June 7th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
One of the reasons for my interest in FOSS is that it can be used in the developing world to improve the lives of people without much money for high technology tools. John “maddog” Hall was interviewed by Newsforge about his involvement with FOSS in South Africa:
“In 2001 I was invited to Johannesburg to talk about FOSS software by LinuxAfrica, a local user group that was putting on a small but nice event. In 2003 Hewlett Packard invited me to both Johannesburg and Cape Town for a FOSS “road show.” In 2005 I was invited to Linuxworld South Africa in Johannesburg, and this year I came back again. I have seen a steady increase in the interest and usage of FOSS in South Africa. I believe this has been boosted recently by the actions of Mark Shuttleworth and the Ubuntu project as well as the efforts of the Meraka Institute and its projects.
I think it is exciting that OpenOffice.org and other FOSS software has been able to be translated into African languages so it is easier for African people to use.”
And I really like this quote from Hall:
“There are some universities that are now using FOSS to train their computer science students, but others are still using closed source proprietary software. I do not understand why any university is not at least starting to go down the path of FOSS software. FOSS software not only teaches you what the software does, but allows you to see how it does it. It also allows you to participate in creating the software.
I also have experienced high schools teaching with FOSS software in other countries. They assemble their own computer labs out of cast-off hardware and install their own software. This teaches the students pride in accomplishment as well as computer science.”
Posted in Open Source, Uncategorized | Comments Off on John “maddog” Hall on FOSS in the Developing World
June 5th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Jason Tan of the Taipei Times reports “Government says all new PCs must be Linux-friendly.”
From the article: “The government-run Central Trust of China has mandated for the first time that all desktop computers purchased from now on must be Linux-compatible, demonstrating the government’s desire to widen the nation’s usage of open source software.
“It is a global trend that Linux is gaining wider adoption due to its lower costs and better adaptability,” Mike Lin (???), a consultant at the Taipei Computer Association (TCA), told the Taipei Times yesterday…
About 120,000 desktops will be procured during the 11th and 12th tenders, the report said.
“In the past, some of the procured computers did not support Linux, therefore this new mandate signifies the government’s push to reduce reliance on the Windows operating system,” Lin said.”
Not bad, but there is more:
“In the legislative session held late last year, legislators reached an additional consensus that there should be a 25 percent cut of procurement budget on Microsoft’s products across all government agencies, citing that the solutions — which monopolize the market — are too expensive.”
It looks like Taiwan will be introducing a lot of open source, or else Microsoft will blink and drop their prices to delay FOSS’ incursion for a little longer.
Posted in Open Source | Comments Off on Taiwan to Require Linux Compatible Hardware
June 2nd, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Ubuntu Linux has released its new version, 6.06 LTS (“Long-term Support”), as of June 1.
Ubuntu has long been my favorite Linux distribution. It’s beautiful, stable, easy to use, and strongly “Free” in the sense of Free Speech (as well as free-of-cost). This release really represents its maturation.
Posted in Open Source | Comments Off on Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Released
May 31st, 2006 Benjamin Horst
The May 2006 OpenOffice.org newsletter came out today. Read it on the mailing list archive or the OpenOffice newsletter blog.
Many big events this month, including:
Posted in ODF, Open Source, OpenOffice.org | Comments Off on OpenOffice Newsletter May 2006
May 30th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
The Open Source Applications Foundation just released another milestone build, Chandler 0.7alpha2:
“The work in Alpha2 centers around three areas:
- Enhancing the calendar and fixing a number of problems reported by our users
- Introducing some light-weight scheduling workflows
- Focusing on the other areas of the PIM by building out the basic table features”
For all the improvements, take a look at the New in Alpha 2 page.
Posted in Open Source | Comments Off on Chandler Update
May 29th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Internet News reported (back in March) that Novell held the top spot in the Chinese Linux market, measured by revenue.
“Novell is claiming again that it is the Linux leader in China. This time the data comes from China-based analyst firm CCID Consulting, which reported that Novell holds a 25.1 percent revenue share of the China Linux market.”
Meanwhile, Fedora, Sun Wah, and Turbolinux are also competing very successfully in China, and not just against other Linux distros: “In a recent press release, Turbolinux cited 2004 IDC data that reportedly give them a nearly 25 percent market share of the Chinese desktop OS market. In April, they signed China’s biggest bank representing over 100 million customers.”
Posted in Open Source | Comments Off on Novell Leads Chinese Linux Market
May 22nd, 2006 Benjamin Horst
The open source development process has really grown to encompass input from all parts of the world. Even in an era of global business, few corporations can match the reach of open source projects. They have mastered the art of turning users into volunteers and developers, and thus have gained a foothold in almost every nation on every continent.
For several examples, see the current articles below that discuss contributions from Brazil, Oregon, USA, and South Africa. It’s fascinating to see the more positive side of globalization, the humanist side, that is illustrated by non-profits and is most honed by the collaborative efforts of open source software projects–the new vanguard of positive NGO contributions to worldwide development.
OpenOffice contributions from Brazil include a Portuguese language grammar checker that will grow to support English and other languages next.
The Open Source Lab at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, hosts the net infrastructure for a growing cadre of FOSS projects.
Accessibility options for the disabled are being supported by the South African government and developed by local coders and other volunteers.
Posted in Open Source, OpenOffice.org | Comments Off on Open Source’s Global Development Tree
May 16th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
It’s a good day for both Mac and Maemo users!
Apple released the much-anticipated MacBook today, to replace the iBook and 12″ PowerBook. It sports a 13.3″ widescreen, Core Duo chips, great software (of course), and is available in white or black.
Nokia updated the 770‘s OS to Internet Tablet 2006, which includes the jabber-based Google Talk and support for additional SIP-based VOIP programs in the future (specifically mentioned was Gizmo). It also includes a new on-screen keyboard for better text input, and some behind-the-scenes improvements to the OS, too.
Posted in Mac, Maemo, Open Source | Comments Off on New MacBooks and 770 Software Update
May 15th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
On the Standards Blog, Andy Updegrove writes “The Evolving ODF Environment Part II: Spotlight on OpenOffice.”
I think the concept behind this article, and the series it’s part of, is really clever and very important:
“Just over a week ago, I posted the first of what I hope will be a complete set of interviews with the developers of the major open source and proprietary software suites that implement ODF. That Interview was with KDE’s Inge Wallin, and addressed the KOffice suite – one of the two best known open source implementations of ODF. Today, it’s the turn of OpenOffice – the other well-known open source implementation of ODF, and the most implemented of all software packages that support ODF. The interview that follows is with Louis Suarez-Potts, OpenOffice’s Community Manager, and John McCreesh, Marketing Co-Lead.”
“The purpose of this series of interviews is to provide a comparative picture of the evolving ODF landscape, highlighting the strengths (and weaknesses) of each current implementation, so that potential users can judge which alternative is right for them. At the same time, it will illustrate the fact that a standard such as ODF, far from limiting innovation, can instead enable a rich set of products that distinguish themselves with additional features to attract users to their particular flavor of the same software tool.”
Posted in ODF, Open Source, OpenOffice.org | Comments Off on Andy Updegrove Interviews OpenOffice Team Members
May 13th, 2006 Benjamin Horst
Wow! I had this same idea last week–it looks like I am on the Google wavelength:
The Seattle P-I writes “Google teams with Nokia for Wi-Fi mobile phone service.”
“Google Inc. is making its first foray into mobile telephone calls in a partnership with Nokia Corp., the largest maker of hand-held mobile devices… The agreement calls for Nokia to introduce a hand-held device that comes loaded with the Mountain View, Calif., company’s Google Talk, an instant messenger and Internet calling service.
Cellular signals will not be used for the calls. Instead, the calls will be made using a wireless Internet network…”
The story is also picked up by Slashdot.
Now I just need to talk to Google about my idea for the Google Vending Machine…
Posted in Maemo, Open Source | Comments Off on Google Talk Coming to Nokia 770