“Each day, we seem to add another gem to the vault of software applications that we call the Click-N-Run Warehouse. Yesterday, we added a true treasure, Sun’s StarOffice www.lindows.com/staroffice. Now with just one click you can download, install and be ready to run StarOffice.”In our latest Press Release (see www.lindows.com/press), Mike Rogers, vice president and general manager for Desktop and StarOffice products at Sun Microsystems made the following comments: “We find the Click-N-Run concept extremely innovative, and Sun is proud to now be part of the LindowsOS Warehouse.”

StarOffice is described as a Microsoft Office compatible suite, but what does that really mean? The question many ask is “Just how compatible is it?â€

So to help answer this and show you how compatible StarOffice is, we have setup a special email address at Lindows.com – just send some of your non-confidential Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents to us at documents@lindows.com. We’ll open them using StarOffice running on top of LindowsOS and email you back the document after making a small edit to it so that you can see just how good it looks.

Many of us here at Lindows.com have already moved over to using StarOffice on a daily basis. Most of us make use of the word processor, but the suite also includes a spreadsheet, a database manager, a presentation manager, an HTML editor, and graphics editing programs. Everything works fluidly and seamlessly together. StarOffice even allows you to save your documents in .doc file format allowing you to continue to communicate to those who insist on giving excess amounts of money to Microsoft. Checkout the screenshots of StarOffice in action at www.lindows.com/staroffice

StarOffice is the first commercial application that we have added to our warehouse, it normally costs $75, but Insiders can download both LindowsOS and StarOffice, and obtain a full year’s Click-N-Run Warehouse membership for just $99. So if you want to try StarOffice out for yourself on LindowsOS then just go to www.lindows.com/signup – we offer a 30 day money-back guarantee.

Michael Robertson

Please visit support.lindows.com to answers questions you may have about LindowsOS or Lindows.com.

Bringing Choice to Your Computer!

Lindows.com is a consumer company that brings choice to computer users. Lindows.com, Inc. was started by Michael Robertson, founder and former CEO of MP3.com. LindowsOS is a modern, affordable, easy-to-use operating system that allows users access to hundreds of applications via the Click-N-Runâ„¢ Warehouse. All applications in the Click-N-Run Warehouse are licensed on a per-person or family basis and can be downloaded, installed and run with just one-mouse click. LindowsOS is also available on LindowsOS Certified Computers from Walmart.com. To signup as a Builder being click here. The General Release of LindowsOS, available now for download and preview to Lindows.com Insiders, will be made available later this year for those wishing to install and run LindowsOS on their existing computer hardware. The General Release version will support a wider range of computer hardware and includes unique features such as a “Friendly-Install†alongside an existing Microsoft® Windows operating system, a streamlined installation process which requires no computer knowledge, and the ability to run a select set of “bridge” Windows-compatible programs. For more information see www.lindows.com/products

LindowsOS and Lindows.com are trademarks of Lindows.com, Inc. Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Microsoft® Windows® operating system is a registered trademark or service mark of the Microsoft Corporation.

Sander Vesik writes: “I am glad to announce the availability of Openoffice.org 1.0.1, the
first bugfix release for OpenOffice.org 1.0.”

New in this release are:

• upgrade of the mozilla integration from 0.9.5 to 1.0
• inclusion of a.pdf installation guide in the package
• several fixes to font handling code
• improved portability
• improvements to handling of locales
• and numerous other minor bugfixes

The OpenOffice 1.0.1 release is from the OpenOffice.org stable branch (OOO_STABLE_1) and work on bugfixing, portability and small incremental improvements will continue on it towards future 1.0.x releases.

OpenOffice.org 1.0.1 is available for download from
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/1.0.1/in dex.html

“

–By Grant Gross –

The Naval Oceanographic Office already uses Linux and other Open Source tools for a variety of functions, and it could use them even more after it receives recommendations from the Open-Source Software Institute, due out by the end of the year.
The Naval Oceanographic Office [NAVOCEANO] is working with OSSI on a comprehensive assessment of the Navy center’s use of Open Source software, and researchers have identified several areas where Linux is used, including the data collection computers on NAVOCEANO’s survey ships, which collect ocean data from a dozens of instruments. The office also uses Linux for visualization systems, storage systems, and on some desktops, says Andrew Aitken of Olliance Consulting Group, which is helping OSSI with the NAVOCEANO study.

OSSI officials hope to have a series of additional Open Source recommendations available for the office by the end of the year.

In the case of the data collection computers on survey ships, Linux on Intel machines is costing 10% of the former RISC-based systems, Aitken told a crowd of government workers at a Tuesday workshop on Open Source and e-government sponsored by the U.S. General Services Administration and the Cyberspace Policy Institute at The George Washington University.

“Linux-based systems are saving time, improving effectiveness, and reducing the platform diversity,” Aitken said.

Also at the Tuesday meeting, OSSI announced that Hewlett-Packard has committed to be a major sponsor of the institute itself and of the Navy study. Other major sponsors include Intel and the Open Source Development Group.

This development agreement between the Navy office and OSSI, launched in November 2001, is the first for OSSI, which has the mission of advocating Open Source software to government agencies and educational institutions. John Weathersby, OSSI founder and chairman, says his group is talking to other government agencies about similar agreements, and he continues to advocate Open Source software in visits to Capitol Hill.

“I kind of consider myself the social chairman of the Open Source community,” Weathersby said in his Mississippi accent. “I try to put the right people together in a room, go mix a drink, and say, ‘y’all have fun.'”

Weathersby’s message to those who’ll listen is that Open Source is a viable alternative technology, but he realizes that he’s pitching technology to politicians who often have little experience with it, in places where one of the rules of the road is, “it’s who you know.” He can speak the politicians’ language because he’s a businessman, not a technologist, he said.

“I realize that if we have materials I can understand, they might could be understood by someone on the Hill,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is promote the good ol’ boys club between government and the Open Source community.”

OSSI has completed the first phase of its NAVOCEANO study, identifying where Open Source software is being used there, although it’s still hard to peg percentages on how prevalent it is at the agency. NAVOCEANO CIO John Lever says Open Source probably won’t work for all the agency’s needs — for example, he believes commercial geographic information system software still offers more functionality than its Open Source counterparts, although the office does use several Open Source GIS packages, too.

“Adoption of Open Source software has arrived in a controlled ad hoc basis,” Aitken said. “In some circumstances, it’s been proven to be just as robust, stable and secure as proprietary platforms.”

The next step for OSSI is an analysis of what software NAVOCEANO is using and where it would make sense for Open Source to replace proprietary software. In the third phase of the project, OSSI will recommend ways NAVOCEANO can benefit from the Open Source development model and how Navy workers can contribute to outside Open Source projects.

From Linux Journal:
“As part of our 100th issue celebration, we present 100 of the most significant events in Linux history. As shown in the timeline, the first issue of
Linux Journal coincided with the release of Linux 1.0. Ever since, the fortunes of our magazine have followed those of Linux at large.”

From Wired news: “In an intriguing, eye-opening notice last week, China’s postal service announced it will provide a service to turn e-mail into snail mail, and no,
they promise not to read it.”

Linus has released Linux kernel version 2.5.26. The full changelog is available at kernel.org.

From CNet news: “Given the multimillion-dollar costs of today’s software deals, customers often devote surprisingly little time and resources to scrutiny of contracts
that are rife with obscure terminology, vague expansion charges, and mind-boggling license conversions. As a result, they end up paying in ways they
had never imagined long after the deal is signed.”

Submitter writes “OSNews features an interesting interview with the SuSE/KDE developer Waldo Bastian. Waldo talks about KDE Vs Gnome, KDE’s dependancy in TrollTech’s decisions regarding the Qt API, what future holds for KDE, UnitedLinux and C/C+ development in general.”

LogError writes “This paper presents the design and implementation of LSM and discusses the challenges in providing a truly general solution that minimally impacts the Linux kernel. The paper is in PDF format. Read more.”

Anonymous Reader writes: “A Forbes.com article today tells the story of how Gaim, a free IM program coded by a college sophomore, became more fun than AOL and Microsoft. More at Forbes.com.”