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Daily Linux Slash Geek News [ submit news ] |
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OpenOffice.org gives MS Office a run for no money
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"The OpenOffice.org office suite has come a long way -- so much so that it's now a viable alternative to MS Office. See how this open source application fares against the Goliath It's so hard to let go. Even those IT managers who want to make the break from Microsoft to Linux can't find the strength to let go of Microsoft Office. They can't imagine something that could replace it. So they certainly can't imagine that there is a package out there that can not only replace Microsoft Office but can replace it for free. OpenOffice.org is the powerhouse suite that is raising the ante in the battle for office space. Here's an overview of this product so that you can judge whether it would work in your enterprise." Good read... |
| November 29, 2002, 2:02 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Group urges limits on open source
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"The U.S. Defense Department should think twice before embracing open-source software, a trade association is advising. The 'Initiative for Software Choice', which counts Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Intel among its backers, said in comments filed Tuesday that the department should 'avoid crafting needless and potentially detrimental IT policy to promote the use' of open-source software. 'Open source' means every software developer can view the source code for software, modify it, and use it for free." Ho Hum. Same old FUD. Bought and paid for by guess who? Lot of interesting links though... |
| November 29, 2002, 1:45 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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A CTO gives thanks
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"THANKSGIVING IS upon us, and I'm already counting my blessings despite a tough year for IT. Although 2002 has been a difficult year, there are plenty of things to be thankful for in the world of IT. As I reflect on the past year, I am grateful for several things. I am very thankful for the efforts of my staff. I frequently write about the CTO's challenge of doing more with less, and the InfoWorld technology staff deals with many of those issues on a day-to-day basis. As resources diminish, systems administrators are running more machines, desktop support staff are supporting more users, and the work of developers has not abated. While budgets and staffing for IT are sharply reduced in many companies, the work of running IT is more complex than ever." Nice bit. We really do have a lot to be thankful for don't we? I know I do. |
| November 29, 2002, 1:37 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Hospital Brought Down by Networking Glitch
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"Posted by michael on Wednesday November 27, @09:41AM from the risks-digest dept. hey! writes 'The Boston Globe reports that Beth Israel Deaconess hospital suffered a major network outage due to a problem with spanning tree protocol. Staff had to scramble to find old paper forms that hadn't been used in six years so they could transfer vital patient records and prescriptions. Senior executives were reduced to errand runners as the hospital struggled with moving information around the campus. People who have never visited Boston's Medical Area might not appreciate the magnitude of this disaster: these teaching hospitals are huge, with campuses and staff comparable to a small college, and many, many computers. The outage lasted for days, despite Cisco engineers from around the region rushing to the hospital's aid.' Although the article is short on details, the long term solution proposed apparently is to build a complete parallel network. Slashdot network engineers (armchair and professional): do you think the answer to having a massive and unreliable network is to build a second identical network?" Hmmm... a thought provoking bit. Especially the comments at the end. Typical /. in many ways :) Gotta love it though. There's a comment from the CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in there if you dig a bit. :) Worth it really. Still don't know what network OS it was though as it's not mentioned really. If I find out more I'll let you know. Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving (U.S.) to one and all. Bill |
| November 29, 2002, 1:12 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Court blocks state DVD-cracking suit
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| "The California Supreme Court handed Hollywood's antipiracy efforts a setback Monday, ruling that a Texas resident who posted controversial DVD-cracking code online can't be sued in the Golden State." |
| November 28, 2002, 10:19 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Japan Today: Microsoft to Promote Open-Source Software in Japan
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| "Microsoft Corp has decided to promote open-source operating systems in Japan to cooperate with an electronic government project, company officials said Wednesday." |
| November 28, 2002, 10:17 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Hackers Fight Censorship, Human Rights Violations (eWeek)
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| eWeek looks at the Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement (HESSLA). "Under the HESSLA, users are free to make changes to applications covered by the license and redistribute them, but the agreement also gives them the right to sue if they find someone using the application for malicious purposes. There is also a provision that dictates if any government uses the software as part of a scheme that violates human rights, the government thereby waives its right to sovereign immunity from prosecution in foreign courts."
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| November 28, 2002, 10:15 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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"What's happening is that Microsoft sales reps have been instructed to be on the lookout for any businesses that are migrating some of their machines to the Lindows OS," Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio told NewsFactor. "If [the sales reps] think there's a real threat of some pretty large numbers of defections to open source, they can request authorization from Microsoft higher-ups to offer steeply discounted pricing."
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| November 28, 2002, 10:12 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Broadband secrets revealed
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| "The presentation of the benefits of high-speed internet access have little to do with how people actually use broadband, a report has found." |
| November 28, 2002, 10:10 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Microsoft targets defectors with discounts
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"Microsoft said it plans to offer smaller companies a more lenient licensing plan intended to stem defections to Linux or other open-source software. The software giant on Tuesday said it will launch the new plan, called Open Value, early next year. The new program is part of Microsoft's controversial Licensing 6 volume licensing program, which was put in place this summer. Many Microsoft customers--particularly smaller companies--have resisted Licensing 6 and its 'Software Assurance' program for buying software under two- or three-year maintenance contracts. Up to two-thirds of Microsoft customers either rejected the plan or bought partial upgrades under the older Licensing 5 program, analysts say" Is it just me or does Microsoft more and more resemble the Gestapo of Hitler's Germany than a software company with every day that goes by.... |
| November 27, 2002, 9:41 p.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Windows Refund Day II: a Call for Action
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"[Linux Community] WRDII event to coincide with LinuxWorld Expo New York, January 2003. Why is there a call for action: Computer manufacturers must be held accountable for their refusal to provide consumers with a refund for unused copies of the Windows operating system shipped with today's computers. Where do I need to take action: Courthouses around the globe." Not interested in the excuses of the companies that say they 'have no choice...' because they DO have one. To install something other than Microsoft in the first place, or to CHEEFULLY give a refund to those that want it and did not ask for anything from Microsoft to be installed to begin with. Let THEM deal with getting the money back from Microsoft. Good luck to them I say. |
| November 27, 2002, 9:29 p.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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UnitedLinux Releases Version 1.0
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"Nov. 19, 2002 Las Vegas, NV -- (press release excerpt) -- Today the UnitedLinux group announced the release of Version 1.0 of its UnitedLinux product, a standards-based Linux operating system targeted at the business user. UnitedLinux is the result of an industry initiative to streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform distribution of Linux. Founding companies of UnitedLinux are Linux industry leaders Conectiva S.A., The SCO Group, SuSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux, Inc. UnitedLinux Version 1.0 is the engine that powers products to be sold by the four companies, each with its own local language support, value-add features, and pricing. Sponsors of the UnitedLinux 1.0 launch event are HP and IBM. Today's announcement was made during the UnitedLinux press conference at the COMDEX event in Las Vegas." You really ought to check this out more closely. I intend to. :) |
| November 23, 2002, 12:48 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Debian GNU/Linux Advisory: security.debian.org Restored After Twente Fire
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"The Debian Team has reinstalled security.debian.org/ on the host klecker, which is hosted at XS4all in the Netherlands. We apologize that it took about two days to resurrect this important service, but we are happy that it only costed two days. Kudos to James Troup who did most of the work. The current archive on security.debian.org/ was pulled from a mirror and double checked before it was put online on the new host again." Good to hear. Apparently no one was injured. Machines are easily replaced eh? |
| November 23, 2002, 12:23 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Verizon sues to block privacy rules
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"Verizon has asked a federal court to stop state regulators from enforcing new privacy rules that would prohibit telephone companies from using or sharing details about customers' calling habits without permission. The local telephone company, which serves nearly 1 million customers across the state, had plans to begin a data-sharing system that allowed the company and its affiliates to collect information on when, where and how often customers make telephone calls. It would use that data to sell new products and services to customers. But the new rules adopted by the state Utilities and Transportation Commission two weeks ago require companies to seek the permission of consumers to share information about them. Verizon had intended to exclude only consumers who objected to the sharing of information. It would have included everyone else, whether they had given permission or not. The state rules are scheduled to take effect in January. In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle yesterday, Verizon has accused the state rules of violating the company's right to free speech." OK. Maybe it's just me. Can someone explain to me just exactly HOW a company ends up with 'rights to free speech' that so far as I know the U.S. Constitution guarantees to PEOPLE. Truly bizarre. They take your personal and private information, use it without your knowledge or consent, and it is a 'free speech' issue? I think not. Keep an eye on this one. |
| November 23, 2002, 12:17 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Lindows.com Introduces Version 3 Of Linux Desktop
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"Lindows.com has introduced LindowsOS 3.0, which features streamlined application installation and added support for Microsoft Office file formats. Additionally, Lindows.com said it plans a version of its operating system for the StepUp Computing DocuNote Tablet PC for availability in the first quarter of 2003. The software, available immediately and priced at $129, includes a library of installation files for popular Linux freeware and commercial applications, which can be installed individually or in prepackaged groups of applications with a single click." Worth a read. |
| November 21, 2002, 2:01 p.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Mandrake 9.0 vs. Mandrake 8.2 for new Linux users
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| Intresting look at Mandrake 9. |
| November 21, 2002, 9:53 a.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Gnus for Mail and Newsgroups
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"A tutorial for using and configuring Gnus in Emacs that can make your inbox a cleaner and much more efficient place. E-mail has become an integral part of our lives. Many of us spend several hours reading it each day. Adding Netnews newsgroups to the mix only increases the burden. Many tools are available to help us manage and pre-sort e-mail and Netnews. One of the best is Gnus (pronounced guh-NEWS), which is included in the Emacs editor utility." They have that kitchen sink icon for a reason eh? :) Bill |
| November 20, 2002, 9:54 p.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Linux Certifications, part one: Linux Professional Institute raises the bar on testing
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"by Tina Gasperson - The Linux Professional Intitute isn't out to make money. That could be the factor that sets this Linux certification agency apart from the others - if nothing else, LPI can certainly claim to be the only certification body with non-profit status. Not having to focus on the bottom line provides certain benefits to people who want to become Linux professionals. For example, LPI is known for giving free tests at LinuxWorld conferences. 'We're going to be doing that at every LinuxWorld Expo,' says Evan Leibovitch, the president of LPI. And they don't put any limitations on the number of testees. 'It is come one, come all,' he adds. 'We do a number of certification labs around the world where we give free or reduced rate exams. In Frankfurt we did one and we gave the exams for no cost; There've been occasions where we've been invited to paricipate in certain events and provide testing. We've given them in China and in Vienna, and Toronto. We really have been going all over the place and doing this.' That's one of the benefits. Another, says Leibovitch, is that LPI is vendor-neutral and 'distribution-agnostic.' He says that LPI has been developed specifically to test competency in any and all Linux distributions." Ready to get serious about your Linux Cert? Vendor-neutral sounds like a winner to me. RHCE et.al. are fine so far as they go. This is better. I think so anyway. :) Bill |
| November 19, 2002, 6:18 p.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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OpenOffice.org Project Update
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" Here's the latest about what the OpenOffice Project is up to for language support, new platforms and development partnerships. OpenOffice.org ('OOo')--the development project behind OpenOffice.org 1.0 ('OOo1'), the open-source office suite--declared its 2nd birthday on October 13th, 2002, and the tone was optimistic. On that day, the Community announced 8.5 million binary downloads tracked over the life of the Project, with about 5 million of those coming after the launch of version 1.0 in May 2002. " Read it. You'll be glad you did. For those of you needing database as part of the package (not included in OOo1) you can get Sun's Star Office 6.0 for a fairly reasonable price. Or if you don't mind a bit of work save the dinero and install MySQL or one of the other truly fine Open Source Alternatives to MS Access. Bill |
| November 17, 2002, 11:27 p.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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Is Windows Cheaper Than Linux?
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"Sure, Linux is unknown territory for most users and many admins. But Microsoft has the annoying habit of changing Windows quite a bit every two years or so. " Rather lengthy. Especially if one follows all the 'interesting side paths' :) Worth the time to do though. Enjoy. Bill |
| November 17, 2002, 10:16 p.m. GMT (Posted by ) |
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