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User Level: Beginner to intermediate Recent versions of most Linux distributions support non-English languages out of the box by using the Unicode standard. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that I was able to read and write in Greek -- my native language -- on a fresh Ubuntu Edgy Eft installation without any manual intervention. Unfortunately, my happiness lasted only until I tried to open files with Greek file names. Instead of Greek characters I saw garbage.

Most people that take an active interest in the Free Software movement recognize what the future holds for the PC Desktop. Linux will eventually become the OS of choice for home users.
The question is, what will Microsoft do to prevent, or at least delay it.

The answer? Free Windows.

Voting for the first ever SA e-commerce Awards has begun. An extensive nomination process resulted in a shortlist of SA's top websites across the 19 categories. Open to all, votes will be accepted until the end of December.

CCRT Supercomputer Will be Dedicated to Scientific and Industrial Research Designed Around Bull NovaScale(R) Servers, the Computer Will Deliver Performance in Excess of 43 Teraflops, Positioning it Among the 15 Most Powerful Systems in the World

BEA Systems has teamed up with VMware to deliver the first instalment of a Java virtualisation strategy to rollout in 2007. The middleware vendor is planning a version of its WebLogic Server - WebLogic Server Virtual Edition - that will run on VMware's ESX hypervisor. The application server is due for release in March.

You don’t have to be completely immersed in the world of technology to know that we’re in the middle of an open source revolution. Even people who don’t know much about computers and technology can recognize that there’s been a rising trend for people to customize existing products and openly share information that can benefit vast numbers of people and foster creativity. Instead of just using what’s being given to us, we’re starting to take control, and this has enhanced the markets and the communities.

In recent times, Sun Microsystems has surprised everybody by choosing to release Java under GPL and hinting at GPLing Solaris. Now in a low key manner, it is handing out a free media kit comprising of a DVD containing the latest version of Solaris 10 and Sun Studio software as this article indicates.

All roads lead to JavaSun Microsystems is expected to release an updated version of Java, featuring integrated support for scripting languages and providing a migration path to enterprise Java, today.

Perhaps it's just me, but I’m having a difficult time understanding Mark Shuttleworth, the Ubuntu founder, when he figured that openly trying to recruit developers from other Linux projects was a good idea. Doing so in a mailing list in the manner that he did was, to be brutally honest, in very poor taste. As luck would have it, the response has not been too exciting thus far.

"Linux ... lends itself well to users with specific requirements," said Nate Melby, an instructor at Kaplan University's School of Information Systems and Technology. The real task is finding a distribution that suits a potential user's needs. Live CDs that can run the newest Linux versions, running dual-boot software, let consumers use their hardware for multiple purposes, he suggested.

The popular Linux version Mandriva has been released on a USB stick for users who need to travel with their own operating system. The 2GB flash disk includes a full live Mandriva system including a 3D desktop. Plug in and log on.

Availigent, a provider of Application Service Management software for Linux-based, dynamic data centers, has joined the Open Grid Forum to accelerate the development of a common set of standards for Grid computing. Grid computing is an emerging computing model that allows many networked computers and data resources to be dynamically pooled and shared as virtual resources.

Technalign, Inc. has announced it has released its new Pioneer Linux operating system to the community. The first release is the 32-bit version to be followed immediately by the 64-Bit Version. The community edition includes many features found previously in Frontier and is available for download at the tapioneer.com website. Both Pioneer 32 and 64 include Firefox 2.0, Thunderbird and KMail email clients, OpenOffice.org, and many others.

LXer Feature: 11-Dec-2006

Mid November, Steve Ballmer said "Linux"uses our [Microsoft Corp.] intellectual property" and "Microsoft Corp. wanted to "get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation." Many people didn't understand what he really meant, among them the LXer editors. Therefore, LXer sent an Open Letter to the Waggener Edstrom Rapid Response team, and two weeks later, the answers are in (no pun intended). Check the full story for the answers a Microsoft Spokesperson gave us, which hopefully can answer some of our questions.

[ Note: The questions may be a bit clumsy, since sending them was a rather impulsive action. - hkwint ]

Phillips has released a Linux SDK system for it's popular dictation software. Although the platform it not Open Source, it's exciting to see vendors supporting Linux.

"Microsoft's Open XML file format may perhaps be one day an OSI standard (who knows, so many things are OSI certified, one day Microsoft may be able to certify its own business practices as the ISO standard for monopolistic position and anti-competitive behaviour) but it will never be an open standard."

In this week's KDE Commit-Digest: The beginnings of Sega Genesis/Megadrive support in Gamefu. kdegames improvements continue with porting and gameplay work in KBackGammon. OpenDocument master page support in Okular. 'Idle time' detection comes to the 'powermanager' module of the Guidance system utilies. MIDI format support in KTabEdit. The new histogram graphing functionality of Strigi continues to be refined. Following Akonadi, NEPOMUK starts to utilise the power of Strigi. WHATWG audio objects supported in KHTML through Phonon. Appointment printing work in KOrganizer. Kross scripting infiltrates KWord.

I recently reviewed the book that launched Prentice Hall's Negus Live Linux Series for Linux Magazine. Live Linux CDs is an excellent introduction to the wide variety of ways Linux Live CDs can be used (they're not just for Windows users to 'test drive' Linux anymore). I was curious however to see what a series of books based on live CDs would look like. Enter 'Practical PHP and MySQL'.

Jono Bacon (co-author of The Official Ubuntu Book and Linux Desktop Hacks) has taken an interesting approach in writing this book. The premise is to use a Linux live CD to teach the readers how to build eight specific web applications. How he does this is unique.

Welcome to this year's 49th issue of DistroWatch Weekly! As hinted earlier, the new openSUSE 10.2 was released on time. One of the most popular Linux distributions on the market, the latest release appears solid and reasonably bug-free, at least compared to version 10.1. We'll take a brief look at the new release, comment on the project's association with Novell, and provide a few handy resources for extending the product. Also in this week's issue: Debian delays Etch, Ulteo releases Sirius, Mandriva prepares a cooker snapshot, and PC-BSD reaches the final round of testing before its updated stable release. Finally, don't miss the new commercial distribution by Technalign: Pioneer Linux. Happy reading!

Here's the latest report from the Iowa antitrust litigation, Comes v. Microsoft, Inc., being held in Polk County District Court. We have excerpts from transcripts of Thursday's and Friday's sessions, including a 2004 email from Jim Allchin to Steve Balmer and Bill Gates in which he says Microsoft had lost sight of what customers need and that he himself would buy a Mac, if he didn't work for Microsoft.