10.29.08
Links 29/10/2008: Sardinia’s and Germany’s Move to Free Software
GNU/Linux
- Germany: ‘Cost of Open Source desktop maintenance is by far the lowest’
The Foreign Ministry is migrating all of its 11.000 desktops to GNU/Linux and other Open source applications. According to Schuster, this has drastically reduced maintenance costs in comparison with other ministries. “The Foreign Ministry is running desktops in many far away and some very difficult locations. Yet we spend only one thousand euro per desktop per year. That is far lower than other ministries, that on average spend more than 3000 euro per desktop per year.”
- BoycottNovell: just another website pushing a point of view
Four days ago, an article purporting to analyse the raison d’etre behind the website BoycottNovell.com appeared on the linux.com site. The author, Bruce Byfield, who styles himself as a “computer journalist”, however, failed to tell his reading public that the piece was just a thinly disguised and veiled attack on the person who runs the BoycottNovell site.
- Linux Reaches Out To Portland - Lindependence 2008
So a success? Yeah, I’d call it that. We can do better and we will. Next stop? Sometime after the holidays in a little place called Taos New Mexico. First though, look for some upcoming articles and Spotlight blogs on TouchStone Technology, Loye Young of Issac and Young Computer company and of course…one of the people you might least expect to become a Python Scriptor.
- Wal-Mart’s revamped online music store plays nicely with Mac, Linux
- Open Source Innovations
“Open source copies from commercial software.” “Without commercial software spending so much money on research, open source software would have no new ideas.” “Open source needs commercial software to survive.” These are some of the statements about open source software made by those with a vested interest in seeing it fail or flounder - but are they justified or merely FUD?
While there are several logical arguments against this, and we will touch upon a couple, the best argument is real world evidence: cases where open source developers have been the innovators, and often where commercial software has followed.
- Linux: The Latest MF Operating System?
- What I Learned using Linux over the last 10 years
- VMware users await Windows-free VirtualCenter, VI Client
- How Different Are Linux Distributions from One Another?
- SimplyMEPIS 8.0 Beta 4 Adds New Broadcom Support
- Sharpen Your Mind and Have Fun With Tux
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Devices/Embedded
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Fast Boot
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CrossOver
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Sub-notebooks
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Phones/Mobile
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KDE
- Mom-compatible Kubuntu Intrepid with KDE4
Overall a nice demonstration of how Mom-compatible both Kubuntu and KDE4 already are, enabling a computer newbie to use her computer without those “horrible beeps” and restarts she experienced before. She doesn’t miss Windows at all and say that it’s far more beautiful and not more difficult now than before
- KDE and the apps that keep the dragon hot
- Amarok October Updates
- Mom-compatible Kubuntu Intrepid with KDE4
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Kernel
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Ubuntu
F/OSS
- Sardinia government drives for open-source software
- Why ‘Joe the Plumber’ Should Switch to Open Source
- Google’s Energy Ideas Might Emerge Under Open Source Licenses — Or Not
- The Impact of Open Source Software on Transforming Government
- Help me! I use Open Source.
- Divide and Conquer: Open Source and SaaS Take on Enterprise Software
- Maybe ‘Open Source’ Cars Aren’t So Crazy After All
- Will BlackBerry and Kindle go the open source route?
- BMW seeks joint vehicle electronics effort
- Logistics technology: Compiere rolls out open source WMS
- Avoid piracy pitfalls, go open source
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CMS
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FSFE
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GPL
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GNU
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OpenOffice.org
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Firefox
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Proprietary on Top of/with F/OSS
- Open Source StarPound Targets Voice, Video Integration with Data, BPM
- Open Source Data Integrator Talend Adds SAP Data
- ING Direct redesign extends to open source mash-ups
- The Shape of the Cloud
- Unison™ Offers First Fully-Unified Communications Software for Schools and Colleges
- Unicon Announces Services for Shibboleth Federating Software for Secure Single Sign On and Authentication
Leftovers
- Once Again, Give It Away And Pray Isn’t A Business Model
- Neil Gaiman: Piracy vs. Obscurity
- Intel misses EU antitrust case deadline
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Rights
Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day
Digital Tipping Point: Dan Gillmor, creator of the phrase, “Distributed Journalism” 04 (2005)
Digital Tipping Point is a Free software-like project where the raw videos are code. You can assist by participating.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
David Gerard said,
October 29, 2008 at 9:42 am
I expect the BoycottNovell article on linux.com provoked much snickering. Is this the point at which they shift from “ignore” to “fight”? Bypassing “laugh” altogether. Here’s to hits!
Roy Schestowitz said,
October 29, 2008 at 9:51 am
Bruce just did another article and it’s backfiring.
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2008-10-28-036-35-OP-CY-0001
“Bruce your ability to offend people and then disingenuously crying wolf does not amuse… ”
“This was a common trick by Rob Enderle [...] Back in the anti-trust trial/sco trial days; put out something that is nothing more than flame-bait and then cries of “poor me” or worse “those open-source meanies”.”
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2008-10-28-036-35-OP-CY-0000
“Ah brucy [...] He must be torqued off about the backlash from his boycott-novell article on Linux.com. Here’s news for you bruce: It’s not just FOSS.”
“The fact is the FOSS community is a community plagued by fears; fears about Microsoft, sellout Linux vendors, patent trolls, SCO, Apple, you name it. And when people get afraid, they get irrational, and everyone starts looking suspicious.”
David Gerard said,
October 29, 2008 at 10:02 am
Voltaire was right.
Roy Schestowitz said,
October 29, 2008 at 10:14 am
That too was said, in several places in fact.
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2008-10-24-030-35-NW-CY-0005
“‘Tolerating’ an opinion just means to not otherwise
try to prevent people from voicing it except by
arguments to the contrary. This implies that people
who call publishing an opinion which is not in line
with some or all of their own ‘intolerant’ are actually
themselves guilty of being intolerant. ”
In general, LinuxToday readers are quite supportive of us.
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2008-10-24-030-35-NW-CY