Thom Holwerda Archive

By itself, the release of OpenOffice.org for Scots Gaelic is a small event within the communities of FOSS. However, the release shows a potential for FOSS that is often overlooked, particularly by those for whom English is their native language. Specifically, FOSS has the potential to help resuscitate a declining language and thereby aid in revitalizing a disintegrating culture.

Microsoft released details on a number of projects today. One of those is Microsoft Student 2006, a suite that helps parents and students with their homework and assignments. Secondly, MS released Microsft Money 2006. In addition, MS unveiled more details on the November launch of Visual Studio, SQL Server and BizTalk Server, while also previewing the long awaited CRM update.

The head of research for Microsoft's Windows Mobile software for handheld computers, Ya-Qin Zhang, was in Taipei last week talking up the company's latest major operating system release, Windows Mobile 5.0.

Project Harmony is seeking code donations from commercial vendors of Java Virtual Machines to kick-start the development of its new open-source Java project.

Version 2.0 of MBSA includes a graphical and command line interface that can perform local or remote scans of Windows systems. MBSA runs on Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows XP systems and will scan for common security misconfigurations.

Random numbers are utilized in many different areas, ranging from cryptography (in general) to source port and process ID randomization in some operating systems. So what is exactly a random number generator?

The Firefox browser has been ported to the new Intel-based Mac OS X platform with the assistance of Apple. Firefox developer and Mozilla Foundation employee Josh Aas said the Mozilla team built on Apple's preliminary development work in bringing the browser across to the platform, which is scheduled for rollout to consumers by mid-next year.

The variety of open source offerings - from application servers and databases to security and content management - illustrate the community's commitment to meet business needs. We're ready to take the next step. But, first, there are a few things we'd like to see from you, the open source community, before free software takes on a higher profile in big IT departments.

RPM maintainer Jeff Johnson publilshed a reply to Claudio Matsuoka's Top 10 Problems in RPM article, adding more interesting points to the discussion. If you value politeness, skip this discussion.

While none of this appears to be revolutionary now, the fact remains that Lycoris was the first to perfect the "desktop Linux" formula. Mandrakesoft, SUSE, Caldera and even please-use-windows Red Hat helped Linux greatly on its journey toward the consumer desktop, but it was Lycoris who perfected the formula for the first time."

GUIdebook has an interesting set of screenshots and information about Photoshop. It lists screenshots of various windows and dialogs of all the versions released in the past, for Mac and Windows. Definitely worth a look.

Protecting against laptop and data theft would appear to be relatively easy, but, in a business sense, is rarely so. This article provides some basic steps for employees to follow in order to protect laptops.

With all of the attention on dual core processors lately, it has been real easy to overlook the one application that might benefit more from multiple cores than any other; Linux. OK, so technically Linux isn't an application, but the kernel has supported SMP for nine years almost to the date. But does any of this translate to great desktop performance for dual core processors?

The Pegasos I G3 to Pegasos II G4 Upgrade Program is now active. Original purchasers of Pegasos I motherboards can now trade-in for the Pegasos II with G4 processor for a low price of €200 - or opt to keep their original system for €300.