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Brendan Eich sent us a link to his weblog post about using Python for XUL scripting. At the moment, only JavaScript can be used for scripting in XUL applications but Brendan describes how Mark Hammond is adding support for the popular Python programming language as well. Support for Python in XUL will land in the Mozilla 1.9 timeframe and is expected to be used primarily by developers of extensions and standalone XULRunner applications.

Microsoft on Friday issued a mea culpa for not doing its due diligence before sending Linux and open-source luminary Eric Raymond an e-mail expressing interest in having him work for the Redmond software giant. But Microsoft Corp. spokesman Mark Martin told eWEEK on Friday that the company remains committed to employing talented people—regardless of their background. "Microsoft is always looking to hire talented people from across the industry—including those in the open-source community. While, in this case, we didn't do our full due diligence, we encourage and benefit from a diversity of perspectives at Microsoft," he said.

They have all struggled in some degree to find a successful direction in China. For Microsoft, they have faced piracy issues and a government that has been more pro-Linux. Yahoo (YHOO) recently invested in AliBaba, the Chinese portal to help improve customer awareness. Google invested in Baidu, (BIDU) having gradually lost its market share to the (Chinese) home-grown search engine. So, in short, each is still trying to find its way. They all seem to realize that China represents a big upside and the long-term benefits are worth the challenges.

For a smooth transition without loss of C&C, loading activities will be switched between Primary, Standby and Backup MDMs as required. Three A31p laptops plus one spare hard drive have already been prepared ( ghosted) by the crew for the new software version. Altogether there are 12 R9-capable PCS A31p laptops available on board, three more than the minimum required to support the transition. Version R9 is very powerful, built on version R8 but with new laptop platforms (A31p ThinkPads), a new Operating System (Linux instead of Solaris), the Mission 12A baseline configuration plus two deltas (patches) for post-12A.1 and post-13A, improved performance, over 6400 displays (>130,000 data points monitored, >50,000 command instances, >17,000 navigation choices), etc.].

Home users who want to build their own Web pages instead of using somebody else's prefab templates haven't had great options. Microsoft's $199 FrontPage is a clunky product that produces clunky pages, and higher-end products such as Adobe's GoLive and Macromedia's Dreamweaver, each $399, are far too complicated and expensive for home use. But a new software prodcut called Nvu (pronounced "n-view") provides a much-needed alternative. This open-source release comes from Linux distributor Linspire, but it runs in Windows and Mac OS X. It does what other Web-creation programs only promise: make it easy to create Web pages without your having to learn the peculiar argot of the Web's HyperText Markup Language (HTML). Nvu looks and works like a word processor: You type text into a blank page, then click on one toolbar button or another to add formatting, insert images or stitch in links to other sites. (Unlike Microsoft Word and its ilk, however, Nvu can't check your spelling as you type, only afterward.)

The Embedded Linux Consortium (ELC) filed dissolution papers with the state of California yesterday, ending a five year run promoting embedded LInux and developing standards for it. The ELC's primary piece of intellectual property -- the ELC Platform Specification -- has been transferred to the OSDL (Open Source Development Labs), which could move the standard forward, given sufficient member interest. The ELC kicked off in March of 2000, at the Embedded Systems Conference in Chicago, where according to Murry Shohat, cofounder and executive director, 85 industry executives and managers "formed a loud and vocal chorus of people who wanted traction for Linux. We left that building with a strong mission to promote and publicize Linux as an embedded operating system."

Fox Broadcasting Company has stated that it is launching a new digital broadcast system co-designed with IBM that will help transform high definition (HD) broadcast production for the 2005 NFL on FOX season. The new digital system will help FOX lower program production costs for its high definition NFL broadcasts and will enable content from the games to be available on demand for re-purposing and further distribution. The FOX digital archive solution combines traditional broadcast format and encoding standards, such as ASI and MPEG, with industry standard technology to give FOX the ability to easily and transparently transmit digitally compressed HD NFL broadcasts straight from its stadium based, on-site mobile trucks directly into a production archive at its Los Angeles studio headquarters.

Firefox version 1.5 reached its first beta stage, offering several new features like swifter Back or Forward navigation, private browsing data clearance, ability to re-arrange browser icons by drag-and-drop, better software updation, ability to specify preferences window and improved popup blocks. The browser application is currently available at the Mozilla website for free downloads and a second beta version after some modifications is expected to be out on 15 October and the final release late this year.

In what the Mozilla Organization describes as "the first Beta release of our next generation Firefox browser", the company has released Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 (Deer Park). It is available for download here. New features include an automated update to streamline product upgrades, faster browser navigation, drag and drop reordering for browser tabs, improvements to popup blocking and a "Clear Private Data" function that can quickly remove personal data through a menu item or keyboard shortcut.

Microcross is shipping an embedded Linux toolkit for a tiny single-board computer (SBC) module from Cogent. The Microcross GX-Linux Platform includes a MIPS-powered CSB655 SBC, along with a 2.6.11 Linux kernel, BSP, filesystem utilities, and tools. It targets industrial automation, telematics, medical applications, and set-top boxes.

The Mozilla Foundation has released a workaround for a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in the Firefox browser that was first made public early yesterday (see "Firefox flaw found: Remote exploit possible"). Mozilla developers yesterday posted a software patch and instructions for a workaround, both of which disable the buggy Firefox feature. Mozilla's patch and workaround can be found online at: http://www.mozilla.org/security/idn.html.

So, PalmOS ends up in the hands of an Japanese mobile browser company that almost no one has ever heard of. It's a sad sign that expectations for PalmOS software have been so low, for so long, that PalmSource stock leapt 70 per cent on the news. The origins of this decline have been well documented here at El Reg, we'll only recap the key mistakes before raising a spectre that haunts this tale of Silicon Valley history: a spectre called Apple.

A group that includes senior government officials from 13 countries has compiled a road map for creating national policies on open-technology standards.

In a report to be presented at the World Bank yesterday, a group that includes senior government officials from 13 countries will urge nations to adopt open-information technology standards as a vital step to accelerate economic growth, efficiency and innovation. The 33-page report is a road map for creating national policies on open-technology standards and comes at a time when several countries -- and some state governments -- are pursuing plans to reduce their dependence on proprietary software makers, notably Microsoft, by using more free, open-source software. The project, begun by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School, gathered government officials from China, India, Thailand, Denmark, Jordan, Brazil and elsewhere at a three-day meeting in Silicon Valley in February to discuss technology standards and economic development. The meeting was followed by e-mail exchanges, conference calls and postings on a shared Web site.

Last fall, between speculations about what the consequences of Chris Stone's departure from Novell would mean (the answer in retrospect: not much) the topic of the moment was a NetWare client for Linux. That is, client software that would allow a Linux desktop to access a NetWare server on an even footing with a Windows desktop.

With more than 15000 Linux machines on their internal network, a LaserJet development process that relies on Linux workstations, and plans to ship Ubuntu-based notebooks and desktops, Linux is becoming big business for HP.

DistroWatch reports - The Kubuntu project, a subproject of Ubuntu Linux, has announced a preview release of Kubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger: The Kubuntu 5.10 Preview is now available. This is the beta release for the next version of Kubuntu. New in this release is: the latest KDE 3.4.2, OpenOffice 2 beta 2, X.Org 6.8.2.

OSDir has some great screenshots of Kubuntu 5.10 Preview. Check it out.

Learn how to leverage an existing application to create your own office automation program. First up, a vocabulary and design lesson.

Plans for an Eclipse Application Lifecycle Framework (ALF) will open up new opportunities for open-source developers and systems integrators, executives said at EclipseWorld.

Open source is still up to five years away from mainstream use in enterprise IT infrastructures, despite the progress made in the commercialization of the platform, according to analyst Gartner.

Linux creator Linus Torvalds sent a reminder to theLinux Kernel Mailing List that the merge window for 2.6.14 is coming to and end. "As per the new merge policies that were discussed during LKS in Ottawa earlier during the summer," Linus explained, "I'm going to accept new stuff for 2.6.14 only during the first two weeks after 2.6.13 was released." The new development policy was first discussed on the lkml with the release of 2.6.13-rc4, and further elaborated with the release of 2.6.13.