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Software

Submission + - How to convince the boss to use open source?

Submitted by PHPNerd
PHPNerd writes: My boss is a very smart man who has been in the computing industry (mainly the software side of it) for the last twenty years. Now he's the IT Director at the company I work for where I'm a software developer (about 500 employees total). I see the value of open source, and so does my boss who frequently tests out the latest and greatest that the community has to offer. However, here at this company, we're rather entrenched into Microsoft and other companies where the users feel "safe" and "secure" using it because it's the familiar thing to them. He told me that he cannot justify moving to Open Office, Linux, and other open source movements. Effectively, it appears as though his hands are tied by the higher-ups. So, I ask the Slashdot community for help: I need a homerun, slam dunk list (to present to the vice presidents) with reasons why moving to open source will not only save money, but help the company to do better business.
Java

Submission + - The Implications of Free Java

Submitted by dsginter
dsginter writes: Last November, when Sun announced that they would be adopting GPLv2 licensing for Java, I expected somewhat of a bigger splash. Is this truly a non-event or does the assumption of such a robust tool set on GNU systems change the landscape? What happens to LAMP? Will Tomcat move in as the web server du jour? Can PHP finally die? What about the venerable Portable Operating System Interface? It seems like there is a lot of room that could be filled by this move.
IBM

SCO Relies On IBM-donated Servers With Groklaw 100

Posted by Zonk from the come-together-right-now dept.
Technician writes "It appears that SCO and Groklaw have the exact same tie to IBM: the ibiblio service. 'An eagle-eyed Groklaw ninja, sk43, has spotted an ftp site where you can get binary copies of Linux libraries needed by SCO's OpenServer and UnixWare customers who use lxrun. But you can't get the source code from that sco.com ftp site. SCO directs their customers to .... sunsite.unc.edu. Why bless my stars, sunsite.unc.edu is the old name for what is now ibiblio!'"
Television

Submission + - Commercial Television's Online Future

Submitted by Bluedove
Bluedove writes: Burton MacKenZie predicts Three Possible Futures affecting the continued relevance of television stations in the close future. The bottom line: provide freely downloadable commercial television soon or share the same fate as AM Radio.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Global Warning - Live With It

Submitted by belligerent0001
belligerent0001 writes: From Newsweek via http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17997788/site/newsweek / we discover that alot of the Global Warming Indicators may not be what they seem. FTA "There is no compelling evidence that the warming trend we've seen will amount to anything close to catastrophe. What most commentators — and many scientists — seem to miss is that the only thing we can say with certainly about climate is that it changes. The earth is always warming or cooling by as much as a few tenths of a degree a year; periods of constant average temperatures are rare". So Greenland was once green, warmer regions produce more foods, and its the middle of April in Cleveland and there is 12 Inches of snow on the ground. 'F' the F-ing climate.
Graphics

Submission + - Linux based OpenGL development system without X

Submitted by
zelko
zelko writes: "myOS — Linux based OpenGL development system without X Minimalistic GNU/Linux system, stripped down of everything, but core necessary files to compile and run OpenGL/C code. It has simplified directory structure and cleaned up internal cross referencing. Programs compiled in myOS will run on any Linux with or without X. Copy of the OpenGL Red Book is included, together with 45 examples from the book. Examples are organized by chapters, each in separate folder, ready to compile, run and play with. Source code is modified to use Scitech drivers and is very similar to GLUT version in the Red Book. This little collection is really all one needs to learn OpenGL. In fact the whole system being very simple to use or analyze and understand, can be a tool to teach Linux basics and C/OpenGL programming. http://one.xthost.info/zelko/opengl.html"
Security

Submission + - Hackers offer subscription, support for malware

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: Organised gangs are taking a page out of security vendors' books and setting up their own websites that offer support and subscriptions for malware and spyware.

From the article: "For subscriptions starting as low as $20 per month, enterprises can sell "fully managed exploit engines" that spyware distributors and spammers can use to infiltrate systems worldwide, said Gunter Ollmann, director of security strategies at IBM's ISS X-Force team.

Many exploit providers simply wait for Microsoft's monthly patches, which they then reverse engineer to develop new exploit code against the disclosed vulnerabilities, Ollmann said. "Then all you've got to do is just subscribe to them on a monthly basis."
Databases

Submission + - ODBC for Ajax Web Clients

Submitted by Adi Lane
Adi Lane writes: Enable Web client to directly access server-side relational data without compromising enterprise security with IBM Database Connectivity for JavaScript. Web 2.0 applications can thus use this to access relational data as a first-class construct instead of through ad hoc protocols.
Mozilla

Submission + - 7 year old bug keeps businesses from using Firefox

Submitted by
Mike Moening
Mike Moening writes: "Firefox is a terrific browser. Every day many developers are switching to Firefox for both home and business use. However, there is a 7 YEAR old bug that has almost single handedly slowed the adoption of Firefox for business applications.

The ability to do something as simple as properly validate a field on a browser form. Because of this 7 YEAR old bug it is not possible to do this. With applications become richer with technologies like AJAX and client side Javascript this inability separates Firefox from its competitors.

The Mozilla/Firefox developers are legendary for their ability to nail bugs like this quickly. So why does a bug that is SEVEN YEARS old still remain unfixed? What does it take?
Business want to use Firefox! Are business centric problems are being ignored?
See bug: http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=53579 for the gory details. Comment #31 says it best. FYI the posted workarounds to this bug don't work either.
Hats off to Firefox developers! Keep up the good work!"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft asks UK to petition for OpenXML

Submitted by
nevali
nevali writes: "Microsoft UK has put up a petition to urge the British Standards Institute to support the ISO fast track process for Microsoft's OpenXML format. The only problem with this is that, being a petition, there's no easy way to tell them you'd really prefer OpenXML not being an ISO standard."
Intel

Submission + - Intel Brings Quad-Core Chips to Embedded Computing

Submitted by Endo13
Endo13 writes: While Intel may hold a significant lead over AMD, they're not just sitting still. From an article on technewsworld.com: "Intel on Tuesday unveiled its Xeon E5335 and E5345 quad-core processors, which it called the first quad-cores for the embedded segment. The quad-core embedded processors offer dual-processing capabilities supplying up to eight high-performance cores per platform. The chips could appear in devices within 12 to 18 months."

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