Wednesday May 17, 2006 links for 2006-05-18
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Tom Sanders quotes me in this discussion of the new DLJ - although he misses the fact that it's not just for Ubuntu but also covers Debian, Gentoo, NexentaOS and loads more.
Posted by webmink
( May 17 2006, 06:17:38 PM PDT )
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Tuesday May 16, 2006 links for 2006-05-17
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I'm quoted commenting on the new DLJ and the associated Debian packages, which all ow distribution of the Sun JDK in Debian non-free for the first time.
Posted by webmink
( May 16 2006, 06:17:30 PM PDT )
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JDK on GNU/Linux: Something Wonderful
Something wonderful just happened. If you have ever tried to install the Java platform on GNU/Linux, you'll know it's been really hard work. For reasons that date back to the 90s, and which were never meant to cause GNU/Linux a problem (as at the time it wasn't really on the radar), the Java platform has been licensed in such a way that GNU/Linux distributions couldn't carry it. In addition, the Sun-provided installer for GNU/Linux has, to be charitable, sucked.
All that just ended. An unprecedented collection of Debian developers, Ubuntu developers, Sun engineers and Sun lawyers has spent months devising a new binary license for the Java platform, together with the parts for new installers, so that the Java platform is available on GNU/Linux in a way that "just works". Yes, you can now apt-get install sun-java5-jre and have it install without fuss on Debian and Ubuntu. Gentoo will have it soon too.
This is not just for those distros. Novell has endorsed the new license, NexentaOS, Belenix and Schillix are all using it and all other GNU/Linux and OpenSolaris distros are welcome - e-mail me if you have a distro and need help. If you are at JavaOne, come to our special unBOF on packaging the JDK for GNU/Linux and OpenSolaris, upstairs at the Thirsty Bear at 5:30pm on Tuesday (yes, today).
The mechanism is the new "Distro License for Java", DLJ, and a new jdk-distros community. The DLJ does away with the cascaded liability terms, the greater-weight Java product requirement and the no other implementations requirement for distributing the JDK. The jdk-distros community provides a place for all GNU/Linux and OpenSolaris distributions to get the parts they need to build install packages tuned for their system. The combination ends a nightmare that Java developers on GNU/Linux have faced for years, and ushers in a new wave of Java development on GNU/Linux and on OpenSolaris.
As you can tell, I'm really pumped about this! I got to announce it at DebConf in Mexico on Monday, and it's in the keynote today at JavaOne in San Francisco (I've flown up specially). Consider it a downpayment on the future of the Java platform!
Posted by webmink
( May 16 2006, 12:28:44 AM PDT )
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Monday May 15, 2006 links for 2006-05-16
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Encouragement that writing to the government to correct their position on open source can be effective. Of course, the vital step there is to also correct the source from which they got the original bad advice.
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Damien Katz proves it's not just Guy Kawasaki who can write lists.
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Nice dissection of OSDL boss Stuart Cohen's inaccurate article in BusinessWeek from the ever-enjoyable Patrick Finch.
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ODF support to be added to Lotus Notes.
Posted by webmink
( May 15 2006, 06:18:05 PM PDT )
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Friday May 12, 2006 links for 2006-05-13
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"The EC is serious about its long term ambition to end up with one single interoperable standard, and it should not be delayed by Microsoft's moves" -- Editorial
Posted by webmink
( May 12 2006, 06:18:35 PM PDT )
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Free iPods at JavaOne
Hey, now this is cool. Seems the Solaris folks are so confident that their staff geeks can improve the performance of your Java application that they will give you an iPod if they can't. Minimum 2,000 lines of code, must be a 'real' application (not something written just to win an iPod!), a few other rules but basically it's a straighforward beat-the-expert challenge on the show floor. More on their website.
Posted by webmink
( May 12 2006, 03:26:17 PM PDT )
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Thursday May 11, 2006 links for 2006-05-12
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This is really cool, way better than the one on the JavaOne site. If you have an account on JavaLobby you can go straight in & use it (it's a Java Webstart application) and it saves via a web servcie to your JL account.
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You'll recall OpenOffice.org running their "Get Legal, Get OpenOffice.org" campaign? Well, it seems Microsoft want to supply case studies like this one to help the campaign along...
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Of course, only wrongdoers need be concerned.
Posted by webmink
( May 11 2006, 06:18:54 PM PDT )
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Toasting Freedom
Another event invitation for those of you who will be at JavaOne, but with a difference.
With so many geeks at the conference, wouldn't it be great if we could get people to tithe their skills to a good cause? Well, the OpenSolaris team has worked out a way to do that and is hosting a Freedom Toaster toast-a-thon next Wednesday. The plan is to build a Freedom Toaster using a system donated by Sun's Network Systems Group and then load it up with ISOs of all the Free/Open Source software we can manage. After the event, it will be sent down to a South Africa township.
I've been invited to host the event so I would love to see you there too. Please sign up and then come to Room 123 in Moscone at 7pm on Wednesday.
Posted by webmink
( May 11 2006, 09:15:04 AM PDT )
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Wednesday May 10, 2006 links for 2006-05-11
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Think network neutrality isn't a problem? T-Mobile want to tell you what you can and can't do with the bandwidth they are selling. Avoid.
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About time too. "The historic tradition of the United States as a beacon of freedom, liberty and of justice deserves the removal of this symbol." -- Lord Goldsmith
Posted by webmink
( May 10 2006, 06:18:19 PM PDT )
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Tuesday May 09, 2006 links for 2006-05-10
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Joint OASIS/ISO press release finally confirms what we had heard informally.
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Debunking Jason Matusow's "lie so "colossal" that no one would believe anyone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously"."
Posted by webmink
( May 09 2006, 06:19:03 PM PDT )
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Confirmed @ The Bear
Just confirmed with the folks at the Thirsty Bear that we can have our annual JavaOne Bloggers Gathering there. So...
- Event:
- JavaOne Bloggers' Social
- Venue
- Thirsty Bear Brewing Company
- Date & Time
- 5:30pm-7pm, Tuesday, May 16 2006
- Registration:
- Please register!
Posted by webmink
( May 09 2006, 01:08:34 PM PDT )
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Monday May 08, 2006 Java? On yer bike!
Interesting extract from the JavaOne press release:
Think Green -- Bike to JavaOne
This year's JavaOne Conference falls during "Bike to Work Week". To support this effort, Sun has partnered with the San Francisco Bike Coalition to offer a free "Bike Valet" service Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Moscone Center South Hall. If biking isn't possible, Sun suggests public transportation including BART, AC Transit, CalTrain, MUNI, the ferry, among others. JavaOne attendees who support Sun's efforts by biking or taking public transportation will be entered into a drawing for a Lance Armstrong signed Discovery Team bike jersey, other Discovery Bike Team gear, Timbuktu messenger bags, memberships to the Better World Club, the eco-friendly auto club with the nation's only bicycle roadside assistance, and other great prizes.
Now, if they provided bikes at the hotels too that could be really interesting...
Posted by webmink
( May 08 2006, 11:24:25 PM PDT )
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Dapper
I just downloaded Ubuntu 6.06 Beta 2 (Dapper Drake) for PowerPC and gave it a try on my Powerbook G4. Pretty impressive actually! Started without a flaw, network worked, looked great on the screen, came with OpenOffice.org 2.0 and Firefox. This could be a way to recycle old Apple kit once the move to Intel takes hold and the universal binaries stop...
Posted by webmink
( May 08 2006, 04:07:00 PM PDT )
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Saturday May 06, 2006 links for 2006-05-07
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The Call for Papers for the 2006 OpenOffice.Org Conference in Lyon, France is now open. It closes on June 1st.
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There have been giant puppets in London this weekend - the coverage on Flickr is far better than that in the old-school media.
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Read it and shudder. among the more worrying terms: if you have more than 5 PCs at home you agree to pay more; you agree that any MSFT partner can "rootkit" you; and you agree not to use the thing for anything they didn't think of.
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This is great - next time I go to New Zealand I'll have to track one down.
Posted by webmink
( May 06 2006, 06:20:42 PM PDT )
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