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Category Archives: International IT News

News from around the world

Debian 6.0 Squeeze release due by the end of the year – maybe

News has arrived via Twitter (cheers ciderpunx), on the status of the next release of Debian, the distribution upon which other popular distros such as Simply Mepis and Ubuntu (and loads of others too. Ed.) are based and which is used extensively within Bristol Wireless. The Debian release team recently announced the latest status of […]

Google says no more Microsoft

Late yesterday evening, the Financial Times (the sporting pink for the casino economy. Ed. 😉 ) reported that search engine giant Google is phasing out the use of Microsoft’s Windows platform for its employees. The policy has been gradually implemented since January, when Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, which Google blames on the lack of […]

Lack of Open Standards “gaping hole” in EC’s Digital Agenda

The European Commission has officially published its long-awaited Digital Agenda, outlining its policy plans for the next five years. “While it includes some important building blocks for Free Software, the omission of Open Standards rips a gaping hole in this agenda,” says Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) President Karsten Gerloff. The FSFE welcomes the Commission’s […]

Wikimedia comes to Bristol

From Friday 14th to Sunday 16th May 2010, Wikimedia UK will host Wikimedia delegates from around the world who will be meeting in Bristol. This meeting is a three-day summit to discuss technical and strategic issues that cover the work the global Wikimedia Foundation and its national chapters do in relation to the worldwide fundraising […]

Arise Sir Georg, a free software ‘knight’

Georg Greve, founding president of the Free Software Foundation Europe, has received the Cross of Merit on ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany (Verdienstkreuz am Bande). Georg received this high award from the German President for his work on Free Software and Open Standards. “FSFE is very proud to have a ‘knight’ among its […]

It’s Valentine’s Day, show your love for free software!

It’s Valentine’s Day and the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is calling on free software users everywhere to show their love for free Software. Behind every free software initiative and organisation there are real, hard-working people from the developers to those who help with documentation and users who assist in squashing bugs and improving the […]

Firefox now leading browser

This morning news arrived via your scribe’s Twitter feed that Mozilla’s Firefox, the leading open source web browser, has now overtaken Internet Explorer as the top browser and now accounts for over 44% of installed web browsers, according to the latest user analysis from w3b.org. Those who feel competent in German may like to try […]

US readers – buy CrossOver Games 8.1 & win a PC

CodeWeavers, a leading developer of software products that turn Linux and Mac OS X into Windows-compatible operating systems, have announced the release of CrossOver Games 8.1, masquerading under the codename of Zombie Mallard. Picture courtesy of CodeWeavers, Inc. As part of the launch, CodeWeavers will also be giving away a fully loaded, custom built, blingtastic […]

Latvia to ditch Microsoft for FOSS

French newspaper Le Figaro reports that the Government of Latvia, which has been severely affected by the economic crisis, intends replacing Microsoft’s proprietary software with free and open source software. “This is being done with the sole aim of saving money”, a spokesman explained. The decision, which was recently signed by the Prime Minister, is […]

Vive le logiciel libre (long live free software)

OSOR.eu, the Open Source Observatory and Repository, reports that Inria, France’s national computer science institute, says free software is essential to develop digital society. The institute is launching a research centre to focus on this type of software, Cirill (IT Innovation and Research Centre for Free Software). Cirill’s founding was announced at the Open World […]

American readers – put a pengiun on your plastic

Regular readers will be aware of the existence of Tux, the Linux kernel mascot (news passim) and now if you live in the United States, you’ll be able to show your commitment to free and open source software by carrying a Tux-branded Visa credit card, courtesy of the Linux Foundation, the non-profit organisation dedicated to […]

Hardware recycling – the UK’s rubbish

vnunet.com reports that almost 2 years after the WEEE disposal rules came into force, the UK is still lagging behind the rest of Western Europe in recycling electrical goods. Research by Dell found that 13 per cent of UK consumers do not recycle electrical goods at all – more than four times the figure in […]

Web volunteers wanted for Guyana

Via a very circuitous route, an email forwarded by Paul Webster arrived in your scribe’s inbox yesterday afternoon. Its text reads as follows: Hello there I need your help. I’m working with a Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council/British Council/VSO (soup) project which is trying to recruit four or so young adult volunteers to spend up to […]

Zut alors! French cops save millions with open source

OSOR reports that the French Gendarmerie‘s gradual migration to a completely open source desktop and web applications has saved millions of euro. “This year the IT budget will be reduced by 70 per cent. This will not affect our IT systems,” says Lieutenant-Colonel Xavier Guimard. This Thursday, Guimard gave a presentation in Utrecht in the […]

WCW 2009 announced

The Wireless Community Weekend (WCW) hosted annually by Freifunk is taking place at the end of May (22.-24.05.2009) and will be staged once again at c-base in Berlin. The event programme has not been firmed up yet and will be arranged by participants. Proposals for the programme can be submitted before the event. Further details […]