[TECTONIC] Open source news from Africa

[Frederick Noronha (FN)]

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Subject: [TECTONIC] Open source news from Africa
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 22:33:53 +0200 (SAST)
TECTONIC NEWS - 22 June, 2006
Tracking the shifts in technology
www.tectonic.co.za

WORLD CUP
---------
It's not every day we get to lead with a story about soccer but who
can avoid the football fever that is the World Cup? But even if
you're a hardened screen-freak with no interest in physical activity,
Richard Frank takes a look at some of the more geeky ways you can get
into World Cup 2006. (http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1037)

In other news Jason Norwood-Young has been stirring up debate with
his less than favourable opinion of the latest version of Ubuntu
Linux, Dapper Drake. Many have disagreed. But equally many have
agreed and backed his opinions. Read the story at
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1026 and the many opinions in
the forums at http://www.tectonic.co.za/forum/topic.php?id=84 

------------

WORLD CUP FOR GEEKS
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1037&s=news
World Cup fever has hit the IT world. Tectonic reviews some of the
coolest technological spin-offs from the world's biggest sporting
event.

SOWETO'S BUG-HUNTER: BONGANI HLOPE
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1025&s=news
Open source software is alive and well in South Africa's biggest
township, Soweto. Bongani Hlope carries the flag high, planning a
Tsotsitaal translation for Linux to make it more accessible for his
neighbours.

MICROSOFT, CREATIVE COMMONS MAKE STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1038&s=news
Microsoft has partnered with alternative copyright body Creative
Commons to create a licensing tool for Microsoft Office documents,
allowing authors to easily include Creative Commons licenses in Word,
Excel and Powerpoint documents.

TUXLABS FOR 14 ORPHANAGES ON YOUTH DAY
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1035&s=news
Fourteen centres for orphaned and vulnerable children received
computers, open source software and Internet access on South Africa's
Youth Day, June 16, as part of the Tuxlabs initiative. The 26 PCs and
two laptops will be used by The Heartbeat Centre for Community
Development's 5 000 students countrywide.

GOOGLE THE EARTH WITH LINUX
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1027&s=news
Google has released a version of Google Earth for Linux, at last. The
Beta Version 4 has been tested on numerous versions of Linux,
including Ubuntu, Suse, Linspire and Red Hat, and is a significant
improvement to running Google Earth under Wine.

SOUTH AFRICAN PC USER BASE TO TOP 5 MILLION
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1028&s=news
The number of personal computers in use in South Africa will pass the
5 million mark for the first time this year, according to a new study
released today. The study also found that South African users are
holding onto their PCs longer than distributors would have us
believe.

FOSS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOR SMES
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1032&s=news
Free and open source software is not only becoming increasingly
relevant for Africa but is also a compelling business case for
start-up companies. This is according to speakers at the Cape IT
Initiative's FOSS seminar held earlier this week.

INWORDS OFFERS DOCBOOK XML CONVERSION
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1033&s=news
Documentation in the Docbook XML vocabulary can quickly and easily be
translated into a range of output formats and now a South African
company has launched a service to assist companies wanting to port
their existing document to the XML format.

LINUX HEADS FOR MOBILE
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1036&s=news
With a flurry of activity in the sector, Linux on the cellular phone
still has some hurdles to jump – not the least of which is a
standard software stack.

OBSIDIAN, STRATUS PARTNER TO BUILD LINUX SERVERS
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1031&s=news
Obsidian Systems joins with high-availability server builder Stratus
to launch a range of Linux-based fault-tolerant servers for the South
African market.

OPENLAB RELEASES VERSION 4.1A
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1029&s=news
OpenLab International has released the latest iteration of its
education-cum-general-desktop Linux distribution, OpenLab. Richard
Frank asks chief software architect, AJ Venter, what he has been
brewing.

JABBERAFRICA.ORG TO CLOSE DOWN
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1030&s=news
African instant messaging server JabberAfrica.org will be closing
down at the end of June, three years after first opening the service.

REVIEWS
-----------------------------------------------------
BOOKS: LINUX IN EASY STEPS
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1034&s=news
One of a series of 'In Easy Steps' books this Linux beginners guide
may hold a few snippets that novice Linux users will value but most
will want to move quickly on to something a little more detailed or
challenging.

DAPPER DRAKE VERDICT: IT SUCKS
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=1026&s=news
The review we didn't want to write. It's buggy, it's unreliable, and
it's definitely not polished. Dapper Drake doesn't deliver as
promised. Now where did I put that copy of Suse 10.1?

EVENTS
-----------------------------------------------------
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION COURSE
International search engine optimisation(SEO) expert Bruce Clay, in
association with Purple Cow Communications, is presenting his
SEOToolSet Training Course in Cape Town from 10 to 12 July 2006. 
http://www.tectonic.co.za/

----------------------------------------
Contact Tectonic:
Editor
Alastair Otter
alastair at z16ncOqriEZpQGrLCAyeRqFnnSnv3oiZ48B42ZO4f68gAMfnDIjiThbjME_2rjx6M0W5kaDFoDzF_QcVC4ri.yahoo.invalid
083-267-7657
--
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