opensuse

Hey, here's a thought: a free, open-source video codec that could be universally portable and playable. I'd vote for that, wouldn't you? In other news of the day, Dash stops making hardware to focus on software, Apple brings in an IBM guy to run the iPod division (other than Steve Jobs), and BlackBerry sneaks the Bold into stores today. Yeah, today. There's got to be something wrong with that thing.

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Apple’s iPod chief to step down http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10082065-37.html

Dash Navigation pulls the plug … Read more

Last week, Novell did a very curious and exceptional thing: it loosened its grip on the OpenSuse community, allowing (and encouraging) its first community-elected and -managed board.

How cool is that? Novell has had an OpenSuse board for the past year, but not one for and by the community itself. I asked Joe Brockmeier, OpenSuse community manager, to comment:

Having a community-elected board is a major step forward for the project. We now have more than 212 recognized members, which means that contributors who have made significant and sustained contributions to the project, and who have applied for membership, and … Read more

Novell has hired Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier to be community manager of its OpenSuse Linux project, the company said Monday.

OpenSuse is a free Linux version Novell uses to test out new features it puts into its supported product, Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server. Brockmeier, who has written about open-source software for many technical publications in recent years, will work on OpenSuse marketing, expanding its developer and user base, and on relaying community feedback to Novell, the Waltham, Mass.-based company said.

On his blog, Brockmeier said he wants to use his position to attract Windows users to … Read more

Novell has endowed its OpenSuse Build Service with the ability to produce software for its main rival, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and a clone called CentOS, the company said Thursday.

The build system was originally established so programmers could make sure their software works on new versions of Novell's Suse Linux products. The build system already worked with two other Linux distributions, Debian and Ubuntu.

Why the largesse from Novell?

My guess is that the company hopes to tow more open-source developers into its orbit, but there are altruistic motives as well: "By adding support to build packages … Read more

Over the past weekend, I spent most of my time playing around with OpenSUSE and Ubuntu in an attempt to reintroduce myself into the wide world of Linux.

And while I could have been a bit happier with the support and Linux does take some getting used to after immersing yourself in a Mac and Windows world every day, it's still an ideal platform for the advanced techie who doesn't want to waste his time with things that "just work."

And although this community has built itself up to rival even the most fanatic of Apple zealots, its strength is not shown by calling in reinforcements when it's beaten up in a column, but by the immense support you receive when you run into any problem on the platform.

Simply put, Linux has some issues that shouldn't be overlooked. But with such a vast community at your disposal, now is a great time to get in on the Linux game.… Read more

Novell released OpenSuse 10.3 Thursday, its latest free version of the open-source operating system.

For those who need a refresher, OpenSuse is the faster-moving but mostly unsupported version of Linux from Novell and various outside contributors. It competes most directly with Linux versions such as Canonical's Ubuntu and Red Hat's Fedora. Novell has tried for years to pit it against Windows as well, even as it cooperates with Microsoft in a legally thorny partnership. Novell's supported product, Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server, is sold in the form of an annual support subscription.

Like most versions … Read more

In an attempt to reduce its dependence on foreign software, Russia is planning to install its own version of Linux on school children's desktops across the country, according to CNews. Fantastic, right? Well, all that glitters is not gold.

Leonid Reiman, RF acting Minister of Communication states Russian OS and application program package development is of vital importance,...[with] [t]he main aim of the given work [being] to reduce dependence on foreign commercial software and provide education institutions with the possibility to choose whether to pay for commercial items or to use the software, provided by the government....… Read more