Linux/Open Source News

Redmond turned red-faced upon learning that an automatically installed Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation plug-in for Firefox opened a major security hole. Following Microsoft's disclosure of the bug, Mozilla blocked the plug-in. According to Mozilla, Microsoft agreed with the move, even though it had released a patch to close the underlying flaw. Full Story »

When Google unveiled its open source Chrome OS on Thursday, many commentators were quick to dismiss the new operating system as unimpressive and underwhelming. Full Story »

San Francisco - Ruby, the popular open source dynamic language, is making headway not only on Java but also on the Windows and Mac platforms. Full Story »

The open source version of Google Chrome OS was released on Thursday, and tech wizards didn't waste any time turning the code into a workable test version of the new operating system. If you don't want to wait until next year to see what's going on with Chrome OS, then follow this handy guide to find all the information you need to get the new system up and running on almost any computer. Full Story »

Not surprisingly, developers have already snapped up the code to Google's open-source Chrome OS, known as Chromium, then compiled it and put it on the Web for users to download. Full Story »

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, one of the more user-friendly versions of Linux around, has agreed to assist Google with its Chrome OS. Full Story »

Oracle and Sun Microsystems have been granted an extra week to defend their planned US$7 billion merger in front of European regulators, the European Commission said Friday.Earlier this month the Commission, Europe's top antitrust regulator, issued formal objections to the deal, arguing that it posed a threat to competition in the market for database software.The deadline for a final ruling has been put back to Jan. 27 from Jan. 19, which amounts to six additional working days for Oracle to win over the skeptical regulator. "Oracle requested the extension in order to have the opportunity to further develop its arguments in response to the Commission's concerns," the Commission said in a routine weekly statement on the status of ongoing merger investigations.The Commission's concerns center on Oracle acquiring MySQL, an open source database developed in Europe and bought by Sun a year ago for $1 billion. It argued in its statement of objections that the acquisition of the most significant open source database on the market by Oracle, the proprietary database market leader, could harm competition. Full Story »

Watching Google's Chrome OS event made me realize: There is a lot in Google's OS that can benefit Microsoft--like giving it a completely new platform and one it needs. If Google is really true to its open source promises, Microsoft should join the fun. Full Story »

Google released its Chrome operating system to the open-source community on Thursday and said it has designed the netbook OS to be faster, simpler and more secure than existing ones. Full Story »

San Francisco - Several years after open source began to take the world by storm, the question of how to make money in the genre still remains an issue, with a prominent Novell official Wednesday advising caution for those considering a move to open source. Full Story »

Software company Red Hat could be working on a square box base. Full Story »

Google Chome OS, which Google is expected to preview this Thursday, has been the subject of much speculation and rumors since its announcement last summer, when Google made public its plans to develop a lightweight, open-source Linux-based OS aimed primarily at netbooks. Ever since, a series of fake screenshots and speculation as to what Chrome will offer has bombarded the Web. Full Story »

Just a week after the second beta launch, Mozilla on Wednesday released Firefox 3.6 beta 3, which adds 80 changes to the previous version. Full Story »

Nokia says its Linux-based Maemo operating system is the future of its high-end smartphones, ending hope for Symbian OS to reign supreme. The change emphasizes how far behind the world's largest handset maker has become. Full Story »

The pace of interactive multimedia continues to evolve with the release Tuesday of Adobe Systems' beta versions of its AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 software. The updates are available for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. The 10.1 player is also available for x86-based netbooks and, at some point in 2010, for smartphones and other mobile devices. Full Story »

On Tuesday, YouTube announced a new service that lets news and media outlets request, review and even rebroadcast clips YouTube users shoot and upload to the site. Dubbed YouTube Direct, the new tool is built from YouTube's API. YouTube Direct is an open-source application that makes it possible for media organizations to allow customized versions of YouTube's upload platform on their web sites. Full Story »

I used to think Ubuntu was destined to lead Linux into the mainstream, but now it's looking much more like Google--not Canonical--will be the first Linux vendor to truly challenge Microsoft. Full Story »

San Francisco - Microsoft announced on Monday the release and open-sourcing of its .Net Micro Framework 4.0, which provides a .Net-based development and execution environment for small devices. But the TCP/IP stack and cryptography stack were omitted  from the open source effort. Full Story »