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Eyemagnet Limited to sponsor Gnash developmentEyemagnet Limited to sponsor Gnash development
Technical director Steve Castellotti of Eyemagnet has offered the Gnash proejct "a few paid hours of Gnash development time"
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Women are irrelevant to the free software communityWomen are irrelevant to the free software community
Barely one percent of all commits to free software projects are done female contributors.
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Vietnam to widely use open source softwareVietnam to widely use open source software
Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop asked that 100% of servers of IT divisions of government agencies must be installed with open source software by June 30, 2009.
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Flash Player 9 Update Release Candidate availableFlash Player 9 Update Release Candidate available
Adobe has released an updated release candidate of their proprietary software flash player. It has some new features such as support for H.264 video, but it really does not matter as the license remains totally unacceptable.
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News and headlines

Latest Linux / Computer / Technology News and Headlines

LXer Linux News
  • IBM Raises Dividend 10%, Adds $3 Billion to Buyback
    International Business Machines Corp., the world's biggest computer-services provider, increased its dividend by 10 percent to expand shareholder returns after scrapping a bid to buy Sun Microsystems Inc. The quarterly payout will rise 5 cents to 55 cents, IBM said today in a statement before its annual shareholder meeting in Miami Beach, Florida. The company also boosted its stock repurchase plan by $3 billion.
  • Operating System Reaction Times
    New technology doesn't wait for a 5 year release cycle. It just happens. Operating systems have to be ready for it, and, more importantly, flexible.
  • A Painful Decision
    There has been some discussion in recent days in the Rails community about appropriate conference presentations, whether women feel welcome in the Rails community, and related issues....But unfortunately for me, in parallel to the public discussion there have been private ones. I can't reveal details without breaking confidences, but suffice it to say that a significant number of Rails core contributors - with leadership (if that's the right word) from DHH - apparently feel that being unwelcoming and "edgy" is not just acceptable, but laudable. The difference between their opinions and mine is so severe that I cannot in good conscience remain a public spokesman for Rails. So, effective immediately, I'm resigning my position with the Rails Activists.

    [I commend you for why you are doing it Mike, speaks to your character fortitude. - Scott]

  • Xen Live Migration Of An LVM-Based Virtual Machine With iSCSI On Debian Lenny
    This guide explains how you can do a live migration of an LVM-based virtual machine (domU) from one Xen host to the other. I will use iSCSI to provide shared storage for the virtual machines in this tutorial. Both Xen hosts and the iSCSI target are running on Debian Lenny in this article.
  • Oracle and Sun: Match Made in Hades?
    Does Oracle+Sun spell dream come true or disaster for the open source movement? The blogosphere has been ringing with opinions left, right and center on the topic, and perhaps just one thing is certain: The times they are a-changing.
  • Reconfigure automatic login in ubuntu 9.04 jaunty jackalope
    If you like me upgraded to ubuntu 9.04 jaunty jackalope changes are that you are confronted with a login screen at startup. Here's an easy way to get back your settings to login immediately. If you think this is a security risk, just read the article 10 ways of resetting a lost linux root password and think if you really need to protect against 4 year olds. If you really need security take appropriate measures. To me the login screen is only an annoyance. Here's how to remove it:
  • Spanish Government to Hand Schools Over to Microsoft?
    It's not the first time Microsoft has tried to wrestle away market share from free software using shady tactics. Suddenly, Microsoft seems to have discovered that education is strategic for their enterprise and they are pouring resources into cornering the market... at least in areas where Linux has the lead.
  • Btrfs Is Not Yet The Performance King
    With the release this week of Fedora 11 Preview, which incorporates install-time support for the Btrfs file-system into Red Hat's Anaconda installer, we have now delivered our first set of benchmark results for this next-generation Linux file-system. Through a horde of disk tests we have looked at the Btrfs file-system performance and compared it to that of EXT3, EXT4, and XFS. While Btrfs does perform well in some areas, it is not yet the performance king for Linux file-systems. As our results show, in some tests it even has a hard time competing with the incremental EXT4 file-system.
  • Presto! It's a New Netbook
    How about a cool new Linux desktop? Yeah? But this one really works.
  • The Tiny Unix And Linux Shell Crash Course For Beginners
    Probably not all that much fun for an experienced admin, but a good introduction for the green.
OSNews
  • Rumour: Apple To Start Competing on Price
    While we generally don't really report on Apple rumours (for obvious reasons) I thought the one currently making its rounds across the countless copying/pasting Apple websites is pretty interesting discussion material. According to the ominpresent and omnipotent "people familiar with the matter", as told by AppleInsider, Apple is preparing to compete on... Price.
  • Solaris 10 5/09 Released
    Sun is rolling out the latest update to Solaris 10 with enhancements to Solaris Containers, tighter integration with IPSec and upgrades to its Logical Domains technology. The updated Solaris also includes the work Sun and Intel have done over the past two years to optimize the operating system to take advantage of the power, management and monitoring capabilities in Intel's new Xeon 5500 series processors, code-named Nehalem. The seventh update to Solaris 10 comes a year before the planned release of the next-generation Sun OS.
  • OpenBSD 4.5 Released
    The OpenBSD team has released OpenBSD 4.5. There have been lots of changes and bug fixes, but it's a rather daunting list that doesn't really lend itself towards a summary (hint), but I guess if you use OpenBSD you are perfectly capable of figuring this out yourself. You can get the new release from the download page.
  • Icaros Desktop 1.1.1 Released
    Icaros Desktop 1.1.1 has been released. Icaros Desktop is a distribution of the AROS operating system. "This newer version provides the latest system files, including the newer ata.device from Neil Cafferkey, which fixes many incompatibility issues and should help people who couldn't try AROS before, to boot it on their computers. This new releases includes also an improved version of the OWB browser and fixes some system issues encountered with the 1.1 release. For this reason, this update is available in two versions: an update CD for Icaros Desktop 1.1 users and a complete full live! DVD for new users."
  • Second Palm webOS Phone Rumoured
    The Palm Pre and its webOS aren't even out yet, and there's already news of another Palm device that will ship in the second half of the year, also running the webOS. First it was just a rumour, but now we have pictures and hardware specifications - and now it's still just a rumour, but with pretty pictures and a spec list. Sadly, there's still no word on exactly when the Pre will arrive, but some evidence points towards June 7 - the day before Apple's WWDC starts.
  • *Review: Canon EOS 5D mkII*
    I moved into the realm of digital SLR photography back in 2003 when when I got myself a Canon 10D. The 10D served me very well for 7 years and 14 000 pictures. Then I decided it was time for an upgrade so, I got myself a full frame 21 Megapixel monster, the EOS 5D MkII. It's quite an upgrade, it even does video. These are my impressions after having it for a few weeks. Read more on this exclusive OSNews article...
  • Windows 7 RC Released to TechNet, MSDN Subscribers
    As announced, the Windows 7 release candidate is now available for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. "The RC milestone is a result of feedback from millions of customers and partners around the world. It indicates the operating system is entering the final phases of development and is ready for partners to develop new applications, device drivers and services, and ready for IT pros to evaluate Windows 7 and examine how it will operate in their environment." The public release will be May 5.
  • DragonFlyBSD 2.2.1 Released
    DragonFlyBSD 2.2.1 has been released. It's an intermediary release with no important new features, but it does have a number of bugfixes. Get it from the download page.
  • NetBSD 5.0 Released, Brings Major SMP Improvements
    The guys and girls behind the NetBSD project have released version 5.0 of their BSD operating system. NetBSD is a highly-portable operating system, the second open-source BSD implementation (after 386BSD). Naturally, version 5.0 comes packed with a whole boatload of improvements.
  • XPM Designed for Small-Businesses, Not Us Geeks
    When the news got out that Windows 7 would get a "Classic"-like virtual environment for running Windows XP applications that would otherwise not run on Windows 7, we hoped it would mark the beginning of Microsoft moving backwards compatibility into a VM. This would then allow them to cut major cruft out of the operating system. However, with more and more information trickling out about Windows XP Mode, it becomes more and more clear this new feature has little to do with cutting backwards compatibility (as I already said when we covered this subject during our latest podcast). Update: Paul Thurrot states you can install other operating systems into Windows XP Mode's virtual machine as well. This is a great selling point for us enthusiasts.
Techworld.com News
  • SnapGear rides again with McAfee UTM re-launch
    Four companies and six years later...

    Sold several times over, the great survivor of the security product world, SnapGear, has made its latest appearance in McAfee colours.



  • SAP records 33 percent fall in software sales
    Blames downturn.

    SAP is feeling the effect of customers reluctant to spend on new software, after the German software giant recorded a 33 percent fall in software sales.



  • Microsoft responds to accusations in EU anti-trust case
    Requests oral hearing to put its case.

    Microsoft has submitted a written response to anti-trust charges over the way it bundles the IE browser with Windows. And a Commission spokesman revealed that Redmond has asked the European Commission for an oral hearing with the regulator.



  • Research spells the end of sleepy laptops
    Instant-on machines with no booting.

    Laptops in 'sleep mode' that drain battery life could be soon something of the past after researchers at several US universities developed a technology that will instantly wake up laptops, even if they are in a shut-down state.



  • Oracle pinged with supply chain lawsuit
    i2 says Oracle infringed 11 patents.

    Oracle has been sued for alleged patent infringement by supply chain management vendor i2 Technologies.



  • Adobe refreshes website update tool
    Content updating for dummies.

    Adobe Systems is to release a hosted, online version of its web content maintenance tool that allows less-technically gifted personnel to update website content from any web browser.



  • Microsoft talks cloud for infrastructure software
    Because no cloud is an island.

    Microsoft has begun outlining its plans for both public and private clouds in relation to its stack of data centre infrastructure software.



  • Facebook users hit with new phishing attack
    Attempts to nick usernames and passwords.

    Facebook users were hit with a phishing attack that tried to steal names and passwords from users of the popular social network.



  • Trend Micro to acquire Third Brigade
    Partnership leads to acquisition.

    Trend Micro has confirmed it is acquiring the Canadian intrusion-prevention and firewall software provider, Third Brigade, for an undisclosed sum.



  • Government ditches super-database plans
    ISPs to hold their own records.

    The UK government has scrapped its plans for a 'super-database' that would have held details of every telephone conversation, text message, email and web visit in the UK.



DesktopLinux.com PC World Latest Technology News LWN.net
  • OpenBSD 4.5 released
    OpenBSD 4.5 is out, right on schedule. It has the usual pile of new drivers and fixes; there are also ports for the Gumstix platform and the OpenMoko phone.
  • The GNOME Foundation is looking for help
    The GNOME Foundation has posted a call for help to keep operating at its current level in a hostile economy. "As the economy persists on this roller coaster of ups and downs, the Foundation is rolling with the punches and looking for ways to best serve our members. While we can look at this downturn as a time to tighten our belts, I would much rather look at this as an opportunity for the community to take a stake in the future of the Foundation and show that we are not exclusively reliant on corporate coffers to grow GNOME."
  • Rockefeller Looking to Grant Open Source (Linux Journal)
    Linux Journal reports that Senator Rockefeller has proposed a bill that promotes open-source health care software. "Thanks, in large part, to a little company called Standard Oil, Open Source isn't necessarily the first term to come to mind when one thinks of the name Rockefeller. However, that's exactly the term Mr. Rockefeller's great-grandson, Senator Jay Rockefeller, is pushing in Congress — attached to a bill to strengthen Open Source in health-care. The proposal in question, The Health Information Technology (IT) Public Utility Act of 2009 (Senate Bill 890), is the latest in a series of Open-Source-in-Health-IT bills aimed at taking health-care — or at least health records — digital, one way or another."
  • Thursday Security Updates
    Ubuntu has updated apport (arbitrary file removal).
  • NetBSD 5.0 released
    NetBSD 5.0 is out; it looks like the developers have been busy. "In addition to scalability and performance improvements, a significant number of major features have been added. Some highlights are: a preview of metadata journaling for FFS file systems (known as WAPBL, Write Ahead Physical Block Logging), the 'jemalloc' memory allocator, the X.Org X11 distribution instead of XFree86 on a number of ports, the Power Management Framework, ACPI suspend/resume support on many laptops, write support for UDF file systems, the Automated Testing Framework, the Runnable Userspace Meta Program framework, Xen 3.3 support for both i386 and amd64, POSIX message queues and asynchronous I/O, and many new hardware device drivers." More information can be found in the release notes.
  • Kernel prepatch 2.6.30-rc4
    Linus has released the 2.6.30-rc4 kernel prepatch. Changes this time around include Tux's return as the kernel mascot and a whole bunch of fixes. Plus the code name for this release has been changed to "Vindictive Armadillo." Full details can be found in the long-format changelog.
  • LWN.net Weekly Edition for April 30, 2009
    The LWN.net Weekly Edition for April 30, 2009 is available.
  • Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring released
    Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring has been released. "Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring comes with a big improvement in boot time. Tools of Mandriva Control Center have been also optimized. Network center is now supporting advanced network configuration together with additional pre-configured Internet providers, integration with new network devices and support for different wireless regulatory domains. msev, the Mandriva security framework has been also redesigned." See the tour page for details.
  • Wednesday's security updates
    Debian has updated libdbd-pg-perl (buffer overflow and denial of service), mysql-dfsg (denial of service and cross-site scripting), mplayer (multiple vulnerabilities), and ffmpeg-debian (two code execution vulnerabilities).

    Red Hat has updated kernel-rt (MRG kernel: several vulnerabilities).

    Ubuntu has updated firefox (update to 3.0.10)

  • Can you hear me now?
    [Volume widget] Anybody who has been anywhere near the fedora-devel list recently will have noted the, shall we say, spirited discussion about volume controls. Fedora looks to be one of the first distributions to ship the new, PulseAudio-integrated GNOME volume control application with its rather simplified user interface. This application is, in many ways, a clear improvement on its predecessors, but that improvement comes at a cost. Click below (subscribers only) for the full story.
Linux Journal - The Original Magazine of the Linux Community The Register eWeek - RSS Feeds
  • Intel Dominates a Declining x86 Processor Market
    Intel continues to dominate the worlds x86 microprocessor market, which suffered a 9 percent year-over-year decline, according to Mercury Research. Laptop chip shipments took an especially big hit as consumers and business buyers cut back on notebooks purchases. On the bright side, AMD regained some market share.
    - Intel continues to dominate a worldwide x86 microprocessor market that saw a year-over-year unit shipment decline of about 9 percent as consumers and business buys cut back on laptop purchases. The worlds x86 chip market declined 9.1 percent from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter...


  • Twitter Hacker Abused Yahoo to Get Administrative Access
    A French hacker claims to have accessed Twitter's administrative panel by breaking into the Yahoo e-mail account of a Twitter employee with administrator access and stealing the employee's password. The hacker reportedly was able to view data belonging to President Barack Obama, singer Britney Spears and actor Ashton Kutcher.
    - A French hacker reportedly used social engineering to get Twitter administrative access and posted screenshots of data belonging to several high-profile celebrities. The hacker, operating under the handle of Hacker Croll, posted 13 screenshots of Twitter's admin panel. The screenshots include in...


  • New Seagate Desktop Drive Plugs In, Backs Up
    New Replica appliance safeguards applications, operating systems and all other data -- without any human intervention. Replica also can automatically take a full image of the hard drive -- including all the applications, the operating system and other data.
    - It's not enterprise-type storage by any means, but Seagate's new Replica direct-attached desktop hard drive for desktops, laptops or Netbook-type computers will probably see a lot of action in corporate settings. The Seagate Replica, launched April 27, automatically backs up documents, databases,...


  • McAfee Profit Up 77%, Results Beat Street View
    Security software maker McAfee reports a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street expectations and soared 77 percent as sales at both its consumer and business units climbed. First-quarter net income rose to $53.5 million, or 34 cents a share, from $30.2 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier.
    - BOSTON, April 30 (Reuters) McAfee Inc, the world's No. 2 security software maker, reported a quarterly profit that soared 77 percent as sales at both its consumer and business units climbed, helping it handily beat Wall Street expectations. It posted a profit, excluding items of 57 cents per sha...


  • Mandatory Shuttle Retirement Temporarily Postponed
    Lawmakers extend the space shuttle program's retirement deadline from 2010 to 2011 in a budget vote that may or may not survive a final reconciliation vote. Neither NASA nor the White House is seeking the delay.
    - Congress agreed April 29 to continue to keep the space shuttle flying until 2011. Originally the shuttle program was scheduled for a 2010 retirement, but lawmakers approved the extension along with an additional $2.5 billion in operational funding as part of the House and Senate conference agreem...


  • Disney to Join Fox, NBC in Hulu Stake
    Disney is reportedly taking a major stake in online video site Hulu, joining News Corp. and NBC in streaming its content for the masses. The competition for market share in the online video space has increased, with Hulu battling it out with YouTube, Fox Interactive Media, Microsoft and others.
    - Disney will join News Corp., NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners as a joint venture partner and equity owner of Hulu, the streaming-video Website notable for displaying new TV shows such as quot;24 quot; and older movies. Hulu now has three major networks and 150 other content providers...


  • Sun Updates Solaris 10 with Focus on Virtualization, Security
    Sun is rolling out the latest update to Solaris 10 with enhancements to Solaris Containers, tighter integration with IPSec and upgrades to its Logical Domains technology. The updated Solaris also includes the work Sun and Intel have done over the past two years to optimize the operating system to take advantage of the power, management and monitoring capabilities in Intel's new Xeon 5500 series processors, code-named Nehalem. The seventh update to Solaris 10 comes a year before the planned release of the next-generation Sun OS.
    - Sun Microsystems, in the midst of getting bought by Oracle for $7.4 billion, is releasing the latest update to its Solaris 10 operating system, focused on enhancing virtualization, security and network communications. The new features in Solaris 10 5/09 also include greater optimization for I...


  • Obama Makes Mignon Clyburn Second FCC Pick
    Following his pick of Julius Genakowski as FCC chairman, President Obama moves to fill an open Democrat seat on the five-person panel with Mignon L. Clyburn, a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission since 1998 and the daughter of House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn.
    - President Obama nominated April 29 Mignon L. Clyburn, a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission since 1998 and the daughter of House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, to fill an open seat at the Federal Communications Commission. If approved by Congress, Clyburn will fill the sea...


  • Nokia N97 Smartphone Goes for the Cool
    The N97 will be available for purchase in June. Meanwhile, Nokia has teamed with Aptana to deliver tools for building applications using the Nokia Web Runtime. As Nokia prepares to launch its Ovi Store mobile application marketplace, the company also is delivering a new mobile device optimized to run applications available on the Ovi Store. According to Nokia: The Nokia N97 is a S60 5th Edition mobile computer with a large 3.5-inch, bright nHD (640 by 360 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio) TFT color display with resistive touch-screen and tactile feedback. The device provides excellent user experience for Internet and entertainment by combining QWERTY keyboard with touch UI and Home screen functionality. Use the N97 to connect to mobile broadband using WLAN or HSDPA (3.5G). Find directions and locations with the integrated A-GPS and included maps.
    - ...


  • IBM Bridges SOA, Cloud Computing
    With a new hardware appliance and new version of WebSphere Application Server, IBM is giving enterprises an easier way to bring their SOA investments into the cloud computing realm. WebSphere CloudBurst Appliance gives businesses a place to store SOA images and patterns that can then be brought into cloud environments. WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition is optimized to run in virtualized environments and comes preloaded with WebSphere CloudBurst. Both products also integrate with tools from IBM's Rational and Tivoli businesses.
    - IBM wants to make it easier for businesses to extend their SOA investments into the cloud. IBM on April 30 rolled out a new hardware appliance and a new virtualization-focused version of its WebSphere Application Server that, together, give enterprises a smooth path for bringing their service-o...


DailyTech News Feed RootPrompt -- Nothing but Unix
  • Build Your Own Multitouch Surface Computer (28 Apr 2009)
    While I still like the command line. This is pretty cool."There are several different ways to make a multi-touch surface, but we'll focus on the one that we employed: the FTIR screen. An FTIR (short for Frustrated Total Internal Reflection) setup involves three vital components: a sheet of transparent acrylic, a chain of infrared LEDs, and a camera with an IR filter. The LEDs are arranged around the outside of the sheet of acrylic so that they shine directly into the thin side surfaces." B
  • Oracle brass coax Sun troops with tough love (27 Apr 2009)
    How could you kill an open source product?"Oracle's senior management has expressed its love for Sun Microsystems' software and hardware but warned tough decisions are coming on what people and products stay. President Charles Phillips and chief corporate architect Edward Screven have committed to keeping Java open and to not killing MySQL. They also mocked the idea Oracle would simply shut down or close off certain technologies and talked tough on Oracle's smarts as a hardware vendor." Or
  • Migrate to a virtual Linux environment with Clonez (23 Apr 2009)
    In this article, learn how to use the open source Clonezilla Live cloning software to convert your physical server to a virtual one. Specifically, see how to perform a physical-to-virtual system migration using an image-based method.
  • Realities of open source Cloud Computing with PHP (23 Apr 2009)
    In this article you will learn how Aptana makes it easy to develop applications based on PHP and MySQL, and how to deploy them to the cloud. Also explore some of the critical design differences between a cloud application and a traditional N-tier application.
  • Michael Widenius on Sun purchase (22 Apr 2009)
    Michael Widenius aka Monty is the founder and original developer of MySQL. Not that long ago he left his job with Sun. These are his thoughts on the purchase of Sun by Oracle and how it will affect MySQL. "This brings up the question, once again, how can one own an Open Source Project. Patrick Galbraith, summed up his feelings in a recent blog post, , that the "ownership" of Free and open source projects has more to do with who provides the best stewardship of the code, rather than who
  • Oracle Buys Sun - No not April fools (21 Apr 2009)
    This is one I did not see coming. Seems like a much better fit than IBM. But what do I know. The thing I am most wondering about is what is going to be happening with MySQL."So today we take another step forward in our journey, but along a different path - by announcing that this weekend, our board of directors and I approved the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by the Oracle Corporation for $9.5/share in cash. All members of the board present at the meeting to review the transaction vot
  • Memcached Performance on Sun's Nehalem System (21 Apr 2009)
    Never have used memcached, but looks straight forward enough. It is interesting to me that there really is no free lunch. If your database machine is not fast enough and you spread out the load to memcached, you then need a very fast network. and so forth. "A single instance of memcached was run on a SunFire X227 (2 socket Nehalem) with 48GB of memory and an Oplin 1G card. Several external client systems were used to drive load against the server using an internally developed Memcached be
  • AIX secure flavor of FTP based on OpenSSL (20 Apr 2009)
    AIX V6.1 has introduced a secure flavor of FTP (and ftpd) based on OpenSSL, using Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt both the command and the data channels of file transfer. This article coveres the various aspects of the secure FTP setup, which includes the complete FTP service configuration on the server side, as well as the client side.
  • Cloud computing with Android Linux (14 Apr 2009)
    The open source Android operating system has allowed for sophisticated Cloud Computing applications to run wherever you are. Designed to be highly efficient on battery-powered devices like the T-Mobile G1 smartphone, at heart, Android is Linux. Learn more about the several layers to the Android programming model that permit the creation of secure applications that are tailor-made for Cloud Computing.
  • GNU Radio: the open-source software defined Radio (13 Apr 2009)
    Pretty cool stuff. Prices from Ettus don't look too bad. For Ham stuff that is."GNU Radio applications are mainly written in Python; however, the critical and low-level algorithms and signal processing modules are written using the C/C++ programming language, with wide usage of floating-point specific instructions for the relevant processor. Python is primarily used to setup the flow graph, after that most of the work is done in C/C++. GNU Radio is simple to use and a radio receiver can
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Apache Week 349
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