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NewsVac: News from around the Web
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$100 Linux PC wins PopMech's 2007 Breakthrough Award
1 hour, 29 minutes ago
Yes, you read the headline right, and no, One Laptop Per Child hasn't suddenly achieved it's "$100 laptop" initial price target. -
Linux on the IBM mainframe: When is it the right choice?
2 hours, 29 minutes ago
The business case for running Linux on the mainframe rests on two pillars: the state of your applications and whether you already have a mainframe in the shop. -
Linux Foundation's chief says open source still holds promise for Oregon
3 hours, 29 minutes ago
Today's paper has a Q&A with Jim Zemlin, head of the Linux Foundation -- the successor to Beaverton-based OSDL, which merged with the Free Standards Group last January. Jim's speaking tomorrow at GOSCON in Portland. -
Getting grubby: Demystifying the Linux start-up processes
4 hours, 29 minutes ago
Linux users can boast long times between reboots, but even so, the startup screens will grace your display at some time. Here’s just what your computer is doing during this process, the several important steps that occur and the order they take place, and how you can take control. -
Day one at T-DOSE
5 hours, 29 minutes ago
In its second year, T-Dose, the Dutch Open Source event aimed at developers takes place in Eindhoven. Your two LXer editors went there to find out what's happening and what's new in open-source land. Todays topics include QTopia for PDA's and smartphones, open source software in the iLiad digital paper device, KDE4 application programming, the Lodel publishing tool, efficient data structures and how to overtake proprietary software without writing code. -
Installing LedgerSMB On Debian Etch
6 hours, 29 minutes ago
LedgerSMB is a free (licensed under the GPL), web based double entry accounting system written in Perl which uses PostgreSQL for data storage. It is intended for small and medium businesses (SMB), and it can be used easily through a regular web browser like Firefox. This tutorial explains how to install LedgerSMB on a Debian Etch system. -
Fedora Project Leader asks: "How do you evaluate leadership?"
7 hours, 29 minutes ago
What makes a good leader? This is a question that I am well served to answer. My job description uses that word in lots of places. Usually I answer that it's about being egoless enough to know that you're not always right, trusting the people who are smarter than you to do the right thing, smoothing the path as much as possible, and taking the hits when necessary. For me, the hardest one on that list is smoothing the path, only because I find that even with the best intentions, the best that I can do is often turning a big ditch into a small pothole, and that is more frustrating than anything else. Here's an interesting wrinkle... -
SolutionBase: Run Internet Explorer on Linux
8 hours, 29 minutes ago
Even Linux devotees may need to use Internet Explorer on occasion for tasks such as testing Web design or JavaScript. Brian Smith shows you how to get Microsoft's browser running on Linux. -
openSUSE 10.3: why did Novell ever bother?
9 hours, 29 minutes ago
Linux users don't accept criticism of their chosen distribution easily - that's probably why a number of reactions to my last piece about openSUSE tended to be somewhat short of making a point. -
Computers find new home
10 hours, 29 minutes ago
Wrapped in plastic and left to slowly waste away on wooden pallets, the heaps of aging Macintosh and personal computers sitting in the abandoned Jefferson Elementary School building had seen better days. Days when curious Fort Madison children probed the secrets of the universe -- or at least the Internet -- with a few mouse clicks and keyboard strokes. -
On forking and contributor agreements
11 hours, 29 minutes ago
Paula Rooney has written an excellent article on a dispute in the Open Office developer community that could possibly lead to a fork of the free office suite. A fork occurs when someone puts out their own version of a piece of software that is separate from the “mainline” or “generally accepted as official” version. The dividing issue in the case of Open Office is the contributor agreement that Sun requires all developers to sign before any code they create can become a part of the project. Somebody didn’t want to sign it, and the disagreement escalated to the point that a fork is being considered. -
Acer sends Gateway to buy Packard Bell
21 hours, 29 minutes ago
Whatever lingering notions Lenovo may still have cherished about acquiring Packard Bell as a way to expand into Europe were crushed Monday when Gateway, Acer's cat's-paw, said had made a binding offer to acquire all of PB Holding Company Sarl, Packard Bell's parent company. -
openSUSE 10.3: AMD/ATI Drivers Installation
22 hours, 29 minutes ago
And once again I am being bombarded with e-mails asking me to help them install ATI drivers under the latest openSUSE 10.3. Make sure that you do follow and understand the how-to and go through it completely … besides I am not guarantying that this will 100% work with your PC configuration … this is what I came up with from my past experience and has worked on several configurations. -
Linux Doesn't Need To Look Like Windows
23 hours, 29 minutes ago
After reading colleague Alexander Wolfe's piece about a Linux distro called "Vixta" that apes the look and feel of Windows Vista, I confess to having mixed feelings about the whole thing. Mostly negative ones. -
Mac OS, Linux May Share a Windows Flaw
1 day ago
This week Microsoft Corp said it would patch Windows to reduce the risk of a new kind of Web-based security vulnerability, but security researchers say that other operating systems are probably at risk too. - More News
Lessons learned from open source Xara's failure
On October 11, 2005, proprietary software maker Xara announced its plans to open the source code to its flagship vector graphics package Xara Xtreme, and with the help of community developers port it to Linux. Today, two years later, the project is stagnant and on the verge of irrelevance, primarily because the company couldn't figure out how to work with the open source community.
Javalobby calls for Java port to OLPC
Rick Ross, founder of Javalobby, a popular site among Java developers, recently wrote an article about the One Laptop Per Child project and how cool it is. Ross also noted that OLPC does not appear on Sun Microsystems 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, which outlines that company's social responsibility obligations. Ross thinks it's time to change that.
Mandriva 2008.0 rocks
Mandriva 2008.0, released this week, is the best version of Mandriva since 7.2.
New Alien Arena 6.10 blows away its FPS competition
Today, COR Entertainment is scheduled to release version 6.10 of Alien Arena 2007, the popular free software, 3-D, first-person shooter built atop id Software's Quake II engine, which was released under the GPL in 2001. The new release of Alien Arena comes with seven new arenas, a better arsenal of weaponry, and a new game mode for one-on-one duels.
A simple task manager for OpenOffice.org
If you spend most of your time in OpenOffice.org, you might want to be able to manage to-do lists and tasks without leaving the comfort of the office suite. Since Writer doesn't have such a feature, you can create your own no-frills task tool and at the same time sharpen your OOoBasic skills.
Support the Miro media player project, buy a T-shirt
The Participatory Culture Foundation (PCF) believes the media is controlled by a small group of corporations. In response, it created the open source video player Miro as a way to make media available to the masses. Although the foundation receives funding from organizations like the Mozilla Foundation and Skyline Public Works, PCF relies heavily on hackers in the open source community and a small bevy of paid programmers to help develop its software. As a nonprofit organization, PCF sometimes has to get creative in order to pay the bills -- and thus its latest release.
OpenStreetMap project imports US government maps
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative project in the process of building a free, Web-accessible, user-editable map of the world. So far, most of its map data has come through user-contributed GPS traces, but OSM has recently undertaken the bulk import of government-collected data covering the entire United States. The massive import will jump-start OSM's US map coverage, but its sheer size poses an interesting challenge to the project's resources.
Upgrading to openSUSE 10.3
OpenSUSE 10.3 was released last week, and I quickly downloaded the new version to update my two openSUSE boxes. Here's a chronicle of the updates and some problems that surfaced during the process.
Office shootout: OpenOffice.org Calc vs. Microsoft Excel
In earlier articles, I compared OpenOffice.org 2.3's and MS Office 2007's word processors and slide show programs. It seems appropriate to round off the comparison with a look at spreadsheets, the third of the core programs in any office application.
Notes from a FOSS conference in New Delhi (with videos)
Every year, Linux enthusiasts in India's capital, New Delhi, hold a conference to help spread word of free and open source software (FOSS). This year they called their conference Freed.in, and had more talks and attendees than they've had in the past. While the event was a wonderful opportunity for the FOSS community to interact in person, discuss issues, and brainstorm solutions, attendees were overwhelmed by the number of talks jammed into a two-day schedule.
Converting text files into ODF with odtwriter
While you can create and save documents in the OpenDocument format using OpenOffice.org, KWord, or AbiWord, there are other ways to generate ODF files. odtwriter, for example, can help you quickly convert plain text files formatted using reStructured Text markup into ODT (OpenOffice.org Writer-compatible ODF) documents. Using odtwriter, you can generate ODF files on machines that don't have ODF-compatible word processors installed, such as those running lightweight Linux distros, or simply compose documents in a text editor and leave the task of properly formatting them to odtwriter.
Installing Cinelerra on Ubuntu Studio
Cinelerra, one of the only serious video editing and compositing tools available for Linux, can cause frustration for users trying to install it on Ubuntu Studio. Fortunately, after several attempts, I found a way to install it easily.
Brainstorming ideas for the GIMP's next interface
The GIMP image editor is preparing for the start of a new development cycle, and you can have your say in the way the next version looks by submitting a mock-up to the GIMP UI Brainstorm blog. User interface designer Peter Sikking spoke with us about the project and how it fits into the larger work of creating the GIMP's UI.
A label printer for Linux
When Seiko Instruments said it is now offering Linux drivers for its Smart Label Printer 450 and offered to send me one to test, I was happy to hear it, because it seemed like an example of how Linux is being recognized for even non-mass-market hardware devices. While the printer does work as advertised, it is clear that Linux support is a work in progress.
Control multimedia applications with ReMoot
You can manage most of today's multimedia applications easily with ReMoot, a universal remote control program. ReMoot even provides an esoteric way of controlling your PC remotely from your cell phone or PDA, earning it top geek points.
Talking FOSS at the UN
When Nathan Eckenrode goes to the United Nations in New York City next week to help demonstrate the technology behind open source software, he doesn't really expect to discover the answer to world peace. If he gets a little closer, though, he's all right with that.
Skype for Linux 1.4 out of beta
Skype 1.4 for Linux after five months of testing. Now that it's officially out of beta -- along with a slew of bug fixes and new features -- developers are calling it a recommended release.
Novell is not forking OpenOffice
From recent media reports, casual readers could easily believe that OpenOffice.org, the popular free office suite, is fragmenting. Slashdot reported last week that Novell is backing an official fork, while Ars Technica suggested that if what was happening fell short of a fork, then it was still "serious fragmentation" and "not a good thing for the OpenOffice.org community." However, a closer look at the situation shows that what is happening is less of a dramatic split than the airing of long-time grievances and the media's discovery of a long-established institution.
Firefox extensions for tab addicts
For Firefox users who are constantly referring to multiple pages, tabbed browsing is not a feature, but a way of life. There are enough of us that the Firefox addon page lists more than 110 extensions related to tabs. These extensions feature everything from simple add-ons to various means of saving tab addresses and sessions to thumbnails and collections of functions, as well as one or two uncategorizable ideas.
Uruguay poised to make first governmental OLPC purchase
Uruguay's government this week announced the results of a study indicating that XO computers from the One Laptop Per Child project were a better value for the nation's schoolchildren than Intel's similar offering, the Classmate PC. The next step is likely to be a purchase agreement between OLPC and Uruguay for at least 100,000 laptops. Though nothing has been finalized yet, when asked what needs to happen for formal agreement to occur, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte simply says, "business closure."
