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TORONTO -- LinuxWorld Day 2 started at 08:30 with another round of sessions. The was day broken down into one-hour blocks. I attended several, starting with Dee-Ann LeBlanc's presentation on "Linux for Dummies" and keynotes by HP Canada's Paul Tsaparis and Novell's David Patrick.

Whether you're moving from Windows to GNU/Linux, or just from the proprietary Microsoft Office to the free software OpenOffice.org suite, one of the challenges you'll face is learning how to use OpenOffice.org Writer effectively if you're used to Microsoft Word. In this article I'll show you around OpenOffice.org Writer, where to find familiar Word tools, and how to customize the interface and preferences to make it a little more Word-friendly.

Microsoft appears to be using XPSE as both a block against Linux deployment and as a promotional package to spark market interest in its higher-end offerings, King said. When loyal XPSE users move to more enhanced products, they'll most likely stick with other Microsoft products in what some would consider a natural progression, he said.

Any time one compares Linux and Windows security one risks unleashing a cataract of opinion.

Welcome to this year's 16th issue of DWN, the weekly newsletter for the Debian community. Micah Anderson [1]noted that the oldest open bug reports in Debian turn ten this month. Brian Proffitt commented on a report about a survey that uncovered that in 2005 the majority of Free Software developers preferred community-based distributions.

The key benefit of open source is transparency. The key benefit is not that the software is free. It's not that you can edit it. It has nothing to do with the obligations of the General Public License. It's inherent in every open source license out there.

The findings suggest that open-source offerings are having a significant impact on this specific software market, taking market share from proprietary commercial products, says IDC. The survey questioned 625 medium-size and large companies across Western Europe during March 2005.

In this series of articles, learn how to plan, design, install, configure, and maintain systems running Linux in a secure way. In addition to a theoretical overview of security concepts, installation issues, and potential threats and their exploits, you'll also get practical advice on how to secure and harden a Linux-based system.

Ever wonder why the "technology" reviews by experts on local news seem so lame? Or why they tend to give nothing but glowing reviews to sub-moronic products? Perhaps, just perhaps, large companies have paid the "experts" to plug their products. Without disclosing this arrangement.

This article is a how-to that describes the steps necessary to fine tune and tweak the default Ubuntu Hoary installation on an IBM Thinkpad T42. A lot of these tricks will also help on other IBM Thinkpad models or even other laptops.

District Health Board trials of an open source desktop will be carefully watched by other Government agencies, keen to reduce the licensing fees they pay to Microsoft.

Company's Virtuozzo software makes Windows or Linux servers appear to have multiple independent instances of their operating systems.

What's all this then about a battle between Linus Torvalds and Samba's Andrew Tridgell?

A senior federal official has rebuked Linux vendor Red Hat over its criticism of the government's open-source software (OSS) takeup rate, arguing a measured approach may be "the right thing to do".

Irish technology consultancy Unitech Systems has been awarded the Leader for Linux channel partner status by IBM. In obtaining this status, Unitech was required not only to demonstrate a commitment to the IBM Linux programme, but also to be able to show a real ability to deliver Linux-based solutions for its customers

The Bastille Linux project has recently been working with the U.S. government to improve and harden the operating system security software. Project leader Jay Beale took some time to tell NewsForge readers what's been going on recently with Bastille.

Linux brings open standards, along with maximum availability and flexibility. Add the performance and reliability of the POWER processor and applications will reap the combined advantages of Linux on POWER. This paper introduces Linux on POWER hardware and software environments and will provide you with information to get started.

Australian open source lawyer Brendan Scott says the next version of the GNU General Public License (GPL) should be made clearer and include legal terms relevant to jurisdictions like Australia.

Resolvo Systems says it has contributed the sourcecode to its MoveOver Windows-to-Linux migration tool to the open source community, and that it has established a SourceForge project. MoveOver automates the OS migration process, allowing users to move their files, settings, and emails from Windows to Linux desktop within six steps, according to Resolvo.

The first day of Toronto's LinuxWorld Conference and Expo was made up of a pair of 3-hour long tutorial sessions on various networking and Linux related topics. I selected from among the list of available sessions System& Network Monitoring with Open Source Tools for the morning and Applying Open Source Software Practices to Government Software for the afternoon. Unfortunately, the latter was cancelled at the last minute and I went to Moving to the Linux Business Desktop instead.