Anonymous Reader writes: “Word spread around Linux and Open Source oriented websites like wildfire this week that Microsoft Corp. will be an exhibitor at the upcoming LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco next month. In response to an inquiry from LinuxDevices.com, a Microsoft spokesperson provided this statement.”

The Register follows up on our story Wednesday saying the PGP creator would like to buy PGP back from Network Associates or have the company open-source it.

ZDNet has a follow-up story on MandrakeSoft’s statement that it will not join UnitedLinux “on the grounds that the move would damage Mandrake’s own offering — and that its competitors have chosen the wrong path to follow.” The Register also has a story.

From Wired.com: ” Potentially millions of websites — including the new, reportedly invincible home page of Russian President Vladimir Putin — may become easy prey for hackers if their administrators don’t promptly upgrade their software …
But independent tests of the Russian president’s website revealed Friday that it was running an outdated version of the popular Apache Web server that could be vulnerable to a recently discovered security bug.”

Two press releases follow.

Opera Software today continued its Linux Bonanza Week with a public release of Opera 6.02 for Linux. The new version includes important fixes to the document and user interface, with special emphasis on the display of Asian characters, making this an important upgrade for Linux users all over the world.
Opera 6 opened up Asian markets to Opera, because of its added ability to display non- Western characters, and the Linux version has proved to be especially popular in this region.

“Opera 6 for Linux marked the beginning of the browser wars in Asia, and we have been extremely pleased with all the attention it has received from the Linux community,” says Dean Kakridas, VP desktop products. “Opera 6.02 for Linux is an important upgrade, and we encourage our old and new users all over the world to install this new Linux version and become more productive on the Web, surf with enhanced security, and just have more fun.”

The release of Linux is an important part of Opera’s Linux Bonanza Week, where the company is announcing a series of deals and partnerships with key industry leaders in the Linux segment, on many different devices (both embedded and desktop).

On Monday, it was announced that Opera had been chosen for i3Micro’s exciting new set- top box, the Mood box. The same day, Opera and Redflag announced the first embedded Asian deal for Opera. Today, Opera is also proud to publicize its inclusion in SuSE’s desktop distribution, and the week is not over yet…

“We have seen an amazing interest for Linux all over the world since we released Opera 6 for Linux, and we are very happy that so many other companies are taking notice and signing up with us, especially in Asia,” says Kakridas.

Find more information about Opera’s Linux Bonanza Week at www.opera.com

Opera 6.02 for Linux is available for free in a ad-supported version at www.opera.com. Users can purchase a banner-free version for USD 39. Discounts apply.

Opera signs first Linux desktop distribution deal

Opera Software ASA today announced that SuSE will distribute the popular Opera for Linux Web browser in their Linux distribution. The deal is Opera’s first major Linux distribution agreement.

Opera’s Linux version has proved immensely popular, with over one million copies downloaded and installed by users from all around the world.

“Being included in Linux distributions opens new doors for Opera,” says Dean Kakridas, VP desktop products, Opera Software ASA. “Distribution from the operating system itself will put our browser readily available for everyone, exposing thousands of users to a unique Internet experience.”

Opera is available in SuSE Linux 8.0.

About Opera Software

Opera Software ASA is an industry leader in the development of Web browsers for the desktop and embedded markets, partnering with companies such as IBM, AMD, Symbian, Canal+ Technologies, Ericsson, Sharp and Lineo. The Opera browser has received international recognition from end users and the industry press for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers. Opera is available on Windows, Mac, Linux/ Solaris, Symbian OS and QNX. Opera Software ASA is a privately held company headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com.

Anonymous Reader writes: “TuxReports has a funny scenario regarding Microsoft’s exhibit at LinuxWorld. Will they be announcing their new Linux distribution?”

“Some consider it rite of passage to have a Debian-based system. This is not only because it’s the true GNU Linux, but perhaps also because it has a reputation of being hard to install. Whether it deserves this reputation or not, there is a certain coolness and mystique associated with Debian as the completely open-source distribution. This attracts hackers, but is Debian the right system for a hacker? Or is Debian merely an unfortunate hurdle for a would-be Linux hacker?” More at Advogato.

Paul Tyutin writes: “Intuit’s Quickbooks is a great product, many small and mid-sized companies use this software. Scores of accuntants and tax professionals get their client data in Intuit’s proprietary format.

Many businesses start off whith personal computers loaded with Microsoft OS and various applications. For accounting purposes, the management installs a copy of Intuit’s Quickbooks. The company then logs in their customer data, vendor lists, inventory, credit card transactions, sales receipts etc. The package is really great for any start-up or existing enterprise.

After some time in business an interesting pattern is detected based on companies expence reports: the company spends enormous amounts of money on software: each new workstation needs an upgrade and a new license. Each employee needs some form of expensive licensed software and an upgrade of sorts over and over again.

Another problem arises. Beginner computer users love the graphical interface, they are happy to toy around their desktop with a mouse. These employees point and click on the same buttons and dialogs for a majority portion of their workday. It looks more like a monkey experiment: find a pretty picture and click, good. Now click on a button, good. Now click on Start then Program Files then SomeProgram, excellent! Without focus on automation and intelligent computer use, the people on the companies payroll are engaged in wasting time while opening and closing silly gui dialogs.

Creative in-house programmers are unable to write custom applications to eliminate unproductive computer use due to closed program source, poor documentation, unwillingness of software vendors to cooperate.

This is the time to look into Linux and the vast oceans of free GNU licensed software written by various engusiasts and programmers the world over.

Once the company implements Linux on its workstations its software expenses will siese to exist, well almost. Remember, the company started off with proprietary software. Most of such software has analogs in the Linux world, however some packages are not yet available. In the case of Intuit’s Quickbooks, several analogs exist, however, not a single vendor appart of Appgen has a finished competing package.

It is often the case where the company does not have the time or the resources to completely do away with its perfectly functional accounting software. It is even more difficult for companies that log in their day-to-day operations and have an outside accountant overlook their books.

In such a situation, a temporary solution is to have a virtual machine emulate Windows OS under Linux and run Intuit’s Quickbooks under it. Netraverse’s win4lin is a great solution. Easy to install, it greatly enhances the security of your applications and allows use of the Windows file system by programs running under Linux.

Next, your in-house programming staff writes the programs/scripts to automate your day-to-day accounting activities. Suppose your company has a web site and a relational database such as MySQL. Customer data and transactions are automatically logged in. Your staff generates internal data such as inventory and vendor transactions. At the end of each day (or week if you get really good at this) you import this data into Quickbooks. You then use the feature rich software package, make all the neecessary adjustments, reconcile your corporate credit cards, pay employees, calculate taxes etc. You can also give a copy of your company file to a professional accountant.

The only problem is that quickbooks import/export support is very criptic. Desciphering the byzantine data structure of an IIF file takes forever. Well this is what this article is all about. Here is a little perl script that you may use as a base for your system. It lets you generate an import-ready IIF-like file for an invoice. And here is another file that lets you generate a customer import file. In time we will publish more of these utilities for your convenience. These are not full-scale import utilities, rather a framework for you to design your own system. We used explanatory comments to help you identify all variables and corresponding values.

We wish everyone the best of luck!

Paul Tyutin
Manager/Sysadmin
Sunbirds.com
3780 Hancock Street Suite E
San Diego, CA 92110
Tel. 619-220-7172
Fax. 619-220-7175
http://www.sunbirds.com (our main product)
http://www.sunbirds.com/support (tech stuff, Linux etc.)
“

Puget Sound Technology’s next workshop covers beginning DNS (Domain Name
System) administration. The class will be held Wednesday, July 24, 6:30
p.m. to 9:30 p.m., in Everett, Wash. This class will cover the basics
of configuring the BIND named software for providing domain name services.

The BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Daemon) software is the most popular
domain name server; and a few surveys indicate that it handles around
85-percent of the internet’s DNS requests. The free and open source
software is available for various Unix operating systems.

The workshop covers basic DNS concepts, common types of
resource records, domain name registration, root zones, DNS zones, and
setting up backup DNS (secondary or slave servers). The workshop will
also teach about reverse lookups (in-addr.arpa) and DNS troubleshooting
techniques.

This course is one of a series of ongoing open source seminars
provided by Puget Sound Technology. Upcoming workshops include:
Installing Linux; Exploring the KDE Graphical Environment;
Maintaining BSD Systems; and Setting up a NAT (IP Masquerading) and
Firewall Router.

Seating is limited. For more further information and to register, visit
http://www.pugetsoundtechnology.com/training/works hops/.
(To learn more about upcoming classes, workshops and other
training events, join their announcements mailing list.)

About Puget Sound Technology

Puget Sound Technology is an IT technical support, consulting, training,
and outsourcing company that specializes in BSD, Linux, free software
and open source solutions. Located in the north Seattle, Wash. area,
Puget Sound Technology provides professional planning and designing,
implementation, operations, training, and maintenance services for
computer systems and networks. For more information, please visit http://www.pugetsoundtechnology.com/.

Bob Findlay writes: “iCanProgram.com offers online Linux programming courses without fees in return for a voluntary contribution by the student to a Cancer Research charity of their choice.

The 3rd edition of the advanced (non beginner) level online Linux Programming the SIMPL Way course offered by iCanProgram.com is nearing the threshold of student enrollment all through word of mouth.

The first 2 editions of this course in 2002 have introduced the SIMPL Open Source programming paradigm (http://www.holoweb.net/~simpl) to over 100 students wordwide.

Prospective students should have some previous Linux C programming experience to gain maximum benefit from this course.

For more information including an online registration form please consult the iCanProgram.com website or directly at:

http://www.icanprogram.com/linuxSIMPL.html“