Red Hat Seeks Limits on Software Patents.
RedHat went to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals asking for limits on software patents yesterday. They have not uploaded their full brief yet online, but promise to post it soon. Here's a tidbit: 'Given the litigation risk, some open source companies, including Red Hat, acquire patents for the sole purpose of asserting them defensively in the event they are faced with a future lawsuit. more... and more... and more... and more...

VIA to open up its devices.
VIA Technologies, although very popular with Linux ultramobile PC vendors, has never been very open about its own hardware. Until April 8, when, at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit at the University of Texas Super Computing Center here, the company announced that it will start opening up its chip sets to the open-source community. more...

Use Wubi to install Ubuntu without partitioning.
You can install and run Ubuntu from within Windows without any risk of accidentally deleting your existing programs and files by using Wubi, an unofficial Ubuntu installer for Windows users. Unlike UNetbootin, which installs Linux on a hard disk partition, Wubi works by installing Ubuntu within a file stored on your Windows drive, and adding itself to the Windows boot.ini file to allow you to choose between Windows and Linux at boot time. more...

CLI Magic: Using GNOMEvfs to manipulate files.
While KDE users get to boss KIO slaves for easier access to system and network resources, humble GNOME users can perform similar feats with its virtual file system, called GnomeVFS, which is an extension of the physical filesystem on a disk. Using GnomeVFS, users can work with non-local data that can come from unusual places, such as within compressed gzip archives. more...

A Linux Driver Project status report.
It's been about a year since the linux driver project was started, so I figured that it was about time for a status report of how things are going, and how things are going to be changing a bit for the future. more...

Open source video editing: what we have now and what we need.
Watching the evolution of open source tools for video editing and manipulation over the last 10 years has been less than a thrilling experience. But are things about to change for the better in the near future? Can even the people most disenchanted with the current state of affairs feel tempted to regain a spark of hope? more...

Mini-ITX vendor pre-installs Ubuntu.
An online retailer specializing in mini-ITX boards, systems, and accessories has started selling mini-ITX and pico-ITX systems pre-installed with Ubuntu Linux. Logic Supply says that as a Canonical Solution Provider partner, it has staff ready to support approved systems under the popular desktop and server Linux OS. more... and DIY pico-ITX kit runs Linux.

Software animation with Pencil.
Attention computer animators -- if you've ever felt limited by working in three dimensions with tools like Blender, check out Pencil, an open source, cross-platform animation app that lets you create in glorious 2-D. Pencil mimics hand-drawn animation techniques, but it's easy to use and produces high-quality output. more...

Applications.
Traverso DAW is a multitrack audio recording and editing suite.

Misc.
WEAU TV 13 Technology Spot.
Interview with Sun's Savior and CEO Jonathan Schwartz.
Sun Tackles Video Codec.
A year later, sales of Linux on Dell computers continue to grow.
Lucene: The Open Source Search Engine.
Four GPS Software Packages for Linux.
Run Windows and Linux without virtualization.
Educational programs in GNU/Linux.
Hat Trick For Fedora 9 Beta.
Scribus - Desktop Publishing for Penguins.
Theme Garden Drupal 6 Themes.
ModernFeed: Is Hulu Killer the Right Term?

How To Tips.

See you next Thursday 7 P.M. at 420 Cafe, 420 Washington Ave, Eau Claire, WI.

EC_LUG