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<SMALL>...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I></SMALL>
</TD><TD WIDTH="380">


<CENTER>
<BIG><BIG><STRONG><FONT COLOR="maroon">News Bytes</FONT></STRONG></BIG></BIG>
<BR>
<STRONG>By <A HREF="../authors/conry.html">Michael Conry</A></STRONG>
</CENTER>

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</p><center>
<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="#conferences">Conferences and Events</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>
</td></tr></tbody></table>

<strong>Selected and formatted by  <a href="mailto:michael.conry@softhome.net">Michael Conry</a></strong>
</center>


<p> Submitters, send your News Bytes items in 
<font size="+2"><strong>PLAIN TEXT</strong></font>
format.  Other formats may be rejected without reading.  You have been
warned!  A one- or two-paragraph summary plus URL gets you a better
announcement than an entire press release. Submit items to
<a href="mailto:bytes@linuxgazette.com">bytes@linuxgazette.com</a>


</p><hr> <p> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->

</p><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
November 2003 <i>Linux Journal</i>
</font>
</h3>

<img alt="[issue 114 cover image]" src="misc/bytes/lj-cover114.png" width="200" height="268" align="left" hspace="20">

The November issue of <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/"><i>Linux
Journal</i></a> is on newsstands now.
This issue focuses on System Administration.  Click 
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/modules.php?op=modload&amp;name=NS-lj-issues/issue114&amp;file=index">here</a>
to view the table of contents, or 
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/subscribe/">here</a> 
to subscribe.

<p>
<font color="green">All articles in issues 1-102 are available for public reading at 
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php">
http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php</a></font>.  
Recent articles are available on-line for subscribers only at 
<a href="http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/">http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/</a>.  



<BR CLEAR="all">
<!-- =================================================================== -->

<a name="leg"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Legislation and More Legislation</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">European Patents
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Last month we reported on an upcoming vote in the European Parliament
regarding the future of software patents in Europe.  According to many
Free and Open Software advocates, the proposals in front of the
parliament would, probably permanently, establish the practice of
software patenting in Europe.  This, they argued, would lead to a
reduction in innovation and give an unnecessary and crushing advantage
to large software companies who could use their greater resources to
legally elbow smaller competitors out of the market.
You can read a cogent and well-argued discussion of these views in the
<a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/22/1311217">
open letter addressed by Linux Torvalds and Alan Cox</a> to the
members of the European Parliament
<P>
There are many people out there who were not content simply to
complain about the direction events were taking.  Instead, they lobbied,
and lobbied hard, to get the concerns of financially small (though
numerically large) interest groups onto the agenda.  An initial sign
that these efforts might be having an effect was the 
<a href="http://promote-opensource.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=262">
announcement of a further postponement</a>
of the vote on the proposed directive.  Though no reason was given for
the delay, the first postponement was the result of widespread confusion
regarding the issues at stake, and a feeling that the directive was
being forced through with undue haste.  It seems likely that similar
sentiments lead to this second deferment.
<P>
The ultimate, and welcome, result of this concerted lobbying process was
that amendments were proposed to the directive which removed many of the
most objectionable proposals.  This 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/33016.html">
amended directive was approved</a> by the parliament with a margin of
364 votes to 153 with 33 abstentions.
LWN have helpfully <a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/50722/">
reproduced the directive online</a> in a readable HTML format.
<P>
It is important to learn lessons from this success and to apply them in
future struggles.  Many Free Software enthusiasts have learnt valuable
lobbying skills in the course of their advocacy, and these skills must
be developed and shared.  A particularly
<a href="http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/09/16/1428222.shtml?tid=17">
interesting account of this lobbying process</a> has been published by
NewsForge, and it gives useful information both on how to lobby, and on
what level of understanding can be expected of politicians and their
staff.  Additionally, it is important to follow up on politicians who
have been lobbied and to check how they actually voted.  As
<a href="http://www.ntk.net/2003/09/26/">
pointed out by NTKnow</a>,  the UK Liberal Democrats made very positive
noises, but ultimately voted in favour of patents.  Of the UK parties,
only the Greens and the UK Independence Party voted against software
patents.  If politicians realise that Free software advocates pay
attention (and draw attention) to their voting records, they will be far
more likely to heed future representations.
These skills will be especially important since pro-patent interests are
likely to try to get their way through the alternative route of national
parliaments.
<P>
For more information on this story, if you are interested in an
anti-patents, pro-free-software point of view you should look at
<a href="http://www.ffii.org/">FFII.org</a>.
Their
<a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/plen0924/index.en.html">
account of the final amendments and vote</a> is worth reading.




<a name="links"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Linux Links</font></H3></center>

<P>
A <a href="http://www.acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=55">
comparison of four Linux Office suites</a>
and how well they handle random MS Word/Excel/PowerPoint doucments.
<P>
Some links from NewsForge:
<ul>
    <li>
        <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/08/29/1948223">
        How to retrain yourself for embedded Linux</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/05/1958235">
        Open source in East Timor and India</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/03/2053203">
        The indispensable GPL</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/13/1538208">
        Iran's First GNU/Linux Seminar</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/12/1544240">
        Opportunities for Open Source software in the publishing industry</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/22/2037238">
        Linux on the AMD Opteron: Are We Ready?</a>
    </li>
</ul>
<P>
Bellevue's Linare sees Linux future,
<a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2001739669_btinterface22.html">
launches $19.95 operating system</a>.
<P>
<a href="http://acmqueue.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=54&page=1">
The age of corporate open source enlightenment</a>
<P>
Some links from Linux Weekly News:
<ul>
    <li>
        <a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/47699/">
        Is Taiwan is falling behind China in Linux adoption.</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        US Library of Congress is 
        <a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/47497/">
        using Linux for an online video archive</a>
    </li>
</ul>
<P>
And since they generate so much media noise, lets list a few relating to
SCO:
<ul>
    <li>
        <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7117">
        What does SCO v. IBM mean for users?</a>, a view from Linux Journal.
    </li>
    <li>
        Dee-Ann LeBlanc at O'Reilly provides
        <a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/3702">
        A SCO-Fighting Press Kit</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1257617,00.asp">
        ESR and SCO:</a>
        "But [Raymond] did admit that 'I am grinning a grin that should
        frighten the thieves and liars at SCO out of a week's sleep...'"
    </li>
    <li>
        Novell 'puts entire ecosystem behind Linux'
        <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/53/32708.html">
        and CEO downplays SCO derailment risk</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        Linux Torvalds, in open letter to Darl McBride says
        <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/10/2321224">
        pLease grow up</a>.
    </li>
</ul>
<P>
Some links from O'Reilly:
<ul>
    <li>
        <a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2003/09/04/oracle_install.html">
        Running Oracle on Red Hat</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2003/09/04/email_pki.html">
        Encrypted Email Cookbook</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2003/09/18/prelude.html">
        The Prelude open source intrusion detection system</a>
    </li>
</ul>
<P>
Some links via LinuxToday:
<ul>
    <li>
        <a href="http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-datavis/?ca=dgr-lnxw02UsingPerl/Tk">
        Data visualization using perl/TK</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/6769286.htm">
        Open source helps education effort in third world</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://www.ofb.biz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=263&mode=&order=0&thold=0">
        A free desktop for free people</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        The Indian government is
        <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=185058">
        releasing GNU/Linux in 11 Indian languages</a>
        by the end of the year
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=295&page=1">
        Setting up an ADSL connection under Linux</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="http://www.thejemreport.com/software/wordprocessors.htm">
        Comparison of word processors</a> on Linux.
    </li>
</ul>
<P>
<a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/27/1444237">
IRC Linux Help for beginners</a>.




<a name="conferences"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Upcoming conferences and events</font></H3></center>

<P> Listings courtesy <EM>Linux Journal</EM>.  See <EM>LJ</EM>'s
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/events.php">Events</A> page for the
latest goings-on.

<table cellpadding=5 border=0 width=100%>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>IDUG 2003 - Europe</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 7-10, 2003<BR>Nice, France<BR>
        <a href="http://www.idug.org" target="_blank">
        http://www.idug.org</A><BR></TD></TR>


<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Linux Clusters Institute Workshops</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 13-18, 2003<BR>Montpellier, France<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org/"
	target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org</A><BR></TD></TR>


<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Coast Open Source Software Technology (COSST) Symposium</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 18, 2003<BR>Newport Beach, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://cosst.ieee-occs.org" target="_blank">
        http://cosst.ieee-occs.org</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Enterprise Linux Forum</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 22-23, 2003<BR>Washington, DC<BR>
        <a href="http://www.enterpriselinuxforum.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.enterpriselinuxforum.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Media Advisory/Open Source Software Chicago Forum</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 23, 2003<BR>Chicago, IL<BR>
        <a href="http://www.osschicago.com" target="_blank">
        http://www.osschicago.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>PhreakNic</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 24-26, 2003<BR>Nasheville, TN<BR>
        <a href="http://www.phreaknic.info/" target="_blank">
        http://www.phreaknic.info/</A><BR></TD></TR>


<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LISA (17th USENIX Systems Administration Conference)</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 26-30, 2003<BR>San Diego, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa03/" target="_blank">
        http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa03/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Linux Open Alternative Days</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 30-31, 2003<BR>Bucharest, Romania<BR>
        <a href="http://www.load.ro/" target="_blank">
        http://www.load.ro/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 27-30, 2003<BR>Santa Clara, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://conferences.oreillynet.com/macosx2003/" target="_blank">
        http://conferences.oreillynet.com/macosx2003/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>HiverCon 2003</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>November 6-7, 2003<BR>Dublin, Ireland<BR>
        <a href="http://www.hivercon.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.hivercon.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>COMDEX Fall</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>November 17-21, 2003<BR>Las Vegas, NV<BR>
        <a href="http://www.comdex.com/fall2003/" target="_blank">
        http://www.comdex.com/fall2003/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE)</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>November 22, 2003<BR>Los Angeles, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://socallinuxexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://socallinuxexpo.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>


<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC)</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>December 8-12, 2003<BR>Las Vegas, NV<BR>
        <a href="http://www.acsac.org/" target="_blank">
        http://www.acsac.org/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Linux Clusters Institute Workshops</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>December 8-12, 2003<BR>Albuquerque, NM<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org/"
        target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Storage Expo 2003, co-located with Infosecurity 2003</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>December 9-11, 2003<BR>New York, NY<BR>
        <a href="http://www.infosecurityevent.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.infosecurityevent.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Consumer Electronics Show</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>January 8-11, 2004<BR>Las Vegas, NV<BR>
        <a href="http://www.cesweb.org/" target="_blank">
        http://www.cesweb.org/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Linux.Conf.AU</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>January 12-17, 2004<BR>Australia<BR>
        <a href="http://conf.linux.org.au/" target="_blank">
        http://conf.linux.org.au/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>January 20-23, 2004<BR>New York, NY<BR>
        <a href="http://linuxworldexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://linuxworldexpo.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>February 9-12, 2004<BR>San Diego, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etcon/" target="_blank">
        http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etcon/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>SXSW</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>March 12-21, 2004<BR>Austin, TX<BR>
        <a href="http://sxsw.com/" target="_blank">
        http://sxsw.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>SD West</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>March 15-19, 2004<BR>Santa Clara, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.sdexpo.com" target="_blank">
        http://www.sdexpo.com</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>CeBit Hannover</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>March 18-24, 2004<BR>Hannover, Germany<BR>
        <a href="http://www.cebit.de" target="_blank">
        http://www.cebit.de</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>COMDEX Canada</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>March 24-26, 2004<BR>Toronto, Ontario<BR>
        <a href="http://www.comdex.com" target="_blank">
        http://www.comdex.com</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>2004 USENIX/ACM Symposium on Networked Systems Design and
	Implementation (NSDI)</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>March 29-31, 2004<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.usenix.org/events/nsdi04/" target="_blank">
        http://www.usenix.org/events/nsdi04/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>RealWorld Linux</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>April 13-15, 2004<BR>Toronto, Ontario<BR>
        <a href="http://www.realworldlinux.com" target="_blank">
        http://www.realworldlinux.com</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>CeBit America</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>May 25-27, 2004<BR>New York, NY<BR>
        <a href="http://www.cebit-america.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.cebit-america.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Strictly Business Solutions Expo</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>June 9-10, 2004<BR>Minneapolis, MN<BR>
        <a href="http://www.strictlyebusiness.net/sb/mpls/index.po" 
	target="_blank">
        http://www.strictlyebusiness.net/sb/mpls/index.po</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>USENIX Annual Technical Conference</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>June 27 - July 2, 2004<BR>Boston, MA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.usenix.com/events/usenix04/" target="_blank">
        http://www.usenix.com/events/usenix04/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>O'Reilly Open Source Convention</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>July 26-30, 2004<BR>Portland, OR<BR>
        <a href="http://conferences.oreillynet.com/" target="_blank">
        http://conferences.oreillynet.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>August 3-5, 2004<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>USENIX Security Symposium</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>August 9-13, 2004<BR>San Diego, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.usenix.com/events/sec04/" target="_blank">
        http://www.usenix.com/events/sec04/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>USENIX Systems Administration Conference (LISA)</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>November 14-19, 2004<BR>Atlanta, GA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.usenix.com/events/" target="_blank">
        http://www.usenix.com/events/</A><BR></TD></TR>



<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

</table>


<a name="general"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">News in General</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Mobilix
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
In the final roll of the dice for Mobilix, (a site providing information
on mobile Linux systems), the highest German civil court 
<a href="http://linuxtoday.com/news/2003090600226NWCYLL">
has found in favour of Les Edition Albert Rene</a> and has dismissed the
appeal brought by Werner Heuser.
The work that formerly took place under the Mobilix banner will still
continue, thankfully, under the new name
<a href="http://tuxmobil.org/">
Tuxmobil</a>



<a name="distro"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Distro News</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Debian
</FONT>
</H3> 

<P>
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2003/35/">
Debian Weekly News reported</a>
that
The Debian project has 
<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-amd64-0308/msg00035.html">
received full access</a>
to a Dual Opteron machine for 
<a href="http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/">
porting efforts</a> to the new amd64 architecture.
<P>
<hr width="20%" noshade>
<P>
Also
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2003/37/">
from Debian Weekly News</a>
debian-installer team have put together 
<a href="http://cvs.debian.org/debian-installer/doc/INSTALLATION-HOWTO?rev=HEAD&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup">
a HOWTO which guides through the process of installing sarge</a>.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Morphix
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Prakash Advani conducted 
<a href="http://newsforge.com/newsforge/03/08/19/1518217.shtml">
an interview with Alex de Landgraaf</a>, the founder and the lead
maintainer of the Morphix project.
[<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2003/35/">via DWN</a>]

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Mandrake
</FONT>
</H3> 
Mandrake Linux is planning to 
<a href="http://www.mandrakesoft.com/partners/advertising">
sell advertising space</a>
in the upcoming release of Mandrake Linux 9.2.
There is further information in the 
<a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/12/157237">
NewsForge story</a>.

<a name="commercial"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Software and Product News</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Python 2.3.1
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
The Python Software Foundation 
<a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/24/1726203">
has announced the release of version 2.3.1</a>
of the Python programming
language. This minor release introduces a number of enhancements based
on two months of experience since release of version 2.3.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Scribus 1.1.0
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Franz Schmid 
<a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/14/1629236">
has announced the release of Scribus 1.1.0 - Linux Desktop Publishing</a>,
which builds upon the recently released Scribus 1.0, as well as the
launching of an integrated Scribus Web site at
<a href="http://www.scribus.org.uk">
www.scribus.org.uk</a>.


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">GNOME-Office 1.0 Released
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
The GNOME-Office team 
<a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/09/16/2228225">
has announced the immediate availability of GNOME-Office 1.0</a>.
GNOME-Office is a suite of
Free Software productivity applications that seamlessly blend with the
GNOME Desktop Environment. GNOME-Office includes the AbiWord-2.0 Word
Processor, GNOME-DB-1.0 Database Interface and Gnumeric-1.2.0
Spreadsheet."



<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">MuNAS
</FONT>
</H3> 
<a href="http://www.advancedthintech.com">
MuNAS</a> is a piece of software which addresses the problem that the X
Window system does not support the handling of audio data. It allows the
thin-client/server computing model in Linux to handle multimedia
applications: the audio data generated by Open Sound System (OSS/Free)
compatible audio applications which are executed in the terminal server can
be transferred to X-terminals.  Thus, with MuNAS installed, you can execute
multimedia applications in the terminal server and listen to the sound from
your X-terminal.  Currently, several manufactures of windows terminal are
planning to install the MuNAS in their X-terminals.


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">XFce 4.0
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
The XFce Project
<a href="http://www.xfce.org/en/press_release_en.html">
has announced the release of version 4.0</a> of their desktop environment
and development platform.



<!-- =================================================================== -->
<!-- =================================================================== -->


<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->

<!-- *** END bio *** -->





<!-- *** BEGIN author bio *** -->
<P>&nbsp;
<P>
<P> Mick is LG's News Bytes Editor.

<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<P>
<IMG ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="top" ALT="[Picture]" SRC="../gx/2002/tagbio/conry.jpg"
    WIDTH="128" HEIGHT="158">
<em>Born some time ago in Ireland, Michael is currently working on
a PhD thesis in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University
College Dublin.  The topic of this work is the use of Lamb waves in
nondestructive testing.  GNU/Linux has been very useful in this work, and
Michael has a strong interest in applying free software solutions to
other problems in engineering.  When his thesis is completed, Michael
plans to take a long walk.
</em>
<br CLEAR="all">
<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** END author bio *** -->


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<CENTER><SMALL><STRONG>
Copyright &copy; 2003, Michael Conry.
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 95 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, October 2003
</STRONG></SMALL></CENTER>
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