Part- I. Realizing True Potential
Readers on this side of the world may not be aware of some very interesting ICT and FOSS developments taking place in the various regions of Asia. First of all, there are many FOSS initiatives that are very active within the overall region adding value to the global FOSS movement. These regional or country level initiatives include organizations and groups like:
Storix Inc [here] has introduced a new software that lets customers back up, migrate and provision new Linux and AIX systems. Storix System Backup Administrator (SBAdmin) is a feature-rich AIX and Linux based Backup and Disaster Recovery application, which provides an easy to use graphical user interface for centralized management of system and data backup. SBAdmin is available for standalone systems, or as a network administrator used to manage backups and restores across the network.
Enterprise Resource Planning software integrates departments and functions across a company into one computer system, conceptually running off a single database, enabling various departments to share information and communicate with each other. ERP systems comprise of function-specific modules designed to interact with the other modules, eg Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Purchasing, HRMS, Sales and Marketing, Distribution etc. Business Intelligence software is used to mine data from large information system repositories such as Data Warehouses and the web.
The LinuxInsider reports [here] that IDC estimates that overall market for non-proprietary ERP applications will hit about US$36 billion by 2008 with FOSS ERP systems like Compiere ERP, ERP5, OpenMFG and Fisterra taking it there. Organizations worldwide are now looking towards as the possibility of mission-critical Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions as FOSS is making its way into a number of “niche” markets. Another interesting fact is that Oracle and SAP are also making a major shift towards the Linux platform proving that FOSS is receiving adequate support by the global business and industry.
I really have no intentions of boring my readers but this FUD (fear-uncertainty-doubt) being injected by Oracle as means for self-promotion is getting worse. Recently, I found this Gartner Report offer in my mailbox. Really, why would Gartner even do a research on the comparison of Oracle’s Unbreakable Linux Programme and Red Hat Linux when Oracle is using Red Hat’s Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the first place? My possible hunch, Oracle is paying Gartner to these FUD reports, a common attribute of the closed source/proprietary source world member corporations. Remember that Microsoft was very active in using a similar strategy trying to defame the up rise of Linux on the Server side.
I have found Ohloh to be a very interesting tool for supporting my FOSS research activities. Ohloh [here] is an online service that accumulates an enormous database of Free and Open Source Software development facts indexing a well over 3,000 projects and 220 million lines of source code and most amazingly, Ohloh has followed the history of these lines of code, to identify when and by whom all of this code was written. Recently an
My earlier predications about Linux for year 2007 [here] seem to be catching on quickly (grinning). It may seem a bit unbelievable but according to thisTechworld news article [here], nearly half of all enterprises will be running mission-critical business applications on Linux in five years’ time. That’s according to survey of IT directors, VPs and CIOs carried out by Saugatuck Research, which questioned 133 businesses worldwide.
I am sure that TuxWatch.com readers have heard about Brainbench Certifications and possibly alot of you people may have already taken some certification tests online [here]. For those who don’t know what is Brainbench is; according to their website [here] Brainbench founded in 1998, has served over 5,000 corporate and 6 million individual customers offering Certifications
According to the Software For [website], Software for Starving Students is a free collection of programs organized for students (also available to anyone). They’ve gathered a list of best-in-class programs onto one CD (one disc for OS X, one for Windows), including a fully-featured office suite, a cutting-edge web browser, multi-media packages, academic tools, utilities and more. Why did they put this collection together in the first place? Well, they say the at the cost of a college education is always increasing and usually faster than students can earn money. They hope that
The recent news about Jeremy Allison has rocked both the Linux/FOSS & Proprietary Source world. Jeremy is the co-founder and developer of the SAMBA Project, a software that bridges Windows desktop networks to Linux Servers, has quit Novell in protest over their deal with Microsoft. Go Jeremy, we love you Jeremy! This protest has revived the spirits of all those feeling that maybe a certain portion of the FOSS world was giving in to the Microvell (short for Microsoft + Novell partnership) deal.
According to Linux Insider [here] Jeremy announced last week that
Oracle’s move into the Linux world through its new product combined with Operating System platform support strategy and distribution, “Unbreakable Linux” has already caused an unrest in the market that was already buying Linux support from companies like Redhat and Novell. Most of the industry thinks that it might be possible that Oracle will only be supported on platforms blessed by Oracle itself. The FAQs available on Oracle’s website speak of such a ‘Transition Path for Red Hat and Novell customers’ on Page#4 [here]:
“What is the transition path for existing Red Hat and Novell Linux users?
Transition is very easy. Existing Red Hat and Novell Linux customers that move to the Unbreakable Linux support program may receive credit for
If you’re looking for an Enterprise FOSS Billing solution to run either on Linux or an Apache Web Server environment, your search may just be over. The FOSS community has long been criticized from not providing Billing solutions but that has only been some FUD from the closed source product developers and misinformed users.
Jbilling Enterprise Open Source Billing System dates back to 2003 and over the years has evolved into a very stable and robust product deployed in production environments in many companies around the world. Jbilling supports simple business rules, complex billing
The Mandriva Linux Desktops are one of those Linux Distributions that get your heart pumping and wanting to get a deeper look into it or try it out with your own hands. Mandriva was originally developed by Mandrakesoft (originated by Gaël Duval, Co-founder) and was formerly known as Mandrakelinux/Mandrake Linux later being acquired by Conectiva and Lycoris. It originally came as derivation from Red Hat Linux version 5.1 carrying KDE version 1.0 way back in July 1998. It has now left Red Hat far behind and now comes loaded with a number of administration tools originally developed for (more…)
Yeup, if you haven’t visited the Songbird’s Nest, now is time since Songbird has been the talk of Linux Town back since mid this year. Songbird is a desktop Web player, a digital jukebox and Web browser mash-up. Like Winamp, it supports extensions and skins feathers. Like Firefox, it is built from Mozilla, cross-platform and open source. I am really impressed with its Graphical User Interface and tool layouts. Songbird is a Cross Platform player supporting Windows, Mac, Linux available in 30+ languages as well as providing 64-bit support. So if you want to get the divine tast of entertainment, why not visit the Songbird website to tryout the player to Play music and to Play the Web.
Ever heard of a Bootloader? Its that software thing that boots all that software running on computer hardware. Well why is that so important? Hmm, Bootloaders are really important because if you mess up the Bootloader software on your laptop or PC, you are gonna have a hell of a time getting it fixed, for experts not a problem but for novices, (more…)
Are you tired of Windows crashing , removing spyware, viruses, and proprietary lock-in? Are you frustrated with licensing fees and software activation demands? Are you dreading the arrival of Windows Vista, with its increased hardware requirements? Are you willing to try something different?
Tux Watch will search the web for the best resources of software, top articles and tips and even have tutorials to get you started. Linux is a free and open-source operating system that has seen tremendous growth in the past several years. Linux is stable, secure, and very powerful. It is also has tremendous capabilities, far beyond those available with other operating systems. .
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Are you in search of a good Audio Media Suite for Linux? I just happened to stumble upon BMPx Media Player that supports audio play libraries, CD, Shoutcasts, Icecasts, Last.FM, Podcasts. More information is available on their