Club Linux Coffs Harbour

Voiceroute, a software PBX vendor, originally started as a proprietary software company but went (at least partly) open source earlier this year. In this video, CEO Ming Guang Yong says the company should have moved toward open source "a lot sooner," and explains why. He and CTO Navin Kumar also talk about some of the specific differences between their open source and proprietary versions, including how and where they draw the line between the two, and share their thoughts about dealing with open source developers and building a successful open source development community.

One of the goals of the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) is to become a center for education in free and open source software (FOSS) legal issues. As part of this effort, the SFLC has already published "A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects." Its latest effort in public education, released last week, is "A Practical Guide to GPL Compliance," a 15-page guide for FOSS projects on how to avoid violations of the GNU General Public License (GPL) and Lesser General Public License (LGPL). The guide is a practical summary of its subject, but its wording is unnecessarily legalistic, and its structure and omissions sometimes fall short of the goal of being a standalone reference.

No one saw this coming. Cisco, the networking giant, announced today it was buying PostPath, maker of the Linux-based Exchange server replacement PostPath Server.

Today, is one that I consider, a dark day in Malaysian Internet history. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), ordered all ISPs to block access to a website, thereby violating the MSC Bill of Guarantees, which clearly states: Ensure no Internet censorship.

Malaysiakini reports (subscription required, so relevant bits pasted here):

MCMC chief operating officer Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, when contacted today, confirmed that the block was ordered by the commission, which is the regulatory body for online content.

“It is being blocked because we found that some of the comments on the website were insensitive, bordering on incitement,” he told Malaysiakini.

Malaysiakini goes on to add, that this is the first time something like this has been used against non-pornographic websites. I will argue that this shouldn’t even be used on pornographic websites - sure it may flaunt the laws of the country, but leave it to the end-user, please.

It’s just a DNS blackhole, so its not quite Internet censorship… But this makes you feel so much closer to Beijing now, doesn’t it?

lovegood:~ byte$ dig www.malaysia-today.net @cns1.tm.net.my

; <

> DiG 9.4.2-P1 <

> www.malaysia-today.net @cns1.tm.net.my

;; global options: printcmd

;; Got answer:

;; ->>HEADER< <- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 25306

;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:

;www.malaysia-today.net. IN A

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:

malaysia-today.net. 3600 IN SOA ns1.blocked. blocked.tm.net.my. 1 900 600 86400 3600

;; Query time: 17 msec

;; SERVER: 202.188.0.132#53(202.188.0.132)

;; WHEN: Wed Aug 27 23:33:57 2008

;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 104

TMNet has a known list of DNS servers, the most common being: 202.188.1.5 and 202.188.0.133. Apparently, some also get on 202.188.1.4 and 202.188.0.132. There are a bunch more that you can get, too.

Malaysiakini goes on to report:

Mohamed Sharil said MCMC had instructed all ISPs to block access to Malaysia Today based on complaints received by the general public regarding offensive comments posted on the website.

Asked if the move to block Malaysia Today went against the government’s guarantee of Internet freedom, he said that the matter was subject to interpretation.

“We are governed by the Communications and Multimedia Act (1998) which allows us to take preventive measures and advise our license holders (such as ISPs) when a service user may be contravening national laws,” he said.

Under Section 263 of the Act, a licensee must “use his best endeavour” to prevent his/her facilities from being used to violate any law in the country”.

Mohamed Sharil said that MCMC will be communicating with the Malaysia Today owner Raja Petra Kamaruddin and other blog owners soon regarding “ethical blogging”.

“We are not against blogs, but we would like to see ethical blogging,” he stressed.

Ethical blogging. Expect yet another blog post on this, soon. In a country where mainstream media is stifled, and used as a propaganda machine, its no wonder people turn to the Internet. If the mainstream media reports “lies”, why not the Internet? The people, the rakyat are smart enough to distinguish, in this non-communist state of ours.

So, if you need your Malaysia Today fix, the IP address is still valid - 202.75.62.114. For commenting, try http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008/.

For the smarter ones amongst you, I suggest you stop using TMNet’s DNS services. Switch to OpenDNS (I would suggest switching ISP, but welcome to the monopoly that is Malaysia, right?). You can change it on your computer or router, or just use the nameservers if you know how: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. Otherwise, there are ways to change it on Windows (XP, Vista, 2000), Mac OS X (Leopard, Tiger) or even Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora).

OpenDNS is a workaround. The real problem is the MCMC attempting to censor the Internet. They are attempting to stifle free speech, and the freedom to discuss pertinent issues in an open fashion. I’ve mused about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights before, maybe its time the politicians read it, again.

Update: Its worth noting that Bernice Low wrote about this in her CNet blog as well.

Today I seem to have questions about regligion/Christianity:

• In "Jesus H Christ", does the "H" stand for "Henry"? That'd be cool.
• What is christian debt elimination?
• Why do I abhor country music and religious music, but love Johnny Cash?

I guess that last one doesn't really need an answer.

ETA: Okay, if this keeps up, I may have to change my mind about Country music. Pandora is playing a pretty darn pleasant series of songs in the key of Cash, and I can't stop smiling.

I still draw the line at Gospel, though.

Suppose someone wants to send you a large file. They could try to send it via email, but many email servers impose limits on file size. They could try sending it over during an instant messenger or Internet Relay Chat session, but that's slow, as the file actually gets transferred twice: once to the chat server, then to your machine. File transfer services like RapidShare and MegaUpload are fine, but not for confidential information. Of course, you could set up an FTP server on your box, but you don't want to leave that door open all the time. Luckily, there's now an easy solution: droopy.

The second Ubuntu Developer Week will be held from Sep 1st to Sep 5th in #ubuntu-classroom on irc.freenode.net.

Digg It!

‘There are Wiki docs, MOTU Videos, MOTU Interviews and we’re seeing more and more contributors each day. This is all good and well, but there’s nothing like talking to real people, asking real questions in a real-time environment.

‘The Ubuntu Developer Week is designed to give you an overview of what’s going on in the Ubuntu Developer world. Speak to the developers, learn, ask questions and finally realise “It’s true, I *can* make a difference by helping out here.”

‘Let’s take a closer look at the sessions we have:

• Packaging 101 - MOTU Daniel Holbach will talk you through the bare-bone structure of an Ubuntu package and how to get there the easiest way.
• Upstream Bug Linkages - In his session Jorge Castro will demonstrate the importance of linking Upstream bugs, acting as a liaison with upstream projects and be an important tie between upstream projects and Ubuntu.
• Introduction to MOTU - Iulian Udrea has been very active in the MOTU team and will share his experiences with you and of course answer all your questions.
• Soyuz and all that Jazz - Celso Providelo is not only going to run one session, he’s going to run two. This is the second one and will get you up to scratch on Launchpad’s Distribution Management.
• Working with Ubuntu<->GNOME QA (tips&tricks) - Pedro Villavicencio is amazing. He’s from Chile, knows GNOME Bug numbers by heart and just generally a great guy. Obviously he’s in touch with the GNOME Bug Squad a lot, he will show you how to contribute to both Ubuntu, and GNOME at the same time.
• How do I fix an Ubuntu bug? - Daniel Holbach will take you on the journey from finding a bug to work on, the process of fixing it and getting it integrated into Ubuntu.
• Introduction to BZR - David Futcher has used bzr in his work on Ubuntu and will guide you on your way of learning one of the most important tools in today’s development ecosystem: distributed revision control.
• Kernel module packaging with DKMS - Mario Limonciello will talk you through state of the art kernel module packaging with DKMS (Dynamic Kernel Module Support).
• Using the Launchpad Web Service API - Leonard Richardson and Barry Warsaw, two of the Launchpad hackers behind the Launchpad Web Service API will demonstrate a few examples and answer questions about the project that is hopefully going to put an end to all Launchpad screen-scraping.
• Launchpad Hacks - Brian Murray, Ubuntu’s bugmaster does bug triage, bug statistics and chearleading on #ubuntu-bugs at day and writes Greasemonkey scripts at night. He’s done a lot of useful little hacks that make Bug Triage quicker and more fun. He will show you how.
• bzr for packaging - After David Futcher’s session and if you’re into packaging, you should be ready to go for James Westby and the magic he will teach you. James is not only author of bzr-builddeb, but also heavily involved in DistributedDevelopment.
• How do I update a package properly - If that’s the question you’ve pondering yourself, MOTU and Mentoring Mastermind Cesare Tirabassi is your man. Updating, Building, Testing, Tips and Tricks all included in the session.
• Introduction to PPAs - Launchpad hacker Celso Providelo has put a lot of work into Soyuz and PPAs. He will explain how to make the best use of Personal Package Archives.
• Introduction to the Server Team - Mathias Gug of the Server Team is a brilliant guy - always around to help you get started in the Ubuntu’s server land, generally helpful and easy to work with. His session will show you where to get involved if you’re into Ubuntu and servers.
• Various ways to patch a package - Two great french contributors in the MOTU team, Christophe Sauthier and Didier Roche, are delivering this session: get ready to patch packages and make your changes fit neatly into existing packages.
• Automated Testing for the Desktop - Ara Pulido has been busy working on automated Desktop tests for Ubuntu and will show how to make best use of them, how to get started and what to bear in mind.
• A WebKit browser in PyKDE - You’re into KDE? Always wanted to start hacking? Jonathan Riddell is definitely your man: he’ll show you how much fun PyKDE is.
• Having fun with the Mozilla Team - Firefox, Extensions, Xulrunner, Thunderbird, etc is right up your alley? Alexander Sack and the Mozilla Team are the people you’re looking for.
• How to avoid making Archive Admins unhappy - Lots of changes Ubuntu Developers upload land directly in the archive admins for extra scrutiny checks. Steve Langasek gives the ultimate session to avoid common pitfalls and make archive admins enjoy their work with you.
• Ask Matt - Matt Zimmerman is not only amazing, he’s also technical leader of the Ubuntu project, CTO of Canonical, chair of the Technical Board and great at playing the guitar. We are happy to have him here to run a Q&A session with him.
• Unit testing Python code, with code coverage measurement - Debian and Ubuntu developer Lars Wirzenius is going to talk about code testing and code coverage measurement. If you want to learn how to write good code, make sure you don’t miss the session.
• Introduction to the Installer Team - Ever wondered how Ubuntu’s installer works? Did you ever think: “I’d really like to get involved there.”? This is your chance, meet Evan Dandrea.
• Introduciton to the Security Team - Kees Cook and Jamie Strandboge are amazing, they work day and night to keep your and your mom’s Ubuntu machine safe and secure. Want to get started in the Security world? Kees and Jamie will show you how.
• Kernel Discussion - We have Ben Collins here who will lead the Kernel discussion. Ever wanted to help out Ubuntu’s Kernel hackers? Ever wanted to know how you can get a foot into the door in the Kernel team? This is your chance.

Check out the timetable, how to join in and the “rules.”

So you've probably worked out that we're not going to be releasing the next episode of OSOTA tonight. Blergh, these things they are sent to try us aren't they.

Anyhoo, we should be able to get something out tomorrow and failing that Friday at the latest.

Sigh.

• It is of, by and for the community (you).
  
  
• At this event, all Open Source databases are created equal. We’ll learn together and grow together.
  
  
• It’s a combination conference and hackathon.
  
  
• It’s free.
  
  
• It is Friday night Nov 14, 18:00 through Sun the 16th at 18:00 in Charlottesville, Virginia USA in a very cool location.
  
  
• The website, where all details will be posted: http://opensqlcamp.pbwiki.com/
  
  
• The mailing group, where details will be discussed, decided and arranged: http://groups.google.com/group/opensqlcamp
  
  
• Date, time and place are confirmed and will not change. You can make your travel plans now. There’s travel information on the wiki.
  
  
• We already have some great speakers who have offered to give great talks. These and other details will show up on the wiki as they’re finalised.
  
  
• Sponsors are needed. See the wiki.

You will need:

• CMake (at least 2.4.7)
• Bazaar (the newer the better - 1.6 was just released - at least use that)
• Gnu Bison
• Visual Studio (Express works, but I’m talking about 2005 here)
• … and all this installed on a Microsoft Windows machine.
• … and to hate yourself, you are going to be using Windows after all.

Then, get and build it:

1. Get the source:
   
   bzr branch lp:~mysql/mysql-server/mysql-5.1-telco-6.4-win
2. Run CMake. the CMake GUI can now be used to select compile options! You’ll have to set the path “where is the source code” to where you put the source code in step 1.
3. Hit “Configure” in CMake
4. Select the target (i.e. the version of Visual Studio you’re going to use)
5. Select the build options. HINT: WITH_NDBCLUSTER_STORAGE_ENGINE may be a useful one to enable
6. Hit Configure again
7. Hit Ok.
8. CMAKE now generates the Visual Studio project. Use this time to drink some good scotch.
9. Open Mysql.sln (which should launch Visual Studio)
10. Go Build -> Build Solution (or hit F7)

Now you can go and have much whisky as this will take a few minutes. You should now have a set of built binaries for MySQL Cluster on Windows. Scary.

For enterprise system administrators looking for interoperability with Microsoft Exchange, but not the high costs associated with it, PostPath email and collaboration server could be a smart business investment. Boasting interoperability with Exchange environments for a third of the cost, thanks to its use of the Postfix mail server and many other open source components, PostPath provides drop-in capability and compatibility with Exchange environments without the need for making changes to Outlook on the client side. Being compatible with Exchange means that it can be managed using Microsoft's Active Directory infrastructure. The latest version, PostPath v3.1.2, adds support for Blackberry Enterprise Server and ActiveSync, allowing you to use mobile devices to access your email.