Open-Source Northeast (Vol. 2 | Issue 1)

Vol. 2 | Issue 5 | 2008

IN

THIS ISSUE

Editorial | Page 3 News | Page 4 National Knowledge Commission | Page 6 Knowledge Management | Page 8 World Bank Institute | Page 12 Open Learning Academy | Page 13 OpenLearn: 10 facts and figures | Page 16 What is the Open Content Alliance? | Page 17 Plan-Ed UK: bridging the gap between knowledge and practice | Page 18 Teaching English Website | Page 19 Unite for Children | Page 20 More Resources for Teachers | Page 20 Top 10 Linux Distributions | "Modern society is now defined as the 'Information Society', a societ in which Page 21 Key points about the lowcost information and ICT are in OpenOffice.org 3 general use, or as the 'Knowledge(Productivity Suite | Page 29 based) Society', to stress the fact that the most valuable asset is investment in The Integrated Library intangible, human and social capital and Systems: Current Options | that the key factors are knowledge and Page 30 Build a Social Networking creativity..."

Open-Source Northeast is published quarterly by Arup Kumar Misra on behafl Site using Open Source | Page 32 of Praq Foundation (www.pragfoundation.net) in association with Alliance Free and Open Source GIS for Community Capacity Byuilding Northeast India (ww.accb.org.uk) Software | Page 34 Editor: Dr Jayanta B Sarma What is vCard? | Page 37 Advisory Panel: Partha Gogoi (Senior Consultant TMA, Resources, Vienna, VA), Ankur Bora (Lead Member of theTechnical Staff--Speech Lab, AT&T Lab, W3Schools' Online Inc., Austin, Texas), Dipendra Gogoi (WebEx Communication India Pvt. Ltd, Certification Program | Page 39 Bangalore), Anjan Sarma (Director, Bhabani Offset & Imaging Systems Pvt. Top 100 EBooks last 30 days Ltd., Guwahati) Š unless otherwise sated the content of this magazine is licensed under the at Project Gutenberg | Page 41 CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-SHARE ALIKE 2.5 INDIA License (view a Want to try an alternative copy of this license at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/in Webmail? | Page 43 Download free at www.myopensource.in Open-Source Northeast is ypeset in SCRIBUS

A FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Page 1

Content of the Volume 1 (2007-08) ISSUE 1

Ultimate Linux Box 2007

Software Review & product Info

Feature

OpenDisc

Book Recommendation | Open-Source News | Classified | Resources

Towards Knowledge Society Open Access Overview Open CourseWare

ISSUE 2/3 (COMBINED)

Tutorial Using the Internet

Insight

Feature

Linux and the GNU project

What is Web2?

Captown Open Education Declaration Wikiversity The Web Ranking of World Universities

Policy Forum On Corporate Agreement and Partnership with Public Bodies

Distro Watch

FAQ

Choosing Linux Distribution

What is Linux?

Career

DistroWatch

Linux Skill Certification

Distro in Focus: Mandriva Linux

Know How

Software

Essential Componets of a Desktop Computer Six Steps to Adopting Open Source Software in your Organisation

Alexandria Book Collection Manager OpenOffice.org Page Software for Photographer Dia, Diagrame Creation Programme Ulteo Virtual Desktop

FAQ Why Use Open Source Technology

Software Review & product Info

Tecnology

OpenOffice

Diskless Worksation Using LTSP (with case studies) Low Power Computing

Book Review | Classified | Resources

Policy Forum

ISSUE 2

No Child Left Behind

Tutorial

Feature

Finding Information for education

Why India is Struggling with Localized Language Computing?

Project Gutenberg | ibiblio Open Content Alliance: 80 Libraries Going Open

Open Educational Resources and Tools Tools and information for working smarter, not harder

Resources Book Recommendation Career Services of Prag Foundation

Tutorial Learning Linux from Scratch

Insight Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials | Evaluating Internet Content

Policy Forum Software Freedom, underpinning your human rights

Distro Watch In Focus: Fedora | Fedora 8 Review

Career Update on Linux Skill Certification

Know How Typing in Assamese on Windows using 'open source' key board layout and fonts

Hardware

Download free at www.myopensource.in

The content of the volume 1 is still up to date. Please feel free to download and forward to your contacts.

In association with Alliance for Community Capacity Building in Northeast India www.accb.org.uk

PC Component Watch

Page 2

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Editorial competent workforce and well informed intelligentsia are the necessary conditions to sustainable development and a vibrant civil society.

With this issue ‘Open-Source Northeast’ has entered the 2nd year of its publication. A quarterly magazine focusing on information literacy and aimed at the academicians, scholars and professionals of the northeast India, OSNE is a strategic publication. The magazine focuses on the 'Free and Open Source Software' (FOSS), Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Information Literacy in the context of today's emerging Knowledge Society.

In the northeast we are still a long way to go in providing equitable access to ‘knowledge and information’ to our educated section of the society not to say of the ordinary masses, which is possibly the single most important factor in determining the success or failure of civil society. New digital technologies hold potential for enhancing civic life that is still untapped in our region. We need to ensure that educated section of our society is also 'information literate' so as to remain at the cutting edge of one’s professional field. A Open-Source Northeast | Vol.

What is evident in recent years is that the financial capital is not enough for progress and development.

Financial resources often remains underutilised or wasted due to the lack of professional competence of those involved - policy makers, beurocrates, professionals and the workforce - in the delivering a project.

As you can see from the last few published issues of OSNE, we have been trying to get the balance right between the different types of content so as to increase the acceptability amongst our target audience. While ‘Open-Source Northeast’ is not primarily a technical magazine, information literacy and knowledge sharing invariably involve aspects of technology particularly the new and emerging technologies. Our effort is to strike the right balance to keep our readers engaged.

In this issue we are focusing on ‘knowledge management’, a conscious strategy for moving the right knowledge to the right people at the right time to assist sharing and enabling the information to be translated into action to improve performance. We 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

hope this will be of interest to our reader given that organisations in our region, be it an educational institution, a hospital or a government agency, are in urgent need of stimulation in terms of fresh ideas and innovation and need to know what are proving to be successful elsewhere in the globe.

In addition, the magazine is packed with many other useful leads to keep you busy in pursuit of knowledge and information.

As always, we will be interested to hear from you.

Any suggestions and comments will be gracefully accepted.

Dr Jayanta B Sarma Editor sarma.jayanta@gmail.com If you share the passion and vision of OSNE, join our team as adviser, content editor, copy editor or a layout editor. Also, we need you to write or generate content for us. Moreover, we need help with publicity to reach as many individuals possible in our higher educational institutions. You do not need any previous experience except some spare time and a will to learn as you go.

Please drop us a line if you are able to help in any way to prag.foundation@gmail.com Page 3

News IBM Launches Microsoft-Free Linux PCs

Big Blue's virtual desktop includes OS system and application software.

Source: www.informationweek.com/s tory/showArticle.jhtml?articl eID=212202109 IBM has introduced a line of business computers that eschew Microsoft's ubiquitous desktop environment in favor of an amalgam of open source software.

The system, which IBM calls the Open Collaboration Client, combines the Linux operating system with IBM's open source Lotus Symphony desktop package. Symphony includes word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet applications based on the Open Document Format. IBM Lotus Notes apps are also available.

The system is designed to run in a virtual configuration, with the software stored both locally and on remote servers. IBM teamed up with Canonical and Virtual Bridges to create the offering. "Today's news builds on announcements through 2008 around delivering Microsoft alternatives in conjunction with our partners," IBM said in a statement Thursday.

IBM claims the system can save businesses $500 to $800 per user on Microsoft Page 4

software licenses and an additional $258 per user.

Big Blue also claims the system's virtual setup affords savings of $60 to $118 per user on power and air conditioning costs, and that it will also help companies reduce IT support expenses.

"For this virtual system, all administrative intervention is done on consolidated virtual machines in the data center through deployment of standard images," IBM said.

IBM's push into non-Windows computing is the latest challenge for Microsoft's core operating system franchise.

Apple, with its businessfriendly Mac OS X system, is starting to make inroads into corporate computing. And socalled netbooks -- low-cost systems that are not capable of running Vista -- are gaining popularity in emerging markets and other high-growth niches.

Revenue from Microsoft's Client division, which derives mostly from Vista now that Windows XP has been formally retired, edged up just 2%, year over year, to $4.21 billion in Microsoft's fiscal first quarter, despite the fact that the overall PC market grew 10% to 12% during the same period.

Bank of Common Knowldge (BCK)

www.bancocomun.org BCK is a pilot experience dedicated to the research of social mechanisms for the collective production of contents, mutual education, and citizen participation. It is a platform for exploring new ways of enhancing the distribution channels for practical and informal knowledge, as well as how to share it.

1. Copyleft ethics Copyleft originates the project. We apply the philosophy of copyleft to the transmission of knowledge.

The starting point is the idea beyond the commons, the common land. But, what is a common? The concept comes from mediaeval England, when it was decided to protect some land from the expansion of private developments. It was necessary to keep access to other lands around them.

Then those common spaces where also commonly managed. The BCK wants to expand this concept originally linked to land into knowledge and comunication. From the physical territoire we move to the inmaterial production. The understanding of knowledge and public comunication spaces as common spaces to be protected, expanded and shared.

2. Mission and meaning Create, protect and expand

IBM is offering virtual systems based on the Open Collaboration Client through its Global Services outsourcing and system integration unit.

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

knowledge, exchange and spread. Re-evaluation into common knowledge.

3. What is the BCK? Is a trial experience to research social mechanichs of contents production.

Mutual education and citizen participation. BCK is a workshop that looks for other ways to distribute and share practical knowledge.

4. The motor The BCK looks for alternative, cheap and affordable, even free ways to find answers to all sort of needs. We share practical or theoretical knowledge in all disciplines, from medical to crafts, to technology to civil rights. All we need to know for the every day life. We collect share and protect knowledge rarely valued, common knowledge in traces to be lost, knowledge locked on a patent system, Open-Source Northeast | Vol.

knowledge not able to be approved by science. All matters. The BCK wants to allow people conscious of the value of knowledge to assemble, produce, create and transmit in new communication and exchange circuits, free from restrictive hierarchical roles.

You are very welcome to participate and send us or recommend us DIY manuals (text, audio, video), experts or reports of similar experiences.

The BCK is organized as an open source model of knowledge transfer, a laboratory for inventing and trying out new forms of production, education, organization and distribution, involving new roles for producers and receivers, experts and 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

amateurs, teachers and students, as well as new relationships between the production of image, text, and audio material and their subsequent diffusion in the public space.

5. P2Pedagogy The BCK project adapts the techniques of peer-to-peer media sharing to peer-topeer education, allowing discrete chunks of information to be broken down and passed on via a network of volunteers.

6. Quotes "For too long information and knowledge have been slowly being privatised, This is wrong and I applaud your intiative to put knowledge back where it belongs; at the service of the community" - Karen Rodgers, Montessori teacher.

Cambridge Page 5

National Knowledge Commission access, concepts, creation, application and services

The ability of a nation to use three years, from 2nd and reach of individuals and and create knowledge October 2005 to 2nd October groups. Therefore, means capital determines its 2008. As a high-level must exist for individuals capacity to empower and advisory body to the Prime who have the ability to enable its citizens by Minister of India, the receive and comprehend Plato asserted that knowledge is what is true and believed. increasing human National Knowledge knowledge to readily obtain capabilities. In the next few Commission has been given a it. This also includes making decades, India will have the mandate to guide policy and accurate knowledge of the largest set of young people direct reforms, focusing on state and its activities in the world. Following a certain key areas such as available to the general knowledge-oriented education, science and public. Certain issues that paradigm of development technology, agriculture, are being examined in this would enable India to industry, e-governance etc. context by the National leverage this demographic Easy access to knowledge, Knowledge Commission are : advantage. In the words of creation and preservation of our Prime Minister, "The time knowledge systems, 1. Literacy has come to create a second dissemination of knowledge 2. Language wave of institution building and better knowledge 3. Translation and of excellence in the services are core concerns of 4. Libraries field of education, research the commission.

5. Networks and capability building so 6. Portals that we are better prepared Focus areas for the 21st century."

Knowledge Concepts Access to Knowledge With this broad task in mind, Knowledge concepts are the National Knowledge Providing access to organized, distributed and Commission (NKC) was knowledge is the most transmitted through the constituted on 13th June fundamental way of education system. It is 2005 with a time-frame of increasing the opportunities through education that an Page 6

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individual can make better informed decisions, keep abreast of important issues and trends around him or her and most importantly, question the socio-economic arrangements in a manner that can lead to change and development. NKC's concern with many aspects of the Indian education system covers: 1. School Education 2. Vocational Education 3. Higher Education 4. Medical Education 5. Legal Education 6. Management Education 7. Engineering Education 8. Open and Distance Education 10. More Talented Students in Maths and Science 11. More Quality Ph.Ds Creation of Knowledge A nation can develop in two ways – either it learns to use existing resources better, or it discovers new resources.

Both activities involve creation of knowledge. This

makes it important to consider all activities that lead to the creation of knowledge directly or help in protecting the knowledge that is created. India must therefore examine issues such as :

that knowledge can be very effectively applied for the betterment of the rural poor.:

1. Science and Technology 2. Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) 3. Innovation 4. Entrepreneurship

Delivery of Services

Knowledge Applications Knowledge can be productively applied to promote technological change and facilitate reliable and regular flow of information. This requires significant investment in goal-oriented research and development along with access models that can simplify market transactions and other processes within an industry. Initiatives in the areas of agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and traditional knowledge can demonstrate

1. Traditional Knowledge 2. Agriculture 3. Aqua Foods

Knowledge services have the potential to simplify many different points at which citizens interact with the State. Traditionally, these points of interaction have been vulnerable to unscrupulous activities and rent-seeking. Technology provides us with an opportunity to ensure accountability, transparency and efficiency in government services. Egovernance is one of the ways in which citizens can be empowered to increase transparency of government functioning, leading to greater efficiency and productivity. e-Governance

Visit for details www.knowledgecommission.gov.in The National Portal of India

http://india.gov.in provides comprehensive, accurate, reliable and up-to-date information about India and its various facets

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Knowledge Management bridging the gap between knowledge and practice

Š Jeremy Kemp

Knowledge management is a conscious strategy for moving the right knowledge to the right people at the right time to assist sharing and enabling the information to be translated into action to improve the organizational performance.

(O'Dell & Grayson 1997) KM efforts have a long history, to include on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. More recently, with increased use of computers in the second half of the 20th century, Page 8

specific adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases, expert systems, knowledge repositories, group decision support systems, and computer supported cooperative work have been introduced to further enhance the such efforts.

A broad range of thoughts on the KM discipline exists with no unanimous agreement; approaches vary by author and school. As the discipline matures, academic debates have increased regarding both the theory and practice of KM, to include the following perspectives:

1. Techno-centric with a focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge sharing and creatio 2. Organisational with a focus on how an organisation can be designed to facilitate knowledge processes best 3. Ecological with a focus on the interaction of people, identity, knowledge, and environmental factors as a complex adaptive system akin to a natural ecosystem Regardless of the school of thought, core components of KM include People, Processes, Technology (or) Culture, Structure, Technology, depending on

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the specific perspective.

Different KM schools of thought include various lenses through which KM can be viewed and explained, to include: 1. community of practice 2. social network analysis 3. intellectual capital 4. information theory 5. complexity science 6. constructivism Dimensions Different frameworks for distinguishing between knowledge exist. One proposed framework for categorising the dimensions of knowledge distinguishes between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge represents internalised knowledge that an individual may not be consciously aware of how he or she accomplishes particular tasks. At the opposite end of the spectrum, explicit knowledge represents knowledge that the individual holds consciously in mental focus, in a form that can easily be communicated to others.

Early research suggested that a successful KM effort needs to convert internalised tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge in order to share it, but the same effort must also permit individuals to internalise and make personally meaningful any codified knowledge retrieved from the KM effort.

Subsequent research into KM suggested that a distinction between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge

represented an oversimplification and that the notion of explicit knowledge is selfcontradictory. Specifically, for knowledge to be made explicit, it must be translated into information (i.e., symbols outside of our heads).

A second proposed framework for categorising the dimensions of knowledge distinguishes between embedded knowledge of a system outside of a human individual (e.g., an information system may have knowledge embedded into its design) and embodied knowledge representing a learned capability of a human body’s nervous and endocrine systems.

A third proposed framework for categorising the dimensions of knowledge distinguishes between the exploratory creation of "new knowledge" (i.e., innovation) vs. the transfer or exploitation of "established knowledge" within a group, organisation, or community.

Collaborative environments such as communities of practice or the use of social computing tools can be used for both knowledge creation and transfer.

Strategies Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after KM-related activities. Different organisations have tried various knowledge capture incentives, including making content submission

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mandatory and incorporating rewards into performance measurement plans.

Considerable controversy exists over whether incentives work or not in this field and no consensus has emerged.

One strategy to KM involves actively managing knowledge. In such an instance, individuals strive to explicitly encode their knowledge into a shared knowledge repository, such as a database, as well as retrieving knowledge they need that other individuals have provided to the repository.

Another strategy to KM involves individuals making knowledge requests of experts associated with a particular subject on an ad hoc basis. In such an instance, expert individual(s) can provide their insights to the particular person or people needing this.

Motivations A number of claims exist as to the motivations leading organisations to undertake a KM effort. Typical considerations driving a KM effort include: 1. Making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of products and services 2. Achieving shorter new product development cycles 3. Facilitating and managing innovation and organisational learning 4. Leveraging the expertise Page 9

of people across the organisation 5. Increasing network connectivity between internal and external individuals 6. Managing business environments and allowing employees to obtain relevant insights and ideas appropriate to their work 7. Solving intractable or wicked problems 8. Managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the expertise and knowhow possessed by key individuals) Debate exists whether KM is more than a passing fad, though increasing amount of research in this field may hopefully help to answer this question, as well as create consensus on what elements of KM help determine the success or failure of such efforts.

Technologies Early KM technologies included online corporate yellow pages as expertise locators and document management systems.

Combined with the early development of collaborative technologies (in particular Lotus Notes), KM technologies expanded in the mid-1990s. Subsequent KM efforts leveraged semantic technologies for search and retrieval and the development of e-learning tools for communities of practice.

More recently, development of social computing tools Page 10

(such as blogs and wikis) have allowed more unstructured, self-governing or ecosystem approaches to the transfer, capture and creation of knowledge, including the development of new forms of communities, networks, or matrixed organisations. However such tools for the most part are still based on text and code, and thus represent explicit knowledge transfer. These tools face challenges in distilling meaningful reusable knowledge and ensuring that their content is transmissible through diverse channels.

Knowledge Management System (KM System) refers to a (generally IT based) system for managing knowledge in organizations, supporting creation, capture, storage and dissemination of information. It can comprise a part (neither necessary or sufficient) of a Knowledge Management initiative.

The idea of a KM system is to enable employees to have ready access to the organization's documented base of facts, sources of information, and solutions.

For example a typical claim justifying the creation of a KM system might run something like this: an engineer could know the metallurgical composition of an alloy that reduces sound in gear systems. Sharing this information organization wide can lead to more effective engine design and it could also lead to ideas for new or improved equipment.

A KM system could be any of the following: 1. Document based i.e. any technology that permits creation/management/sharin g of formatted documents such as Lotus Notes, web, distributed databases etc.

2. Ontology/Taxonomy based: these are similar to document technologies in the sense that a system of terminologies (i.e. ontology) are used to summarize the document e.g. Author, Subj, Organization etc. as in DAML & other XML based ontologies 3. Based on AI technologies which use a customized representation scheme to represent the problem domain.

4. Provide network maps of the organization showing the flow of communication between entities and individuals 5. Increasingly social computing tools are being deployed to provide a more organic approach to creation of a KM system.

KMS systems deal with information (although Knowledge Management as a discipline may extend beyond the information centric aspect of any system) so they are a class of information system and may build on, or utilize other information sources.

Distinguishing features of a KMS can include: 1. Purpose: a KMS will have an explicit Knowledge Management objective of some type such as collaboration, sharing good

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practice or the like.

2. Context: One perspective on KMS would see knowledge is information that is meaningfully organized, accumulated and embedded in a context of creation and application.

3. Processes: KMS are developed to support and enhance knowledgeintensive processes, tasks or projects of e.g., creation, construction, identification, capturing, acquisition, selection, valuation, organization, linking, structuring, formalization, visualization, transfer, distribution, retention, maintenance, refinement, revision, evolution, accessing, retrieval and last but not least the application of knowledge, also called the knowledge life cycle.

4. Participants: Users can play the roles of active, involved participants in knowledge networks and communities fostered by KMS, although this is not necessarily the case. KMS designs are held to reflect that knowledge is developed collectively and that the “distribution� of knowledge leads to its continuous change, reconstruction and Further Reading

application in different contexts, by different participants with differing backgrounds and experiences.

5. Instruments: KMS support KM instruments, e.g., the capture, creation and sharing of the codifiable aspects of experience, the creation of corporate knowledge directories, taxonomies or ontologies, expertise locators, skill management systems, collaborative filtering and handling of interests used to connect people, the creation and fostering of communities or knowledge networks.

networks, departments, privileges, roles, participants and other active users in order to extract and generate new knowledge and to enhance, leverage and transfer in new outcomes of knowledge providing new services using new formats and interfaces and different communication channels.

A KMS offers integrated services to deploy KM instruments for networks of participants, i.e. active knowledge workers, in knowledge-intensive business processes along the entire knowledge life cycle. KMS can be used for a wide range of cooperative, collaborative, adhocracy and hierarchy communities, virtual organizations, societies and other virtual networks, to manage media contents; activities, interactions and work-flows purposes; projects; works,

Some of the advantages claimed for KM systems are: 1. Sharing of valuable organizational information.

2. Can avoid re-inventing the wheel, reducing redundant work.

3. May reduce training time for new employees 4. Retention of Intellectual Property after the employee leaves if such knowledge can be codified.

The term KMS can be associated to Open Source Software, and Open Standards, Open Protocols and Open Knowledge licenses, initiatives and policies.

1. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Knowledge Management by Melissie Clemmons Rumizen Paperback: 336 pages, Publisher: Alpha; 1 edition (August 9, 2001) 2. Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) by

by Peter Ferdinand Drucker. Paperback: 223 pages, Publisher: Harvard Business School Press; 6 edition (September 1998) 3. Introduction to Knowledge Management: KM in Business by Todd R. Groff. Paperback: 183 pages, Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann; 1 edition (July 4, 2003) 4. The Knowledge Management Toolkit: Orchestrating IT, Strategy, and Knowledge Platforms (2nd Edition) by Amrit Tiwana. Hardcover: 416 pages, Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 2 edition (August 29, 2002) 5. Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management by David Schwartz. Hardcover: 902 pages, Publisher: Idea Group Publishing (September 23, 2005)

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World Bank Institute www.worldbank.org/wbi

Knowledge Sharing and Management

An initiative of the World Bank Institute aiming to enhance the capacity of developmentoriented organizations in World Bank client countries to achieve greater impact through the application of knowledge management tools and practices.

The Knowledge Bank page

Has been established as a repository for some of the key documents related to the World Bank's "Knowledge Bank" strategy. These documents describe the main knowledge management activities of the World Bank over the past decade, since the launch of the strategy in 1996.

About the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN)

www.gdln.org Coordinated by the World Bank, the GDLN is a partnership of over 120 recognized global institutions (Affiliates) in over 80 countries that collaborates in the design of customized learning solutions for individuals and organizations working in development. Affiliates are as diverse as the Asian Institute of Management, the Ethiopian Civil Service College, the Islamic Development Bank, and Pontifícia Universidad Católica of Peru.

Collectively, Affiliates put on 1000+ learning sessions a year that range from training courses and informal brainstorming sessions to multi-country dialogues and virtual conferences. GDLN learning specialists in these organizations collaborate in designing customized learning solutions for clients. With increasing links to in-country networks, GDLN's reach now extends to more than 500 access points around the world. Sessions are designed for specific learning objectives and audiences and also draw on applied knowledge and expertise from across the network. They usually feature a combination of learning techniques, such as expert panels, case based learning and action plans, as well as information and communication tools, used in face-to-face, videoconferencing and e-learning events.

What GDLN Offer

GDLN is present in most major cities and in many secondary cities offering direct access to local, regional and international development experts, provide tailored learning programs, knowledge or technical assistance programs, and state of the art facilities for multi-point videoconferencing and internet-based learning. Their services fall into four broad categories: program and session design, session management and coordination, learning product development, and promotion and marketing services.

GDLN offers advanced information and communication technologies connecting people working in development worldwide. By applying tools and services developed in the field of distance learning, our GDLN Affiliates enable universities, non-governmental organizations, and private sector entities and all other clients interested in knowledge sharing, to communicate without boundaries and learn from each other’s experiences.

Services range from designing and organizing formal training courses to multi-country, multicultural dialogues and 'virtual' conferences, using effective blends of face-to-face and distance learning approaches.

For each one of our activities an Event Manager (EM) is designated to serve as your point-ofcontact. He/she is usually the person at the beginning of the entire event process. In close Page 12

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collaboration with the client, the EM typically: identifies the learning needs, assists with the logistics, communicates with the GDLN affiliates, jointly helps with the design and development of the learning activities with the content/service provider, conducts post event activities, assists with the accounting, and submits a completion report to client.

Learning by connecting

www.learningbyconnecting.com An initiative of Tjip de Jong. It provides information, links, new theory and much more on the topics of social capital, social networks and knowledge productivity. On the top you can find different pages on these topics and other relevant information. The home page shows recent added information. The page case study research is a secured area for participating organizations in the research on the relation between social capital and knowledge productivity.

Open Learning Academy

The Concept

The idea is to develop a centre of excellence supporting 'capacity building initiatives' throughout the region primarily directed at 'human resource development' (equipping individuals with the understanding, skills and access to information, knowledge and training that enable them to perform Page 13 Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008 We are working on to build an 'Open Learning Academy', equipped with a state of the art IT and media facilities, at Guwahati, Assam to serve as a nerve centre for all our capacity building initiatives.

effectively).

with universities

It is envisaged the centre will be able to recruit a group of committed volunteers from the higher educational institutions of the city and run a successful volunteering programme.

5. develop low-cost ICT toolsets for enterprises, civil society governance and learning applications such Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNU)

In due course, the centre will support affiliated satellite centres throughout the region to outreach the communities who would benefit from capacity building initiatives.

6. encourage networking to empower civil society 7. provide ICT support for the non-profit sector, enabling these organisations to take full advantage of new technologies to increase productivity and efficiency

The Centre will 1. help civic actors (e.g., civil activists, members of the Panchayaati Raj Institutions) to develop necessary skills which in turn will enable them to influence public policy decision and discharge their responsibility of office efficiently

8. support and facilitate research seeking solution to local problems The centre will in essence be a sate of the art centre for 'Life-long Learning'.

2. run seminars, workshops and short courses (e.g., aimed at helping to achieve accredited certification) to help develop professional skills and entrepreneurship helping youths to prosper in today’s competitive environment and take advantage of the global market place via new technology 3. provide students, teachers and civic players affordable access to e-services, scholarly content and information such as research literature, database and utilities 4. develop and support relevant 'e-courses' and 'distance learning' through affiliation

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Another strategic objectives of the project is to create a community of volunteers with necessary skills not only to help run the centre and its affiliates but also provide consultancy on diverse 'capacity building' initiatives and projects.

Please visit www.accb.org.uk for more details and how you could help or contact us at admin.accb@gmail.com.

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

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OpenLearn: 10 facts and figures 1. The Open University is the first UK Higher Education institution to make its educational resources freely available online at this scale.

The first US institution was MIT with the OpenCourseWare project.

2. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation agreed a grant of $4.45 million (£2.54 million) towards the Study online with the OU for free costs of The Open University's two year OpenLearn pilot that started in April 2006. They agreed a second grant of $4.45 million in June 2007. The costs of the pilot are expected to be in the region of $9.9 million (£5.65 million).

3. The OpenLearn website launched on the 25th October 2006.

4. 12% of the budget is being spent on research to evaluate the process and investigate how learners make use of open content in new and unexpected ways.

5. There will be 11 subject areas available at launch.

6. Units of study vary in length from 3-15 hours of learning.

7. There will be 900 learning hours in the LearningSpace on launch, 5400 learning hours in the LearningSpace and a further 2700 learning hours in the LabSpace, by the end of twoyear pilot.

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8. The Open University is making almost 5% of its course content freely available during the pilot.

9. The website is built using Moodle, an open-source elearning platform.

10. The materials are being made available under a Creative Commons licence.

New Web2.0 Features OpenLearn now has a range of new Web 2.0 features for learners and educators.

OpenLearn is the IMS 2007 Platinum Award-winning website with thousands of hours of free, remixable Open University course materials.

Learners can now create a list of personal interests in their OpenLearn profiles, connecting them to other learners with shared interests. OpenLearn’s MSG instant messenger will automatically create chat groups based on learners’ interests, enabling informal learning to take place through social networking.

Alex Little, developer of MSG explains: "We set up MSG so people could discover and chat directly with other learners studying the same OpenLearn units, providing peer support. So people studying ‘Start writing fiction’, for example, could contact others enrolled on the unit. The latest

development means a Harry Potter fan could find other enthusiasts on OpenLearn and start a Harry Potter study group – regardless of what OpenLearn study units they may have enrolled on."

The new FlashVlog video blogging service means people can record, edit, annotate and publish short videos of themselves. Laura Dewis, OpenLearn's Communications Manager said: "Online learning is often very 'faceless' and anonymous, which can help some people feel more confident about communicating. Other people prefer to see and hear the people they are working with, so it'll be interesting to see if video blogging enables collaboration and adds to the wealth of learning materials on OpenLearn."

Improvements have been made to the myLearningSpace and myLabSpace personalised homepages. Learners can view the units they are enrolled on, keep up to date with forum entries and organise their learning toolkit.

Supporting the learner has also been a focus for Cohere, a Web 2.0 knowledge mapping website.

Learners can make meaningful, possibly controversial, connections between their ideas and websites (e.g. Iraq’s 2003

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political context is analogous to The Vietnam War). These may be private or public, and can be built on top of their social bookmarks if they are already dedicated users of tools like del.icio.us or flickr.

Simon Buckingham Shum of the Knowledge Media Institute at The Open University explained: "Learners can connect resources from around the web with their ideas, creating a visual network of their ideas and others. They can then share these 'idea webs' inside Cohere, or as hyperlinks, or embed them in their blogs or websites."

Another development has

been the introduction of the download facility in the LearningSpace. Open University material is made available on OpenLearn under a Creative Commons license that allows for study units to be downloaded and derivative works to be created. Amended study units can be uploaded to the LabSpace to create a larger repository of localised open educational resources for the community to benefit from.

While the LearningSpace is home to quality assured materials from Open University courses, anyone can add new content to the LabSpace.

Other developments to improve the interoperability

and sharing of resources include the introduction of an OPML feed of all content, RSS feeds of forums and the introduction of the IMS Common cartridge format for downloading and uploading units.

With the new release of these features, there are now over 4,130 learning hours of materials in the LearningSpace and 7,245 learning hours in the LabSpace.

Over 1.2 million learners worldwide have accessed the free learning materials made available by OpenLearn since its launch in late 2006.

Editor's Note: Why not take advantage of this great OpenCourseWare available freely to update your knowledge or venture into a new field of learning. If you are a teacher you can use the material to create your own lecture material. OpenLearn is released under a 'Creative Commons' licence.

What is the Open Content Alliance? www.opencontentalliance.org

The Open Content Alliance (OCA) is a collaborative effort of a group of cultural, technology, nonprofit, and governmental organizations from around the world that helps build a permanent archive of multilingual digitized text and multimedia material. An archive of contributed material is available on the Internet Archive website (www.archive.org) and through Yahoo! and other search engines and sites.

The OCA encourages access to and reuse of collections in the archive, while respecting the content owners and contributors. Contributors to the OCA have agreed to the principles set forth in the Call for Participation.

The Open Content Alliance is administered by the Internet Archive, a non-profit library.

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Learning Centre Plan-Ed UK

bridging the gap between knowledge and practice www.plan-ed.org/learningcentre Welcome to Plan UK’s new centre for global teaching resources. In this section you will find a range of projects, games and teaching resources designed for UK classrooms.

Each project comes with carefully planned lesson notes with clear curriculum links and photocopiable activity sheets. There are also supplementary photo, video and audio materials to bring the topics to life. All our resources are designed to help develop key skills in discussion, presentation, critical thinking and problem solving.

New Modern Foreign Languages resources area of Plan-ed. There are currently three French programmes of work available for UK MFL teachers. The resources have been produced from Plan development education projects and current campaigns.

The resources encourage teachers and students to expand their vocabulary and enrich their learning by exploring topical issues and themes, generated by young people from diverse backgrounds and countries around the world.

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Make the Link, Be the Change is an international climate change project looking at how environmental changes are affecting children all over the Plan world. Scheme of

resources to accompany the 2008 report, 'Because I am a Girl: The State of the World's Girls 2008: In the Shadow of War'.

Because I am a Girl 2007 comprises schemes of work to accompany the 2007 report, ‘Because I am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls'. They look comparatively at gender inequality and stereotypes in both the developed and developing world.

Water in Kenya looks at the impact of water shortages in Kenya and the wider world. Students will begin to asses the impact that water shortages will have on them individually and the world as a whole.

work consisting of 14 lessons mapped to UK Geography and Citizenship curricula.

Shoot Nations is a scheme of work for Key Stage 4 Media Studies which looks at photographs as a source, and the power of photography as a means of communication.

Fair Trade in Pakistan begins to explore the idea of Fair Trade and the affect we can have in the developing world through Fair Trade. Students will develop an understanding about where products originate from and social responsibility.

Child Labour in India introduces the country of India to young people and examines the practice of child labour. It encourages young people to examine their own life and compare their experiences with those in India.

Because I am a Girl 2008 is the second series of engaging educational Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Make the link, break the chain examines the history of the transatlantic slave trade as well as the forms of slavery which still exist in the world today. It was developed from a project which linked schools in Brazil, Haiti, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the UK. Togo: making choices has been designed to help UK children explore the ideas of needs, choices and fairness whilst learning about the lives of children in Togo.

Real life in Ghana explores similarities and differences between life in the UK and in Ghana. It draws on multimedia extracts of Ghanaian children, discovering everything from their daily routines through

to the games that they play.

A global identity looks at the idea of our identity and how it can be used to distinguish and unite us all.

Speak out on Africa introduces the continent of Africa and encourages pupils to think about how their voice could facilitate change there. The work is an introduction to youth advocacy.

Real people, real lives looks at comparing the way children live in the UK to life in Ethiopia. Based around the use of the interactive ‘Big Book’ this resource for 5–8 year olds provides a stimulating insight to life in another country, through the eyes of young people.

Visit a virtual village Experience a virtual visit to an African village. Nyalakot is a rural farming community of about 6,200 people where poverty is endemic and average income amounts to about £130 per person a year – less than 60 pence a day. Meet community members, children, students and adults.

Stop Disasters game Play this interactive game where you plan and construct an environment for a community affected by natural hazards.

In addition there is a Project Gallery area where you can submit the results of your work for all to appreciate.

Editor's Note: Although this resource is designed for UK classroom, any school teachers involved with young minds will find this resource useful and stimulating.

Teaching English Website www.teachingenglish.org.uk/about-us Teaching English is produced by the British Council with content and editorial support from the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Both organisations receive funding from the UK government for their work in promoting English, supporting English language teaching (ELT) and providing information and access to ELT products, services and expertise from the UK. The Teaching English project is non-commercial and as such all content and material on the site is free to access.

As part of a pilot project, the site also features a

variety of teaching materials produced by selected UK publishers.

The purpose The site has been designed to act in four ways: 1. as a theoretical and historical archive: where you can read about teaching methodology, currrent practice and issues in ELT. 2. as a practical resource: for materials, activities and ideas for your teaching 3. as a forum: to help you, as teachers of English, to discuss your teaching, exchange ideas and share

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materials 4. as an information source: for professional development and training as well as an access point for consultancy services to implement educational policy reform.

The content The site is divided into four main sections which mirror the purposes described above: 1. THINK: where you can find teachers' articles on different aspects of teaching, from classroom practice to learning theory Page 19

2. TRY: where you can find lesson plans, quizzes, ideas for activities and other materials which you can download to use in class 3. TALK: where you can keep you own personal blog, join discussion forums and and form groups around particular areas of interest.

4. TRANSFORM: where teachers can can get help and advice on their

professional development (training, qualifications, personal development, specialist areas, etc) and policy makers can find information about the products and consultancy services that the British Council can offer from the ELT constituency in the UK.

speaker teachers of English working predominantly in secondary education in state schools around the world.

However, we have made a wide variety of material available and we trust it will also be of interest to teachers of all age groups and working in other kinds of teaching institutions.

The materials on this site are designed for non-native

Unite for Children

www.unicef.org.uk/tz/resources/index.asp UNICEF classroom resources have been developed within the framework of rights and responsibilities to support many curriculum areas and all age ranges. You can use the search menu below to find publications and resources, lesson plans and activities to buy or download FREE! You can sign up for a twice-termly newsletter to keep up-to-date on resources.

More Resources for Teachers

These websites are useful resources for teachers. Why not try them out?

1. Primary Resources (www.primaryresources.co.uk) - An enormous collection of resources which teachers can use in their classrooms.

2. Teaching Ideas (http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/) - Find ideas and activities to use with your classes on this site. Created by one of our teachers!

3. TES Resource Centre (www.tes.co.uk/resourcehub.aspx?navcode=70) - A huge collection of free resources, created by teachers for other teachers.

4. SEN Teacher (www.senteacher.org) - This site has an amazing set of printables to use, and a comprehensive set of links to other useful sites.

5. Teaching and learning at Teachernet (http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning) Get information about teaching and learning: teaching strategy, teaching and learning tips, learning psychology, and links to thousands of resources at Teachernet.

6. Sparklebox (www.sparklebox.co.uk) - A wonderful selection of resources, most of which are KS1 based.

7. Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org.uk/154.htm) - Browse our range of free and priced resources for teachers and youth workers or try out activities from our teaching packs.

8. The Google UK Schools Site (www.google.co.uk/intl/en/schools/index.html) - offers free resources for teachers to help use Google tools in the classroom. Working with teachers, we have developed ideas for how Google Search, Maps, Earth, Images and News can be integrated into the curriculum to help bring subjects such as geography, history and citizenship to life.

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Distro Watch Top 10 Linux Distributions

The bewildering choice and the ever increasing number of Linux distributions can be confusing for those who are new to Linux. Here find a list 10 Linux distributions (plus an honourable mention of FreeBSD, by far the most popular of all of the BSDs), which are generally considered as most widelyused around the world.

Ubuntu, Linux Mint and PCLinuxOS are considered the easiest for new users who want to get productive in Linux as soon as possible without having to master all its complexities. On the other end of the spectrum, Slackware Linux, Gentoo Linux and FreeBSD are more advanced distributions that require plenty of learning before they can be used effectively. openSUSE, Fedora, Debian GNU/Linux and Mandriva Linux can be classified as good "middleroad" distributions. CentOS is an enterprise distribution, suitable for those who prefer stability, reliability and longterm support over cutting-

edge features and software.

Ubuntu The launch of Ubuntu was first announced in September 2004. The project was created by Mark Shuttleworth, a charismatic South African multimillionaire, a former Debian developer and the world's second space tourist, whose company, the Isle of Man-based Canonical Ltd, is currently financing the project. Secondly, Ubuntu had learnt from the mistakes of other similar projects and avoided them from the start it created an excellent webbased infrastructure with a Wiki-style documentation, creative bug-reporting facility, and professional approach to the end users.

Ubuntu is based on Debian but with some prominent packages, such as GNOME, Firefox and OpenOffice.org, updated to their latest versions. It has a predictable, 6-month release schedule. Other special

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features of Ubuntu include an installable live CD, creative artwork and desktop themes, migration assistant for Windows users, support for the latest technologies, such as 3D desktop effects, easy installation of proprietary device drivers for ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards and wireless networking, and ondemand support for non-free or patent-encumbered media codecs.

Pros: Fixed release cycle and support period; novicefriendly; wealth of documentation, both official and user-contributed Cons: Some of Ubuntu's own software (e.g. Launchpad, Rosetta) are proprietary; lacks compatibility with Debian Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages Available editions: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu Studio and Mythbuntu for 32bit (i386) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; Ubuntu Page 21

Server edition also for SPARC processors Suggested Ubuntu-based alternatives: Linux Mint (desktop), gOS (desktop with Google applications), OpenGEU (desktop with Enlightenemnt), Ultimate Edition (desktop), Freespire (desktop), gNewSense (free software) openSUSE The beginnings of openSUSE date back to 1992 when four German Linux enthusiasts -Roland Dyroff, Thomas Fehr, Hubert Mantel and Burchard Steinbild -- launched the project under the name of SuSE (Software und System Entwicklung) Linux. Frequent releases, excellent printed documentation, and easy availability of SuSE Linux in stores across Europe and North America resulted in growing popularity of the distribution.

SuSE Linux was acquired by Novell, Inc. in late 2003.

Since the launch of the openSUSE project and the release of version 10.0 in October 2005, the distribution became completely free. The openSUSE code has become a base system for Novell's commercial products, first named as Novell Linux, but later renamed to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

Today, openSUSE has a large following of satisfied users.

The principal reason for openSUSE getting high marks from its users are pleasant and polished desktop Page 22

environments (KDE and GNOME), excellent system administration utility (YaST), and, for those who buy the boxed edition, some of the best printed documentation available with any distribution.

Pros: Comprehensive and intuitive configuration tool; large repository of software packages, excellent web site infrastructure and printed documentation Cons: Novell's patent deal with Microsoft in November 2006 seemingly legitimised Microsoft's intellectual property claims over Linux; its resource-heavy desktop setup and graphical utilities are sometimes seen as "bloated and slow" Software package management: YaST graphical and command line utility using RPM packages Available editions: openSUSE for 32-bit (i386), 64-bit (x86_64) and PowerPC (ppc) processors (also installable live CD edition); SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop/Server for i586, IA64, PowerPC, s390, s390x and x86_64 architectures Fedora Although Fedora was formally unveiled only in September 2004, its origins effectively date back to 1995 when it was launched by two Linux visionaries -- Bob Young and Marc Ewing -under the name of Red Hat Linux. In 1997, Red Hat introduced its revolutionary RPM package management system with dependency resolution and other advanced features which

greatly contributed to the distribution's rapid rise in popularity. In later years, Red Hat standardised on a regular, 6-month release schedule.

In 2003, just after the release of Red Hat Linux 9, the company introduced some radical changes to its product line-up. It retained the Red Hat trademark for its commercial products, notably Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and introduced Fedora Core, a Red Hatsponsored, but communityoriented distribution designed for the "Linux hobbyist". After the initial criticism of the changes, the Linux community accepted the "new" distribution as a logical continuation of Red Hat Linux. A few quality releases was all it took for Fedora to regain its former status as one of the bestloved operating systems on the market. At the same time, Red Hat quickly became the biggest and most profitable Linux company in the world, with an innovative product lineup and other interesting initiatives, such as its Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) certification programme.

Pros: Highly innovative; outstanding security features; large number of supported packages; strict adherence to the Free Software philosophy Cons: Fedora's priorities tend to lean towards enterprise features, rather than desktop usability Software package

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management: YUM graphical and command line utility using RPM packages Available editions: Fedora for 32-bit (i386), 64-bit (x86_64) and PowerPC (ppc) processors; Red Hat Enterprise Linux for i386, IA64, PowerPC, s390x and x86_64 architectures; also live CD editions with either GNOME or KDE Suggested Fedora-based alternatives: BLAG Linux And GNU (desktop, free software), Berry Linux (live CD), Yellow Dog Linux (Apple's PowerPC-based systems) Suggested Red Hat-based alternatives: CentOS, Scientific Linux, StartCom Enterprise Linux Debian GNU/Linux Debian GNU/Linux was first announced in 1993. Its founder, Ian Murdock, envisaged the creation of a completely non-commercial project developed by hundreds of volunteer developers in their spare time.Iin less than a decade, it became the largest Linux distribution and possibly the largest collaborative software project ever created!

It is developed by over 1,000 volunteer developers, its software repositories contain more than 20,000 packages (compiled for 11 processor architectures), and it is responsible for inspiring over 120 Debian-based distributions and live CDs. These figures are unmatched by any other Linux-based operating system.

Debian has a lengthy and complex development style: the stable releases of Debian are not particularly up-todate since new stable releases are only published once every 1 - 3 years.

Pros: Very stable; remarkable quality control; includes over 20,000 software packages; supports more processor architectures than any other Linux distribution Cons: Conservative - due to its support for many processor architectures, newest technologies are not always included; slow release cycle (one stable release every 1 - 3 years); discussions on developer mailing lists and blogs can be uncultured at times Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using DEB packages Available editions: Installation CD/DVD and live CD images for 11 processor architectures, including all 32-bit and 64-bit processors from Intel, AMD, Power and others Suggested Debian-based alternatives: MEPIS Linux, Ubuntu, sidux. Damn Small Linux (for old computers), KNOPPIX (live CD), Dreamlinux (desktop), Elive (desktop with Enlightenment), Xandros (commercial), 64 Studio (multimedia) Mandriva Linux Mandriva Linux was launched

by GaĂŤl Duval in July 1998 under the name of Mandrake Linux. At first, it was just a

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re-mastered edition of Red Hat Linux with the more user-friendly KDE desktop, but the subsequent releases also added various userfriendly touches, such as a new installer, improved hardware detection, and intuitive disk partitioning utility. After attracting venture capital and turning into a business, the fortunes of the newly established MandrakeSoft fluctuated widely between a near bankruptcy in early 2003 to a flurry of acquisitions in 2005. The latter, after merging with Brazil's Conectiva, saw the company change its name to Mandriva.

Mandriva Linux is primarily a desktop distribution. Its best loved features are cutting edge software, superb system administration suite (DrakConf), excellent implementation of its 64-bit edition, and extensive internationalisation support.

In recent years, it has also developed an array of installable live CDs and has launched Mandriva Flash - a complete Mandriva Linux system on a bootable USB Flash device. It was the first major distribution that offered out-of-the box support for popular netbooks, such as ASUS Eee PC. Pros: Beginner-friendly, especially the commercial edition; excellent central configuration utility; very good out-of-the-box support for dozens of languages; installable live CD Cons: Lacks a comprehensive marketing strategy to Page 23

compete with other major distributions, non-existent Mandriva books show lack of "mindshare" among publishing houses Software package management: URPMI with Rpmdrake (a graphical frontend for URPMI) using RPM packages; "SMART" available as an alternative method Available editions: Freely downloadable Mandriva "Free" installation media for 32-bit (i586) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; freely downloadable Mandriva "One" installable live media for 32-bit (i586) processors; commercial Mandriva PowerPack edition for 32-bit (i586) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors; also high-end "Corporate" solutions for desktops and servers, all with long-term support options Suggested Mandriva-based alternative: PCLinuxOS (desktop) Linux Mint Linux Mint Linux Mint, a distribution based on Ubuntu, was first launched in 2006 by Clement Lefebvre, a French-born IT specialist living and working in Ireland.

He proceeded with building what many refer to today as an "improved Ubuntu".

But Linux Mint is not just an Ubuntu with a new set of applications and an updated desktop theme. Since its beginnings, the developers have been adding a variety of graphical "mint" tools for enhanced usability; this includes mintDesktop - a utility for configuring the Page 24

desktop environment, mintMenu - a new and elegant menu structure for easier navigation, mintInstall - an easy-to-use software installer, and mintUpdate - a software updater, just to mention a few more prominent ones among several other tools and hundreds of additional improvements. The project also designs its own artwork, while its reputation for ease of use has been further enhanced by the inclusion of proprietary and patentencumbered multimedia codecs that are often absent from larger distributions due to potential legal threats.

However, one of the best features of Linux Mint is the fact that the developers listen to the users and are always fast in implementing good suggestions.

One can expect a new version of Linux Mint several weeks after each stable Ubuntu release. Besides the "main" edition which features the GNOME desktop, the project also builds a variety of semi-regular "community" editions with alternative desktops, such as KDE. Linux Mint does not adhere to the principles of software freedom and it does not publish security advisories.

Pros: Superb collection of "minty" tools developed inhouse, hundreds of userfriendly enhancements, inclusion of multimedia codecs, open to users' suggestions Cons: The alternative "community" editions don't always include the latest

features, the project does not issue security advisories and lacks a bug-tracking facility Software package management: APT with mintInstall using DEB packages (compatible with Ubuntu repositories) Available editions: A "main" edition (with GNOME) for 32bit and 64-bit computers, a variety of "community" editions (with KDE, Xfce and Fluxbox) for 32-bit computers Possible alternatives: Ubuntu, SimplyMEPIS PCLinuxOS PCLinuxOS was first announced in 2003 by Bill Reynolds, better known as "Texstar". In 2003 he decided to build a new distribution, initially based on Mandrake Linux, but with several significant usability improvements. The goals? It should be beginner-friendly, have out-of-the box support for proprietary kernel modules, browser plugins and media codecs, and should function as a live CD with a simple and intuitive graphical installer.

In terms of usability, the project offers out-of-the-box support for many technologies most Windowsto-Linux migrants would expect from their new operating system. On the software side of things, PCLinuxOS is a KDE-oriented distribution, with a customised and always up-todate version of the popular desktop environment. Its growing software repository contains other desktops,

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however, and offers a great variety of desktop packages for many common tasks. For system configuration, PCLinuxOS has retained much of Mandriva's excellent Control Centre, but has replaced its package management system with APT and Synaptic, a graphical package management front-end.

Pros: Out-of-the-box support for graphics drivers, browser plugins and media codecs; fast boot times; up-to-date software Cons: No 64-bit edition offered; no out-of-the-box support for non-English languages; lacks release planning Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using RPM packages Available editions: MiniMe, Junior and BigDaddy editions for 32-bit (i586) processor architectures Suggested PCLinuxOS-based alternatives: Mandriva Linux, SAM Linux Desktop, Granular Linux Slackware Linux Slackware Linux, created by Patrick Volkerding in 1992, is the oldest surviving Linux distribution. It quickly became the most popular Linux distribution. Its popularity decreased dramatically with the arrival of Red Hat Linux and other, more user-friendly distributions, but Slackware Linux still remains a muchappreciated operating system among the more technically-oriented system administrators and desktop

users.

Slackware Linux is a highly technical, clean distribution, with only a very limited number of custom utilities. It uses a simple, text-based system installer and a comparatively primitive package management system that does not resolve software dependencies.

There is a saying in the Linux community that if you learn Red Hat, you'll know Red Hat, but if you learn Slackware, you'll know Linux.

This is particularly true today when many other Linux distributions keep developing heavily customised products to meet the needs of less technical Linux users.

While this philosophy of simplicity has its fans, the fact is that in today's world, Slackware Linux is increasingly becoming a "core system" upon which new, custom solutions are built, rather than a complete distribution with a wide variety of supported software.

Pros: Highly stable, clean and bug-free, strong adherence to UNIX principles Cons: Limited number of officially supported applications; conservative in terms of base package selection; complex upgrade procedure; no official 64-bit edition Software package management: "pkgtools" using TGZ (TAR.GZ) packages Available editions: Installation CDs and DVD for 32-bit (i486) processors

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Suggested Slackware-based alternatives: Zenwalk Linux (desktop), VectorLinux (desktop), SLAX (live CD), Slamd64 Linux (64-bit), Bluewhite64 Linux (64-bit), Wolvix (desktop, live CD), GoblinX (desktop, live CD) Other distributions with similar philosophies: Arch Linux, Frugalware Linux, KateOS Gentoo Linux The concept of Gentoo Linux was devised in around the year 2000 by Daniel Robbins, a former Stampede Linux and FreeBSD developer. By the time the project released its 1.0 version in March 2002, Gentoo's package management was considered a superior alternative to some binary package management systems, especially the then widely-used RPM. Gentoo Linux was designed for power users. Besides providing an always up-todate set of packages for installation with a single command, the other important features of the distribution are excellent security, extensive configuration options, support for many architectures, and the ability to keep the system up-to-date without reinstalling. The Gentoo documentation was repeatedly labelled as the best online documentation of any distribution.

Gentoo Linux has lost much of its original glory in recent years. Ever since the Page 25

resignation of Gentoo's founder and benevolent dictator from the project in 2004, the newly established Gentoo Foundation has been battling with lack of clear directions and frequent developer conflicts, which resulted in several highprofile departures of wellknown Gentoo personalities.

Pros: Excellent software management infrastructure, unparalleled customisation and tweaking options, superb online documentation Cons: Occasional instability and risk of breakdown, the project suffers from lack of directions and frequent infighting between its developers Software package management: "Portage" using source (SRC) packages Available editions: Minimal installation CD and live CD (with GNOME) for Alpha, AMD64, HPPA, IA64, MIPS, PPC, SPARC and x86 processors; also "stages" for manual installation from command line Suggested Gentoo-based alternatives: SabayonLinux (desktop, live CD/DVD), Ututo (desktop, free software only) Other source-based distributions: Lunar Linux, Source Mage GNU/Linux, Sorcerer, Linux From Scratch CentOS CentOS Launched in late 2003, CentOS is a community project with the goals of rebuilding the source code for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) into an installable Linux distribution and to provide timely security Page 26

updates for all included software packages. To put in more bluntly, CentOS is nothing more than a clone of RHEL. The only technical difference between the two is branding - CentOS replaces all Red Hat trademarks and logos with its own.

CentOS is often seen as a reliable server distribution.

CentOS is also suitable as an enterprise desktop solution, specifically where stability, reliability and long-term support are preferred over latest software and features.

Pros: Extremely well-tested, stable and reliable; free to download and use; comes with 5-years of free security updates; prompt releases and security updates Cons: Lacks latest Linux technologies; by the time of release, most software packages are outdated Software package management: YUM graphical and command line utility using RPM packages Available editions: Installation DVDs and installable live CDs (with GNOME) for i386 and x86_64 processors; older versions (3.x and 4.x) also available for Alpha, IA64 and IBM zseries (s390, s390x) processors.

Other RHEL clones and CentOS-based distributions: Scientific Linux, SME Server, StartCom Enterprise Linux, Fermi Linux, Rocks Cluster Distribution, Oracle Enterprise Linux FreeBSD FreeBSD, a direct descendant of AT&T UNIX,

has a long and turbulent history dating back to 1993.

Unlike Linux distributions, which are defined as integrated software solutions consisting of the Linux kernel and thousands of software applications, FreeBSD is a tightly integrated operating system built from a BSD kernel and the so-called "userland" (therefore usable even without extra applications).

This distinction is largely lost once installed on an average computer system - like many Linux distributions, a large collection of easily installed, (mostly) open source applications are available for extending the FreeBSD core.

FreeBSD has developed a reputation for being a fast, high-performance and extremely stable operating system, especially suitable for web serving and similar tasks. Many large web search engines and organisations with mission-critical computing infrastructures have deployed and used FreeBSD on their computer systems for years. Even Apple's Mac OS X is known to have been derived from BSD. Besides the core operating system, the project also provides over 15,000 software applications.

While FreeBSD can certainly be used as a desktop operating system, it doesn't compare well with popular Linux distributions in this department. The text-mode system installer offers little in terms of hardware detection or system

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configuration, leaving much of the dirty work to the user in a post-installation setup.

In terms of support for modern hardware, Pros: Fast and stable; availability of over 15,000 software applications (or "ports") for installation; very good documentation Cons: Tends to lag behind Linux in terms of support for exotic hardware, limited

availability of commercial applications; lacks graphical configuration tools Software package management: A complete command-line package management infrastructure using either binary packages or source-based "ports" (TBZ) Available editions: Installation CDs for Alpha, AMD64, i386, IA64, PC98 and SPARC64 processors

Suggested FreeBSD-based alternatives: PC-BSD (desktop), DesktopBSD (desktop), FreeSBIE (live CD) Other BSD alternatives: OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFly BSD, MidnightBSD Copyright Š 2008 DistroWatch.com.

Read the full article and find links to all the distros at

http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

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OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.

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Key points about the OpenOffice.org Productivity Suite 1. OpenOffice.org provides everything most people need in an office productivity suite. It is stable, reliable, and robust, built up over twenty years' development. Unlike its major competitor, it was designed from the start as a single piece of software, which makes for higher quality software and a more consistent user experience. It is actively developed, with several releases every year. The main components of the OpenOffice.org Suite are the Writer wordprocessor; the Calc spreadsheet; Impress for presentations; Draw for graphics; and the Base database.

2. OpenOffice.org is both easy to use and easy to migrate to, for both experienced and beginners alike. It has a familiar user interface, and is able to read and write the vast majority of legacy file formats (including common Microsoft Office formats). It is supported in over seventy languages, with active support both Community based (free) and from commercial organisations (paid-for).

3. OpenOffice.org is released under an open-source licence (the LGPL), which means it may be used free of any licence fees, for any purpose: private, governmental, commercial, etc.

Once acquired (either as a free download or as a CD) it may be installed on an unlimited number of computers, and may be copied and distributed without restriction. OpenOffice.org supports extensions, allowing users to add on extra functions easily from an extensions repository. This is a key differentiator from the competition.

OpenOffice.org is available on all major computing platforms and is supported in over seventy languages. Our best estimate is that OpenOffice.org currently enjoys over 15% market share for office productivity suites.

Free download at

http://download.openoffice.org

The Free Software Directory http://directory.fsf.org

A project of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The site catalog useful free software that runs under free operating systems — particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants.

Licenses are verified for each and every program listed in this directory.

Free & Open Source Software Portal

http://www.unesco-ci.org/cgi-bin/portals/foss/page.cgi?d=1

PDFCreator PDFCreator is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application.

Key Features * Create PDFs from any program that is able to print * Security: Encrypt PDFs and protect them from being opened, printed etc. * Send generated files via eMail * Create more than just PDFs: PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, EPS * Merge multiple files into one PDF * Easy Install: Just say what you want and everything is installed PDFCreator is free. It is Open Source and released under the Terms of the GNU General Public License.

Download at

www.pdfforge.org

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Software Corner The Integrated Library Systems: Current Options An integrated library system (ILS), often known as library automation systems, is used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed.

Before the advent of computers, libraries usually used a card catalog to index its holdings. Computers were used to automate the card catalog, thus the term automation system.

Since the late 1980s, new software have allowed business functions to be integrated. Instead of having to open up separate applications, library staff could now use a single application with multiple functional modules. As the Internet grew, ILS vendors offered more functionality related to the Internet.

Major ILS systems now offer web-based portals where library users can log in to view their account, renew their books, and be authenticated to use online databases.

Summary Overview of Commercial Integrated Library Systems The available commercial ILS's are very similar. The five viable ILS systems (III, Unicorn, Horizon, Aleph, and Voyager) are owned by three companies (Innovative Interfaces, SyrsiDynix, and Ex Libris). The overall consolidation of the ILS market has eliminated much Page 30

of the uniqueness of individual systems. The growth of the internet and web-based systems has encouraged the growth of modular and open source system design, yet ILS systems remain monolithic and proprietary.

Many libraries are migrating to open source alternatives.

The lack of development by the commercial ILS vendors has only aided in this shift.

Based upon its current status, Kansas State University Libraries Integrated Library System Task Force (2008) expressed opinion that the commercial ILS market cannot offer a substantially better product than the open source ILS market.

Migration to an Open Source ILS will entail a commitment of resources, both staff and monetary. Realistically, it is likely that the migration to open source will take resources from the support of Voyager. The Task Force recommends that a technical team with an identified coordinator be created to manage this migration. The members of this team should have this work designated as directed service, not as an additional project.

Why Open Source?

An open source ILS does away with outside ownership

that shackle commercial offerings. While no existing open source system has been widely adopted by the community of large academic libraries, these systems do have large and growing user bases.

Open source systems offer the following advantages over commercial systems: 1. The individual library is able to make a solid investment in the long term development of the software, rather than buying into a series of costly upgrades and migrations 2. Problems tend to be addressed quickly and the chance that the software will become unsupported is greatly diminished 3. Opportunities for local customization are available 4. Libraries can draw upon the resources and support of the larger user community.

5. Open source library systems employ modular, standards-based, and scalable software, ensuring a life expectancy well beyond the 3-5 years offered by commercial systems 6. Potential for financial savings. John Stromquist, Executive Director of the Westchester Academic Library Directors Organization (WALDO) estimates that an open source system will save 2030% of one-time development and implementation costs as

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

compared to a commercial system and provide an annual savings of over 50% for 6 years and beyond.

(See: http://www.senylrc.org/WAL DO_OpenSourceILS.ppt )

located in New Zealand.

Koha software is now in use at several academic libraries. An up-to date list of these libraries can be found at http://liblime.com/demos.

There are considerations for currently used open source ILS that need further investigation. For instance, both Koha and Evergreen have modules that are still in development or are not yet developed.

Fifteen member libraries of WALDO have selected Koha for their next ILS and union catalog, including the largest library in WALDO, St. Johns University (http://new.stjohns.edu/).

LibLime has partnered with the eXtensible Catalog (XC) project at University of Rochester to ensure that XC functionality will be available in Koha. Two public library systems in Kansas have also chosen to use Koha through LibLime: Northeast Kansas Library System and Central Kansas Consortium. A Koha FAQ is available at: http://www.koha.org/aboutkoha/faq.html.

Currently available Open Source options Koha (http://www.koha.org/) and Evergreen (http://openils.org/) have emerged as the major open source platforms and are in use at hundreds of libraries, primarily large public library systems. Commercial firms have emerged that offer a range of support services, from customizing software to complete hosting. Two support companies for these open source ILS include LibLime (http://liblime.com/) which supports Koha and Equinox (http://esilibrary.com/esi/) which supports Evergreen. In addition to providing support services for these open source ILS, these companies' software developments are contributed back to the community.

Koha/LibLime Koha began in 1999 and went live in 2005 at Horowhenua Library Trust, which is

Evergreen/Equinox Evergreen was developed in 2005 for the Georgia Public Library Service. The following academic libraries have installed or are committed to Evergreen software: • University of Prince Edward Island (http://islandpines.roblib.up ei.ca/opac/enUS/skin/roblib/xml/index.xm l?ol=UPEI) • University of Windsor (http://www.uwindsor.ca/led dy) • McMaster University (http://library.mcmaster.ca/) • Laurentian University

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

(http://laurentian.ca/Lauren tian/Home/Departments/Lib rary/home.htm) The Virtual Academic Library Environment of New Jersey (VALE NJ), which consists of more than 30 academic libraries including Rutgers, is testing Evergreen as of September 2008. There has been some concern that an acquisitions module is not available for Evergreen, but one has been in development since December 2007. A fully functional module is expected during Fall 2008.

The in-development interface can be seen here: http://acq.openils.org/oils/acq/base/index.

Open Library Environment (OLE) While not an open source ILS, OLE is a project worth following. OLE is a Mellon funded project to develop the specifications for a flexible and customizable ILS to meet the needs of academic libraries. Several large academic libraries are involved in the project: Duke, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Chicago, Florida, Rutgers, Pennsylvania, Maryland among others. A goal of the project is to reexamine library operations in light of Serviced Oriented Architecture and Business Process Modeling. While the project is focused on developing a description of the system (target date July 2009), it is hoped that once this is completed, the Page 31

project will continue to receive funding so an ILS can be developed based on the description. One area where OLE Project members hope to develop is greater integration with campus or institutional systems.

How are library service models changing?

A March, 2008 JISC & SCONUL Library Management Systems Study (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/medi

a/documents/programmes/re sourcediscovery/lmsstudy.pdf ) suggests significant implications for future library services deriving from Web 2.0/Library 2.0 as well as the increased ability on the part of libraries to aggregate user behaviour data.

• Web 2.0/Library 2.0 • challenges traditional concepts of authority and value • presents opportunities for networking

• developing and sustaining communities of practice • user-generated content • aggregation of resources Libraries are increasingly aware of the need to 'liberate' their data to allow users to create new and innovative services and applications. To do so their platforms will require easyto-use and accessible services for discovery and delivery.

Resources Digital Library Federation’s ILS Discovery Interface Task Force, http://blogs.lib.berkeley.edu/shimenawa.php/2008/04/04/ils_basic_discovery DLF-sponsored whitepaper on ILS-ERMS interoperability, 2008, http://www.diglib.org/standards/ERMI_Interop_Report_20080108.pdf Evergreen, http://open-ils.org/ Ex Libris, http://www.exlibrisgroup.org JISC & SCONUL Library Management Systems Study, March, 2008, http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/resourcediscovery/lmsstudy.pdf Koha, http://www.koha.org/ OLE Project, http://oleproject.org/ VuFind, http://www.vufind.org WorldCat Local, http://oclc.org/worldcatlocal Based on Kansas State University Libraries Integrated Library System Task Force (Phase 2) Report with Recommendations, October 2008, http://ksulib.typepad.com/ilstf/files/integrated_library_system_task_force_phase_2.doc

Build a Social Networking Site using Open Source Digg, Youtube, Flickr, Orkut, MySpace and other networking websites are the daily visiting websites for most of us. While visiting them sometimes we consider to start website something like them. But to create a copy of these big names is sometime not possible. Now you don't need to worry at all! There are many opensource community builder/networking platforms available on internet. Which you can easily setup for your own Page 32

community/networking websites and can find your place in the fastest growing community/networking website industry.

Let’s take a look on some of the great free and opensource platforms which can be really helpful for you to take your first step.

Just look at the rise of social networks for chess players and wine.

What’s more, with the latest open source software, smaller sites can be built in a matter of days or weeks.

Here are 10 open source software platforms on which to carve out your niche.

As social sites grow in If there’s one site people popularity, so does the love to emulate with their desire for smaller nicheown niche versions, it’s Digg. based networks that cater to Fortunately, there are good smaller groups of people. platforms to do just that.

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Pligg www.pligg.com It seems that every hour, a new Pligg-based site is born.

Pligg is a PHP/MySQL system that allows visitors to submit websites and blogs for voting or ranking. While very similar to Digg, it does offer some additional features, such as trackback support, automatic title discovery, and RSS import functionality.

It also has a small community that is actively working on new mods and templates. Some of the more interesting Pligg-based sites are PlugIM, Sk*rt, Sphinn and Simply Fired.

NewsCloud www.newscloud.com NewsCloud is another content management system that has a story ranking feature. They have also developed a Facebook app for their service, which is open source as well and available for download. The default layout is slightly more newsy than Digg-like.

Drupal with Vote up/down module www.drupal.org Most know Drupal as one of the more popular open source content management systems available. Thanks to the user community, several modules have been developed that allow voting of submitted stories.

Recruiting.com uses this setup.

Dolphin

www.boonex.com/products/ dolphin YouTube, MySpace, Odeo, Flickr, Match and Facebook all in one, customizable and under your full control.

You’re limited only by your imagination - not by software. Dolphin Smart Community Builder is a universal, free, open source software that allows you to build any kind of online community. With a huge variety of features & options, you can quickly develop your very unique and successful website.

PHPizabi www.phpizabi.net PHPizabi is one of the most powerful social networking platforms on the planet.

With literally thousands of websites powered by PHPizabi including everything from simple friends sites to the most complex networking super sites out there. Easy to install, use, and raising the bar on what it is to provide a reliable, fast, social networking package to raise your business to the next level. They are rapidly approaching 100,000 downloads of their software, and have a few impressivelooking demo sites listed on their website.

universities throughout the world have adapted the social software to fit their needs. Your users have the freedom to incorporate all their favorite tools within one environment and showcase their content with as many or as few people as they choose, all within a social networking site that you control.

Mugshot www.mugshot.org Developed by Red Hat, Mugshot allows you to post what you are reading and listening too, and share it with you friends. Mugshot is a little different, as both the client and server code are open source and available for download.

AroundMe www.barnraiser.org AroundMe is an open source social networking app that supports OpenID. They are based in Sweden. We haven’t seen many sites running on the platform.

GetBoo www.getboo.com GetBoo allows you to save you favorite sites and share them with your friends. It also supports public and private group creation.

Elgg www.elgg.org Elgg was developed with the educational industry in mind, but can be customized for any use. Many

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Free and Open Source GIS Software navigation * Allows feature selection by point, rectangle, radius, or polygon with immediate feedback * Displays feature properties in multi-line tool tips * Displays properties of the selected feature in a property browser panel * Supports feature buffering, querying features that fall within selected polygons, and a tool for measuring distance * Provides printing and plotting support

MapGuide A web-based platform that enables users to quickly develop and deploy web mapping applications and geospatial web services.

MapGuide features an interactive viewer that includes support for feature selection, property inspection, map tips, and operations such as buffer, select within, and measure.

MapGuide includes an XML database for managing content, and supports most popular geospatial file formats, databases, and standards. MapGuide can be deployed on Linux or Windows, supports Apache and IIS web servers, and offers extensive PHP, .NET, Java, and JavaScript APIs for application development.

MapGuide Open Source is licensed under the LGPL. Learn more, get involved or download the software today at Page 34

http://mapguide.osgeo.org

Features * Offers an AJAX Viewer (pure DHTML no plug-in required) or a vector-based DWF Viewer (requires an ActiveX Control) with a common user interface and JavaScript API * AJAX Viewer offers a tiled map display for smooth

Quality Cartographic Output * Scale-dependent detail * Rule-driven thematic layer stylization * Dynamic labeling with overpost detection, labels that follow the path of a line, and automatic label resizing * Anti-aliased image rendering * True color support * TrueType font support

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

functions * Produce stylized vector and raster maps and legends * Manipulate runtime maps and layers, add / remove / change layers, change layer and group visibility, modify the definition of a layer, and alter the current view

Built-in Resource Database for Manageability * Provides hierarchical storage of XML resource documents that define maps, layers, data connections, symbology, and viewer layout * Allows you to define data sources and layers once and then reference them from multiple maps * Provides an access-based security model with inheritable permissions * Permits metadata and binary data to be associated with resource documents Uniform Data Access * Exclusive use of the Feature Data Objects (FDO) API for vector and raster feature data access o Support for ESRI SHP and SDF vector file formats o Support for ESRI ArcSDE, MySQL, ODBC database formats o Support for Raster file formats via GDAL o Support for OGC WMS and WFS * Exclusive use of DWF for

CAD-based data access Flexible Application Development * Write your application logic once within the web server environment and it will work with either viewer on any client * Develop your applications in PHP, .NET, or Java Extensive Server-Side APIs * Create, query, read, and write permanent and session based XML resource documents * Query and update feature data across all supported data sources, including spatial and attribute data, and schema discovery * Perform coordinate reprojection and great circle distance computation * Create, manipulate, and analyze geometry with support for spatial predicates based on the DE9IM model, overlay functions (intersection, union, difference, symmetric difference), buffer, convex hull, area, and distance

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Fast, Scalable, Secure Server Platform * Fully multi-threaded and takes advantage of multi-core / multiprocessor technology * Multiple servers can be configured as one logical site to improve scalability * FastCGI based Map Agent loads once and stays loaded for use with both Apache and Microsoft IIS * Database connections are pooled and shared between users, improving performance * Tile caching ensures map image tiles are only rendered once for the AJAX Viewer no matter how many users are viewing the map * Connection-oriented, rolebased security * Configurable logging of client access, administrative access, authentication attempts, errors, session lifetimes, and request tracing * Web-based site administration allows remote site and server configuration, and log file access Multiple Platform Support * Deploy on Microsoft Windows or Linux * Serve applications with Apache or Microsoft IIS Page 35

* Browse applications with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari Open Geospatial Consortium Standards * Web Map Service * Web Feature Service

GRASS

1982 by the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, a division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, GRASS open source GIS platform has evolved from its original purpose as a land management and environmental planning tool for the military, to a

is another plus resulting from a good collaboration.

We aim at synchronizing our development cycles so that users obtain stable software.

GRASS differs from many other GIS software packages used in the professional world in that it is developed and distributed by users for users, mostly on a volunteer basis, in the open, and is given away for free. Emphasis is placed on interoperability and unlimited access to data as well as on software flexibility and evolution rate.

Learn more at http://grass.itc.it Download at http://grass.osgeo. org/download

Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, commonly referred to as GRASS, is a Geographic Information System (GIS) used for geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics/maps production, spatial modeling, and visualization. GRASS is currently used in academic and commercial settings around the world, as well as by many governmental agencies and environmental consulting companies. GRASS is official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.

Since it was developed in Page 36

powerful GIS used by academia, commercial institutions and government agencies.

GRASS is a well established GIS software which is mature and well tested. Thanks to the recent portability improvements, GRASS is now almost platform independent. GRASS will run natively on a non-UNIX based platform: Microsoft Windows. Users can even work in parallel in the same database, a feature not found elsewhere in other desktop GIS. Additionally, the integration with other OSGeo projects such as GDAL/OGR and Quantum GIS

Reference 1. A Survey of Open Source GIS www.foss4g2007.org/present ations/viewattachment.php? attachment_id=8 2. New GRASS Release Migrates to Microsoft Windows www10.giscafe.com/nbc/arti cles/view_weekly.php?article id=535522 3. GRASS GIS releases version 6.3.0 www.gisuser.com/content/vi ew/14509

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Technology What is vCard?

vCard is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards are often attached to e-mail messages, but can be exchanged in other ways, such as on the World Wide Web. They can contain name and address information, phone numbers, URLs, logos, photographs, and even audio clips. Simply, it is the electronic business card.

Version 2.1 of the vCard standard is widely supported by e-mail clients.

It is a powerful new means of Personal Data Interchange (PDI) that is automating the traditional business card.

(Universal Resource Locators). * All vCards can also have graphics and multimedia

Whether it's your computer (hand held organizer, Personal Information Manager (PIM), electronic email application, Web Browser) or telephone, the vCard will revolutionize your personal communications.

including photographs, company logos, audio clips such as for name pronunciation * Geographic and time zone information in vCards let others know when to contact you. * Of course, vCards support multiple languages * The vCard spec is transport and operating system independent so you can have vCard-ready software on any computer * vCards are Internet friendly, standards based, and have wide industry

vCard Features * vCards carry vital directory information such as name, addresses (business, home, mailing, parcel), telephone numbers (home, business, fax, pager, cellular, ISDN, voice, data, video), email addresses and Internet URLs

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Page 37

support.

How can I use vCard?

Infrared Exchange Imagine walking into a meeting and beaming vCards over infrared links between hand-held organizers, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and notebook PC's from any manufacturer. Within seconds, the participants have this vital information automatically stored in their favorite directory. Later it can be used to place a phone call, send a fax or Email, or even to initiate a video conference. There is no need to manually enter business card information.

Internet Mail Or perhaps you're surfing the Internet and suddenly run across a picture of some cool business site that is advertising on the Web. You click the vCard button and a vCard is returned to your client machine. It can be easily stored into your favorite address book or directory for later reference and includes all the vital directory information on that business.

Another scenario allows your vCard to be dragged over an Internet form (such as a registration or order form) and automatically populate it with the correct information.

Electronic mail can carry your vCard as an attachment or imbedded via MIME. It can be automatically extracted by the recipient and placed into their desktop directory of choice.

phone. You should certainly be able to leave vCards on an answering machine instead of leaving your name and phone number, which are prone to mistranscription.

Computer/Telephony Applications

Both of these illustrate exploitation of DSVD (Digital Simultaneous Voice Data) technology which will be widespread in the next generation of modems.

Or you're using your notebook PC with a DSVD (Digital Simultaneous Voice and Data) modem to browse product highlights on a company's homepage. You decide to place an order, so you use your PC to dial the sales call center. When the sales person asks you to provide your shipping information, you use your PC to simultaneously send your vCard which quickly and accurately populates the order form with all your pertinent personal data.

For a call center, this can very significantly cut down the call time by eliminating the time (and errors) it takes to exchange this information verbally with an operator at a computer keyboard. This provides a great productivity and cost savings in the call center environment.

Voice response units can provide an option to "press 2 to leave your vCard".

Software telephony applications can implement a Send vCard button. This would also provide great functionality for a mobile

Video and Data Conferencing A video or data conference can start with an exchange of vCards which could be kept "on the table" by a vCard viewer window.

The scenarios outlined above are now becoming a reality with the vCard V2.1 Specification from the Internet Mail Consortium and the vCard V3.0 Specification approved as a proposed standard by the IETF. These specifications were developed in cooperation with leading producers of desktop software (PIMs, telephony products), handheld organizers, Internet web clients, Email systems, on-line information and directory services, and other interested parties. In fact, the vCard technology has already been adopted by many of these vendors who are now incorporating it into their products.

Read more at www.imc.org/pdi/vcardoverview.html Make your own vCard using vCard Maker web interface at http://vcardmaker.wackomenace.co.uk Page 38

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Career W3Schools' Online Certification Program The perfect solution for busy professionals who need to balance work, family, and career building. * Study and train for your certificates at no cost * Study and train for your certificates when it is convenient * Study and train for your certificates from your own computer * Complete your studies in a few weeks * Take your exams over the Internet

factor when hiring new personnel. Your certificate might advance your career or help you to start a new one.

Why Should You Become Certified?

Life-long learning are the keywords to your future success.

The HTML Developer Certificate The HTML Developer Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of HTML 4.01, XHTML, and CSS.

Do you want a career with a future? You should add regular updates to your skills and knowledge. Unless, you have already decided that your current skills and job are good enough for your future.

Knowledge is power, especially in the current job market. Documentation of your skills enables you to move upwards in your organization.

Getting a certificate proves your commitment to upgrade your skills, gives you the credibility needed for more responsibilities, larger projects, and a higher salary.

In addition, documented knowledge is often the key

Also have in mind that employees with certifications increase their company's chances of retaining old and getting new customers. You will do your company a favor getting certified. Expect your company to support you in this.

The JavaScript Developer Certificate The JavaScript Developer Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of JavaScript and the HTML DOM. The ASP Developer Certificate The ASP Developer Certificate is for developers who want to document their knowledge of Active Server Pages, SQL, and ADO. How Does It Work?

You prepare for your exams by studying - free of charge online at W3Schools.

You study at your own speed, at any time, from your own computer or any other

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

location.

You test your skills - free of charge - with W3Schools online quizzes.

You apply for your exam online by paying an exam fee.

You take your exam online, at any time, and from any location that is convenient for you.

Highly Recommended W3Schools' tutorials are recommended reading at over one hundred universities and high schools all over the world.

The HTML Certification requires skills in HTML, XHTML and CSS. The HTML Developer Certificate HTML is the foundation of web development.

HTML is used to format text, create hyperlinks, tables, lists, forms, display images and more. XHTML is the next generation of HTML. CSS is used to control the layout of web pages.

By mastering these subjects you will be able to develop and maintain web pages unlimited to a particular software program's features.

The HTML Developer Certificate proves fundamental knowledge of web development using HTML, XHTML, and CSS. Prerequisites Page 39

Before you apply for your exam, you must have a fundamental knowledge of: * The Hypertext Markup Language - HTML 4.01 * The Extensible Hypertext Markup Language - XHTML 1.0 * Cascading Style Sheets CSS1 and CSS2 Recommended Studies And Training All questions in the exam are based on the content of W3Schools' HTML, XHTML, and CSS tutorials.

The HTML Exam The HTML exam will be taken over the Internet, at any time and from any location, but the exam should be supervised by a person selected by the exam candidate.

The exam consists of 70 multiple choice or true/false questions. The exam is timelimited to 70 minutes.

Candidates must have 75%

correct answers to pass the exam and become certified.

no other special criteria for the supervisor.

Candidates who have more than 95% correct answers will get an Excellency Degree notation added to their certificate.

The supervisor's name and title will be printed on the certificate, so it could be wise to pick a supervisor who will add credibility to your certificate (e.g. your boss or teacher).

Immediately after completing the exam, you will be informed of your score and of your pass/fail status. If you achieve certification status, W3Schools will ship you an HTML Developer Certificate.

The document will contain your personal data acknowledging your status as a Certified HTML Developer.

To add full credibility to your Certificate, you should have a supervisor to watch over you when taking the exam.

You must pick your own supervisor. The supervisor should be used to see that you do not cheat. There are

When you receive the hardcopy of the Certificate, you should ask for a signature from your supervisor.

Registration And Payment To register for an HTML exam, you must register with your email address.

You can log in to your account at any time, but you must take your exam within two months after you registered. The price for the exam is $59 (U.S.) - payable with PayPal or a valid credit card at the time you register.

Linux Skill Certification The LPI (www.lpi.org) is committed to the development of a global standard in Linux certification that meets the requirements of both IT professionals and the organizations that would employ them. LPI has adopted an open, rigorous, and consultative development process which uses both volunteer and hired resources. LPI Linux certification is widely recognized and endorsed and has met the strict requirements of independent Page 40

certification authorities. The LPI Certification Program is: 1. Designed by a community of Linux professionals, volunteers, vendors and educators 2. Challenging: if you don't know the subjects you won't pass 3. Accessible and available at thousands of test centres around the world or at special events 4. Of high quality: relying on critical input from numerous Linux experts and employing scientific and industryrecognized psychometric

processes 5. Distribution-neutral: verifying knowledge on any standard Linux system 6. Relevant: surveying thousands to determine the skills that need to be tested 7. Training-vendor independent: encouraging a variety of methods and approaches to test preparation 8. Supported and sponsored by a large number of Linux companies and projects 9. A certification the Linux community can respect and be proud of

Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

Top 100 EBooks last 30 days at Project Gutenberg Why not download your favourite Ebook free at www.gutenberg.org

1. The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) by J. Arthur Thomson (23816) 2. Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period

by P. L. Jacob (19413) 3. Illustrated History of Furniture by Frederick Litchfield (13455) 4. History of the United States by Charles A. Beard and Mary Ritter Beard (10735) 5. Searchlights on Health by B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols (9405) 6. Our Day by William Ambrose Spicer (9389) 7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (7883) 8. The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English by Ray Vaughn Pierce (7683) 9. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (7399) 10. Woman as Decoration by Emily Burbank (7371) 11. The Beginner's American History by D. H. Montgomery (7114) 12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (6503) 13. Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany by Douglas Houghton Campbell (6407) 14. Christmas: Its Origin and Associations by William Francis Dawson (6400) 15. The Mafulu by Robert Wood Williamson (6345) 16. Sex by Henry Stanton (6333) 17. General Science by Bertha M. Clark (6075) 18. The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed (6030) 19. The Iliad by Homer (5922) 20. Discoverers and Explorers by Edward R. Shaw (5695) 21. Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E.M. Berens (5646) 22. Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition. by Miles and Thomson (5478) 23. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (5241) 24. The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete by Leonardo da Vinci (5140) 25. Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney (4907) 26. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (4872) 27. Ulysses by James Joyce (4721) 28. Across Unknown South America by Arnold Henry Savage Landor (4564) 29. Dracula by Bram Stoker (4470) 30. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 by Various (4411) 31. The Art of War by 6th cent. B.C. Sunzi (4233) 32. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (4059) 33. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (3988) 34. Concrete Construction by Halbert Powers Gillette and Charles Shattuck Hill (3906) 35. Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases by Grenville Kleiser (3771) 36. Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Donald Alexander Mackenzie (3718) 37. The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India—Volume I (of IV) by Robert Vane Russell (3716) 38. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (3701) 39. Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt by G. Maspero (3653) 40. Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Robert Armitage Sterndale (3633) 41. The Illustrated War News, Number 15, Nov. 18, 1914 by Various (3627) 42. New Discoveries at Jamestown by John L. Cotter and J. Paul Hudson (3624) 43. The New York Times Current History, A Monthly Magazine by Various (3619) 44. The Book of Art for Young People by Agnes Ethel Conway and Sir William Martin Conway (3598) Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

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45. Surgical Anatomy by Joseph Maclise (3571) 46. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (3565) 47. A Smaller History of Rome by Eugene Lawrence and Sir William Smith (3543) 48. Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (3518) 49. The World's Best Poetry, Volume 3 by Various (3517) 50. Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont (3509) 51. The Bontoc Igorot by Albert Ernest Jenks (3503) 52. An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England by Edward Potts Cheyney (3502) 53. Vocational Guidance for Girls by Marguerite Stockman Dickson (3480) 54. On the Trail by Adelia B. Beard and Lina Beard (3466) 55. Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy by Frank Richard Stockton (3374) 56. Across Coveted Lands by Arnold Henry Savage Landor (3349) 57. The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio (3308) 58. A Text-Book of the History of Architecture by A. D. F. Hamlin (3271) 59. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (3266) 60. The Marvelous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum (3264) 61. The Child's Day by Woods Hutchinson (3254) 62. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (3227) 63. Pagan and Christian Rome by Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani (3107) 64. The Illustrated London Reading Book by Various (3055) 65. Keats: Poems Published in 1820 by John Keats (3055) 66. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (3038) 67. The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 01 (3020) 68. Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846 by James Richardson (3018) 69. Music Notation and Terminology by Karl Wilson Gehrkens (2958) 70. Vanishing England by P. H. Ditchfield (2956) 71. Lameness of the Horse by John Victor Lacroix (2952) 72. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (2947) 73. Prince Henry the Navigator, the Hero of Portugal and of Modern Discovery, 1394-1460 A.D. by Beazley (2910) 74. The Book-Hunter in London by W. Roberts (2818) 75. The Tinguian by Fay-Cooper Cole (2787) 76. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (2773) 77. English Literature by William Joseph Long (2700) 78. Quer Durch Borneo by Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis (2697) 79. Paradise Lost by John Milton (2696) 80. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père (2654) 81. Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 03 by Elbert Hubbard (2632) 82. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc — Volume 01 by Mark Twain (2615) 83. A Doll's House : a play by Henrik Ibsen (2611) 84. The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce (2593) 85. The Story of Rouen by Sir Theodore Andrea Cook (2575) 86. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (2545) 87. Unknown Mexico, Volume 1 (of 2) by Carl Lumholtz (2514) 88. Cuba in War Time by Richard Harding Davis (2450) 89. Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget (2425) 90. Christmas Entertainments by Alice Maude Kellogg (2373) 91. Chatterbox, 1905. by Various (2341) 92. Lecturas fáciles con ejercicios by Max Aaron Luria and Lawrence A. Wilkins (2295) 93. History of the American Negro in the Great World War by William Allison Sweeney (2294) Page 42

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94. The Boy With the U.S. Census by Francis Rolt-Wheeler (2293) 95. Gov. Bob. Taylor's Tales by Robert L. Taylor (2266) 96. Beeton's Book of Needlework by Mrs. Isabella Mary Beeton (2258) 97. Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 by Morris J. MacGregor (2246) 98. A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 6 by François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (2213) 99. Celebrated Travels and Travellers by Jules Verne (2211) 100. Doctrina Christiana by Anonymous (2115) Accessed on 14th December 2008

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Open-Source Northeast | Vol. 2, Issue No. 5, 2008

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