Learn about Linux
Download Linux
Get Linux helpSpecial Offers
NewsVac: News from around the Web
-
Obama's Secret Weapon: Geeks. Lots of Them
1 day, 13 hours ago
We were lost in Boston's South End, looking for Thayer Street. Street signs are optional around Boston, and the locals didn't know either the street or our precise destination... something called Gallery XIV. That was the site of a gathering to which we had been enticed by an email with the subject line, "WHAT SHOULD OBAMA'S PLATFORM BE ON THE INTERNET & DEMOCRACY -- JOIN THE DISCUSSION JULY 28, 7PM". -
FCC blesses Android phone
1 week ago
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved a phone from HTC that could be the first phone to ship with the Linux-based Google Android stack. The 5 x 3-inch HTC Dream sports a slide-or-swivel QWERTY keypad, touchscreen with haptic feedback, WiFi, and Bluetooth. -
Governator stubs toe on antique computer
2 weeks, 3 days ago
The New York Times and the Sacramento Bee are reporting an amusing story out of California about how Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s attempt to knock some sense into the state’s free spending legislators is being stymied by an antiquated mainframe computer system. You see, California is having its annual summer shouting match between angry pols who can’t agree on next year’s budget. Democrats want to raise taxes and spend more, while Republicans – guess what? – want to put the kibosh on new taxes and cut spending instead. Schwarzenegger – known in these parts as the “Governator” – is standing between the two warring camps, with the rock steady firmness of a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Terminator. -
U.S. Agents Can Seize Travelers' Notebook PCs
3 weeks, 3 days ago
New Department of Homeland Security policies clear federal agents to hold travelers' laptops without suspicion of wrongdoing, according to a report. -
Check Up on Your ISP with Switzerland
3 weeks, 3 days ago
The FCC voted this morning to tell Comcast that they'd been bad boys for blocking some traffic on their network. Unfortunately, as our parent blog GigaOM covered, they chose not to make any sweeping rules about the matter. So how do you know if your ISP is playing fast and loose with your packets? That's where Switzerland, a new tool from the EFF, comes in. -
No Aussie tax support for Mac or Linux yet
1 month ago
The Australian Taxation Office has advised Australians using Apple or Linux operating systems that they will be unable to lodge tax returns electronically using the ATO's e-tax software unless they use a Windows emulator or a kiosk in one of the agency's shop fronts. -
Google's invented what will be the most scorned technology on Capitol Hill
1 month, 2 weeks ago
Eric Schmidt's on record wondering how YouTube will make money for Google. I doubt that the elections video search gadget unveiled today is the immediate answer, but it offers an intriguingly possible answer. -
FCC Chair pushes for Comcast censure
1 month, 2 weeks ago
"Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin recommended today that the agency take action against Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, for "arbitrarily blocking" Internet traffic over its network and failing to inform subscribers of its policies." -
Tech giants form group to buy patents
1 month, 4 weeks ago
Group plans to buy up key intellectual property before it is obtained by parties who might use it against them, The Wall Street Journal reports. -
Overstock sues New York over Net sales tax law
2 months, 4 weeks ago
Company is asking the New York State Supreme Court to declare the new law unconstitutional. -
Homeland Security Helps Reduce Open Source Flaws
3 months, 1 week ago
Two years into the effort, new report sheds light on how effective your tax dollars have been at improving open source security. -
Amazon sues New York over Internet tax
3 months, 3 weeks ago
The online retailer mounts a constitutional challenge to the controversial state law that aims to clamp down on collecting Internet sales taxes. -
N.Y. lawmakers near vote on 'Amazon Tax'
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Hotly debated provision could rewrite the rules of e-commerce. -
Google cops to puppeting Great American Wireless Auction
4 months, 3 weeks ago
"Google has admitted it toyed with Verizon during The Great American Wireless Auction.Today, the US Federal Communications Commission lifted the gag order it placed on companies that vied for the coveted 700-MHz band, a prime portion of the US airwaves, and the world's largest search engine couldn't help but tell the world what an important role it played in the auction's outcome, ensuring that at least part of the band will provide open access to any device and any application."
-
Malaysian Government begins migration to OpenOffice.org
5 months, 1 week ago
The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), today officially adopts a policy to migrate to the OpenOffice.org open source productivity suite. This is in line with the Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Master Plan, which calls for government agencies to reduce costs, increase freedom of choice and interoperability. - More News
Linux.com : Government
Coverity's open source code audit efforts are funded by the US government (video)
Coverity famously helps open source projects audit their code and eliminate security holes and other bugs, and earns its corporate income by selling software that does the same thing to proprietary software companies. Few seem to realize, though, that Coverity started doing free open source code audits because it got a grant from the US Department of Homeland Security. Coverity's David Maxwell explains.
GovTrack opens up information on US legislature
Since 2004, GovTrack.us has housed information about the United States Congress, including 10 years of bills, voting records, and contact information for individual members of Congress. Visitors can also find out who represents them and search the database for committee assignments, legislative statistics, and the Congressional Record, which is the official record of daily proceedings in Congress. All the code that makes GovTrack run is open source, and all the information stored there is freely available to everyone.
Canadian open source community upset over proposed copyright law
The Government of Canada has angered those who believe that a proposed copyright law threatens the country's open source business model.
Microsoft influencing partner NGOs to support OOXML in India
Microsoft is encouraging its business partners to promote its Office Open XML specification (OOXML) to the Indian Bureau of Standards (BIS) and Ministry of IT. This move has incensed supporters of the rival OpenDocument Format (ODF) who fear that the "soft" Indian state may not be able to stand up to Microsoft pressure tactics.
Canadian Greens add FOSS to election platform
Thanks to a founding member of Free Geek Vancouver, the Green Party of Canada has quietly become the first major political party in Canada to make support for free and open source software (FOSS) part of its election platform. Like officials in the Green Party of England and Wales, deputy leader Adriane Carr sees the move as compatible with basic Green ideas, but IT consultant Neil Adair also points out the move serves the practical purpose of helping the party match the technical resources of more established parties.
Talking FOSS at the UN
When Nathan Eckenrode goes to the United Nations in New York City next week to help demonstrate the technology behind open source software, he doesn't really expect to discover the answer to world peace. If he gets a little closer, though, he's all right with that.
Peer-to-Patent pilot steers toward change
On June 15, the New York Law School's Institute for Information Law and Policy, in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), launched the Peer-to-Patent community patent review pilot program. While some sections of the free and open source community show little interest in the program, program leader Beth Noveck of the NYLS is upbeat, thanks to the interest shown by federal agencies including the Department of Commerce and software companies like Red Hat and Microsoft, and the prospect of replicating the program in other countries.
Blackhat Training instructor denied entry into US
Halvar Flake was scheduled to teach a class on computer security entitled Analyzing Software for Security Vulnerabilities today and tomorrow at Blackhat Training in Las Vegas. Instead, US customs officials cross-examined him for nearly five hours, then decided not to allow him into the country and put him on a plane back to Germany.
UK Greens connect to free software
For average hackers in their cubicles, the relation between environmental and free software issues may seem remote but the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) is working to connect the dots. Since adopting a motion in favor of free and open source software (FOSS) in 2005, party members have not only spoken frequently in favor of FOSS, but also on related issues, such as software patents and lockdown technologies in Vista.
Open source activists aim to produce transparent federal budget information
Earlier this year, former US senator and presidential candidate Bill Bradley published The New American Story, a book about reforming the American agenda. As part of that process and as a public citizen, he has joined open source activists to produce a Web-based window into the US federal budget.
Good enough for government work? Red Hat Linux receives top-notch security rating
IBM anticipates that the enhanced EAL4 security certification earned by Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 5 earlier this month will further its adoption by businesses and government entities worldwide.
