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I'll respond to my own post. It turns out that the Gnome Keyring and the KDE Wallet don't integrate, after all, so if you have both KDE and Gnome applications on your system you are effectively without a single centralized password manager, as previously feared. There are plans to integrate the two managers, but they're "at a very early stage".

maybe they run some old unix - or maybe something like NASA's own linux distro - flightlinux http://www.openflightlinux.org/ I don't know what they use it for tbh, but i heard about it at a lecture entitled 'linux in space' http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/sc/2003-September/000609.html the Prof said that they use IPSEC and can ping sats too, i heard they ftp java applets onto them!

Sure it does...

* We are not in favour of the patenting of software as in the US.

We are in favour of patenting software, but our laws won't be word-for-word identical to the US ones.

* Europe needs a uniform legal approach to stop the drifting towards extending patentability to inventions, which would not have been traditionally allowed, and to stop patentability of pure business methods, algorithms or mathematical methods.

As a diversionary tactic, we claim to want to stop patentability of "pure business methods, algorithms or mathematical methods" and "inventions, which would not have been traditionally allowed", while actually defining these things vacuously.

* Software products as such, must not be patented.

The EPO should be allowed to continue to use its twisted interpretation of "as such" in Article 52 EPC, so that what everyone without our hidden agenda calls software patents will be permitted.

* Opensource software must be allowed to flourish and the Commission must ensure that this Directive does not have any adverse effect on opensource software and small software developers.

We couldn't care less about open-source or small developers, but we say that we do to deflect criticism.

* Patents and the threat of litigation must not be used as an anti-competitive weapon to squeeze out small companies.

We will wag our fingers and say "tut tut" to patent trolls and extortionists -- in public at least.

Furthermore, the Labour Euro MPs are supporting a UK campaign for a defence fund for small companies to protect themselves from litigation abuse by dominant market players.

Aren't protection rackets a good idea? Lately I've been brushing up on my patent lobby doublespeak -- "protect themselves", geddit?

Please be assured that the Council of Ministers and the Commission cannot ignore our views as democratically elected Members of the European Parliament.

There's an outside chance that the parliament might have a hissy fit and reject the swpat directive in retaliation for the commission doing something unrelated that pisses us off. After all, a week is a long time in politics. Don't count on it, though.

Unless we get full agreement between the three institutions (Parliament, Council and Commission) on this Directive, there is no guarantee that this law will be passed.

Rejecting this law will require half of all MEPs (not just half of all MEPs present) to vote against it. Factoring in the usual apathy quota that's about as likely as simultaneous direct meteoroid strikes on Strasbourg and Brussels. However, it's not impossible.

(I wish I were just being cynical here, but really, that is what the reply you got means. How people use the "as such" code phrase in this debate is a pretty reliable indicator of what side they're on.)

The way I see it the key factor for getting Linux onto the desktop as a consumer OS is that I should be able to walk into a high street electronics shop, buy a digital camera (or printer, scanner, video digitiser, graphics tablet &c) and have it just work when I plug it in to my PC. At most I should have to put a CD in the CD drive which will automatically start up the driver installation program which will require no more than clicking next a few times and deciding whether I want an icon put on my 'Start Menu', Desktop or both.

People are used to the Windows way of doing things. Whilst the Linux drivers for a lot of devices are becoming more common that level of ease of use is not currently available with any distro I've come accross.

Fortunately there is a project (Project Utopia) aimed at providing that. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of publicity about it outside the blogs of the authors and a few forum posts and geeky website articles. Last night I atteneded a Linux user group meeting in Birmingham (Eric Raymond was due to speak but got called away at the last minute so someoneelse delivered the talk), of the 70 odd people in the room only two or three had even heard of this project. Hopelyfully this will change as one of the developers will be speaking at OSCON about it this year.

Stephen

Aparently he had a broken arm last October (Inqurier article too). Related problem? He's only 51. There's no mention of any other event on his personal homepage.

Let's hope you plagiarized yourself. :)

http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/cumbria/2003-A pril/000825.html

Whatever the legal outcome, the fact that people I know who never normally talk about this kind of stuff are starting to get 'interested' in Linux is a good thing (tm) for sure.

I've just got back from the Hampshire LUG meet where we had a good few 'noob' people arrive. We had a good chin-wag about SCO, and generally chewed the fat about all things Linux.

Non-Linux literate people just don't realize how big this open source thing is getting. It's great!

My guess is that sun lacks a mascot who stands for liberty, love and the pursuit of happiness all the while standing up for the little guy.

A mascot should enjoy being a super hero, fragging, and sports and should appeal to the geek, the freak, the n00b and those corporate types.

And no! Duke is not cool. Duke thinks that he is cool. But he only reaches cute. And cute is for sissies.

Maybe it is a bargaining chip, but in the case of Nottingham council, they have already made a foray into Linux by changing their mail system from a proprietry system to Linux (it's mostly a webmail type interface so the end users don't see Linux as such). I would guess that it is partially off the back of the large success they had with the mail migration that the change to Linux on the desktop is being considered - certainly it will be a large feather in the cap for Linux.

Richard Heggs, the Nottingham council IT guy who oversaw the mail migration gave a talk on it to Nottingham LUG and iirc mentioned that they may well consider changing desktops to Linux. So there does appear to be some intent to change even if management just want to use the whole thing as a bargaining chip.

Personally I hope they do go ahead with the change as then we can ask Richard to do another talk for us :)

Cheers,

Roger

Actually, X11 was released in 1987 at about the same time that Windows 2.0 came out.

I also cannot afford a *nix box; I only get access to learn by shelling and by using my boyfriend's box. Therefore, I would like to ask how would you make it possible for the kids to complete their work? Would free shells be provided? Also, I am in the UK. I am sure that it would be impossible for me to gain access to a teacher, unless over IRC or some other electronic media.

1. Try your nearest LUG for help.
   
2. If you're not worried about running X, you can pick up an old pentium for around 50 quid (GBP) in the UK for a budget development box.