ZDNet UK Enterprise open source Toolkit

Ten of the best Linux file managers

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Jack Wallen) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:28:02 +0100

The trusty file manager deserves more appreciation, especially given the choice of Linux tools, says Jack Wallen

Ten open-source tools worth trying

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Jack Wallen) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:37:01 +0000

The mass of open-source tools may seem confusing, so it is worth creating a list of the most useful projects, says Jack Wallen

Shuttleworth quits CEO post at Ubuntu backer

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Stephen Shankland) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:00:02 +0000

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu backer Canonical, will be replaced as CEO by Jane Silber, in a move that could see the company's operations change

Personal Financial Management Software for Linux - Continued

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:02:35 +0000

During the past week I was able to look at a few more candidates in the Personal Financial Management area, and to gain some experience with the one that I have decided to use for now. Please keep...

Google backtracks on EtherPad closure

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:41:14 +0000

Following Google's acquisition on Friday of AppJet, the company behind the Etherpad collaborative online editor, Aaron Iba, ex-CEO of AppJet, has announced that contrary to the initial announcement...

Personal Financial Management Software for Linux

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:57:40 +0000

One of the few things which still require me to use Windows is my personal financial management program - I have been a Quicken user for a very long time. I used to be very conscientious about...

Linux Mint 8 (Helena) Released

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:23:24 +0000

The final release of Linux Mint 8 (Helena) came out over the weekend. You can read the What's New document for the highlights, the Release Notes for a more complete description of the new release,...

Saving the "Best" for Last - Fedora 12 (Constantine)

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:36:26 +0000

It's been quite a wave of new Linux distributions over the past month or so, but with the release of Fedora 12 (Constantine) this week, we have finally made it through. I have intentionally chosen...

pure:dyne time

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:06:25 +0000

I'm teaching a Graphic Design with Inkscape course on Thursday, and had hoped to debut Kentish Motley Net, my collection of old skool Dell Latitude c640 laptops, lashed together with a dash of...

openSuSE 11.2

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:10:36 +0000

I've been trying out the new openSuSE 11.2 release for nearly a week now, loading it on everything I have. It's been a mixed bag of results, starting out very strong, and ending up with several...

Shutdown/Reboot Ubuntu 9.10

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:13:10 +0000

Sometime during the Ubuntu 9.04 release, Canonical added a 60-second delay when Reboot or Shutdown was selected. At that time it was at least possible to go to the "User Switcher Preferences" and...

Mandriva One 2010.0 (including Moblin UI)

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:38:51 +0000

I know, I know... I'm late, Mandriva 2010 has been out for a week now, and openSuSE is due out already today. This is a crazy time of year, with all of these releases coming so close together,...

Autodesk open-sources tool for tracking emissions

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Martin LaMonica) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:40:02 +0000

The software maker is encouraging other companies to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on long-term global targets and contribution to GDP

Ubuntu 9.10 (karmic Koala) on Netbooks - Part 4 (Xubuntu Xfc...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:26:37 +0000

In Part 1 of this series I looked at some general netbook concepts, and the "standard" Ubuntu distribution. Part 2 I looked at the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, which is probably the best known of the...

Microsoft commits another £60K to Apache

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Matthew Broersma) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:56:02 +0000

The software giant will renew its sponsorship of the Apache Software Foundation as it increases its involvement with open-source Apache projects

Red Hat CEO: Open source needs champions

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Victoria Ho) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:50:02 +0000

Jim Whitehurst has hailed Google and Red Hat revenue models as bringing success to the open-source community

Open source Skype? Partly.

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:46:06 +0000

Skype has confirmed it is developing an open source client for Linux. However, it seems that only the user interface portions of the client will be open source, and the library for the...

CIO Jury returns the wrong verdict on open source

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:04:06 +0000

A recent silicon.com CIO jury has found that some CIOs don't believe open source software can help cut costs. The jury, composed of 12 CIOs from across a wide spectrum of UK businesses voted 10-2...

Ingres gains geospatial features &mdash and loses its last c...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:42:27 +0100

Ingres has announced geospatial support in its open source database, allowing it to be used as part of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Or rather, it's announced an open source implementation...

Monty says Oracle should be forced to sell MySQL

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:28:13 +0100

The creator of MySQL and the company that bears its name, Monty Widenius, has released a statement urging Oracle to sell off MySQL to speed up regulatory approval of its acquisition of Sun...

virtual rms

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:10:21 +0100

How free am I? Thanks to danbuntu, I've just discovered the delights of virtual Richard M. Stallman - a program that analyses the software on your computer and calculates what percentage of it...

Ubuntu Netbook Remix - Have You Seen it Lately?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:22:50 +0100

If you haven't looked at the Ubuntu Netbook Remix lately, I think you are in for a very pleasant surprise. Check out either the Beta distribution or the Daily Build. I loaded the Beta on my...

Mandriva One 2010 RC2

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:12:40 +0100

I set about installing the new Mandriva One 2010.0 RC2 distribution today, on all of the various netbooks and notebooks around here. It has taken significantly longer than I expected it to,...

Mandriva One 2010 RC2 Available

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:52:40 +0100

For the Mandriva users who have been waiting anxiously (hi, Ator!), the iso images for Mandriva One 2010 RC2 are now available. The Mandriva Free version has been available since the end of last...

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Beta

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:03:01 +0100

I've been installing the Karmic Beta release on everything I have around here, and the news is generally good. Some of this I have mentioned before, and some is new; some is significant, and some...

Netgear router not open source, says coder

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Espiner) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:48:02 +0100

A router and platform designed for small businesses and marketed as open source break the terms of the GPL, according to developer Harald Welte

Gnome ignominy, PDF style

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:20:41 +0100

Without wanting to sound too much like Kenneth Williams, can I just say: “Oh the ignominy of it all”. I wanted to copy and paste the text from a 3 column magazine article in...

That Ubuntuzilla time of year...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:46:27 +0100

Ubuntu's automatic updates are regular and consistent, plugging security risks and updating drivers easily. However, you don't always get the latest bleeding edge updates. I've blogged about...

Open source groups to merge

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:19:03 +0100

Two open source consortia have announced they are to join forces. Paris-based OW2 Consortium, whose members include Alcatel Lucent, France Telecom, Red Hat and Thales, will merge with...

Gov't open-source guidelines ignored, says Ingres

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (David Meyer) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:28:01 +0100

Software tenders that have taken place since the government published its open-source policy in February have ignored those guidelines, according to database firm Ingres

Mandriva 2010.0 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) Available

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:51:54 +0100

For those who are still waiting anxiously, the first release candidate for Mandriva One 2010.0 is available for download. As with the Beta, there are DVD images of the "Free" distribution, and...

Ubuntu goes after the Lynx effect

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Chris Duckett) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:01 +0100

Ubuntu patron and founder, Mark Shuttleworth, has detailed plans for the distribution's April 2010 release, code-named Lucid Lynx

Another way

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:34:48 +0100

of looking at Microsoft's recent behaviour concerning Open Source is perhaps that of split personality, if that's the correct analogy. Certain Microsoft executives express interest and sympathy...

Ten reasons Linux is the best choice for netbooks

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Jack Wallen) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:48:01 +0100

Whatever Windows zealots may say, the case for Linux on netbooks is unanswerable, says Jack Wallen

Microsoft founds and funds open-source forum

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Espiner) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:20:02 +0100

The software company has created a not-for-profit foundation to address integration and cultural issues between open-source and proprietary software

What's Up with Moblin?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:44:12 +0100

Anyone know what is going on with Moblin? They had been in a mode where they were releasing a Beta update about once a week, sometimes a bit more often. Now there hasn't been an update since 18...

All's Well That Ends Well (Mostly)

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:40:20 +0100

Sometimes you do things, when you really should know better. I decided since this was a relatively slow Saturday to see if I could get Fedora 12 Alpha installed on my HP 2133 Mini-Note. The...

Stanford scientists create open source camera

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:41:13 +0100

Researchers at Stanford University have created a digital camera that runs open source firmware, allowing developers to add to or alter the camera's functions. The device, which team has nicknamed...

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Alpha 5 - A Few Quick Comments

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:53:02 +0100

Ubuntu hit their target date with Karmic Alpha 5, it is available for download. I have only installed it on the S6510 so far, but here are a couple of quick observations about it. - During...

Canonical offers humans to Ubuntu-using enterprise

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:12:55 +0100

Canonical has introduced a new class of support for enterprises using Ubuntu - the Premium Service Engineer or PSE. Describing PSEs as 'virtual team members' for an enterprise's internal Ubuntu...

Red Hat adds virtualisation, cloud to RHEL

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Tom Espiner) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:01:01 +0100

Red Hat launches RHEL 5.4, the first version to include the standard Linux KVM hypervisor

Slackware Linux 13.0 Released (and Installed)

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:02:34 +0100

I am old. I have been working with Unix for a long time. In fact, at the end of a recent job interview one of the participants said to me "It's interesting, you have more years of Unix experience...

SimplyMEPIS 8 Update Released

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:17:32 +0100

SimplyMEPIS 8.0.10 has been released, and it is as usual very good. I've been pleased and impressed with MEPIS for quite some time now, and despite a few small problems on my various computers, I...

For a few $ more

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:32:39 +0100

I'm back again at The Agency, fixing bugs for a few dollars more. I'd hoped it would be my last job but there's always one more contract, and then I'll retire/settle down/do what I really want to...

Open source software may be free, but there's still money in...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:22:24 +0100

The Linux Foundation, the non-profit body formed in 2007, has analysed the code commited to the kernel over the past four years to see which developers have contributed how much code, who they're...

Linux kernel team grows, Torvalds drops off chart

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:09:35 +0100

The 2009 report on the state of Linux kernel development (pdf) has been published by the Linux Foundation. Although all the information in it is drawn from the development management process and...

Ten essential backup tools for Linux

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Jack Wallen) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:52:02 +0100

Linux backup utilities range in power and sophistication and will fit every budget, says Jack Wallen

Open-source voting: Secure over obscure?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Staff) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:37:02 +0100

California secretary of state Debra Bowen says open-source software can help improve security in voting systems

Boom in requests for Linux drivers

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Victoria Ho) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:54:02 +0100

A steady stream of requests for Linux hardware drivers may signal growing adoption of open-source operating systems among enterprises

OpenSuse 10.3 nears end of life

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Matthew Broersma) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:46:02 +0100

The end of OpenSuse 10.3 was announced in the same week that Novell revealed a dedicated developer team for the Linux distribution project

Ten essential commands for Linux tasks

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Jack Wallen) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:00:00 +0100

Of the dozens of Linux commands, there is a select group that should be in every user's armoury, says Jack Wallen

Canonical's Landscape goes local

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Matthew Broersma) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:32:02 +0100

From next month, the Ubuntu system management service will be available as a product running on a datacentre's local infrastructure

OpenStreetMap on Series 60

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:35:41 +0100

Qt Labs (the Company Formerly Known As Trolltech) has been busy porting the Qt toolkit to Series 60, Nokia's UI for the Symbian operating system. Nokia acquired Trolltech last year and work started...

Sony shows how to give it away and still make money

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:51:18 +0100

One of the places where open source works really well as a development methodology and a licensing and distribution model is where the software is only a means to an end, and not an end in itself....

How open source could benefit the big players

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Staff) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:04:01 +0100

Panelists discuss the benefits, such as third-party integration and better connectivity, that huge companies such as Google and Facebook could get from embracing open source

Sony open sources digital effects software

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Matthew Broersma) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:07:02 +0100

Sony Pictures Imageworks has released five tools as open source, as it looks to move away from proprietary tools

Ten Linux apps that get top marks from schools

editorial@zdnet.co.uk (Jack Wallen) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:00:02 +0100

Cash-strapped teachers and administrators have plenty of open-source resources at their disposal, says Jack Wallen

ASUS N10J - A Big DUH for me, and a small one too!

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:47:51 +0100

In my recent blog post about the ASUS N10J, I mentioned that with the nVidia graphics enabled, Ubuntu Netbook Remix performed very poorly on it, presumably because of the lack of 3D support in the...

Letter of Protest to ASUS

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:34:47 +0100

Since my recent purchase of an ASUS N10J netbook, it has been pointed out to me several times that I have unknowingly or unwillingly supported their decision to drop Linux from their product...

When is a new operating system not a new operating system?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:54:10 +0100

Reading Steve Ballmer's comments about Google Chrome OS, I'm struck by how odd some of his ideas are. Like what constitutes a brand new operating system, for instance. He also appears to think One...

Aussie ICT researchers open up

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:03:43 +0100

NICTA, Australia's ICT research organisation, has released a bunch of projects as open source and collected them in one portal called OpenNICTA. NICTA is a government-funded body which aims to be a...

Stumblin with Moblin

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:49:53 +0100

I've spent some time this weekend trying, once again, to make some progress with Moblin. They released a new image download a week or so ago, dated 5 July, and I was hoping that it would take care...

Ubuntu Netbook Remix "Acid Test" - Wrap-Up

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:03:19 +0100

Time to wrap up one more open item - my informal "Acid Test" of UNR. The size of my test group has doubled (from one to two), and the results have been consistent. The conclusion is, it's good,...

NYC launches municipal data mash-up contest

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:13:51 +0100

Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, has announced NYC Big Apps, an annual contest to produce applications using data from the City to increase access and transparency. The City intends to release...

The BBC needs to share its technology, not its cash

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:29:53 +0100

The Digital Britain report, which was due to be published today, will recommend that some of the licence fee be shared with commercial broadcasters to compensate for the impact the internet is...

Moblin on the Nettop - Part 2 (Overview)

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:32:28 +0100

After a whole two days, here are a few first impressions of Moblin on my nettop Dual Atom system: - First, remember, this is a Beta distribution, and you will be made aware of that very quickly....

Oracle's Java plans sound familiar - and so will the r...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:32:40 +0100

I'm glad Oracle, Sun Microsystems' new owner, is so enthusiastic about Java. The language and its tools may be open source these days, but the project still needs a strong sponsoring company to...

Wave Hello, Say Goodbye (to closed-off collaboration platfor...

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:45:09 +0100

I'm still reading through what little detail we have on Google Wave, but there certainly appears to be enough for developers to get excited about. Before we even get to the technical details of...

Linux Mint 7 "Gloria" - It Just Keeps Getting Better

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:19:43 +0100

I have now loaded the new release of Linux Mint on all four of my laptop and netbook computers. It loaded absolutely smoothly on all four of them, including both HP 2133 netbooks, with no problems...

Forget EC Fines: Microsoft is "IT" for many EU Governments

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:47:32 +0100

Although the European commission might be proud of its record of hitting Microsoft with fines that dig deep into Redmond's seemingly bottomless coffers, the fact is that for many European...

GIMP - what's in a name?

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:09:39 +0100

I believe in Free Software. This is a strange thing to say, rather like believing in air or water. As Rupert Goodwin pointed out in a recent blog entry “open source isn't about...

Open source coders aren't lazy enough

editorial@zdnet.co.uk — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:36:45 +0100

My enthusiasm for open source software partly stems from the times I've spent as a coder, where being able to reuse code for a particular task made my life much easier. Free licensing of code makes...