You are here: Home

OFE WORLD NEWS ROUND UP

OpenOffice 3.2 - now with less Microsoft envy . 2010-02-15
The Register - OpenOffice 3.2 - now now available for Windows, Mac and Linux - boasts faster start-up times than before. But the really big news is that now - finally - this open-source suite offers full compatibility with files created using Microsoft's Office 2007. If you've ever tried opening or converting .docx and other Microsoft Office 2007 file formats outside of Office 2007 itself, you've likely pounded your head against more than a few walls - downloading plug-ins or struggling with online conversion services. Read More
Red Hat projects to seed cloudy IT . 2010-02-12
The Register - Let's get one thing straight. We don't like the term cloud computing any more than you do. Of course, Richard Stallman doesn't like when we call it Linux rather than GNU/Linux. He's gotta live with Linux. And, well, we've gotta live with cloud computing. It's not going away.Commercial Linux and middleware distributor Red Hat is, like other platform providers, trying to get money from IT departments that buy software. But Red Hat can't say that. For one, the company can't sell software because that violates open source licensing, and two, it's too boring to just come out and say that. Read More
Relevant link of today: OOXML not suitable for Norwegian government . 2010-02-11
Jochen Friedrich's Open Blog - A study published by the Norwegian "Direktoratet for forvaltning og IKT" (Agency for public adminstration and ICT) comes to the result that OOXML is not suitable for being used by the Norwegian government. The study is available online in Norwegian. Amongst the reasons that are given are that the standard with its more than 6000 pages is not appropriate; it is not suitable for collaboration; and there is only one software that can implement it and produce the respective file format. Norway recommends pdf for electronic document exchange of documents that don't need to be edited and ODF (open document format) for all other documents.

See, for instance, the reports on Heise online (German), CIO and on Computerworld.
Read More
Group aims to set standard for cloud security . 2010-02-11
ZDNet - A 24-strong consortium of service providers, vendors, government organisations and consultants has begun work on a set of measurements designed to make it easier for businesses to compare the security features offered by cloud-computing providers. The project, launched on Monday, aims to provide a Common Assurance Metric (CAM) that will consist of objective, quantifiable measurements, the as-yet unnamed consortium said in a statement. It will draw from existing standards, which are often industry specific. Read More
Time to turn open source words into action . 2010-02-10
NewStatesman - Since early 2004, it has been the government's stated policy to use open source software in the public sector wherever possible, as long as it offers the best value for money. To date, the policy has had little impact. So will the latest tweaks to its open source Action Plan make a difference? Software is "open source" when the source code is freely available to be viewed, shared or changed - things that you can't do with more traditional proprietary software. Crucially, open source is also the cheaper option in many cases. So how good is the government's record on using open source so far? Read More
Is Unix on its way out? . 2010-02-10
The Inquirer - This week IBM unveiled its Power7 processor and Intel introduced its 9300 range of processors both fighting over the future of Unix. While this battle has been interesting with both Biggish Blue and HP trying to club Sun to death, it is taking place as interest in Unix is dropping. IDC had reported that 2009's third-quarter saw a 23.4 per cent fall in Unix server revenue, which seems to indicate that the market for these boxes is gradually falling. It is possible to put this fall in terms of a general decline in corporate spending. After all, these are big expensive boxes and corporationd are not buying. But Sun's problems, which ultimately led it to being bought out by Oracle, were related to the fact that interest in its Unix based SPARC is slacking. Read More
OOXML not suitable for Norwegian government, says study . 2010-02-09
Computerworld - Microsoft's XML-based office document format, OOXML, does not meet the requirements for governmental use, according to a new report published by the Norwegian Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (DIFI). The agency wants to start a debate over the report as part of its work on standards in the Norwegian government. Read More
Open-source repository hits 2,000 apps . 2010-02-09
ZDNet - An EU platform for exchanging free and open-source code now offers more than 2,000 applications for use by public bodies in the region. The EU Open Source Observatory and Repository (Osor.eu) announced the milestone on Wednesday. "The federation of the 2,000th open-source project is an important milestone for Osor and a proof of its value," said Francisco García Morán, European Commission director of informatics, in a statement. "Furthermore, I am very happy to see the use of open-source progressing in public administrations." Read More
Canonical scoops Alfresco man for operations . 2010-02-08
The Register - Open-source evangelist and überblogger Matt Asay has been named as chief operating officer of Canonical, Ubuntu's commercial sponsor. Asay will align strategic goals and operational activities, optimize day-to-day operations, and lead Canonical's marketing and back-office functions, Canonical said Friday. He joins Canonical from open-source enterprise content-management specialist Alfresco, where he'd worked since 1998, most recently as vice president of business development. Read More
more world news                                    20 20 twitter icon  OFE Twitter                                                                                 rss feed 20*20  RSS Feed

NEWS FROM THE OPEN SOURCE OBSERVATORY

RECENT OFE PRESS RELEASES

Events


Fourth free geographic information system days (Girona, Spain, from Mar 10, 2010 09:00 AM to Mar 12, 2010 12:00 PM)
ETSI Workshop on future Internet technologies standardisation (Sophia Antipolis, France, from Mar 10, 2010 09:00 AM to Mar 11, 2010 06:00 PM)
Twelfth Chemnitz Linux days (Chemnitz, Germany, from Mar 13, 2010 12:00 AM to Mar 14, 2010 12:00 PM)
Solutions Linux/Open Source 2010 (Paris, France, from Mar 16, 2010 09:00 AM to Mar 18, 2010 06:00 PM)
Inaugural Interdisciplinary Conference of the Virtual Communication (Hull, United Kingdom, from Mar 19, 2010 12:00 AM to Mar 20, 2010 12:00 PM)
GoOpen 2010 (Oslo, Norway, from Apr 19, 2010 09:00 AM to Apr 20, 2010 06:00 PM)
Akademy 2010 (Tampere, Finland, from Jun 30, 2010 12:00 AM to Jul 01, 2010 12:00 AM)


Powered by Plone, the Open Source Content Management System

This site conforms to the following standards: