February 2008 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Microsoft opens up APIs, file formats and documentation to all
by Craig Box 22 Feb '08

22 Feb '08

No, it's not a dream. Now you're awake, this will be all over the newswire... http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-21ExpandInteroperabi… Their new interoperability principles (http://www.microsoft.com/interop/principles/default.mspx) include such useful pieces of information as "Microsoft commits that all the protocols [..] will be made openly available to the developer community in a non-discriminatory fashion", "Microsoft will indicate [..] which protocols are covered by Microsoft patents and will license all of these patents on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, at low royalty rates" and "Microsoft will covenant not to sue open source developers for development and non-commercial distribution of implementations of these Open Protocols." What does this mean? Time will tell, but the news sounds good for both business and Open Source developers. An interesting move! Hats off to the EU. Craig

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Microsoft pledges not to sue over open source
by Ian McDonald 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9876029-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=254… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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System spec for 3D graphic artist
by James Pluck 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

Hi all! I have a friend who has asked me to help him spec up a replacement computer for his family. He enjoys using gimp to create artwork and wishes to use linux exclusively on the new box. He is keen to teach himself 3D graphics to produce artwork. His requirements: Must Haves: * Linux compatibility * 2-3 years future proofed * 3D art package * 2D art package Nice to Haves: * graphics tablet compatible (This is borderline must have) He has a fairly restricted budget for this (under $2K including monitor - prefer under $1500) Currently he has an older p4 running Gutsy and a 15" LCD. Basically there is very little in his current kit that is salvageable for a significant upgrade. What I have suggested so far is * minimum 2 GB ram (preferably 3 GB+) * Nvidia GPU (around the level of 8600GT 512 I was guessing) * 3 Gig CPU minimum (prefer 4Gig or higher dual core or better I would imagine) Ok - so there's lots of guessing in there. I've not had a lot to do with 3D graphics apart from in gaming circles so I'm not as helpful for him atm as I could be. Am I on the right track for HW? Can anyone suggest requirements I have missed or HW specs to suit the requirements? Any advice would be greatly received. Cheers J -- James Pluck PalmOS Ergo Sum "Dear IRS: I would like to cancel my subscription. Please remove my name from your mailing list..."

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Where Ubuntu 8.10 will head
by Ian McDonald 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080220-next-ubuntu-release-to-be-cal… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Google sponsors improvements to Wine
by James Pluck 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

A very good article on Ars Technica about the support that Google has been providing to improve Wine making Dragon Naturally Speaking and Adobe software work under Wine on Linux. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080219-google-intoxicates-linux-user… -- James Pluck PalmOS Ergo Sum "Dear IRS: I would like to cancel my subscription. Please remove my name from your mailing list..."

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Microsoft Opens Up Proprietary Office Document Formats Too
by Ian McDonald 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

>From Wininfo daily: With the open versions of its Office document formats receiving mixed reviews from standards bodies, Microsoft announced late last week that it would also open up its older, proprietary Office documents formats. This change is part of an ongoing bid to get the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to accept its newer Open XML document format as a standard. As of last Friday, the specifications for Microsoft's proprietary Word, Excel, and PowerPoint binary document formats (as used in versions 97-2007 of the products) were published to the Microsoft Web site. (They were previously available by request only, though few are aware of this.) Microsoft has also created a translator for moving documents between the older binary formats and the newer Open XML formats, which it has published on the SourceForge Web site. As with the Open XML formats, the binary document formats are provided to the public under Microsoft's Open Specification Promise (OSP), which provides an open license for others to use the formats without fear of patent infringement or other legal issues. Thus, developers could use the specifications to make their own applications and services completely compatible with documents created by Microsoft's most widely used Office applications. The big question, of course, is whether these moves will be enough to convince the ISO to standardize Open XML. Microsoft's new formats failed ISO accreditation during a fast-track proposal late last year, but the ISO will have a Ballot Resolution Meeting later this month to address the company's revised proposal. According to reports, national standards bodies that participated in last year's ISO balloting submitted more than 3500 comments about the Microsoft bid, though once duplicates were removed, the number was closer to 1000. Microsoft's revised bid will apparently address every one of those comments. To comment, click here. -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IanMcDonald has organised Mike Culver from http://www.wlug.org.nz/Amazon to talk about what Amazon is doing with web services. Please note this is at MS4 G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) not the usual location. Please note this is a Wednesday, not the usual night. But it's still 7:30PM Mike's details are available at http://evangelists.wetpaint.com/page/Mike+Culver+NZ+Australia+Feb+2008

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting is tomorrow!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

There is a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting tomorrow: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IanMcDonald has organised Mike Culver from http://www.wlug.org.nz/Amazon to talk about what Amazon is doing with web services. Please note this is at MS4 G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) not the usual location. Please note this is a Wednesday, not the usual night. But it's still 7:30PM Mike's details are available at http://evangelists.wetpaint.com/page/Mike+Culver+NZ+Australia+Feb+2008

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MeetingTopics.2008-02-20
by Darryl Cousins 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

Hi, Re the meeting on Wednesday with speaker Mike Culver. I've not been to a WLUG meeting (resident in Thames) and I would just like to check protocol that attendance is open to all interested parties. Namely, myself. :-) Regards to all, Darryl Cousins Python coder Zope3 developer

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Google launches Open source blog
by Ian McDonald 13 Feb '08

13 Feb '08

http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/ -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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