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<h1>News Bytes</h1>
<p id="by"><b>By <A HREF="../authors/conry.html">Michael Conry</A></b></p>
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<table cellpadding="7"><tbody><tr><td>
<img src="../gx/bytes.gif" border="1" alt="News Bytes">
</td><td>
<h3>Contents:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#leg">Legislation and More Legislation</a>
</li><li><a href="#links">Linux Links</a>
</li><li><a href="#general">News in General</a>
</li><li><a href="#distro">Distro News</a>
</li><li><a href="#commercial">Software and Product News</a>
</li></ul>
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<strong>Selected and formatted by <a href="mailto:michael.conry@softhome.net">Michael Conry</a></strong>
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<p> Submitters, send your News Bytes items in
<font size="+2"><strong>PLAIN TEXT</strong></font>
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<p></p><hr><p>
<a name="leg"></a>
</p><center><h3><font color="green">Legislation and More Legislation</font></h3></center>
<p>
<!-- ========= --><p></p><hr><P></P>
<h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Software Patents </font></h3>
<p>
The proposed European Union directive on the patentability
of computer-implemented inventions (software patents
directive) is still in more or less the same limbo it was in
when last discussed here in November. As mentioned in
November, Poland has expressed serious reservations about
the proposed measures and
<a href="http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/55474">
has blocked the European Council of Ministers</a>
from adopting the relatively pro-patent proposal
currently before it. This would have have occurred, for
reasons of expediency, at a
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/24/software_patent_poland/">
meeting of the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries</a>.
<P>
Tom Chance, writing at <a href="http://lwn.net/">LWN</a>,
has given
<a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/121169/">
a clear and useful overview</a>
of how these developments fit within the decision making
structure of the EU. He also presents a neat précis
of the realpolitik which will likely lead to Poland shelving
its objections in order to achieve agreement on matters
closer to its economic self-interest. Should this happen,
meaning the measure is adopted by the Council, it could
again be rejected by a Parliament keen to reinstate its
original amendments. However, under the relevant voting
rules this would require two thirds of all MEPs to vote
accordingly. This is unlikely to occur.
<P>
Parliamentarians, and citizens, concerned about the adoption
of this controversial directive have
<a href="http://www.ffii.org/~jmaebe/reso/resolution_55_4.pdf">
called for the entire process to be restarted from
scratch</a>. Since the processing of this directive has now
spanned a European Parliament election,
<a href="http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/54947">
there are grounds for this to occur</a>
under the auspices of
<a href="http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?SAME_LEVEL=1&LEVEL=1&NAV=X&HNAV=Y&DETAIL=&PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+RULES-EP+20040720+RULE-055+DOC+XML+V0//EN">
Rule 55 of the Rules of Procedure of the European
Parliament</a>. However, it is likely that many Eurocrats
will be loath to restart the legislative process given that
this would open the EU institutions to accusations of
inefficiency and indecisiveness.
<P>
As we approach the time when decisions on the future of this
directive will be made, many individuals and organisations
are attempting to raise their political representatives'
awareness of these matters. Although it is valuable in this
process to achieve some understanding of the issues and
consequences of the proposed policy, it is perhaps even more
useful to impress on elected representatives that they will
be called to account in their own countries for their voting
and policy in Europe.
<P>
Useful sites for those opposed to software patents:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/">
Foundation for a Free Information
Infrastructure - Software Patents</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://fsfeurope.org/projects/swpat/">
Free Software Foundation - Software Patents</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/">
NoSoftwarePatents.com</a>
</li>
</ul>
</p><p></p><hr><p>
<a name="links"></a>
<!-- ========== -->
</p><center><h3><font color="green">Linux Links</font></h3></center>
<!-- ========= -->
<P>
<a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/06/svn_homedir.html">
Keeping your life in Subversion</a>, by Joey Hess (this
updates on his earlier discussions on
<a href="http://kitenet.net/~joey/cvshome.html">
keeping your home directory and files in CVS</a>.
<P>
<a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/php/2005/01/06/entropy.html">
Calculating entropy</a>
from things like your server logs.
<P>
<a href="http://www.desktopos.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=51">
Experiences in the Desktop Linux community</a>.
<P>
<a href="http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/24/199223&from=rss">
Small is beautiful</a>
<P>
<a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/20/rails.html">
Building web applications with Ruby</a>.
<p>
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1381889,00.html">
The Guardian reviews Microsoft's Annus Horribilis</a>,
and other trends/news from 2004.
<p>
<a href="http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/12/22/1624253&from=rss">
Build your own Desktop OS</a>, and if you want to share your
handiwork with others,
<a href="http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/12/22/1557226&from=rss">
build your own distribution</a>.
<P>
<a href="http://egoburp.blogspot.com/2004/12/not-putting-money-where-my-mouth-is.html">
Benefits of Linux for small/micro businesses</a>.
<P>
Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, has
<a href="http://venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1439">
announced plans to switch government offices over to Open Source
software</a> during the next two years.
<P>
Some arguments in favour of
<a href="http://www.embeddedstar.com/articles/2003/10/article20031013.html">
using Linux in embedded applications</a>.
<P>
Fairly lengthy
<a href="http://kerneltrap.org/node/4484">
interview with Richard Stallman</a>.
<P>
<a
href="http://www.campus-technology.com/article.asp?id=10422">
10 Open Source myths</a>.
<P>
<a href="http://www.amiculus.com/">
www.amiculus.com/</a>, looking for new business models for
Open Source and Free software producers and users.
<P>
Archos is launching a
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/06/archos_pma400/">
Linux powered, WiFi enabled, portable media player</a>.
<P>
<a
href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/zd/20050105/tc_zd/142004">
Using iPods to store medical images</a>, and
<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/rossetantoine/osirix/Index2.html">
OsiriX</a>, the open source tool that helps in this task.
<p></p><hr><p>
<a name="general"></a>
<!-- ========== -->
</p><center><h3><font color="green">News in General</font></h3></center>
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">Open Graphics Project</font></h3>
<p>
The Open Grapics Project aims to develop 2D and 3D graphics
hardware based on open standards and documentation that will
allow full operation with GNU/Linux and other open source
software.
The principles behind this development are outlined
by Timothy Miller
<a href="http://kerneltrap.org/node/4622">
in an interview he gave to KernelTrap.org</a>.
The hardware part of this venture is Miller's employer,
<a href="http://www.techsource.com/">
Tech Source</a>. A
<a
href="http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics">
mailing list has been established</a>
to discuss the project.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">Linux Kernel</font></h3>
<p>
As of Christmas Eve 2004, the latest version of the stable
2.6.x series of
<a href="http://www.kernel.org/">
Linux Kernels</a> is
<a
href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.10">
2.6.10</a>.
The new year brought an update to the older 2.4 series,
which has now been updated to version
<a href="http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/ChangeLog-2.4.29">
2.4.29</a>.
<P>
As always, you should download from your
<a href="http://www.kernel.org/mirrors/">
nearest mirror</a>.
</p><p></p><hr><p>
<a name="distro"></a>
<!-- ========== -->
</p><center><h3><font color="green">Distro News</font></h3></center>
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Debian </font></h3>
<p>
The
<a href="http://www.debian.org/">
Debian Project</a>
has announced the release of the fourth update for the
current stable release of their GNU/Linux distribution.
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2005/20050101">
Debian Woody GNU/Linux 3.0, (r4)</a>, released on January
1st 2005, comprises for the most part a collection of
security fixes accumulated (and addressed) over the past
months since the r3 release in October.
<P>
The Debian Project
<a href="http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/12/27/1535248&from=rss">
addresses the issue of sexism
</a>.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Knoppix </font></h3>
<p>
<a href="http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=203&slide=1">
Screenshot tour</a>
of
<a href="http://games-knoppix.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/">
Games Knoppix</a>, a Knoppix variant that comes loaded with
a selection of some of the best games available for
GNU/Linux, all on a live, bootable, CD.
There is a review of this distribution
<a href="http://distrocenter.linux.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/05/0241250">
at Linux.com</a>.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> LFS </font></h3>
<p>
<a href="http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq/">
The Linux From Scratch</a>
2nd edition book is currently
<a href="http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart/0970010004.html">
on pre-order sale</a>. This means you can order this book
for USD13.99, whereas in a couple of weeks when it starts
to ship it will be available at USD19.99.
<P>
Linux From Scratch provides a set of instructions allowing
you to build your GNU/Linux system entirely from source.
Even if you do not plan to use such a system, it is an
interesting exercise, and this book could provide useful
information and background to many non LFS uses.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Mandrake </font></h3>
<p>
<a href="http://www.mandrakelinux.com/">
Mandrake Linux</a>
10.2 Beta 1 is
<a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/newsvac/05/01/25/229222.shtml">
now available</a>.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Ubuntu </font></h3>
<p>
Spidertools.com has
<a href="http://spidertools.com/ubuntu_review.php">
published a brief review</a> of
<a href="http://ubuntu.com/">
Ubuntu Linux</a>. This looks both at the live-CD and
hard drive install versions included in the standard Ubuntu
CD package.
<P>
Looking towards the next release of this distribution,
<a href="http://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2005-January/000011.html">
it has been announced</a>
that the first milestone live-CD preview of the next Ubuntu
release (Hoary Hedgehog) has been let loose.
<!-- ========= --><p></p><hr><P></P><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Xandros </font></h3>
<p>
NewsForge has
<a href="http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/12/23/2039209&from=rss">
reviewed</a>
<a href="http://www.xandros.com/products/home/desktopdlx/dsk_dlx_intro.html">
Xandros Desktop OS 3 Deluxe Edition</a>.
This Debian-based GNU/Linux distribution aims to provide a
comfortable and familiar experience to users more accustomed
to the use of GUI environments, and perhaps new to GNU/Linux.
<a name="commercial"></a>
<p></p><hr><p>
</p><center><h3><font color="green">Software and Product News</font></h3></center>
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3>
<img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> JBidWatcher </font></h3>
<p>
<a href="http://www.jbidwatcher.com/">
JBidWatcher</a>
is an open-source (LGPL), Java-based, application that
allows users to monitory online-auctions, and even to snipe
by making a winning bid at the last available moment.
NewsForge
<a href="http://business.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/19/2029231&from=rss">
has published a description/review of this software</a>.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3>
<img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> IBM </font></h3>
<p>
IBM is to launch
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/21/ibm_openpower_710/">
a new low-end Power-based server</a>
running GNU/Linux, making a definite marker with regard to
its relationship with chip-making rivals AMD and Intel.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3>
<img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Acrobat </font></h3>
<p>
<a href="http://www.adobe.com/">
Adobe</a> has
<a href="http://news.com.com/Adobe+releases+Acrobat+7+with+Linux+reader+support/2100-1012_3-5514228.html">
released</a>
version 7 of its
<a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/main.html">
Acrobat software</a>
for GNU/Linux.
The stand-alone Acrobat Reader has also
been updated to version 7.0, and this update too is
available for GNU/Linux as a no-cost download.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3>
<img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Opera </font></h3>
<p>
<a href="http://www.opera.com/">
Opera Software</a>
has released an 8.0 beta of its popular web-browser software
for GNU/Linux.
The beta is
<a href="http://www.opera.com/download/?ver=8.0b1">
available for download</a>.
<!-- ========= -->
<p></p><hr><P></P><h3>
<img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green"> Mozilla </font></h3>
<p>
<a href="http://www.mozilla.org/">
The Mozilla Project</a>'s
<a href="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/">
Firefox web browser</a>
has passed the
<a href="http://www.betanews.com/article/Firefox_Passes_20_Million_Downloads/1106579845">
20 million download mark</a>.
In a likely-connected development,
Microsoft's Internet Explorer product is
<a href="http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2004/12/31/free_fall_internet_explorer_has.htm">
reported to have lost 30% of its market share</a>.
</p>
<!-- *** BEGIN author bio *** -->
<P>
<P>
<P> Mick is LG's News Bytes Editor.
<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<hr>
<P>
<IMG ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="top" ALT="[Picture]" SRC="../gx/2002/tagbio/conry.jpg" WIDTH="128" HEIGHT="158" class="bio">
<em>
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.
<p> Before this, Michael worked as a lecturer in the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, University College Dublin; the same
institution that awarded him his PhD. The topic of this PhD research
was the use of Lamb waves in nondestructive testing. GNU/Linux has
been very useful in his past work, and Michael has a strong interest
in applying free software solutions to other problems in engineering.
</em>
<br CLEAR="all">
<!-- *** END bio *** -->
<!-- *** END author bio *** -->
<div id="articlefooter">
<p>
Copyright © 2005, Michael Conry. Released under the
<a href="http://linuxgazette.net/copying.html">Open Publication
license</a>. Linux Gazette is not produced, sponsored, or endorsed by
its prior host, SSC, Inc.
</p>
<p>
Published in Issue 111 of Linux Gazette, February 2005
</p>
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