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Planet Linux - Linux and open source news (8 unread)

iPhone 3G out 11th July 2008

Posted: June 9th, 2008, 11:53pm CEST

a rel=nofollow href=http://www.apple.com/iphone/img src=http://www.planetlinux.org.uk/images/main_overview20080609.jpg border=0 align=left hspace=16 vspace=16/a p To a booming applause Steve Jobs unveiled the long awaited iPhone 2.0 at a rel=nofollow href=http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/WWDC 2008/a. /pp As expected it is now 3G, has GPS support, the a rel=nofollow href=http://www.apple.com/iphone/appstore/App Store/a for downloading applications and games over the air. Among the examples on Apple's site there's a Twitter client poking out. They must know something we don't, as an army of tweeting iPhone users isn't going to help Twitter's currently overloaded state. /p p To keep the corporates happy, enterprise support for Microsoft Exchange via ActiveSync. For non Exchange users who want to keep up to date, there's a rel=nofollow href=http://www.apple.com/mobileme/MobileMe/a, which promises to keep calendars, contacts, etc all nicely synced across devices. It doesn't look like there's any SyncML support but given the conflict with MobileMe that's hardly a great surprise. I hope I'm wrong. /p p The headphone jack is no longer a headache, and you can use any standard 3.5mm headphones directly with the iPhone 2.0. Good thing as the sound quality has been much improved. The unit is also thinner, has metal buttons, a black plastic back and somewhat more oomph from the battery. p Extremely welcome was the fact they've knocked the price from the speculated $399 to a much more affordable $199 (USD). With that and the fact they're allowing iPhone 1.0 owners to upgrade the phone software, it would be fair to guess Apple are trying to get enough market penetration to head off the impending arrival of Google Android based phones. /pp Alas as it's not out until July we won't know if one can perform the same jailbreak tricks. We've waited this long so what's another month? ;) /p
Thunderbird part deux

Posted: November 15th, 2007, 8:28pm CET

The Thunderbird and Lightning developers are eager for feedback at the moment, but it just seems so often in these feedback requests that the bigger issues aren't being looked at, or if they are, they're not exactly shouting about them. With MailCo formed, there is at last a fiscally backed platform that could take Thunderbird to the next level, so I'm gearing up to send them my two cents worth. p Rather than focus on esoteric localisations, minor installer improvements, etc, it really is the time to bring it all together and focus on the herd of elephants gathered in the room. /p p Yes, it's those old nagging deficiencies that stop Thunderbird getting out into the business world, namely suitability as an Outlook and Exchange replacement. The way I see it, there are some excellent open source projects that should be pooling their talents with the Mozilla teams, and our little open source e-mail nirvana can become real. Here are my suggestions... /p bFunambol/b p Talk to the a href=http://www.funambol.com rel=nofollowFunambol/a SyncML team. Better still, hire the Mozilla SyncML plugin developer and give him some helpers! The combo works great to get data to phones and PDAs with SyncML support. My Nokia works fantastically well with it. /p bOpenChange/b p Talk to the a href=http://www.openchange.org rel=nofollowOpenChange/a developers and put some energy into a Thunderbird plugin for their LibMAPI code. This takes care of Exchange integration by allowing something more than just POP3/IMAP access. /p p Without this barrier, and thus Thunderbird getting used at work, we chop the legs out from under the Well I use Outlook at work so I'll use it at home argument, and once office workers start using it they'll realise how nice and easy it is to get on with. /p bSoGo/b p Talk to the a href=http://www.inverse.ca/english/contributions/sogo.html rel=nofollowInverse team about SoGo/a. It's groupware with a web frontend that walks and talks like Thunderbird. It, or something like it that one can tack in front of standard IMAP, CalDAV and LDAP servers is the plug to the Outlook Web Access hole! /p bLooking in at Thunderbird and Sunbird/Lightning/b p I've been asked many times by Outlook and OE defectors about this first one! The profile manager needs a makeover. Give Thunderbird password protected profiles, an easy (toolbar button menu) to use within Thunderbird. There needs to be an easy way to switch between them, and make certain folders shareable between profiles or at least copyable, so mail can be easily moved. /p pSort out the one way LDAP issue. It has great value in corporate environments. Along with that, make it easy to set up OpenLDAP. A point and click Win32/MacOS port wouldn't go amiss either. /p p Give the Lightning and Sunbird developers more help! 0.7 is really good. Certain key things are needed to make it better... ol li Focus hard on the sharing. Businesses want selective sharing of calendars / events through a centrally accessible system. The CalDAV servers around need to have a Win32/Mac point click install, and the Linux version needs to just go in via package management. Don't make compilation the only way./li li Get the URL handling working so that Firefox (or any other browser) will hand webcal, etc URLs to TB / Lightning./li /ol Right, that's it for now. Time for a cup of tea!
Thunderbird and Exchange

Posted: November 13th, 2007, 7:40pm CET

While digging around the web recently, I found myself reading about a rather promising open source project called a rel=nofollow href=http://www.openchange.orgOpenChange/a. At the heart of the project is a library called libmapi that allows other programs to talk MAPI to Exchange servers. Although only at version 0.6 looks very promising, and there's a plugin for Evolution to use it. brbr It's certainly something the a rel=nofollow href=http://www.mozilla.orgMozilla Foundation's/a newly formed MailCo should consider lending support to, as embedding full MAPI functionality in a rel=nofollow href=http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/Thunderbird/a, or at least providing a Thunderbird to Exchange plug-in would eliminate a major roadblock to roll out in business environments. brbr One can say all this easily enough, but doing it will require a fair amount of energy and coordination between the Thunderbird, a rel=nofollow href=http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/Calendar/a and OpenChange devs, and given the page of Thunderbird development, there's plenty of time for Redmond to throw a spanner in the works. brbr However, if what is being suggested in certain circles is true, the fly in the ointment might not be Microsoft but Google. While the Mozilla Foundation is now flush with cash, a large chunk of it comes from the search giant. Yet while Firefox is cherished, poor Thunderbird never gets the love it deserves in terms of cash injection to boost the project, which might lead one to think it was being snubbed in favour of GMail. brbr There's strength in numbers. Even if you're not a developer yourself, if you'd like to see Thunderbird to Exchange support, use said mail client to send the developers a message!
Apple and O2 for UK iPhone deal

Posted: September 18th, 2007, 12:46am CEST

Apple pie, mmm it's good! Especially for Apple Computer, who have managed to strong-arm the UK mobile network O2 into giving up a whopping 40% slice of all revenue made from customers. brbr This is the largest share by a long shot that any phone hardware vendor has managed to secure although voices in the industry claim it isn't likely to become commonplace. brbr What is surprising is how this has happened despite possibility of a flop; there's no 3G support for one thing, ring tone support is via the iTunes store and at a much higher price than UK users are used to paying, and it's certainly not the smallest device ever. brbr Read more over at a rel=nofollow href=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/sep/17/mobilephones.appleThe Guardian/a.
OpenOffice 2.3 released

Posted: September 18th, 2007, 12:19am CEST

Version 2.3 of OpenOffice, the completely free open source office suite has been released! There are a plethora of bug fixes, and the following notable improvements. brbr The all new chart wizard now has support for 3D Charts. The toolbars have been redone. The autosum in Calc has been jazzed up. Base now includes a report builder, and, bit of a bizarre one this, you can export documents as Wiki pages from Writer.
Walt Mossberg Tackles Ubuntu

Posted: September 17th, 2007, 11:58pm CEST

I'm quite a fan of the a rel=nofollow href=http://www.ubuntu.comUbuntu Linux/a having had a lot of success with it on laptops and other traditionally awkward for the penguin hardware configurations. It's not that Linux can't support them; it's that it can't support them for the average non technical user, and if Linux is ever to get that foothold on the desktop we all hope it will, it has to get past these issues. brbr Therefore it was quite interesting, if a little predictable, to see what respected mainstream media writer Walt Mossberg a rel=nofollow href=http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20070913/linuxs-free-system-is-now-easier-to-use-but-not-for-everyone/had to say/a about it. I won't spoil it too much for you suffice to say the usual suspects were mentioned.
Mozilla Lightning and Sunbird near 0.7 release

Posted: September 17th, 2007, 11:41pm CEST

The a rel=nofollow href=http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/download.htmlnightly builds/a for Mozilla Lightning and Sunbird, the calendar applications to complement Firefox and Thunderbird, are nearing version 0.7 and have come on in leaps and bounds. They've finally gotten past trying to squeeze the mini view in the folder area and have given the calendar it's own view. The iTip / iMip handling appears to be working and task and event creation is much nicer too. Your faithful reporter here is still using 0.3.1 despite 0.5 being out because of a silly regression that caused WebDAV publishing to fail, but that too has been fixed. Life is good. Watch out for 0.7 release candidate 1 this week!
New Apple iPod Nano, classic and iPod Touch released

Posted: September 6th, 2007, 5:41am CEST

Apple have unveiled the new updated iPod range. The iPod Nano has a bigger brighter screen, the iPod touch is like an iPhone, and the 8GB iPhone is now the only iPhone. Even better, it's only $399 now. Sorry early adopters! Investors are a little unhappy about the price chop too, with Apple shares having slipped a bit. More detail at a rel=nofollow href=http://www.apple.comApple's website/a. brbr div align=center Table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 style=border: 1px solid #BBBBBB; background-color: #FFFFFF; tr tdimg src=/images/stories/12/nano.jpg alt=iPod Nano updated/td tdimg src=/images/stories/12/classic.jpg alt=iPod Classic updated/td tdimg src=/images/stories/12/touch.jpg alt=iPod Touch released/td /tr /table /div
2008 the year of the Linux desktop

Posted: July 8th, 2007, 6:27pm CEST

MaximumPC have added to the 'Year of the Linux Desktop' articles in circulation. Having seen this story nearly every year I'm pessimistic, but perhaps a little less so with the rise of user friendly distributions such as Ubuntu, and the Vista situation.

"When Evans Data released its survey on Tuesday showing a sharp shift toward Linux (and away from Windows) among developers in North America, the Linux world went wild. Wistful pengiun heads heralded the coming Open Source Age. But the real measure of OS success is in the number of users, not the number of developers. After all, most of the world's PCs end up in the hands of ordinary people who have no interest in coding. Fortunately for open-source addicts, there are several signs that the coming year could bring a sea-change among end users, making 2008 the year of the Linux desktop."

Full article at MaximumPC

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Planet Linux - Linux and open source news (8 unread)

iPhone 3G out 11th July 2008

Posted: June 9th, 2008, 11:53pm CEST

Thunderbird part deux

Posted: November 15th, 2007, 8:28pm CET

Thunderbird and Exchange

Posted: November 13th, 2007, 7:40pm CET

Apple and O2 for UK iPhone deal

Posted: September 18th, 2007, 12:46am CEST

OpenOffice 2.3 released

Posted: September 18th, 2007, 12:19am CEST

Walt Mossberg Tackles Ubuntu

Posted: September 17th, 2007, 11:58pm CEST

Mozilla Lightning and Sunbird near 0.7 release

Posted: September 17th, 2007, 11:41pm CEST

New Apple iPod Nano, classic and iPod Touch released

Posted: September 6th, 2007, 5:41am CEST

2008 the year of the Linux desktop

Posted: July 8th, 2007, 6:27pm CEST