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Sun as an OSS parasite by Tim+Macinta · 2001-06-30 01:09 · Score: 5 · on Sun Recants Solaris Source Closure

I always thought that Sun was just an OSS parasite, because they take but never give back (but again, I heard that on slashdot).

Sun purchased the company that made Star Office (Applixware), probably for several million dollars, and then proceeded to release it under the GPL. I don't know what your definition of "giving back" to the OSS community is, but that certainly fits mine. The open source community instantly gained perhaps the single biggest piece that it was missing for global desktop domination (an extensive office suite).

There are one or two other examples I could think of off the top of my head where Sun has "given back", but the Star Office example should suffice in proving your original source incorrect.

the NDSU folks can top AD anyday by BenLutgens · 2001-06-02 13:43 · Score: 1 · on pam_ldap/pam_krb5 Authentication Against Active Directory?

They use something called Herderos. Dr. Wettstein posted a great article here It's competition for AD that scales.

Accessibility of Linux on the Mac by jpsc · 2001-01-02 02:10 · Score: 1 · on Ask LinuxPPC Co-Founder Jason Haas

The Mac and its respective proprietary OS are known for their ease of use in schools and for the disabled. Applications' accessibility, or their ability to be used by disabled users (e.g., visually impaired individuals) and users who speak something other than English, is something that we Linux users and developers tend not to think about.

Have you or anyone else at LinuxPPC thought about how to make Linux on the Mac as competitive (with the proprietary software bundled with Macs) and useful in the accessibility arena as in all others?
Do you agree with the idea that in order to ensure widespread use of Linux for the Mac (e.g., in schools) you should consider accessibility?
What could you reasonably do to increase the accessibility of your distro?
Do you agree with the idea that in order to fully live up to the notion of "free as in speech software for everyone" we must include non-sighted and otherwise disabled users?

Thanks,

JP Schnapper-Casteras

P.S.: Just so you know that your answer to this question will actually result in something, I should let you know that in a few months I'm going to be organizing around a dozen different workgroups that will focus on topics such as GNOME, KDE, and X accessibility, Braille, etc. If you are interested see Project Ocularis, the announcement of the Linux Accessibility Conference in March, this summary about Linux accessibility, or this longer editorial on the potential of free software for the visually impaired.

If you want to make sure my project (Project Ocularis) and I are legitimate see this reference at Sun's web site, this one a Linux.com, or this one on Linuxnews.com, or this interview on American Council of the Blind radio.

Where Linux Employers Post by Crispin+Cowan · 2000-03-19 03:50 · Score: 4 · on Finding a Linux Job

Since I am an employer seeking Linux staff, I thought I'd provide my input. I agree with much of the advise in the article.

However, at the end they recomend four job portals: Linux.com, Linux Today, User Friendly's GeekFinder and Linux.org.au. I agree with the first two, and (since I'm in North America) have no valid opinion on Linux.org.au.

The problem with Geek Finder is that it is really just a front for Dice.com. Unlike all the other resources mentioned, dice.com charges employers for listings, instead of being community-based and advertiser-supported.

Instead, I would recomend the following additional job portals, where I have actually posted jobs:

Superexpert.com: not great, but it does host linux jobs.
JustLinux: a smaller Linux portal, with a nice jobs page.
Free Software Jobs Page: This is the GNU jobs page. It is strictly for free software jobs, so only hard-core open source jobs get posted there.

Finally, WireX's research jobs are here and our production jobs are here.

Crispin
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Crispin Cowan, CTO, WireX Communications, Inc.
Immunix: Free Hardened Linux Distribution
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