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Computerworld reports that Sun Microsystems is planning to release more of the company’s core code--including the Java Enterprise System, the N1 Grid computing system, and more--as open source over the course of the coming year.

The goal, according to Sun, is to put its products in the hands of developers who might not otherwise have the budget to purchase the software. By making the products open source, developers will be able to download and use the products for free--and hopefully drive service and support contracts back to Sun in the future.

The chief of CRM vendor RightNow Technology extols the cost-saving advantages of an open-source corporate IT environment.

If Mike Hearn, Hongli Lai, and the rest of the Autopackage team realize their goals, the future of package management in GNU/Linux will be greatly different from the present. Existing package management systems will remain for libraries and system utilities, but a separate tool will manage desktop applications. Packages will be installable for either the entire system or just the current account. Installation will be more convenient, too, with graphical tools designed for usability and tools for both end users and developers documented to professional standards.

Java Enterprise System, Sun N1 management software and Sun developer tools are available for development and deployment at no cost, and Sun will integrate this software and the Solaris OS into a new product.

Business Objects and Red Hat agreed to join one another's technology partner programs as a part of a pact to co-market business intelligence tools on Red Hat's Enterprise Linux platform.

[Ed: Not that Business Objects is the only player on the BI field, but are the others going as far as Business Objects? - dcparris]

Optical storage is in the midst of a major technological revolution, as next-generation formats begin to emerge. The new optical formats are perhaps most promising for meeting WORM (write once, read many) archival storage requirements, a growing need as more regulations mandate that data be protected and unaltered

A quick note from Answers.com that a link to this ready-reference database is now embedded directly and automatically into the new Firefox 1.5 search toolbar. Additionally, Firefox 1.5 users can download a plug-in and have an option to search highlighted text with Answers.com via a right-click. The agreement calls for an ad-revenue split between Answers and Mozilla on Answers traffic originating from the Firefox search toolbar.

Signaling its intent to focus on Internet and telecom issues next year, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold 14 hearings on a wide variety of technology topics between January and March.

For those who wish to try and further the cause of Linux, you know more than anyone that we are at a disadvantage. Those disadvantages we will acknowledge soon, but for now; we need to agree on a game plan.

First of all, let me say that I am not a Microsoft hater. I will say that I am not fond of the majority of products I have used which bear the Microsoft label. They tend to leave me feeling as though my hands are tied and my options are limited and that I'm being "guided" by a paternalistic entity who feels that he knows what is best for me...but rarely ever really knows what is best for me. Whatever my experience, Microsoft creates products which are great for the majority of people out there. That is why Microsoft is such a successful company. Further, I believe that Microsoft has done more to push the computing world forward more than any other single company. So, I am by no means anti-Microsoft.

The K Desktop Environment (KDE) project has published a valuable list of available native KDE (and Qt, if no KDE counterpart is there) applications, sorted by task areas. The idea is to create a more informative and complete KDE-specific table of application information, the project said.

For the sake of simplicity let’s assume that you will use the computer’s entire hard disk for PCLinuxOS. Before you can boot your computer using the created PCLinuxOS disk, you have to make sure that your PC’s CD-ROM drive is set as the first boot device. Usually this can be done by changing settings in BIOS, and the exact steps depend on your computer model and BIOS version. Once this is done, you are ready to boot PCLinuxOS. Start your computer and insert the PCLinuxOS in the CD drive. During the boot, you will be asked to log in either as guest or root. Log in as root using root as both user name and password. When the system is finished booting, double-click on the Livecd-Installer shortcut on the Desktop to launch the Livecd-Installer tool.

Flashline has put together a Patterns Book for helping get Open Source projected started within an enterprise, even very demanding ones.

Read it online or download with registration

This article describes one user's experiences installing SUSE Linux 10.0 on a Gateway laptop. It describes specific issues in getting SUSE 10 to run on a laptop, including WiFi issues and power management.

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- CONNX Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of simplified data access management and integration software solutions, announces the release of CONNX 10. This release features a native Linux/UNIX implementation of the powerful CONNX SQL Engine, enabling Web services and Java applications to access enterprise data via a single server.

PLANO, Texas, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- UGS Corp., a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today announced it is in the final development stages for porting NX(TM) software, its comprehensive software solution for digital product development, to Linux(R) operating system on x64 technology.

This article goes over one person's experience when moving computer beginners from Windows to Linux. This is not always a smooth transition, but in this case a computer which was barely working was salvaged and there was an easy switch from one operating system to the next. Casual computer users almost always use Windows but the article observes that they could just as easily be using a Linux distribution, which would save money and extend the life of their computer, while avoiding many of the security hazards to which new users are most vulnerable.

Safe, Cost-Effective, No Waste Environment Will Speed Welder Training

Can we talk? Depends on we mean by"we". Usually it's just other people who agree with us. That's apparently the case with subjects about which opinions divide into factions.

Microsoft is once again in the race to supply government agencies in the state of Massachusetts with its Office productivity suite, the state's governor has said.

The state was threatening to disqualify Microsoft as a software supplier to state agencies because it failed to support open standards in its Office productivity suite. Starting in 2007, the state requires that all newly created documents use open standards.

[Ed: Evidently, it ain't over until it's over. I wonder which member of the GOP got to Romney on behalf of Redmond. Oh well, a Byrd in the Bush for freedom. - tadelste]