"Like Dracula, the old myth that free software can't innovate keeps returning. Its latest incarnation is in the form of a column by Jaron Lanier in the December issue of Discover Magazine. (The column isn't online yet, but Lanier has disparaged community-based creativity many times, in particular when talking about Wikipedia). But this accusation is one that's overdue for a stake through the heart. Those who have experienced free software projects firsthand know that they depend on innovation and genrally foster it. And although this isn't a highly innovative era for the computer industry as a whole, free software is an exception -- and likely to become more of one as it continues to come into its own.
Read more »Staking the Myth that Free Software Can't Innovate
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com –
Peru signs up for 260,000 OLPC laptops
http://www.news.com –
One month after the One Laptop Per Child charity went into mass production with its $188 laptop, the Peruvian government has signed a contract to purchase 260,000 units.
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DesktopBSD moves into Vietnam
http://www.saigonlinux.com:8080 –
DesktopBSD has moved into Vietnam when it was recently added to the Vietnam BSD/Linux Mirror by the Saigon Linux Group and GHP Far East, two companies promoting open source technology in Vietnam.
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Open-source backer: Software a 'renewable' resource
http://www.computerworld.com.au –
As a lawyer, law professor and software programmer, Eben Moglen is passionate about technology, software and user freedom. A former board member of the Free Software Foundation and the founder, president and executive director of the Software Freedom Law Center in New York since 2005, Moglen has worked to protect and advance open source and free software.
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ODF vs. OOXML: War of the Words Chapter 2
http://www.consortiuminfo.org –
This is the second chapter in a real-time eBook writing project I launched and explained last week. The following is one of a number of stage-setting chapters to follow. Comments, corrections and suggestions gratefully accepted. All Microsoft product names used below are registered trademarks of Microsoft.
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Open Source Profits During A Recession
http://www.intranetjournal.com –
Over the past few months there's been a lot of talk about the possibility of a recession. And for those of you working in various aspects of the IT sector, job security is certainly a concern. This type of financial climate change can often lead to a difference in the software buying habits of the casual computer user and those in the business world.
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Creating Ringtones with Linux (Debian)
http://www.go2linux.org –
This howto shows you how to edit mp3 files to make the useful as ringtones using audacity with Linux, then you can upload using bluetooth.
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MPAA's University wiretapping product taken down for violating copyright
http://mjg59.livejournal.com –
"...The GPL requires anyone who makes a program based on GPL'ed code has to release the source code for their program and license it under the GPL. The MPAA refused multiple requests to provide the sources for their spyware, so an Ubuntu developer sent a DMCA notice to the MPAA's ISP and demanded that the material be taken down as infringing."
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KMyMoney - KDE finance management
http://fosswire.com –
Money management. It’s generally not very fun, but it’s something we all have to deal with. There are several open source applications for finance management, GnuCash being one of the most well known and a very strong contender. Over on the KDE specific side, we have KMyMoney, currently at version 0.8.7.
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Eben on Software Ecology
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com –
"If you've become dependent on a commons, for whatever role in your business, then what you need is commons management. You don't strip mine the forest, you don't fish every fish out of the sea. And, in particular, you become interested in conservation and equality. You want the fish to remain in the sea and you don't want anybody else overfishing.
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Open source tool helps fight measles
http://www.tectonic.co.za –
The Washington Post on Friday reported that global measles fatalities had been reduced by two-thirds following stepped-up vaccination campaigns since 2000...this phenomenal success had a helping hand from open source software.
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Ted Ts'o joins the Linux Foundation
http://www.marketwire.com –
Kernel hacker Ted Ts'o has joined the Linux Foundation as Chief Platform Strategist. He says,"I'm looking forward to continuing the LSB [Linux Standards Base] and other Linux Foundation initiatives to make the Linux platform even more competitive to the benefit of the entire Linux community."
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KDE 4.0 to be Released in January
http://dot.kde.org –
The KDE Release Team has decided to release KDE 4.0 this coming January. The release was originally planned for mid-December. The KDE developers want to solve a couple of essential issues before releasing.
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Mozilla scoffs at vulnerability study rating IE superior to Firefox
http://arstechnica.com –
Jeffrey Jones, a researcher and the Security Strategy Director at Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group, recently posted a report [in which] Jones came to the conclusion that, contrary to popular belief, Internet Explorer has experienced fewer security vulnerabilities than Firefox over the same periods of time.
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Back Up Your Files With Pybackpack On Fedora 8
http://www.howtoforge.com –
This document describes how to set up, configure and use Pybackpack on Fedora 8. The result is an easy to use backup system for desktop usage. Pybackpack creates incremental backups which can be stored locally or remotely (SSH) - the usage of removable devices is supported. You have also the option to burn the backup(s) directly on a CD/DVD.
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Read contents from Free Software Magazine
Anybody up to writing good directory software?
Tue, 2007-02-20 11:17 — David JonathanFrom the very start, directories have served a very useful purpose on the Internet. (One I find useful for example is Free Web Directory). News sites can also be considered directories: they index and categorize news stories! What about categorizing software? In the open source world you get Savannah, SourceForge, Freshmeat; there are still, believe it or not, shareware and freeware directories like FileBuzz, PCWin Download Center and Freeware Downloads (although you need to be careful, as they are not like their free-as-in-freedom counterparts).
Is better education the key to finding better software?
Sat, 2007-03-03 03:25 — Edward RusselAbout Jonathon's article Anybody Up To Writing Good Directory Software?, it's clear that the topic of software directories is very hot. Most of what you find on Google, however, are not pointing to free and open soruce software -- or worse, they mix the two. Examples of such sites are Freeware Downloads and Shareware Download, which simply don't focus on "free as in freedom", and still can be used as good free software directories.
