October 2007 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Interesting article on Lotus Symphony
by Ian McDonald 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

http://www.linux.com/feature/119596 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Skype 1.4 for Linux released
by Ian McDonald 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjA5Nw -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Update on the OLPC
by Ian McDonald 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

>From NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html?_r=3&ore… -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Re: [wlug] Microsoft starting to open source .NET
by David 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

Yes, seriously! http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjA5Mg It's not all of it and it's not the greatest license but it's a start. Can there be any doubt that open source is a better model as Microsoft starts to slowly embrace it?? I think the specs to .net would be better than source code under those terms. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2191754,00.asp Microsofts open source trap. -- Some people say that if you run a windows installer cd backwards it commands you to worship the devil... But its worse if you run it forwards, then it installs windows!

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Microsoft starting to open source .NET
by Ian McDonald 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

Yes, seriously! http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjA5Mg It's not all of it and it's not the greatest license but it's a start. Can there be any doubt that open source is a better model as Microsoft starts to slowly embrace it?? -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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3Com goes VoIP with Asterisk
by Ian McDonald 03 Oct '07

03 Oct '07

Great move on their behalf: http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9790221-16.html?tag=bnpr -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Fwd: Open source software and Consumer testing
by Ian McDonald 02 Oct '07

02 Oct '07

And Consumer are doing a feature on Linux in the future. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Oct 2, 2007 1:21 PM Subject: Open source software and Consumer testing To: ian.mcdonald(a)jandi.co.nz Hi Ian Thanks for the email. We've considered doing Linux and other operating systems for some time. The last time we looked at it, the powers that be decided that it was not worth doing. The reason for this was that in one of our computer surveys, less than 1 percent used a linux based system. However, as I'm sure you're thinking, perhaps less than 1 percent use it because they're simply not aware of the existence of these other options. This is something I'm interested in doing and I've convinced our research manager to let us do it but the timeframe hasn't been determined yet - it will take a little time to do properly. So while you may not see it in the next month, it's certainly something we're going to do. That line certainly wasn't meant to apply to open source software of the type you describe and we should clarify that. There is no doubt that a groundswell is definitely developing towards alternative software. We're certainly not in any way biased towards Microsoft, PCs versus Mac, etc, so don't feel it's an intentional snub at other possibilities. I've just finished an article on office suites which should be online soon. We recommend OpenOffice as well as MS Office 2007. Hope this helps. Best regards Marc Wendelborn Technical Writer Consumers' Institute 39 Webb St Te Aro, Wellington -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Pharmac publishes directly with open source
by Michael McDonald 01 Oct '07

01 Oct '07

Interesting article from Computer World ... Pharmac publishes directly with open source The TeX solution reduced the cost of the project to a fraction of what the proprietary solution would have cost, says IT manager http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/25F72F231ABF8F5ACC2573630083A579 Michael

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Fwd: Your article on EULA - feedback on Free Software
by Ian McDonald 01 Oct '07

01 Oct '07

If any others of you are Consumer members you might like to write something to them. Please be polite. They have often recommended software such as Openoffice before so I think this is a genuine mistake. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ian McDonald <ian.mcdonald(a)jandi.co.nz> Date: Oct 2, 2007 8:49 AM Subject: Your article on EULA - feedback on Free Software To: editor(a)consumer.org.nz Dear Sir/Madam, I noticed online at this page: http://www.consumer.org.nz/topic.asp?category=Computers%20%26%20Phones&subc… that you said this: Use caution with 'free' software. It is rarely free. There's often a trade-off in advertising, access to personal information or use of your computer's resources. For example, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs use your computer to send information across the web which may leave it vulnerable to viruses, software flaws and trojans (malicious programs hiding in benign applications). I think that this is a little misleading as there is a whole category of free software which is completely different. This is also called "open source" software. Some examples of this are Firefox, OpenOffice (which you have mentioned positively previously) and Linux. Many large companies such as Google run on free software. A good article on free software is one here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software I think the software you mean is actually freeware which I agree is often very problematic. This is described here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware It would be great if you can print a clarification for this as often free software/opensource software is a better choice than paid software. Regards, Ian McDonald (An open source software programmer) -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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