep at night because you really really want to have locked hardware and discriminatory patent agreements? No problem — knock yourself out. You just can't do it with GPL code.

Have you ever wished you had another computer handy? Maybe you want to try a new operating system out. Maybe you want to test something experimental without potentially breaking your own system. Maybe you need to run some software that only runs in a different operating system. Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring comes with a range of virtualization options that can help.

Minimize the time required to manage memory and maximize available memory for general usage with the slab allocator. This article explores the ideas behind the slab allocator and examines its interfaces and their use. It uses the Linux kernel method that originated in Solaris of allocating memory of objects based on their size.

Linux and other open-source software can offer competitive advantages where cost and customization pressures are concerned.

Many users can't avoid Windows applications for one or two tasks, or a game -- and that's where CodeWeavers Inc. comes in with its CrossOver platform. CrossOver 6.1, released May 15, enables enables Linux PCs and Apple Mactels to run more Windows applications and games, and with higher 3D performance, according to CodeWeavers.

Mahara -- an open source portfolio, weblog, resume builder and social networking system -- released its latest stable version of the Mahara 0.7 family, 0.7.2.

Understand performance tuning: controlling thread usage and CPU binding. This article addresses key tools and utilities you can use to analyze threads and administrate your processes.

Ubuntu Studio is an Ubuntu incarnation that focuses on software packages for the multimedia creation crowd. Found in Ubuntu Studio 7.04 are a horde of packages for graphic, video, and audio editing. The Ubuntu Studio theme has went black in a radical turn away from the traditional Ubuntu orange. If you are into multimedia editing and mastering, Ubuntu Studio is definitely worth checking out. In Ubuntu 7.10 all of the Ubuntu Studio packages should be available in the main Canonical repository.

EduWiki is a new wiki-type site aimed at providing, and gathering, information related to schooling in South Africa. Besides age-specific information to help children with school, there will also be various community related information for the family.

A video tutorial on how to install GNUmed's client and server part (including postgresql) on MS Windows has been produced and uploaded for public viewing. This is meant as a supplement for people who find the material on our Wiki (wiki.gnumed.de) too low level.

Friendly Fox writes in with news of an unofficial build of Mozilla Firefox with features to help eBay users: "My eBay Fox is a customized version of Firefox that helps people use eBay more effectively. It includes an eBay Toolbar for Firefox, which gives users easy access to all of the important parts of eBay and a handy set of tools like price comparison, consumer reviews, and shipping information.

One of our developers has put together a set of screencasts on how to install GNUmed:client installation (10 minutes)server installation (27 minutes) Enjoy, Karsten

I've been doing an awful lot of writing about Flash lately. Not that I'm an expert, which is one of the reasons I'm reviewing this book. I find myself thrown into situations that require more of me than I currently possess; at least in terms of certain experiences. Like most people, I have an idea what Flash is and what it does, but am (or was) not so sure how Flash works. To answer my questions and to learn more, I decided to go to school.

C-SPAN covered a talk given at the New America Foundation promoting the newBest Care Anywhere. Thepanel featured the books author Phillip Longman as well as Kenneth W. Kizer, MD. No mention of theunderground railroad that I could tell (corrections welcome). You candownload the video from CSPAN. Does anybody know how to get this video to play under GNU/Linux?Fred Trotter

This week on Open News Microsoft Plays The Patent Card, Toshiba Has Linux Envy, and Mono Sheds Silverlight on Linux.

In 2000, when Theresa Friday, Ray Waldin, and Jeff Luszcz were working for dot-com startup Cacheon, they saw firsthand the power of open source software to impact a business model. In Cacheon's case, it looked like open source had dealt a death blow to the company, but it was really careless use of third-party code that was the source of the trouble, Friday says. The three colleagues were so impacted by what they had seen that they launched a new business designed to help other companies prevent implosion from software licensing issues.

Jerry Rosenthal, chief executive officer of Open Invention Network, issued the following statement today: "A recent article in Fortune Magazine raises - or more precisely, re-raises - tired, old allegations about the Linux operating system for the sole purpose of perpetuating unwarranted fear, uncertainty and doubt among current and potential Linux users and distributors.

Tiny Tiny RSS (TT-RSS) is an excellent little Web-based RSS aggregator that, despite its tiny size, sports some clever features, including an AJAXified interface, a multiuser mode, tags, content filtering, and a lightweight interface for use with mobile devices.

Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz has blunted whatever public niceties existed between his company and Microsoft with a revealing attack on Redmond's lawsuit threats around open source software.…