Microsoft, Yahoo deal bad for Internet, advertising

There are a number of ways to view the proposed Microsoft takeover of Yahoo. And, frankly, none of them is very encouraging. Yahoo is a company on a very slippery downhill slope, one that saw the company announce last week that it was to chop 1000 jobs in an effort to restore profitability. Microsoft is a company desperate to shore up the gaping hole in its business that is the Internet. And Google? Well Google just carries on being Google and growing stronger and stronger by the day. The concern, however, is that between the three the online advertising market is pretty much locked up and this deal will ensure it is even more so.

First, the Google perspective. In a posting on the official Google blog, chief legal officer David Drummond writes:

This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It’s about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation. Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies — and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.

Which is indeed a concern. Microsoft’s ongoing EU battles are testament to the Redmond software giant’s habit of making its own proprietary rules to lock users into their systems. With a foothold in Yahoo, and access to a significant portion of Internet users, that Microsoft will try to do the same to the Internet as it has to PCs, is not unlikely. But, to be fair, Google is also glossing over some of the real issues here.

For Microsoft the deal smacks of the desperation the company is increasingly showing. It has long dominated the operating system space but is increasingly under threat from other OS players in the market such as Linux and Mac OSX. On the Internet, Microsoft has never been particularly successful, despite various attempts with the likes of MSN, MicrosoftLive and its Live search engine. And while it struggles to develop a coherent online strategy Google just gets bigger.

A bid for Yahoo doesn’t make a lot sense for Microsoft, even though the company argues that it will save billions in new efficiencies as a result of having access to Yahoo. Interestingly, the Microsoft is not arguing that the deal will result in greater revenues, rather that it will save a tidy amount in the tie up.

Top 10 Linux FUD Patterns, Part 4

In this installment of my series on the Top 10 Linux FUD patterns, I address two patterns that have more to do with software packages that run on the Linux platform than with the Linux OS itself. As I stated in a previous post, every believable piece of FUD has some element of truth behind it, and these two are no exception.

Linux FUD Pattern #3: With Linux, you cannot access old files or share new files with others

Do you remember the Word Processor Wars? For those who don’t, a conflict began in the early 1990s as to which word processing application was the “best”, the most feature-rich, and the one most likely to dominate the market. It was a fight to the death. Though this was largely a war over functionality, the decisive battles were often fought on the file system. Why? Because the ability to understand and use a competitor’s file structure has certain advantages. First, almost any hot new function can be replicated because a sample of data speaks volumes about the processes that created it. Second, the ability to open and use the other format eases transition away from the other product. Proprietary file formats became the weapon of choice, and the strategy, to lock as many users into them as possible. The mentality that whoever controls the data controls the world solidified.

Except for the occasional Is-Linux-Right-For-You? article in the trades, this pattern does not manifest in print very often. It is more likely a topic hotly debated between OS zealots. Most often, I have been personally presented this tasty FUD cake by folks that have no experience with Linux or its applications, who think (through no fault of their own) that we *nix users type all of our letters and papers in on the command line. I raise the fact that OpenOffice can not only open many other document formats but that it can *cough* natively export PDF files as well, and suddenly the eighth-grade-level trash-speak subsides.

File exchange is not a myth; indeed, it is a very important issue. Moreover, for anyone who’s been watching the OOXML vs ODF standoff, it should be clear that the Open Source community is very much in favor of a set of open documentation standards as well. Whether or not it used to be, cross-platform file sharing is just not a problem with today’s desktop environments and is becoming less so.

If this is a serious concern, my advice is to either save your files in a highly-interchangeable format from the start or have an exit strategy that entails migration to another app later. HTML is one option, but only if maintaining strict page layout is of little importance. I have had better luck with the Rich Text Format (RTF); granted, this is not an open format, but it is highly portable and since it is ASCII-based mark up, I can read it with a text editor in a pinch. Also, I tend to save copies of documents in Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF), not just because it is portable, but because it looks more professional when sending documents to others. When I upgraded to a new machine and installed Linux for full-time use, I had to convert all of my AutoCAD Drawing (DWG) files to the Drawing Interchange Format (DXF) for use with QcaD. Between that and converting all of the Works 2.0 documents to RTF, I spent many hours executing an exit plan that could have been avoided altogether – lesson learned.

Anjuta集成开发环境

Anjuta是一个GNU/Linux下的功能强大的C和C++集成开发环境, 它使用GTK/GNOME编写, 有很多高级编程功能, 包括项目管理, 应用开发向导, 交互式调试器, 强大的源代码编辑器, 语法自动加亮.

Anjuta尽最大努力把基于文本的命令行工具的灵活性和强大的功能与GNOME图形用户界面的易用性充分结合, 因此它有非常友好的接口.

Anjuta项目欢迎任何好的建议和补丁.

它使用GPL执照发行, 阅读COPYING文件可以得到关于发行的任何细节.

Anjuta官方网站: http://www.anjuta.org

Freespire -- Lindows/Linspire免费版

Freespir是一个基于Linux的由社区参与开发的操作系统, 它包含了最好的免费开源软件和专用的编解码器, 驱动和应用, 这些专用的部分是用户可选的.

Freespire 2.0开始基于Ubuntu 7.04构建, 而后添加了一些另外的软件, 这些新添加的软件分六大类:

1. CNR插件 -- 提供了对成千上万的开源应用的一键式访问, 以及正版DVD播放软件, Sun的StarOffice, Parallels的 工作站, Win4Lin, CodeWeaver的Crossover Office, TransGaming的Cedega, 商业游戏等更多软件.
2. KDE -- 增加舒适的易于使用的KDE界面, 界面看上去像Apple Mac OS和Microsoft的Windows.
3. 增强的应用和功能 -- 使现有应用的可用性和易用性更好, 如Firefox, Thunderbird以及Linspire资助的Nvu, Lsongs和Lphoto.
4. 专用软件 -- 增加专用软件, 如Java, Flash和Adobe Acrobat, 提高互操作性.
5. 专用编解码器 -- 扩展多媒体兼容性, 提供了极好的的用户体验, 如听MP3, Windows媒体格式等.
6. 专用驱动 -- 扩展了硬件兼容性, 提供了优化的3D, WiFi等的支持.

Freespire其他优势

• 现在和将来都可以免费使用, 发布和修改.
• 既适合Linux新手使用, 也适合高级用户或开发者使用.
• 使用apt-get能访问整个Freespire开源软件池.
• 包含了完整的开发环境, 使用apt-get或CNR能很容易地扩展.
• 易于使用, 但也可进行高级配置和安装.
• 严格的防火墙设置和非root管理用户的安全;登录.
• 利用社区IRMA项目提供Freespire多语版本.
• 完全社区支持, 无须付费, 也有可选的增强支持.

了解更多

您可以查看以下链接了解更多信息:

• Freespire快速指南
• 屏幕截图
• Freespire FAQ
• Freespire远景
• Freespire路线图
• 使Freespire特别的15个东西
• 下载Freespire 2.0或订购CD
• Freespire维基网站
• Freespire论坛
• Freespire高层领导
• 有关Freespire的媒体报导

Freespire社区 -- 欢迎您的参与!

Freespire是完全靠社区开发的项目, 我们热情地邀请您参与和帮助Freespire项目, 您可以参与开发, 文档翻译, 做图, 写文档, 支持其他用户, 宣传Freespire, 您可以访问我们的社区网站了解更多详细信息, 您也可以加入我们的邮件列表.

Freespire官方网站: http://www.freespire.org/

Why Should (or Shouldn't) Geeks Vote for Obama?

Is Obama a more geek-friendly candidate than the others? What do geeks really want in a president, anyway? LinuxInsider couldn't resist asking around. "Obama presents interesting possibilities that may attract geeks," Slashdot blogger yagu told LinuxInsider. "I'm really mixed on his positions."

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Super Tuesday is nearly upon us, and that means it's time for all good citizens to lift their heads out of the mire and make some decisions.

Some Linux devotees may argue that they have more pressing things to worry about -- alerting the public to the evils of Vista, for instance -- but we here at LinuxInsider know that *our* readers are more civic-minded than that. We were gratified, then, to find the thought-provoking post on Tuesday from Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) Latest News about Red Hat blogger Tom (Spot) Callaway titled, "Why should a geek vote for Obama?"

Net neutrality, H1-B visas, copyright reform, an open government and the promise of a national CTO are all among the considerations Callaway cites in his arguments in favor of Obama, eliciting a range of comments in reaction.

'Geek-Friendly Policies'

"Spot, I kinda worry about your friends," wrote aeria gloris. "I mean, I'm a geek too, but it's not going to decide my vote."

On the other hand: "I wouldn't say his geek-friendly policies decide my vote, but having a president who has a clue about technology is about as important as having a CEO who 'gets' technology -- it can really make or break the long-term viability and profitability of a company," countered pam.

"Also, I suspect it will in most ways make my life easier, to have things like more H1-Bs and net neutrality, and a patent system that has A CLUE... much easier for a programmer...," she continued. "And his desire to make the government processes more open, including having web based tools for all people to preview legislation before it is passed, is exactly what will help make the government more accountable to the people."

Investing in Science

Is Obama a more geek-friendly candidate than the others? What do geeks really want in a president, anyway? LinuxInsider couldn't resist asking around.

"Obama presents interesting possibilities that may attract geeks," Slashdot blogger yagu told LinuxInsider. "I'm really mixed on his positions."

Among Obama's pros for geeks are his willingness to address the patent system's need for reform, his interest in investing in science, and his ability to encourage diversity in media ownership, yagu said.

Regarding science, "this is important, and it needs someone who is willing to invest for a return not immediately evident," he explained. "To continue to lead in understanding our world (technologically speaking) we need to be willing to spend time and money up front. We may never know the return until we see it, but we'll never see the return if we don't try."

OpenOffice 3 has PDF import, native Aqua UI, and Tara Reid

There’s been quite a bit of buzz recently after it was announced that OpenOffice 3 was due in September. It seems, however, most people still aren’t aware of what’s in store.

We love OpenOffice.org, hereby referred to as OpenOffice like normal people do. We like the fact it does pretty much everything we need for free, we like the out-of-the box PDF and Flash support, its better-than-Word ability to work with large documents, and the joys of using a standard file format that’s actually, you know, a standard.

But the Openpoffice.org website is a rather scary place. We managed to find this conference presentation lurking in the shadows before running away in fear of mid 90’s web design. Here’s the best bits:

Native Mac OS X Aqua version

The Mac finally gets a native OpenOffice. This has been going on for a while - you can already download the native OS X OpenOffice 2.3 beta, but this time it’s official.

OCF-Linux - 为Linux的异步密码加速技术

OCF-Linux是OCF(OpenBSD/FreeBSD Cryptographic Framework)的Linux移植项目, 其目标是把所有软硬件密码加速技术通通移植到Linux内核和应用层, 结果表明, 使用OpenSSL的块加密吞吐率提高了7倍之多.

目前, OCF-Linux能加速OpenSwan, OpenSSL, OpenSSH (scp, ssh, ...)已经BSD加密测试等应用, 它也能加速DES, 3DES, AES, MD5, SHA和公钥(Public Key)操作等加密算法, 同时它通过利用RNG硬件提高了/dev/random的随机性. 作为嵌入式设备的\高性能加密解决方案, 该项目的开发非常活跃.

OCF-Linux基于OCF框架的FreeBSD移植开发, FreeBSD版本包含了几处好的性能改善, 有一些参考资料值得一读: leffler_crypto.pdf, 它解释了为什么需要这些改善.

当前的OCF-Linux版本支持2.4.34以上的2.4内核以及2.6.23以上的2.6内核.

OCF-Linux项目官方网站: http://ocf-linux.sourceforge.net/

Eclipse项目

Eclipse是什么?

Eclipse是一个开源社区, 其项目着眼于构建一个可扩展的开发平台以及运行时库和应用的框架, 它能在软件的整个生命周期构建, 部署和管理它. 很多人了解Eclipse并且使用它作为Java集成开发环境, 但Eclipse远不只有这些功能.

Eclipse开源社区有60个开源项目, 这些项目又分成7大类:

1. 企业级开发
2. 嵌入式及设备开发
3. 富客户端平台
4. 富互联网应用
5. 应用框架
6. ALM(Application Lifecycle Management)应用生命周期管理
7. SOA(Service Oriented Architecture)面向服务的架构

Eclipse社区受到了大的重要的IT解决方案提供商, 创业公司, 大学, 研究团体以及个体的大力支持, 他们支持, 扩展和补偿了Eclipse平台.

令人高兴的是, 许多人在以难以想像的方式在使用Eclipse, 它们在使用它构建创新的, 业界领先的软件, 它们想使用这样伟大的工具, 框架和运行时库来使他们的工作公容易.

Eclipse基金会做什么?

Eclipse基金会是非赢利的会员支持的公司, Eclipse项目由该基金会负责管理, Eclipse基金会负责提供日常运营的IT基础设施, 知识产权审查和处理, 指导各开源项目的开发活动, 支持社区的市场和业务开发.

Eclipse基金会不做源代码开发, 所由Eclipse开源软件都由开发人员开发, 他们或者是自愿者, 或者受会员或个体资助.

怎样开始使用Eclipse?

绝大部分人下载下面四个包中的一个开始使用:

1. Java集成开发环境 -- Java开发者使用.
2. Java EE应用开发环境 -- Java EE应用开发者使用.
3. C/C++集成开发环境 -- C/C++开发者使用.
4. Eclipse插件和RCP应用开发环境 -- Eclipse插件和RCP应用开发者使用.

有很书, 指南和文章帮助您开始使用Eclipse, 也有一些公司提供培训和资讯服务, 如果您有任何问题, 也可可以通过新闻组提问.

从哪得到支持?

任何人都能开一个bug并在新闻组提问问题, 许多公司提供Eclipse的商业版本, 这些公司能够提供商业级的支持.

如何联系其他的Eclipse用户?

联系其他Eclipse用户的最佳办法是通过新闻组和Bugzilla. 通常人们会在这些地方提问和回答问题, 您也可以在PlanetEclipse.org.找到一些熟悉Eclipse的人的博客.

如果您想联系Eclipse基金会, 请看联系我们.

Eclipse使用什么执照发行?

Eclipse使用EPL(Eclipse Public License)发行, EPL是商业友好的发行执照, 这允许公司在它们的商业产品中包含Eclipse软件, 同时要求它们把使用EPL代码实现的一些好的功能的代码捐献给Eclipse社区.

EPL的商业友好性使得成百上千的公司基于Eclipse发行商业产品, 您能在Licensing FAQ查看关于EPL的详细信息.

怎样参与或发起一个Eclipse开源项目?

参与一个开源的第一步就是熟悉现在的一些开源项目. 在Eclipse有许多不通的技术在开发, 因此参与到现有的一个开源项目是非常容易的, 如果您有一个独特的的技术适合于Eclipse, 您需要做的第一步是阅读Eclipse开发过程文档, 确保您的兴趣和Eclipse的目标是一致的, 然后联系Eclipse Management Organization (EMO)帮助您起草一个建议书, EMO的email地址是emo at eclipse dot org.

谁能发起一个开源项目?

Eclipse是开方透明的开源项目社区, 我们欢迎任何人的项目建议, 任何非Eclipse基金会的成员也可以发起或参与一个开源项目.

如何成为会员?

请访问这里了解详细的会员申请指南.

Eclipse官方网站: http://www.eclipse.org/