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Many of the popular Linux distributions today include Postfix (written by Wietse Venema) as their choice for default mail transport agent. I've come to really appreciate the benefits of Postfix as a sendmail replacement. The advantages of Postfix include enhanced security, relatively simple configuration, and excellent performance.

South Africa's Mark Shuttleworth today announced the first release of Ubuntu Linux on behalf of the Ubuntu Linux team. In an email to the various Ubuntu mailing lists, Shuttleworth wrote: "The warm-hearted Warthogs of the Warty Team are proud to present the very first release of Ubuntu!" The earlier beta version of the Ubuntu OS was released in mid-September.

For every browser, a security bug. That seemed to be Wednesday's lesson from security information provider Secunia for the developers of the major Internet browsers. The company released information on two common security issues with the tabbed browsing feature found in several flavors of the Mozilla Foundation's browsers, the Opera browser, the Konqueror browser for Linux and two third-party plug-ins that add the feature to Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

A current issue of Sun Microsystems' custom news service, SunFlash, highlights an important new book, Exploring the JDS Linux Desktop, for potential converts to the Java Desktop System. Potential converts in this context would be all Windows users--particularly in the enterprise.

Novell is offering free training for its new Novell Certified Linux Professional certification to as many as 500 of its Platinum-level VAR partners.

Trusted Computer Solutions, which supplies secure applications to organisations such as the FBI, has built a secure version of Linux due for release in Spring 2005. It is currently beta testing the product, Trusted Linux, which will provide its customers with an alternative to Trusted Solaris to run its product line.

After one too many reboots due to Microsoft Office glitches, I downloaded OpenOffice.org. Then, my theme song became "Happy days are here again." That happened in 2001, which makes me a relatively early adopter of the OpenOffice.org office suite. But, I'm a relative latecomer when it comes to getting "hooked" on open source software (OSS), as the following three stories from fellow OSS converts shows.

Users of virtually all of today's Web-based applications are constrained to interacting with their a keyboard and screen. To break this paradigm, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the regent body for Web-based standards, working with industry, developed VoiceXML, a standard for interacting with Web-based systems through audio dialogs.

Analysts at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo are finally acknowledging that Linux and open source should be part of a company's plans in every IT area.

Volunteers organize world’s largest community marketing campaign for open source software; full-page ad will recognize, by name, thousands of contributors who support the upcoming Mozilla Firefox 1.0 product launch.

"It's becoming so confusing! All these licences - which one do I choose?" This is something I hear often when I talk to people in South Africa about Creative Commons. Many people think that Creative Commons is trying to replicate the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License (GPL), but there are distinct differences in the origin, application and use of the licences.

The sixth Australian Open Source Symposium will be held in Perth on October 28, a media release from the Australian UNIX and Open Systems User Group says.

Daniel Egger Voted 2004 "Agenda Setter" for Role in Advancing Open Source Momentum

GNUstep LiveCD is an implementation of NeXT Computer's OpenStep programming environment on a Morphix bootable CD base. The CD is currently at version 0.5, and its pre-release status shows. GNUstep LiveCD is buggy and ineffective as a development environment, and isn't yet ready for use in the real world.

Want to get a LAMP development environment fired up without the hassles of configuring everything from scratch? XAMPP makes it a breeze. XAMPP is a single packaged download from Apache Friends which provides all of the pieces of software needed, plus more you probably don't need, to make Apache installations with server-side scripting and a few database options ready to go in a testing or development environment.

Metrowerks, a provider of products for embedded developers, on Monday introduced Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), which will allow automotive companies to create navigation, hands-free phone and infotainment systems based on a customised version of the open-source operating system. The company made changes to the Linux kernel, drivers and boot sequence to enhance its real-time capabilities, reduce power consumption and speed up boot time.

Enterprise IT Solutions Provider Brings Global Experience to World's Premier Linux Advocacy Organization

The OpenPKG project releases version 2.2 of the unique cross-platform software packaging facility.

Expanding alternatives and broadening educational opportunities, the SNAP Development Center sponsors its first Linux installfest.

An integrated development environment (IDE) is a set of programming tools used to facilitate the creation of software. OpenOffice.org includes a very capable IDE with tools that run, edit, and find errors in your macros. It is worth the time to become familiar with its features. The central display area where macro code is listed is the editor window. Many of the features, such as Stop, Breakpoint, Single Step, and the Watch pane serve as a simple yet effective debugger for macro code.