OpenSolaris.
This week at its CommunityOne event in San Francisco, Sun will release its May 2008 build of OpenSolaris (2008.05) the Open Source operating system based on the source code of the Solaris 10 enterprise UNIX OS, the first to be designated with “Production” support offerings. While very much community software and not yet at the level of polish for end-user adoption that many of the latest Linux distributions are now enjoying — shows promise and enormous potential as an enterprise-class UNIX desktop and server with an Ubuntu-like flavor. more... and Does OpenSolaris Matter? and First look: OpenSolaris 2008.05 a work in progress.

The Fedora Project Releases Fedora 9.
The Fedora Project, a Red Hat sponsored and community-supported open source collaboration, today announced the availability of Fedora 9, the latest version of its open source operating system distribution. Fedora 9 continues to build upon a tradition of innovation as the community Linux distribution that offers the latest, cutting-edge features with continued delivery of quality and impact. more... and Hats off to Fedora 9 and Fedora 9 - an OS that even the Linux challenged can love.

MySQL backtracks on closed-source plan.
Sun Microsystems has backtracked on previous plans to release important backup features for its MySQL database under a proprietary license, following widespread criticism from the open source community. more... and It's official: The future of Sun/MySQL is open...and closed and Great GUI tools for MySQL.

OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta a big step forward.
The open-source office suite is back with a new 3.0 beta release, ushering in a handful of major enhancements, broader file format support, and a solid batch of evolutionary new features. Ars Technica takes the new beta for a spin to see if our productivity increases. more... and OpenOffice.org 3 beta released.

Crossing the platform divide.
Trolltech has announced the official release of Qt 4.4, a much-anticipated update to their popular, cross-platform software development framework. more...

Synchronize your databases with SqlSync.
SqlSync lets you compare two databases to see which tuples have been added, removed, and changed. You can also use SqlSync to make one database a clone of another and maintain its contents to be that way. One benefit of using SqlSync to perform synchronization is that you can perform heterogeneous syncs -- for example, from MySQL to PostgreSQL. more...

FusionCharts Free: Cross-platform charts that rock.
Have you dreamed of finding a charting and graphing application that is simple to install, easy to configure, and drop-dead gorgeous? Stop dreaming and download a copy of FusionCharts Free. You'll be producing professional quality charts and graphs in no time. more...

Applications.
OGMRip is an application and a set of libraries for ripping and encoding DVD into AVI, OGM, MP4, or Matroska files using a wide variety of codecs.
andLinux is a complete Ubuntu Linux system running seamlessly in Windows based systems.
Entertainer aims to be a simple and easy-to-use media center solution for Gnome and XFce desktop environments. and Play multimedia content with style using Entertainer.
A(nother) Regular Expression Test Tool.
Hydrogen - Advanced Drum Machine. and more...

Misc.
Mark Shuttleworth and The Art of Release.
Firefox 3 Release Candiate 1 Code Complete!
Stable kernel 2.6.25.3 released.
About PulseAudio.
CSS Design: Taming Lists.
Open Library One web page for every book.
Review of ASUS Eee PC 900 (Linux).
Valve's Source Engine Coming To Linux.
dmidecode: What's it good for?
Xubuntu: Better than Ubuntu (at least for me).
Areca Linux desktop backups made easy.

How To Tips.

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

EC_LUG