Linux News for Feb 28, 2007

• Mad Penguin: Self-Executing Application Installers in Linux: Yay or Nay? (Feb 28, 2007, 23:30)
  "In the past, I have seen a few different attempts at bringing forth this packaging scheme to the Linux desktop. To say that it has been met with varied success would be kind..."


• Seopher: Why Microsoft Should Never, Ever Acquire Linux (Feb 28, 2007, 23:00)
  "An article on CoolTechZone.com was trying to explain Why Microsoft Should Acquire Linux and I couldn't help but think 'why not turn water to wine along the way...'"


• PC World: MySQL, JasperSoft Sign Reselling Agreement (Feb 28, 2007, 22:30)
  "Open-source database vendor MySQL AB and business intelligence software provider JasperSoft Corp. Tuesday announced a joint reselling agreement..."


• SearchOpenSource: Mainframe Linux vs. Unix (Feb 28, 2007, 22:00)
  "Today's new breed of smaller, cheaper mainframes, paired with the Linux operating system, look like an attractive alternative to Unix on RISC or SPARC servers..."


• Linux.com: Edubuntu: Linux for Education (Feb 28, 2007, 21:30)
  "It provides a software platform that allows educators to spend more time teaching with computers and less time managing them..."


• SearchOpenSource: Microsoft Windows Ousted at California School District (Feb 28, 2007, 21:00)
  "By this summer, all 5,000 students and 250 teachers will be working off of a Linux-based thin client running OpenOffice.org, and the majority of the district's servers will be running Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server..."


• Orlando Sentinel: With Open-Source Software, The Price is Always Right (Feb 28, 2007, 20:30)
  "Many new computers no longer come bundled with essential programs such as Microsoft Word, so open-source software has become the software for computer users with light wallets..."


• Computerworld: Ingres Marries Database, Linux Distro in Icebreaker (Feb 28, 2007, 20:00)
  "Open-source database vendor Ingres Corp. is hoping that its newly released Icebreaker database and Linux combination will help it win new customers and enter fresh markets..."


• Linux-Watch: Help Find MEPIS a New Home (Feb 28, 2007, 19:30)
  "The problem is, as a blog entry on the MEPIS website explains, 'While this is a beautiful area, with mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers galore, it is somewhat lacking in technical people, resources, and opportunities...'"


• Enterprise Open Source Magazine: How Open Is "Open"?--Industry Luminaries Join the Debate (Feb 28, 2007, 19:00)
  "But Sam Minee of SilverStripe didn't agree with Torkington, and argued that, in order to describe itself as an 'open source' company, all it need to be is 'a company that will help you make the switch to open source in your company...'"


• The Register: Microsoft Employs Bologna Defense Against VMware (Feb 28, 2007, 18:30)
  "In classic Redmond fashion, Microsoft has countered VMware's charges of anticompetitive practices in the server virtualization market by heaving a giant ball of fluff at reporters..."


• Computerworld Australia: Victorian Govt Warms to Open Source Development (Feb 28, 2007, 18:00)
  "Victorian government departments are increasingly contracting local open source development services for custom applications written in Java to leverage community contributions and raise the standard of software..."


• Computing: UK Government Ignores Open-Source Potential (Feb 28, 2007, 17:30)
  "Speaking at the launch event at the Houses of Parliament, John Pugh MP argued that there is 'widespread ignorance' within the public sector about open-source..."


• Inc.: Mitchell Baker and the Firefox Paradox (Feb 28, 2007, 17:00)
  "Its products are free. Its work force is largely volunteer. Its meetings are open to anyone. It's a nonprofit. It may be the hottest tech company in America..."


• dot.KDE: Trolltech Becomes the First Corporate Patron of KDE (Feb 28, 2007, 16:30)
  "Trolltech, the Norwegian company behind the Qt toolkit has become the second Patron of KDE..."


• PC Advisor: Firefox 3 to Offer Taste of Firefox 4 (Feb 28, 2007, 16:00)
  "When Firefox 3.0 is released later this year, the open-source browser is likely to contain a host of new features, including offline support for web applications and new bookmark and search features..."


• ZDNet Australia: Ubuntu "Feisty Fawn" A Step Closer (Feb 28, 2007, 15:30)
  "Ubuntu developers are finalising preparations for the release of the next version--dubbed Feisty Fawn--of the popular Linux distribution in mid-April...


• Computerworld: California May Join Rush of States Toward ODF (Feb 28, 2007, 15:00)
  "A California legislator last Friday introduced a bill that would mandate the use of open, XML-based document file formats by the state government starting next January..."


• Groklaw: SCO Board Member Iacobucci Announces He is Leaving (Feb 28, 2007, 14:30)
  "The SCO Group, Inc... today announced that Ed Iacobucci, President and CEO of DayJet Corp., will not stand for re-election on The SCO Group's Board of Directors..."


• Linus Torvalds: Linux 2.6.21-rc2 (Feb 28, 2007, 14:00)
  "Oh well... I'm not very proud of this, because quite frankly, -rc2 has way more changes than I really like..." Announcement within.


• Computerworld: Dell to Linux Users: Not So Fast (Feb 28, 2007, 13:30)
  "It's only 'certifying' Linux on three hardware lines, not yet installing the OS..." As noted yesterday.


• LinuxWorld Australia: National Gallery Paints Open Future (Feb 28, 2007, 13:00)
  "By steadily overhauling individual pain-points in its IT infrastructure, the National Gallery of Victoria's (NGV) multimedia division has adopted Linux and open source software..."


• LinuxLookup: Trolltech Qtopia Greenphone and SDK Review (Feb 28, 2007, 12:15)
  "Shortly after the Qtopia Greenphone was announced, I was given the opportunity to run one through the paces and see what kind of things this cool little smartphone could do..."


• LinuxDevices: Linux Phone Features Treo-style Keyboard (Feb 28, 2007, 11:30)
  "A startup in Penang, Malaysia is readying a Linux-based dual-mode WiFi GSM/GPRS phone expected to ship in Q2..."


• Linux.com: Krugle Offers Code Search Engine for Open Source, with Open Source (Feb 28, 2007, 10:45)
  "With the rise in popularity of open source software, developers don't need to start from scratch when coding new software..."


• TriedIT: Review: Knopperdisk 0.4.0 (Feb 28, 2007, 10:00)
  "Knopperdisk is a small, Gentoo based, Linux distribution. It comes in two flavors: floppy and USB pen-drive..."


• Linux Journal: Recent GNOME Panel Apps (Feb 28, 2007, 09:15)
  "The basic set of GNOME panel apps ranges from the practical, such as clocks and system monitors, to the mildly amusing, but apparently too traditional to dispense with, such as Fish..."


• HowtoForge: The Perfect Desktop - Part 2: Mandriva Free 2007 (Feb 28, 2007, 08:30)
  "With the release of Microsoft's new Windows operating system (Vista), more and more people are looking for alternatives to Windows for various reasons..."


• Linux Journal: Ruby Performance (Feb 28, 2007, 07:45)
  "The various implementations are still don't pass all the tests involved in the shootout (particularily rubinius and Cardinal)..."


• KnoLinux: Sabayon Linux 3.26--The Name is a Dessert While the Linux is Just as Sweet (Feb 28, 2007, 07:00)
  "These are always two important things for myself when I look to a distro; functionality and one that works..."


• The Digital Ninja: How to Install World Of Warcraft on Linux (Feb 28, 2007, 05:30)
  "Now I've gotten several requests on how to get World of Warcraft installed on Ubuntu. So in this post I'm going to show you how easy it is..."


• Advisories, February 27, 2007 (Feb 28, 2007, 04:45)
  Today's security advisories: gnucash, firefox, yelp, devhelp, epiphany, and gnome-python2-extras (Fedora Core); MPlayer and CHMlib (Gentoo Linux); kernel (Red Hat Linux); php, php-mysql, and php-pgsql (rPath Linux); and kernel-bigsmp (SUSE Linux).


• Linux.com: Note to New Linux Users: No Antivirus Needed (Feb 28, 2007, 04:00)
  "One of the most common questions I hear new Linux users ask is 'What program should I use for virus protection?' Many of them lose faith in me as a source of security information when I reply, 'None...'"


• O'Reilly Radar: "The free download isn't a frivolous act" (Feb 28, 2007, 03:15)
  "Why are we doing this? The short answer is simply that we want a lot of people to hear the record..."


• Linux Journal: Commercial Linux Transforming the Community? Or Do They Need a Wakeup Call? (Feb 28, 2007, 02:30)
  "I asked for a show of hands in a rather large audience of Linux users how many of them were Linux System administrators. Not a single hand went up..."


• Free Software Magazine: Instant GNU/Linux Time Machine (Feb 28, 2007, 01:45)
  "That's not always true, of course, but I do remember my first: Softlanding Linux Systems, one of the earliest GNU/Linux distributions, and progenitor of the Slackware distribution..."


• Trevor's Trinkets: After the Desktop--What? (Feb 28, 2007, 01:00)
  "For decades the desktop PC has been the public face of computing to most folk. It has delivered a dazzling array of applications to us, but at a cost--it has tied us down to desks.."


• LinuxWorld: Obeying Microsoft: Is Wine the Way? (Feb 28, 2007, 00:15)
  "But Microsoft has decided to make some of the options harder, or at least more expensive, than they should be..."