Linux News for Jan 30, 2008

• Speeding Up Free Software Adoption: External and Internal Routes to Success (Jan 30, 2008, 23:30)
  Datamation: "Striking a balance between mindsets might be a factor on which the success of Free software is hinged..."


• I'm Nominated as a Trustee... Or Am I? (Jan 30, 2008, 23:00)
  Funtoo by Daniel Robbins: "Before I know how to reply to this nomination, I need to know if it is even valid..."


• Embracing the .Beast (Jan 30, 2008, 22:30)
  IT Pro: "In recent times Miguel de Icaza has been the subject of much controversy within the Linux community..."


• Red Hat Readies Identity, Policy, Audit Offering (Jan 30, 2008, 22:00)
  internetnews.com: "While the name 'Netscape' is now mostly dead, its progeny continue to survive and develop. Many are familiar with Mozilla's efforts on the browser side, but Netscape also had another business--a directory server business now run and expanded upon by Linux vendor Red Hat..."


• What I Learned from Lineo's Failure (Jan 30, 2008, 21:30)
  The Open Road: "I learned a tremendous amount about business and open source and the intersection of the two during my two years with Lineo..."


• Could Pandora Open Up Linux Games? (Jan 30, 2008, 21:00)
  LinuxDevices: "A stealth-mode startup is readying a Linux-based handheld gaming device with WiFi, USB, and a 4.3-inch 800x480 touchscreen..."


• Mozilla's Two New Mobile Prototypes (Jan 30, 2008, 20:30)
  CNET News: "Amidst rookie mobile browser Skyfire's bold attempt to take on the market and Opera's defensive rebuttal emerges news from Mozilla developer and project lead, Doug Turner..."


• IBM Adds Linux Apps Support to Unix Servers (Jan 30, 2008, 20:00)
  LinuxWorld: "IBM has added a new capability to its virtualization platform that will allow Linux applications to run on IBM's Unix servers, the company announced Tuesday..."


• Multiple Unpatched Vulnerabilities in Open Source CMS Mambo (Jan 30, 2008, 19:30)
  Heise Security: "SecurityFocus has on Monday reported vulnerabilities in the open source content management system Mambo, which could be exploited by attackers to view confidential information or compromise a system..."


• The Future of the Linux Kernel, and What it Tells Us About Wikipedia (Jan 30, 2008, 19:00)
  APC Magazine: "With 2,000 lines of code being added every single day, any lingering suggestion that Linux might suffer from a lack of support is clearly insane..."


• At MySQL, It's Business as Usual (Jan 30, 2008, 18:30)
  iTWire: "With Sun Microsystems announcing earlier this month that it had acquired the most popular open source database company, MySQL, there has been speculation aplenty, some of it grossly misinformed, on just how much change this will mean for staff at the small Swedish company..."


• Asus Unveils 42in Linux-Based Eee TV (Jan 30, 2008, 18:00)
  Register Hardware: "Asus has named the upcoming additions to its Eee PC family of low-cost computers, soon to be augmented with a small form-factor desktop machine, an all-in-one system and a TV..."


• Information is Our Only Security Weapon: Bruce Schneier (Jan 30, 2008, 17:30)
  iTnews: "Computer security expert Bruce Schneier took a swipe at a number of sacred cows of security including RFID tags, national ID cards and public CCTV security cameras in his keynote address to Linux.conf.au this morning..."


• Eight Interesting Improvements In GNOME 2.22 (Jan 30, 2008, 17:00)
  Phoronix: "While nothing groundbreaking will be introduced in GNOME 2.22 (compared to KDE 4.0 at least), this desktop environment does have some moderate changes worth noting..."


• Red Hat Seeks Chinese Growth (Jan 30, 2008, 16:30)
  Reuters/eWeek: "Leading open-source distributor Red Hat Inc, which is shifting its focus to greater China, expects its revenue in the region to grow by 50 percent in the next fiscal year on healthy demand from enterprise clients..."


• OpenLogic: HP Hogged FOSS Announcement Limelight (Jan 30, 2008, 16:00)
  LinuxWorld: "Hewlett-Packard's recent announcement regarding a pair of free and open-source software projects has irked one of its co-sponsors, OpenLogic..."


• Making Hardware Vendors Love Open Source (Jan 30, 2008, 15:30)
  iTWire: "Reverse-engineering open source drivers for hardware devices will only reduce the pressure on manufacturers to provide such drivers..."


• Europe Gets Another Open-Source Group (Jan 30, 2008, 15:00)
  ZDNet UK: "The Open Solutions Alliance, a consortium working on interoperability of open-source software, has set up a European chapter due to the high number of community-developed software projects that have sprung up in the region..."


• French Police Deal Blow to Microsoft (Jan 30, 2008, 14:30)
  AFP: "The French paramilitary police force said Wednesday it is ditching Microsoft for the free Linux operating system, becoming one of the biggest administrations in the world to make the break..."


• Microsoft Lays Case, Blames IBM for OOXML Woes (Jan 30, 2008, 13:45)
  Roundup: Microsoft lays out the technical reasons why it believes OOXML is a good thing, and then spends some time accusing IBM of orchestrating a smear campaign against the efforts to make OOXML an ISO standard.


• BBC Moves Linux into TV Production (Jan 30, 2008, 13:00)
  Computerworld Australia: "Expensive and error-prone digital tapes has forced BBC UK, one of the world's largest television broadcasters, to look at using computers running Linux to help produce its programs..."


• The Beginning of Thunderbird 3 Planning (Jan 30, 2008, 11:30)
  LWN: "The long-term roadmap of Thunderbird is still in flux, but there are four high-level points which drive my thinking about Thunderbird 3..."


• Open Source Valuations, Competition, Downloads, and Profitability (Jan 30, 2008, 10:50)
  

  And on goes my fascination with open source companies and their valuations...

  I was reading Stephen O'Grady's commentary on open source companies and their valuations prompted by the recent acquisition of MySQL by Sun for $1 billion. He quotes Jeff Gould who logically questions whether Sun can make the acquisition pay-off.



• Open Enterprise Interview: Jono Bacon (Jan 30, 2008, 10:00)
  Computerworld UK: "Ubuntu has rapidly established itself as the leading GNU/Linux distribution on the desktop, not least through its work with Dell..."


• CLI Audio Players for Linux (Jan 30, 2008, 08:30)
  Linux.com: "What would life be without music? Given the proper codecs, in Linux you can play almost any digital audio format..."


• Infiniband for the Masses (Jan 30, 2008, 07:00)
  ClusterMonkey: "The Linux cluster world is moving towards InfiniBand for many reasons: bandwidth, latency, message rate, N/2, price/performance, and other factors that affect performance and price..."


• Mastering Regular Expressions in PHP, Part 2 (Jan 30, 2008, 05:30)
  developerWorks: "Although the terms data and information are used interchangeably, there's a big difference between the two. Data is factual..."


• Time and Tide Don't Wait for FOSS Projects (Jan 30, 2008, 04:00)
  iTWire: "Should free and open source software projects set a release schedule that adheres to the old geek adage: release when it's ready? Or should time-based releases become the norm...?"


• Vista is Most Secure OS: I Can't Stop Laughing... (Jan 30, 2008, 02:30)
  SUSE Linux Enterprise in the Americas: "Written by a member of their Trustworthy Computing group, this report exhibits more spin than the teacup ride at Disney Land..."


• Each One, Make One--The Distro Debate (Jan 30, 2008, 01:00)
  iTWire: "Jonathan Oxer, the president of Linux Australia, is a brave man. Few people other than him would have even tried to bring together those who pledge allegiance to different Linux distributions--and within the framework of a conference at that..."