DesktopLinux.com Staff

Mozilla on July 18 released Firefox 2.0.0.5, the latest update to the groups flagship browser. The update patches eight security vulnerabilities, three of them “critical” and two “high,” the group said. Most existing Firefox 2 users will be alerted to the new version by the software update feature built into the browser. Firefox 2 users […]

A spokesperson for the One Laptop Per Child program reported July 31 that the countries of Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina and Thailand have each committed to purchase 1 million Linux laptops through the U.S.-based program. Several media outlets reported last week that Nigeria had committed to buying 1 million of the laptops, and others reported (incorrectly) […]

On Wednesday, Mandriva announced that it was partnering with Hewlett-Packard Co. to distribute HP desktop computers pre-loaded with Mandriva Linux 2006 to 37 countries in Latin America. As part of the agreement, Mandriva was also named the “Preferred Linux Partner for Latin America” and Mandriva Linux 2006 has been optimized and certified for HP machines. […]

Novell Inc. Tuesday announced an agreement with the government of Switzerland to convert some 3,000 of its servers to the companys SUSE Linux operating system. Operational efficiency and cost were key factors driving the Swiss governments decision to move to Linux, according to Novell. Novell did not disclose the value of the contract but did […]

In the latest bit of personnel-related news from beleaguered Linux software/services provider Novell Inc., Nuremburg, Germany-based SUSE Linux founder Hubert Mantel announced his resignation Tuesday via email to friends and business associates on one of the SUSE mailing lists. Mantel, chief maintainer of the SUSE Linux kernel, simply said in the brief letter that he […]

The Mozilla Foundation is developing an enhanced calendar extension for Thunderbird, its popular e-mail application. According to a post on Mozillazine.org, “Lightning,” the enhanced calendar function, will offer “a set of user features that is much more competitive with Outlook, especially in enterprise usage.” Sunbird has been available for a long time as an extension […]

The state of Massachusetts Friday made it official: It will use only nonproprietary document formats in state-affiliated offices effective Jan. 1, 2007. Although state CIO Peter Quinn has said repeatedly that this issue does not represent “the state versus Microsoft Corp. —or any one company,” adoption of the long-debated plan may result in all versions […]

Indonesias Ministry of Research and Technology Thursday said it will implement a Java Desktop System (JDS) on Linux as a national-standard desktop, customed-designed for its own culture. This desktop software will be a major component of the new Indonesia Goes Open Source (IGOS) program that aims to help eliminate the “digital divide in the worlds […]

A Linux developer is organizing volunteers for a public “Web station” project to assist Hurricane Katrina victims. Steve Hargadons plan is to create numerous Linux-based public kiosks that boot directly into the Firefox browser and display a special home page with links to various services. In addition to offering disaster relief information and news, the […]

The state of Massachusetts will revamp its digital output during the next 16 months to create only open-format documents and is increasing its use of Linux and free and open source software (FOSS) among its workers, the states chief information officer told DesktopLinux.com Thursday in a conference call. CIO Peter Quinn challenged Microsoft and other […]