Showing all newswire headlines

The OpenOffice project vividly illustrates the limitations of open source as a way of producing software

Linux is often thought to be inferior to Windows and Mac OS when it comes to multimedia applications. However, by using open source software and a few simple tips, one can easily turn a simple Linux box into a multimedia powerhouse, according to Kyle Rankin, author of the newly published Linux Multimedia Hacks.

Mandriva Linux, known as Mandrakesoft eight months ago, has had quite a year. The Paris-based company believes it's ready to bounce back into the race to capture international market share from competitors such as Red Hat and Novell. Only 18 months ago, the company was in the throes of bankruptcy.

There's no chance of the Sony BMG rootkit DM spyware debacle going away. It will echo loudly down many corridors and the University of Calgary's Greg Hagen believes its existence should make anyone thinking about supporting Canada's Bill C-60 copyright act, think again.

[Ed: Canadians in particular may want to pay attention to this one - dcparris]

TARRYTOWN, NY, December - Open-Xchange Inc., the maker of the world's leading open-source alternative to Microsoft Exchange, announced today that Germany's Green Party has selected Open-Xchange Server 5 for e-mail, contacts and calendaring for its Berlin headquarters.

What new economy does syndication suggest? And does Linux point the way?

Don't believe Christmas greetings-by-email is huge business? Google it. Every sleazebag outfit on the web offers them. Some even throw-in spyware and rootkits or links to phishing sites, free of charge. That's why so many network managers do everything they can to block the traffic. Email Battles invents a way to make everybody happy. Sadly, nobody's using it.

[Ed: And don't you just love those greeting card e-mails from some anonymous person? Frankly, I like the idea thes folks suggest. It's sooooo simple! - dcparris]

As further evidence of the expanding role of open source applications in enterprise data centers, Pentaho, a start-up that builds open-source business intelligence software, announced this week that it has received $5 million in series A funding.

[Ed: If business intelligence is anything like military intelligence, I'm scared! - dcparris]

Peppercom and Comodo will launch an aggressive communications campaign to raise awareness of Identity and Trust Assurance as the cornerstone for creating trust online

Into the Valley Don't take the biscuit

[Ed: Apparently folks attempted to recreate the "open source" model in the baking industry. Vance is wrong about one thing though.

"The business types don't understand how open source software really works and when they try and fail to apply it elsewhere, it makes the FOSS crowd look inept."

Actually, it makes the folks who tried this look inept, although the mad scientists may not see it quite that way. - dcparris]

Red Hat and Novell have become de facto standards in the commercial world. Yet one longtime Linux distributor is betting that corporate customers won’t settle for a two-horse race. Paris-based Mandriva, formerly known as Mandrakesoft, last week unveiled global partnerships with Intel and Hewlett-Packard and plans for a major corporate push based on its Mandriva 2006 product line, complete with corporate server and a new SMB bundle.

[Ed: Ummm, isn't that the point of a competitive marketplace? - dcparris]

Mozilla Firefox is a great Internet browser, applauded by users and critics alike for its features, performance, usability, customisation and security. Firefox 1.5 builds on Firefox 1.x by adding an integrated auto-update system, improved pop-up blocker and improved standards support, not to mention thousands of bug fixes. This updated guide will take you through all that Firefox 1.5 has to offer covering the options menu, about:config preferences, CSS, extensions and more.

[ED: Nice guide for new users with pictures, watched a friend fighting his way through reconfiguing his Firefox on XP, this would have helped - HC]

Gmail just added a nifty RSS feed directly into your Gmail account. It is easy to do but LXer is not yet one of the default tech sites so you need to do it manually.

Go to Settings in your Gmail account and click on the new Web Clips tab. Then take this URL http://lxer.com/module/newswire/headlines.rss

and paste it into the search box. Google will acknowledge this as a valid feed and the add button will appear. Hit it and presto your are done

You probably need to edit the initial feeds. I had all kind of gunk suggested by Google.

Digg

Free software advocates focus on the ability to share, develop, and improve software as a community effort. But how do these freedoms affect the business community? David Chisnall takes a look.

Broadband access in Africa has grown significantly over the past four years with at least 20 fixed-line operators introducing ADSL services, according to a report published this week by Balancing Act. The reports says, however, that at current prices broadband access in Africa is still the domain of the privileged classes.

Geronimo, an open source Java application server under the Apache umbrella, has come a long way

Sun Microsystems is "talking publicly" this week with both Red Hat and Novell SuSE about doing native ports of their respective Linux distributions to the high-powered and relatively low-priced RISC-based T1000 and T2000 Fire Servers rolled out in New York on Tuesday. Find out more about how the open source bug has bitten Sun in this report from Jacqueline Emigh.

Despite a media habit of referring to Wikipedia as an open-source project, it looks only a little like the open source projects common in software.

Need a job? Are you a Linux Administrator with experience in Red Hat Linux through to the latest Enterprise versions? Well somebody in Steeton, West Yorkshire is looking for you.

You need to know: DNS, DHCP, NTP, FTP, NIS, Scripting and TCP-IP Networking. Of course you also need to possess: Good Documentation and Communication skills. Oops. techies with communication skills - there they go again.

Here's the real kicker: It would be advantageous to possess:

* CVS, Clearcase and Windows Administration skills
* CISCO networking or Red Hat Certification This is an opportunity for somebody looking to join a progressive, exciting company with the ability to take responsibility for the growing number of Linux Desktop servers within a multi-platform environment. Linux Desktop servers? Hello?

We've written about this in the past. Note the Windows Administration skills requirement. And these employers wonder why they can't find Linux talent.

It's not a lack of Linux talent, stupid. It's your unrealistic expectations. You should have stopped at Linux administrator and stop asking for all these other skills the person will never use. Do you ask the same questions of Windows administrators? No.

SAN DIEGO -- The second day of the LISA '05 Conference was full of interesting talks and after-hours sessions.