Legislation and More Legislation
Patents
The subject of software patents has been a frequent topic of discussion
in this and other organs of the Free/Open-Source community. An
indication of the problems that lie ahead if these issues are not
satisfactorily resolved is provided by the current discussions
surrounding Munich's migration from Windows to GNU/Linux. In spite
of much campaigning by Microsoft, including visits by Steve Ballmer,
the Munich authorities have been pursuing an Open Source IT strategy.
However, one pro-Open-Source Munich alderman has
pointed out
that ongoing doubts about the current and future status of
software patents could wreck the plans. Though his concerns are
largely precautionary, Jens Muehlhaus is not the only party to see the
importance of patents.
Microsoft, for one, certainly believes that patents are a crucial tool
with which to control the market. To this end, over the past years the
company has
trebled the number of patents it files annually. Equally, there is
a growing awareness among the Free/Open-Source community of the issue,
and of possible ways to confront the problem.
While the American situation seems very hard to change (with
defensive
patenting being one of the more rational coping strategies) the
European scenario is still
quite malleable,
which hopefully will encourage some constructive engagement in this very
political process.
French Licence - CeCILL
Three French public bodies, the ECA, the INRIA, and the CNRS, have
published a new
free/open-source software licence: CeCILL
[
English translation].
The new licence aims to address some specific
points of French law that the writers of CeCILL believe cause
difficulties in the application of the GPL.
Linux Links
Project AMOS aims to automate reuse of open source code (a European
project aimed at creating a searchable database to automate the reuse of
free/open source software code).
Command line tips and trick
E-Voting,
a challenge to the Open Source community
Mozilla and the future of the web
Creating games with Pygame
Sun moves away from Linux
Analysing network attacks by
sorting through packets from your IDS.
Why to learn assembly language
Behind DragonFly BSD,
a look at the new fork of FreeBSD 4.
Who writes Linux
Four alternative Linux window managers, Newsforge takes a look at
life beyond KDE and Gnome:
AfterStep, Enlightenment, IceWM and FVWM.
Video production with Linux, Part II
Real world
Linux migration stories
DES to retire
News in General
Mandrake Storms French Government, Catalonia's Homage to CATix
The French Ministry of Equipment has
chosen Mandrakelinux Corporate Server
to replace 1,500 Microsoft Windows NT servers in a national scale
deployment.
In a similar trend,
Barcelona
city authorities have announced a plan to
phase out current Windows NT installations in favour of
CATix, a GNU/Linux localisation in Catalan.
Distro News
Conectiva
Conectiva Linux has
released version 10.0
of their GNU/Linux distribution.
Debian
Debian Weekly News reports
that
Debian is increasing it's market share.
Netcraft has reported data
indicating that
Debian shows market share gains among GNU/Linux distributions (Gentoo
currently has the fastest percentage growth rate). Debian
GNU/Linux is now running on more than 1 million web-facing hostnames.
Feather
Feather Linux
is a Knoppix-derived Linux distribution. It can run completely off a CD
or a USB memory-key and uses less than 64Mb of space. It provides a
selection of desktop-focused software. LinuxQuestions.org has
recently added an officially recognized forum
for the distribution
Mepis
A (largely positive)
review of
Mepis Linux
Progeny
Progeny Debian 2.0, Developer Edition Beta 1
has been released
and is available for download. This release represents a sample
implementation of Componentized Linux.
Red Hat
Red Hat is reported to
be preparing to sell a subscription service
supporting an open-source Java application server.
Turbo
Flexbeta has
reviewed
Turbo Linux 10f, the multi-media geared variant of Turbo Linux 10.
Vidalinux
Vidalinux
has
released Vidalinux Desktop OS beta2,
which is based on the 2.6.7-gentoo-r11 kernel.
Software and Product News
PhoneGaim
Linux vendor Linspire
has
released PhoneGaim, a free software
program that adds voice-over-IP functionality to the Linux-based Gaim
instant messaging client.
Maguma
Maguma
Workbench is a cross-platform source-level editor, also known
as an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). The product contains a
debugger, internal and external previews, adjustable themes, class
browser, new flexible layout, and more. As well as Linux, the product
is available for Windows and Mac OSX.
Motorola's Linux Smart Phone
LinuxDevices reports that US mobile phone customers
will soon have the opportunity to by a Linux-based handset later this
year, when operators begin offering a
Motorola Linux/Java smartphone aimed at business professionals. The A780
will roll out globally in early Q4, reaching select US regions before
2005, according to Motorola.
![[Picture]](../gx/2002/tagbio/conry.jpg)
Originally hailing from Ireland, Michael is currently living in Baden,
Switzerland. There he works with ABB Corporate Research as a
Marie-Curie fellow, developing software for the simulation and design
of electrical power-systems equipment.
