Monthly Archive:: July 2007

"Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it. The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying for draconian punishments, and to increase their copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. But if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright - to promote progress, for the benefit of the public - then we must make changes in the other direction. This talk by Richard M. Stallman is broken into two parts: the main talk and the question and answer sessions following the talk. Both are available in only OGG/Theora format in keeping with Stallman's wishes."

The Syllable project has released a new package of Builder, the system that builds Syllable, its native applications, and ported applications. Builder can also be installed on Linux. This release matches the Syllable 0.6.4 source code. It also contains the beginnings of a branch for the upcoming Syllable Server based on the Linux kernel. Part of the documentation for Builder was just integrated in the new Syllable documentation set. The full manual is in Builder/README. Further, the development version for the next Syllable release already has a new gigabit ethernet driver, for the D-Link DL2000.

"Remember the 1980s worries about how the 'forking' of Unix could hurt that operating system's chances for adoption? That was nothing compared to the mess we've got today with Linux, where upwards of 300 distributions vie for the attention of computer users seeking an alternative to Windows."

Ubuntu Gutsy Tribe Alpha 3 has been released. "The Ubuntu developers are moving very quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. Gutsy Gibbon Tribe 3 is the third alpha release of Ubuntu 7.10, and with this new alpha release comes a whole host of excellent new features."

Geeks.com sent us over one of the best video cards on the market today: the GeForce 86000GTS with 256 MB VRAM and a crazy fast 675 MHz engine clock. The card is on the high side of the middle-end graphics cards compared to others available and it's currently selling below $200. In this article we will test the multimedia performance of the card as used in video playback and rendering support rather than its already well-benchmarked multiple times so far and well-known gaming abilities.

Microsoft says software that's licensed under a new version of a popular open source license isn't covered by the patent protection deal it recently signed with desktop Linux distributor Linspire. In a posting on its Web site, Microsoft said the Linspire client software protected by the patent deal doesn't include any parts of the distribution that "comprise or include Foundry Products, Clone Products, GPLv3 Software, or Other Excluded Products." The document was published on July 5, three weeks after Microsoft struck a deal with Linspire through which Linspire's customers are indemnified against Microsoft's patent claims against Linux users.