Showing all newswire headlines

We finally got around to releasing another episode. This time we talk to Bassam Kurdali of the blender project and we have the much anticipated Cinelerra tutorial #3 in which we discuss how to do video effects not to mention some interesting non-sponsors.

The OpenOffice.org community yesterday released a bugfix and security update of the latest OO.org release and dubbed it version 2.2.1. No new features have been added since version 2.2 was released in late March, a team spokesperson said in the release announcement.

I find myself not browsing the Web as much as I used to, thanks to Liferea, a Linux-based aggregator for online news feeds.

Hot on the heels of Apple's announcement of Safari for Windows, Clint Ecker has published a short discussion with Lars Knoll, one of the original coders behind KHTML. The article focuses on the connection between KHTML and Apple's Webkit, and in turn shows how Apple's announcement of Safari for Windows can benefit KDE and Qt. Safari on Windows will help KDE in two additional ways: improved website compatibility as more coders can now check site rendering when on Windows; and mindshare for KDE technologies for cross platform applications.

Microsoft's standards format has been misunderstood and being "pro Open XML" doesn't make one "anti ODF", claims Australian activist Rick Jelliffe.

[Seems to me like arguing for 2 standards leaves us right where we started - having to convert the freaking documents, when we could have one standard that everyone uses!!! That's not anti-Microsoft; it's pro-users - dcparris]

Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP form the basis of the LAMP architecture for Web applications. This third article, the last in a series of three, focuses on tuning the database layer for maximum efficiency. The first article covers the basics of LAMP, while the second article focuses on steps you can take to optimize Apache and PHP.

Novell today introduced a new suite of workgroup applications for small businesses, based on "proven," open standards-based software. The Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition includes Linux server and desktop components, and bundles email, collaboration, and other open-source office products.

To quote from the book's back cover: "How does a router switch a packet?" "What is the difference between routing a packet, switching a frame, and packet switching?" Ever wanted to know? Yes, at the CCNA level, we are all taught the differences between these processes but only to a superficial degree. The in-depth explanation lies in understanding Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) which "is found in almost all Cisco routers and Catalyst switches..." Supposedly, Cisco Express Forwarding "demystifies the internal workings of Cisco routers and switches, making it easier for you (the reader) to optimize performance and troubleshoot issues..." Ok, enough of the back cover hype. Let's see what this book has between the covers.

Internet Traffic and SEO Techniques. Easy to implement it. And best of all, it is free.

Four years ago, I bought a book entitled, "Mac OSX: The Missing Manual" and noticed it had reached the #1 best sellers slot at Amazon. I remember wondering how an operating system with 3% of the PC Desktop market could sell enough books to rank #1. Then, I realized there I was buying one too. I didn't use a Mac, but my wife bought one and needed to learn this new fangled UNIX desktop. The point? The Missing Manual served a big need - big enough to warrant a #1 best seller.

SMPlayer - Nice Frontend for MPlayer

Today Microsoft Corp. and Linux desktop provider Linspire Inc. announced a broad interoperability, technical collaboration that also includes intellectual property assurances. The agreement promotes customer choice and strengthens the bridge between the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.

[One more down.. - Scott]

Linux Holdings have launched the country's first full time Linux training academy. Mixing theory with practical, students will begin with a four month curriculum, training them up to write the Linux Professional Institute level one exam. After that they will work for an open source company for six months

With the news of Linspire's CNR coming soon to Ubuntu, and Automatix now offering a limited number of closed source, commercial applications, what possible consequences will this have on the Linux community and open source as a whole?

Free software gives everyone the freedom to run, study, change and redistribute software. It is these freedoms, not the price, that is important about free software. Free software advocates make the distinction between free, as in speech, as opposed to free, as in beer. Though many people would gladly accept a free beer, it is not one of the fundamental principles of democracy.

There is a very interesting back-and-forth going on between Linux creator Linus Torvalds writing on the Linux kernel mailing list and Jonathan Schwartz, President and CEO of Sun Microsystems writing in his blog. Despite the different fora the two actually seem to be talking to each other as well as their respective audiences.

"Do you offer a program like Microsoft Publisher?" Some version of this question appears regularly on the OpenOffice.org mailing lists. Many people automatic answer "no," and say that Scribus is more suitable for desktop publishing. But, in fact, OpenOffice.org boasts two mid-level layout programs -- Draw and Writer -- each of which is far more versatile than its name suggests.

I'm attending the Linux Foundations' first annual Linux Collaboration Summit from the Google campus in Mountainview California today and tomorrow, and will add periodically to this post as the day goes along.

In A Race to the Bottom: Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies,Privacy International spray-paints the façades of landmark companies that line today's Main Street on the Web. The painted colors are assessments of each company's performance on privacy issues. Though the rankings are colorful, what they say isn't pretty. Nobody in the"interim rankings" (.pdf) gets the top (green) mark for"Privacy-friendly and privacy enhancing". The bottom (black) mark, for"Comprehensive consumer surveillance& entrenched hostility to privacy", goes to just one company: Google.

Xubuntu 7.04(Feisty Fawn) Screenshots Tour