[dundee] Taylug Weekly Articles 18 - LOCAL

[gordon dunlop]

Hi All,
This week the theme is LOCAL why? From the modified phrase: Think
global, act local. Reflecting on the articles from last week,
different countries over the world have been voting on the OOXML
format. I started thinking in a local way where within the Abertay
Linux Society we have many nationalities that includes Scots, English,
Irish, Polish, Hungarian, German, Slovak, Indian, Swedish & Chinese (
please forgive me if I have not included your nationality). The TayLUG
also includes U.S., Canadian & Turkish nationals, how much are we
being local are also being global? The thing about Linux is that it
can bring people together of different nationalities, creed, religion
& race. Yes you might say that proprietary software has language
versions that makes things global, the difference is that Linux
distributions can be modified to meet not just language needs but
cultural and religious needs. We are all different and long live the
differences, to understand each other culturally we have got to
understand our different mindsets. For example, in my experiences as a
Navigation Officer travelling the world with a multinational company
between the ages of 16~30, I found that what you not do to Chinese
people is let them lose face, I also found that Islamic people take
their religion very seriously so therefore give them respect for this.
To celebrate this diversity in race and culture of Linux users, I will
dedicate these these articles to two former University of Abertay
students: Bo, a Chinese University computer science lecturer who uses
Debian; Ramezah Mohamed Yusof, a former Malaysian University computer
science lecturer who is a fine upstanding moslem lady and is probably
is the best cook in Dundee (her fried rice is absolutely awesome). In
the words of the eternal bard "We're a' Jock Tamson's Bairns".


L – Linux:
Did you know why Linux Distros are so named? I like the open SuSE one.
http://hehe2.net/linux-general/etymology-of-a-distro/

The gathering of the Linux elders in Texas.
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9306666037.html

A video of what will be happening there.
http://www.linux.com/feature/131922

Titbits on Linux things.
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17581/1141/

New power saving features in the Linux kernel.
http://kerneltrap.org/Linux/Separating_Suspend_and_Hibernation

An article about Linux's TCP SACK.
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-tcp-sack/?ca=dgr-lnxw02LinuxTCPSACK&S_TACT=105AGX59&S_CMP=GR

VIA opening up its hardware devices to Linux.
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS3589706949.html

I wonder if Paul will try this and put puppy on his Asus EEEPC?
http://www.linux.com/feature/131070

The latest on HP's offering to rival the EEEPC.
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/08/hp_launches_eee_rival/

Lenovo's new Linux MID.
http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS9280552935.html

Cisco & Linux.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/one-router-rule-them-all


O – Open source:
An interview of RMS in the New Scientist! That's cool.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19826511.900-interview-richard-stallman-one-of-the-founders-of-free-software.html

Now lets go from the free software evangelist to some open source commandments.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8421

This is what is happening in Poland.
http://polishlinux.org/poland/ooxml-iso-aftermath-in-poland/

In Brazil they are dancing the Samba (pardon the pun).
http://techforce.com.br/index.php/news/linux_blog/tse_migrates_to_linux

Swiss schools know where they are going.
http://education.zdnet.com/?p=1615

Red Hat in Singapore.
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62039950,00.htm?scid=rss_z_nw

In Australia the Bruces & Sheilas are going Linux in one school.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;609377314;pp;1

And starting to use Open Office in New South Wales schools.
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/FE73A77E2BB96F21CC257425007DCB21

In Germany one MSP says Microsoft should be banned from Government contracts.
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/10/member-eu-parliament-asks

Linux in the Middle East.
http://www.itp.net/news/515638-red-hat-wrestles-with-linux-apathy

The latest from Texas.
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20080409110045256

Is Harvard going to do it?
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9916323-16.html

A global IT health program.
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62039984,00.htm?scid=rss_z_nw


C – Coding:
An observation on GIT.
http://tomayko.com/writings/the-thing-about-git

Python becoming more mainstream.
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3738856/Python+Fans+Take+Aim+at+the+Enterprise.htm

New google app engine powered by Python.
http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2008/04/googles-app-engine-powered-by.html

Eclipse tools.
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/mapreducetools?open&S_TACT=105AGX59&S_CMP=GRsite-lnxw97&ca=dgr-lnxw97awmapreducetools


A – Applications:
Speed up of application start up in Linux.
http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2008/040108-kernel.html

The new Wordpress.
http://www.linux.com/feature/131658

The new AbiWord.
http://www.linux.com/feature/131852

Citadel, open source groupware.
http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netos/article.php/3739216

Ringside, a Social Application Server.
http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2008/04/07/you-couldnt-do-this-with-proprietary-software/


L – Large Enterprises:
Sun's commitment to LAMP.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/database_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207100772

Problems of contributing code used in the enterprise environment.
http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/04/08/open_source_user_participation/

Increased spending on Linux for ERP (enterprise resource planning).
http://www.internetnews.com/software/article.php/3739491

Linux and interoperability within the enterprise.
http://www.linux-mag.com/id/5620


In continuing this think Global act Local theme, Tim Spencer from
Germany will be giving a talk on the 24th of April about XSS (cross
site scripting) and SQL-Injection. Finally TayLUG has reached a
milestone where we now have 100 mailing list members, Everyone have a
good week.

Gordon
TayLUG Administrator