Archive | OpenSource

Open Source means that users have the freedom to see how software works, adapt it for the own needs, fix bugs and limitations and contribute back to the community.

Nashua GNHLUG meeting next Thursday: OpenVPN

By Ted Roche on October 15, 2005 in OpenSource, Security, Technology

The Nashua chapter of the Greater New Hampshire Linux User Group meets the third Thursday of each month at Martha’s Exchange, Main Street Nashua. Dinner starts at 6 PM (pay for your own), the presentation starts upstairs at 7:30.

This months meeting on the 20th of October will have Ken D’Ambrosio showing OpenVPN, an open source solution to remote secure access to a network. OpenVPN runs on Windows, Linux, *BSD, OS X and Solaris. From their web page:

“OpenVPN implements OSI layer 2 or 3 secure network extension using the industry standard SSL/TLS protocol, supports flexible client authentication methods based on certificates, smart cards, and/or 2-factor authentication, and allows user or group-specific access control policies using firewall rules applied to the VPN virtual interface. OpenVPN is not a web application proxy and does not operate through a web browser.”

Sounds like a meeting not to miss!

Ubuntu 5.10 released!

By Ted Roche on October 14, 2005 in LAMP, OpenSource

Ubuntu Linux 5.10 (that’s a Year-Month versioning scheme) code-named “Breezy Badger” has been released. Join the BitTorrents for a speedy download. Versions for i386, AMD64, PowerPC both live and install are available. Key features include a recent kernel (2.6.12.6), GNOME, Xorg, improved drivers and hardware compatibility and beta 2 of OpenOffice.org 2.0. Also included is a server configuration with support for LTSP (the Linux Terminal Server Project), NFS support and more. Check it out!

MonadLUG tonight: The Open CD

By Ted Roche on October 13, 2005 in OpenSource

Tonight at the MonadLUG meeting, I will present “The Open CD” a CD to share with family and friends. It has Windows-readable and -runnable binaries including FireFox, OpenOffice.org, Thunderbird, 7-Zip, Audacity, Battle for Wesnoth, Gaim, Celestia, GIMP, Notepad2, PDFCreator, Really Slick Screensaveers, NVU, Sokoban and TuxPaint. It also includes the texts “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” and “Open Sources.” If booted, the CD runs a LiveCD version of Ubuntu. It’s a powerful tool to convince family, friends, clients and perfect strangers to try out F/OSS.

Download your copy from http://www.theopencd.org/ or come to the MonadLUG meeting tonight where I will have copies to give away.

The Monadnock Linux User Group (MonadLUG) meets the second Thursday or each month at 7:00pm at the SAU 1 Superintendent’s Office behind South Meadow School in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Details, directions and lots more information are available at the Greater New Hampshire Linux User Group web site.

PySIG in two weeks: Jython

By Ted Roche on October 13, 2005 in OpenSource, Python

The Python Special Interest Group (“PySIG”) of the Greater New Hampshire Linux User Group meets the fourth Thursday of each month at the Amoskeag Business Incubator in Manchester at 7 PM.

This month, the meeting will take place on Thursday, 27 October 2005 and will feature a presentation on Jython by KentJohnson.

“Kent is soliciting suggestions for specific topics (on the PySIG mailing list). In the meantime here’s a synopsis about Jython in the large from the project’s home page: http://www.jython.org/docs/whatis.html. Jython should be of interest to anyone who uses or wants to know about either Python or Java. I particularly like the “typically 2-10X shorter” part, having worked on Java projects in a former life…” — Bill Sconce, PySIG coordinator

Oracle acquires InnoBase

By Ted Roche on October 12, 2005 in LAMP, MySQL, OpenSource, Technology

Jeremy Zawody blogs “Oracle buys Innobase. MySQL between rock and hard place?”

Ow. InnoBase is currently the data storage engine of choice when using the MySQL engine. (Unlike most RDBMSes, MySQL can plug into several storage engines, like MyISAM, Cluster and Archive, to provide performance and features tuned for the application.) While Oracle can’t “take away” the Gnu Public Licensed code in current use, they can negotiate difficult terms for MySQL AB to continue offering commercial products. It’s time for the MySQL AB team to look for a new storage engine.

The Motley Fool’s analysis: “Oracle Goes for the Kill.” Red Herring sees “Oracle Acquires Innobase” as just the 11th acquisition this year, and possibly for a low-end entry-level tool for the Oracle DB. It will be interesting to see how Oracle proceeds.

Lies, damned lies, statistics

By Ted Roche on September 18, 2005 in Microsoft, OpenSource, Security

OSNews posts Firefox vs. IE security: Is Two Greater Than Five?. “A recent blog post on ZDNet contends that Firefox is not as secure as promised by counting exploits. Joseph Huang contends that severity and the number of unpatched vulnerabilites matters, not just the number of exploits discovered.”

Lies, damned lies and statistics, indeed! Here’s Joseph’s portrayal:

	IE	FireFox
Extremely Critical	10	Zero
Highly Critical	20	3
Moderately Critical	14	4
Less / Not Critical	25	15

PySIG: Lloyd Kvam and Functional Programming, 9/22, Manchester

By Ted Roche on September 15, 2005 in LAMP, OpenSource, Python, Technology

LLoyd Kvam of Venix Corporation will host a discussion and demonstration on Functional Programming at the next Python SIG meeting, held the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 PM at the Amoskeag Business Incubator.

MySQL announces Application and Partner of the Year

By Ted Roche on September 15, 2005 in LAMP, MySQL, OpenSource, Technology

The Latest Updates from MySQL AB feed reports MySQL Announces Application and Partner of the Year Award Winners. “In his morning Keynote presentation at the MySQL Users Conference, company CEO Marten Mickos announced the winners of the 2005 Application of the Year and Partner of the Year awards.”

Impressive. This should continue to dispel the myth that MySQL is for “little” or “simple” applications. These are world-class high-performance sites.

Off to MerriLUG

By Ted Roche on September 15, 2005 in LAMP, OpenSource, Technology

The Merrimack Valley Linux User Group, one of the five LUGs that makes up the Greater New Hampshire Linux User Group meets the third Thursday of each month at Martha’s Exchange in Nashua. Meetings commence at 7 PM, but members often gather for dinner before the meeting at 6 PM. The presenters tonight will be from WindRiver, manufacturers of VxWorks and a number of fascinating industrial products. Wind River will be presenting their build system, “which automates building the Linux kernel, and automatically generates the Linux filesystem from pristine source with needed patches applied automatically.” There ought to be good time for a Q&A as always on generally Linux topics, too. Hope to see you there.

Linux on desktops? Why not?

By Ted Roche on September 15, 2005 in LAMP, Microsoft, OpenSource, Technology

Over at OSNews, Thom Holwerda posts Getting serious about the Linux Desktop. “In his latest column, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols argues that Microsoft Vista is going to be so expensive that it’s going to make users think hard about switching to Linux instead. [S.J.V-N says:] “Desktop Linux is never going to have a better chance than it will in the next eighteen months,” he says. [Thom says:] My take: He forgets two important factors: Vista can run with all the flashy graphics turned off, and seven editions of Vista? How many Linux distributions are there to choose from?”

Choice is Good, not bad, Thom. Many distributions serve many different audiences. We have choice in our appliances, in our automobiles, in our TV shows.

Vaughn-Nichols cites some interesting numbers about W2K being more popular than XP, despite not being officially “supported.” I have a lot of clients who have clerical staff who would be well-served with Linux as the OS, Thunderbird for mail, FireFox for browsing and OpenOffice.org for office documents. The Microsoft Vista launch could start the “Year of the Linux Desktop.”

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