Our open source expert foresees the future of Linux: By 2012 the OS will have matured into three basic usage models. Web-based apps rule, virtualization is a breeze, and command-line hacking for basic system configuration is a thing of the past.
Firefox includes a great deal of functionality for day-to-day web browsing, but it’s capable of so much more. Simon Pickstock cherry picks the best extensions to make your internet life super-productive.
Developers in open source technology are always looking for someone who is going to help create the next new groundbreaking application that will take the world by storm. And the best part is, it’s free and, in most cases, you can work from the comfort of your own home.
While OpenOffice.org has been consistently compared to Microsoft’s Office, for a free software suite, it offers remarkable functionality. Considering Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate retails at around AU$800, OpenOffice.org has the potential to save you a lot of money.
Microsoft, upon experiencing Mandriva Linux Spring 2008, should be getting close to shaking in their boots. This is, without a doubt, the finest release of any Linux distribution I have ever experienced in my 10+ years of using Linux.
The best open source applications and operating systems are more usable now than they were six years ago. But this is largely from slow incremental improvements, and low-level competition between projects and distributors. Major problems with the design process itself remain largely unfixed.
Automatix, a tool for Ubuntu that allowed easy access to many popular non-free applications and commonly-used audio and video codecs, was discontinued in March when its developers moved on to other projects. Now Ultamatix hopes to continue where Automatix left off.
In his quest to find the simplest Linux distribution, Jack Wallen makes a stop at PCLinuxOS and may have found the holy grail of simple operating systems. Read Jack’s take on PCLinuxOS and decide for yourself if PCLinuxOS is your “go-to” Linux distribution.
As if to apologize for KDE 4.0, the project’s release manager, Dirk Muller, released 4.1 along with the news that some 20,803 alterations had been made since 4.0, not counting 15,432 translation check-ins, nor about 35,000 additional changes that went into “working” versions.
Novell developer Michael Meeks finds strong words for Sun Microsystems’ management of the free office suite in an interview with der Standard. Meeks also promotes own OpenOffice.org flavor - Go-oo - and talks about KDE/GNOME-unification.