[ubuntu-za] Ubuntu Indaba 0.4
Jason Norwood-Young
jason at freespeechpub.co.za
Fri May 18 11:56:14 BST 2007
Ubuntu Indaba
Read this online at http://www.ubuntu-za.org/Wiki/News-0.4
Issue 0.4 (Amorphous Arachnid)
Friday 18 May
If you want to unite a community, give them a little adversity. Microsoft helped the open source world this week by verbally attacking Linux and related applications with veiled (and not-so-veiled) threats of patent infringement cases. The result? The community got together and fought back! Thanks for all the help, Steve.
* Them's fighting words *
When Microsoft used Fortune Magazine [ http://tinyurl.com/ytexwg ] to claim Linux infringes on 235 patents, a PR nightmare was born. Instead of making Redmond look hard-done-by, the claims caused outrage among the open source community, scorn from clients [ http://www.eweek.com/article2/0%2C1895%2C2132584%2C00.asp ], and doubt as to Microsoft's long-term viability from industry analysts [ http://weblog.infoworld.com/railsback/archives/2007/05/microsoft_linux.html ]. Even Microsoft's partners aren't backing the company [ http://tinyurl.com/2s4tys ].
Software patents are a contentious issue – they're so easy to get and have proved so popular that it's difficult to write five lines of code without tripping over someone's patent. So there's little doubt that Linux does violate patents – even Linus Torvalds admits the possibility [ http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199600443 ]. But if you're a large software company – Microsoft, for instance – it's usually best to keep your mouth shut about patent violations lest the thousands of other companies that hold patents start looking at your applications.
As a result, software patent suits are usually only filed by patent trolls and companies that have lost the ability to innovate, but need to keep shareholders happy, like SCO. It's the latter possibility that has industry analysts worried.
The claims spurred the open source community to kick back, with the Free Software Foundation forming a team to actively campaign against Microsoft [ http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1522 ]. The week continued with Microsoft making more and more PR blunders [ http://www.bangkokpost.com/090507_Database/09May2007_data05.php ], with even the creator of the report claiming infringements stating that Microsoft had it all wrong [ http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1519 ]. Can't wait to see what MS does next week as it shadow-boxes its way into a corner.
- Microsoft takes on the free world (Fortune) [ http://tinyurl.com/ytexwg ]
* Intel picks Ubuntu for its Classmate *
The Ubuntu Developer Summit in Sevilla, Spain, had one particularly interesting session – a workgroup to get Edubuntu ready for Intel's competitor to the One Laptop per Child project, the Intel Classmate PC. According to Jonathan Carter's blog [ http://jonathancarter.co.za/ubuntu-stuff-catching-up ], we'll be seeing the cute little laptop in South Africa soon.
- Intel Classmate PC on Ubuntu blueprint [ http://tinyurl.com/2rh49y ]
* How'd you do that? *
Here's the situation: I have one PC with an Internet connection, but lots of PCs in my house that all want a connection to the 'Net. I can either set it up the hard way – with complex iptables entries, tricky routing commands and the like – or I can be lazy and use a friendly GUI to do the work for me.
Firestarter is the package I'm looking for. This very competent firewall is really easy to use. Start off by installing it (sudo apt-get install firestarter, or look for it in Synaptic), launch it, and use the friendly wizard to set up connection sharing. It's literally as easy as clicking “Enable Internet connection sharing”. Yup, this Linux networking stuff is hard-core!
* Help us out *
Ubuntu Indaba is a community-driven affair. That means we need your help! If you've been wanting to get involved in the Ubuntu community but don't know how to code, help us spread the word instead.
If you have interesting links to share, articles you'd like to write, events you'd like promoted, or simple suggestions, please mail us.
Ubuntu Indaba needs the following:
* Writers
* Editors
If you think you could do any of these jobs, and you're keen to be involved, drop us a line at jason at freespeechpub.co.za.
* About Ubuntu Indaba *
Ubuntu Indaba is a weekly newsletter written for the Ubuntu South Africa community, by the community, and about the community. Deadline is 12:00pm every Friday.
Editor: Jason Norwood-Young
jason at tectonic.co.za
+27-84-680-3445
Sub-editor: Jonathan Hitchcock
jonathan.hitchcock at gmail.com
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