Some time ago, I talked about the possibility that, if Wine was perfect, you could simply migrate Windows user's applications directly into Ubuntu automatically. Obviously, that is far from reality today. Perhaps that sort of thing would be possible in the future, but, right now, there are just too many issues. There is another way to do something similar, though.

In most modern Linux distributions, network configuration is handled by NetworkManager, a desktop-neutral service that seamlessly manages connections. It leverages D-Bus and HAL to provide a standardized programming interface through which higher-level applications can interact with network configuration and expose networking functionality to the end user.

Within a few months of beginning with Linux, it became obvious that I was one of those who have severe difficulties settling on a distribution. This situation presents some unique challenges, but generally, I've found there are more benefits than drawbacks. While I may have favorites, or be more familiar with some distributions than others, they all offer a little something different.

Linux Mint 7, based on Ubuntu 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope”, and planned to be released in May 2009, will be codenamed “Gloria”.

Google unveils the open-source Blog Converters project for federating the exchange of data between blogging platforms, including Blogger, MoveableType, WordPress and LiveJournal. Blog Converters is just one facet of a fundamental shift from siloed Web sites, which lock users in to their services, to a more boundless Web, where users can liberally migrate their data from one Web site to the next.

OpenTaxSolver (OTS) is a free program for calculating Tax Form entries and tax-owed or refund-due, such as Federal or State personal income taxes. Updating of TaxSolver has begun for the 2008 tax-year. We are awaiting release of the 2008 forms.

Last time, I covered some different ways of using SSH for remote access on a LAN or over the Internet, using RSA keys for secure authentication, and how to use GNU Screen to keep a process running after disconnecting your SSH session.

How to get the complete Multimedia support in OpenSuse 11.1 (MP3, MPEG-4, DiVX, etc.)