Slashdot

michuk writes "Our favorite Polish (p)reviewer (p)reviews. In this (p)review, Plasma has gone under major API changes and is still a bit wonky, Dolphin gets tabs (hell yeah!), Phonon gets a Gstreamer backend, KWin gets wobbly windows (hell yeah!), and KInfoCenter and K3b get KDE4 ports. KDE 4.1 will be sure to blow your mind."
http://polishlinux.org/kde/kde-4-rev-802150-work-in-progress/

michuk writes "My goal, Dear Reader, is not to prove anyone, that Windows' command-line features are identical to those of Linux. To be honest, this text does not aim to cover the Windows shell features, at all. It is not a goal, it is a measure. The goal is to present you with a few thoughts about "the human nature", as would Agatha Christie say. Especially to you, all the Linux zealots out there."
http://polishlinux.org/apps/cli/cmdexe-for-linux-zealots/

This is a follow-up post to my recent report on OOXML process in Poland (also covered by Groklaw). It looks like things are going bad this time. At least as bad as in October. IBM representative for KT182 accused commitee's chairman, Andrukiewicz of intentionally manipulating the process.
http://polishlinux.org/poland/possible-manipulation-around-ooxml-process-in-poland/

michuk writes "Let me ask you a basic question: Which operating system do you use? What are the possible answers? Windows, Linux, Solaris or Mac OS X, of course. But let us try to think different for a moment. Maybe it is possible, that this answer would be, for example KDE?"
http://polishlinux.org/gnu/gnusomething/

michuk writes "Do you know why do I admire Microsoft's marketing whizzes? They made a deity out of their corporation. No, seriously. No figurative speech. Not a metaphor nor a parallel. Those nameless heroes did it literally [...] Keyto in a lengthy editorial "gets the facts" about Microsoft and the way it influences the free software world."
http://polishlinux.org/gnu/fear-of-the-dark/

michuk writes "Multi-trade International Corporation for Research of Office Software Open Format Technologies (MICROSOFT) has announced their surprise decision, that they cease to support OOXML document format (Office Open XML), acknowledging at the same time, that the ANSI-developed & supported TXT format will be a better, universal, solution. Got it Microsoft? Got it Jasow Matusow? Any misread acronym can make sensational headline."
http://polishlinux.org/apps/openofficeorg/microsoft-drops-support-for-ooxml/#comments

michuk writes "It may be a brave opinion but I predict that Ubuntu Linux and Windows Vista are going to be the two operating systems that will take over the largest chunk of the desktop OS market during the next couple of years. This comparison is based on my experience with both systems during the last couple of weeks on two different computers."
http://polishlinux.org/linux/ubuntu/ubuntu-linux-vs-windows-vista-the-desktop-battle/

michuk writes "Firefox Beta 3 has been released some days ago, I have installed it and made a little comparison with Firefox 2.0 to see some of the changes."

michuk writes "Keyto in his article Understanding the Common User points that "everything should be as simple as it is.. or even simpler" and warns that converting a common user to Linux without giving him enough protection leads to a imminent failure. Karol Trojanowski, in a rebuttal Get Real or How NOT To Convert Your Grandma to Linux stresses that dumbing down is not the key to success, understanding is. Both articles are a must-read for Linux nerds trying to convert anyone on their way."
http://polishlinux.org/gnu/understanding-the-common-user-everything-should-be-as-simple-as-it-is/

James McP writes "A working computer has been built that for the first time demonstrates the Parallel Random Access Model (PRAM) of parallel processing. According to the Network World article the unnamed machine uses FPGAs to create sixty four 75Mhz CPUs which have a claimed combined performance of "100x" a normal desktop. The PRAM computer was built as part of a NSF grant that has the goal of developing APIs and compiler optimizations to support the PRAM system. As a bonus, if you submit the winning name for the new PRAM computer you can win $500. "
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/16728

michuk writes "Linux is simply the best. Open, free of charge, stable, reliable, flexible, and scalable. And God only knows why people do not want to use it [...] There's a lot of choices. Hundreds of them! So... what is this thing that stops people switching? Well, I'm sure the blocker is right here — it is the choice. But there's more to it."
http://polishlinux.org/gnu/understanding-the-common-user-everything-should-be-as-simple-as-it-is/

The BBC chose Microsoft's DRM technology to limit for 30 days the viewing of content downloaded from their website. These downloads would allow viewers to catch up on shows that were broadcast on the previous 7 days, and they would be compatible with Windows Media Player 10 and 11 and a new product called "iPlayer". This iPlayer is not yet available for platforms other than MS Windows, which caused the Open Source Consortium (OSC) to file a complaint to national and EU authorities on competition.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6236612.stm

FireFury03 writes "After the BBC Trust approved the BBC's development of a Windows-only video-on-demand service in April, the Open Source Consortium is threatening the BBC with a complaint to the European Commission, since it gives Microsoft an unfair advantage and is not in the public interest. They have also complained to the regulator (Ofcom) and the BBC Trust comparing the situation to the BBC only making programmes that can only be watched on one particular brand of television.

As a licence fee payer, I feel that I should have the right to withhold a portion of my licence fee since the BBC obviously feels it appropriate to artificially restrict the content and therefore prevent a proportion of licence fee payers from legitimately accessing it. It is also interesting to note from the article that the BBC seems to consider supporting only Windows and Mac to be "platform agnostic", with no mention of other operating systems."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6236612.stm

michuk writes "Encrypting your data is the key to mobile security. PolishLinux.org has a couple of tutorials comparing DM_Crypt with TrueCrypt — two programs that can save your life when your computer gets lost or stolen. Find the differences between these two and encrypt your disk now! Tip: DM_Crypt better integrates with Linux kernel, but TrueCrypt works on Windows as well."