From the Project RSS Feed for Project subversion“>subversion project comes the news Subversion 1.4.2 released.. “I'm happy to announce Subversion 1.4.2… You can find list of changes between 1.4.2 and earlier versions at: http://svn.collab.net/repos/svn/tags/1.4.2/CHANGES ” Sounds cool! Read the notes carefully for some cautions on working with differing versions of the clients and servers. The svnsync feature opens up some interesting opportunities to publish and subscribe, perhaps into a QA or backup repository.
Archive | Technology
Red Hat responds to Microsoft-Novell "protection" deal
InfoWorld reports “ Update: Red Hat spins Novell-Microsoft deal in its favor” with the killer quote “Linux has won.” Linux Watch reports “Red Hat spits on Microsoft/Novell patent assurances” where the Red Hat spokesman points to the several levels of “protection” and “assurance” Red Hat already provides. Over at TechTarget, Jack Loftus is reporting “ Red Hat: We will be here in one year, Novell will not” Haven't we been here before: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt vs. The Facts? It'll be fun watching this play out.
Linux Journal Editor's Choice Awards
Meanwhile, the Linux Journal staff have selected their Editor's Choice products. A great range of software, some of which I'll have, and some I'll now have to make time to try out.
Novell-Microsoft tumult begins
Anticipate every press outlet will have a lot to say about this:
GrokLaw: “I've collected for you a representative sampling of reactions to the unfortunate Novell-MS alliance. First, my own: this is apparently some kind of a covenant not to sue, not a true cross licensing deal. I think that's how they plan to step over and around the GPL.”
Novell FAQ: “Because open source software is developed in a cooperative environment, some have expressed concerns that intellectual property protections could be compromised more easily in open source. Today's agreement between Novell and Microsoft provides confidence on intellectual property for Novell and Microsoft customers.”
InfoWorld
MaryJo Foley: “Reality check: Microsoft isn't waving the white flag”
Bruce Perens: “The timing of this agreement is significant. Microsoft and Novell are said to have been working on this agreement for some time, and sped up its announcement to take attention away from Oracle's recent announcement and to further depress Red Hat in the stock market… This entire agreement hinges around software patenting – monopolies on ideas that are burying the software industry in litigation – rather than innovation. If we've learned one thing from the rapid rise of Open Source, it's that intellectual property protection – the thing that Open Source dispenses with – actually impedes innovation. And the Novell-Microsoft agremeent stands as an additional impediment.”
Microsoft becomes a SuSE reseller?
Wow. There'll be lots more to say about this: Microsoft and Novell made announcements this morning that seem to be a mutual exchange of licenses and patents that means that Novell will pay Microsoft to keep Microsoft from suing them for patent infringment. Microsoft will pay one-millionth of one percent of a loose change account for some support licenses to resell to its customers. Novell can use the money they're owed by SCO that SCO got from Sun and… Microsoft. Novell is playing a very dangerous game. And Oracle's threatening RedHat. Next players to make a move? Watch Sun and IBM.
Chris DiBona interview
The Guardian features yet another Google article. Can't get too many of these. Fascinating stuff they're doing. “Giving Google a licence to code: Google's open source chief talks about the joys of Linux, the cost of Windows and his concerns about the new version of the GPL”
SQLAlchemy 0.30 released
Over at O'Reilly's ONLamp site, Jeremy Jones noted last week the release of SQLAlchemy 0.30. Lloyd Kvam had mentioned in his TurboGears presentation last month that TurboGears was going to be expanding their current support for Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tools to include SQLAlchemy. I'm looking forward to playing around with this and trying to grok the difference beween ORMs and cursors and views. So much to learn…
SQLAlchemy 0,30 released
Over at O'Reilly's ONLamp site, Jeremy Jones noted last week the release of SQLAlchemy 0.30. Lloyd Kvam had mentioned in his TurboGears presentation last month that TurboGears was going to be expanding their current support for Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tools to include SQLAlchemy. I'm looking forward to playing around with this and trying to grok the difference beween ORMs and cursors and views. So much to learn…
Digital Restrictions are Defective By Design
The Free Software Foundation has a marvelous campaign against Digital Restriction Management, the “right” claimed by media companies to prevent you from exercising your fair-use rights to play your purchased music, audio, video on the player and in the format of your choice. Such software and hardware is:
Defective By Design. A great concept!
DLSLUG, 2 Nov-2006: FOSS in Schools
Bill McGonigle announces the November 2nd meeting of the Dartmouth-lake Sunapee Linux User Group meeting, at a different location than usual:
The next regular monthly meeting of the DLSLUG will be held Thursday, November 2nd, 7-9PM at Dartmouth College, Silsby Hall, Room 312. All are welcome, free of charge.
“Open Source in Schools” presented by Dave Clifton
Dave will be talking about the use of Free / Open Source Software in schools and will chronicle the growth of the infrastructure at the Plainfield Elementary School (NH SAU 32) since 2002. There will be an emphasis on choosing appropriate software, the real costs of going down the F/OSS path, and some potentially surprising stories about what the Plainfield School is doing today.
Dave is currently a Senior Systems Administrator for
Ansys (formerly Fluent) in Lebanon, NH. He holds a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins and spent ten years doing consulting work for various government agencies and Bell Atlantic before escaping from DC to the Upper Valley in 1998. He got his start as a sysadmin in the mid-1980s running Masscomp Real-Time Unix and SunOS 4.0.3 and has subsequently worked on more operating systems than he wants to remember.