The Blackdown Java-Linux Team and Sun Microsystems have announced the availability of the Java Media Framework (JMF) 2.1.1-FCS Performance Pack for Linux/i386. JMF is an API for incorporating audio, video and other time-based media into Java applications and applets. It is an optional package that extends the multimedia capabilities on the Java2 platform.

Version 2.5 of wxDesigner, a commercial RAD tool for the Open Source cross-platform C++ library wxWindows (and its Python and Perl bindings), has been released. New version includes support for menus and menu events as well as many dozens of smaller enhancements and bug fixes. It is also made available for IRIX, in addition to Windows, Linux, Solaris and FreeBSD. Efforts to get wxDesigner working on the Mac as well, are on.

The data blackout is the result of a copyright battle between the two companies

that may have far-reaching consequences. While the legal dispute centers on whether

Roxio can use online databases created by people on the Internet, many people are

concerned that CDDB--maintained for the last three years by Gracenote but built

from individuals' submissions--can be owned. The issue could affect a variety of

communities throughout the Internet, from so-called open-source programming

projects to comments archived on online bulletin boards.

A major revision from the final beta was the removal of /media. Apart for some major and

minor changes, the format has also been changed. The document has been reformatted

and reworked, according to the principle that it should be readable in a "flip open to section

I want" manner. Options clearly labelled, language clarified.

In an effort to make the wait for the mythical LyX 1.2.0 a bit easier, we are proud to

announce the release of LyX 1.1.6fix2. Features include bug fixes, lots of translations

updates, and also bug fixes (although a few new features crept in). Read about it here.

Note that it is also available in patch and RPM flavours.

Through Caldera's Professional Services, system builders, VARs, corporate accounts and OEMs may have global access to experienced business and technical expertise. This includes Caldera's LifeSpan Project Methodology, which provides such services as rapid development and deployment of solutions, as well as system replication, application and system migration, and custom engineering.

NetBeans open source project has added more than a dozen additional modules into its open source code base. These modules make the standards-based IDE platform more complete and expand its appeal to a broader audience of Java developers. These will streamline Java application development and address a range of issues, including integration with Apache's "Ant" XML scriptable build tool, improved application server deployment support and SOAP-based Web services generation and deployment.

The first quarter was a rocky one for Unix servers, as the U.S. market shrunk by about 2 percent because of a slowing economy, according to a survey by market researcher Dataquest. But despite the contracting market, Sun Microsystems and Dell Computer managed to eke out double-digit growth, while IBM stayed its course with sales remaining basically the same.

Red Hat´s Melissa London has said that Red Hat´s browser plans are to drop the Netscape browser as soon as Mozilla has equal functionality. This could mark the beginning of the end for the Netscape browser suite. Browser-wise, Microsoft´s Internet Explorer already dominates the several Windows platform variants. Linux has been Netscape´s last safe harbor. When and if more Linux distributors drop Netscape, Netscape will have lost its last stronghold.

As part of its ongoing commitment to Enterprise-level volume management on Linux, IBM will contribute portions of the AIX LVM to the Open Source Community. IBM will be releasing this code as part of the Enterprise Volume Management System (EVMS) project. EVMS will now have support for 3 major volume management formats (Linux LVM, OS/2 and AIX) expanding on the flexibility provided by its pluggable architecture. In conjunction with the Linux JFS project, this will make it possible to move disk drives between Linux and AIX systems and allow all data to be exchanged.