Showing all newswire headlines

Companies shouldn't rush to upgrade to Microsoft Windows Vista, according to analysts at Gartner, who believe most firms could safely hold back until 2008. The majority of improvements in Vista will be security-related and most of this functionality "is available via third-party products today", Gartner claimed in a research note published on Friday.

[Apparently the report, "Ten reasons you should and shouldn't care about Microsoft's Windows Vista client", only addresses *some* of Vista's weaknesses. They probably didn't have time to account for all of them. - Ed]

A great many people find new interfaces downright puzzling. However, most interfaces share common features. Having been there and done that, Don Parris shows the technologically challenged how to find their way around nearly any graphical interface, whether it's an operating system GUI or a new office suite.


Diggable

Big guns in the software industry are massing behind OpenDocument as government customers show more interest in open source alternatives to Microsoft's desktop software.

IBM and Sun met on Friday to discuss how to boost adoption of the standardised document format for office applications. The ODF Summit brought together representatives from a handful of industry groups and from at least 13 technology companies, including Oracle, Google and Novell.

That stepped-up commitment from major companies comes amid signs that states are seriously considering getting behind OpenDocument. James Gallt, the associate director for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, said on Wednesday that there are a number of pushes to adopt the format getting under way within state agencies.

Advanced Solution for Data Exchanges Taps the Cost-Efficiency and Innovation of truExchange Platform

Microsoft Is Leaking Internal Documents to Make Us Think They Have a Plan

At first glance, a shop is not a place where you would expect to find KDE in the workplace. Yet the Dutch Free Record Shop is deploying it on a large scale as the operating system for their point of sale systems. According to the supplier Novell, it is one of the application areas where simple and restricted functionality is required, leading to a breakthrough for GNU/Linux on the PC. An article from Automatiseringsgids magazine is translated below.

The link begins with a notice that the web pages are no longer maintained. At the time I heard the code was terrible. On my connection, the opening page moved to a combined MySQL AB and SAP page http://www.mysql.com/products/maxdb/ and MaxDB. Thus, by pure logic alone Open Source methods suck! It could not even save a crappy product. Guess it just Maxed Out.

The number of useful desktop applications for Linux is growing every day, but there are many would-be users who still have one or more "must have" Windows applications. For those users, running Windows under Linux is a suitable alternative to having to maintain two systems, or a dual-boot system with Linux and Windows. One of the options for running Windows under Linux is Win4Lin, Inc.'s Win4Lin Pro, which was released earlier this year. Win4Lin Pro gets the job done, but its performance and usability are a bit disappointing.

THE MAJOR BACKERS of the Cell microprocessor have sent out software for it which supports Linux, said the EE Times. IBM is sending out source for Linux, while Sony is sending out compilers including the GNU Compiler Collection, the magazine said.

IMlogic has announced the launch of the “IMlogic Inside” program and the availability of the IMlogic Security Engine to enable ISVs and service providers to rapidly integrate IM management and security into existing e-mail and network security solutions.

The Seaside framework is built on the Squeak dialect of Smalltalk and developers the world over recognize Seaside as the top existing continuation server, but Seaside does much more than continuations. This article shows you how to be more productive, and how to be a better, faster, lighter developer with Seaside.

A group of high-profile technology vendors have formalised plans to promote Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) as a global standard after a meeting at IBM last week, according to an IBM executive.

DistroWatch reports - The second release candidate of Damn Small Linux 2.0 is now available for download and testing. From the release notes: Added more base timezones; enhanced LT modem detection; corrected myDSL menu with persistent home usage; updated kernel with SATA module support; enhanced Siag external load to use wget; enhanced German keyboard support; added a minimal version of Joe's Window Manager (see F3 at boot); enhanced Firefox for more mime types and Java; added GtkFind utility. Syslinux and embedded versions are also ready for download.

OSDir has some screenshots of Damn Small Linux 2.0 RC2.

Virus writers have begun taking advantage of Sony-BMG's use of rootkit technology in DRM software bundled with its music CDs.

[Ed.- Now that's innovation!]

Related LXer stories:

Sony's (Non-Existent) Corporate Conscience
Is it time for Sony to recall their rootkit DRM music Cd's?
Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far
Bots in the A/C, spyware in the 'fridge
Sony DRM is worse than you might think
World of Warcraft hackers using Sony BMG rootkit

A certified NoMachine NX Client will be included in the first German edition of the Xandros Desktop OS 3.1.

IS ANYONE GETTING SICK of the new Microsoft stealth PR campaign? More importantly, is anyone getting sick of how the media is lapping it up without question? I sure am. To make matters worse, it is so effective that the spinners are using it more often with each passing week.

"The technological configuration underlying the Internet has a considerable bearing on its ethical aspects. Use of the new information technology and the Internet needs to be informed and guided by a resolute commitment to the practice of solidarity in the service of the common good. The Internet requires international cooperation in setting standards and establishing mechanisms to promote and protect [that common good]. Individuals, groups, and nations must have access to these new technologies. Cyberspace ought to be a resource of comprehensive information and services available without charge to all, and in a wide range of languages. The winner in this process will be humanity as a whole and not just a wealthy elite that controls science, technology, and the planet's resources. Determined action in the private and public sectors is needed to close and eventually eliminate the digital divide."

To the excitement around Novells of plans to use in the Linux products in the future GNOMES instead of KDE as standard Desktop now a careful retreat comes. Holger Dyroff, vice-president product management for the Linux platform and since 1993 with Suse employs, explained, Novell "in coordination with its customers decided, both GNOMES and KDE further in all products from Novell to the order to place". Both surfaces were developed further and supported also in the future. Translated Version

Bernard Golden writes: "With respect to the first two arguments, Microsoft is going to have some very angry ex-allies when they become aware that there is a significant difference between application and output, and that mandating an output format has nothing to do with the application creating the output. Nothing irritates a political player more than finding out that he or she has been taken advantage of for someone else's agenda. In any case, these two arguments are just cover for the real issue Microsoft has, which revolves around the third issue: control of file formats."

[The question is, will these guys realize they've been had? - Ed]

This week, advisories were released OpenSSL, httpd, Horde3, OpenVPN, chmlib, ClamAV, libungif4, gpsdrive, awstats, kdelibs, giflib, fetchmail, ImageMagick, scim-qtimm, e2fsprogs, drakxtools, emacs, w3c-libwww, libungif, and flash-plugin. The distributors include Debian, Gentoo, Mandriva, and Red Hat