On the Net

with Chris Goh

Jump aboard the Open Source bandwagon

Back in 1990 I discovered shareware, which was a good thing for a kid who didn't have any money. Back then the internet wasn't commercially available and there was a number of shareware houses that sold shareware on disks. Back then there were a number of compression standards and whilst today most files are zipped, back then there was Lha, Arj, Zoo and many more.

Today's free software is somewhat astounding. Go to www.mozilla.org and find some of the best, totally free internet tools out there. This includes Firefox, which has gained significant in roads, replacing for many people the security holed browser, Internet Explorer. They even have a dedicated browser for Mac OS X called Camino. Then there is Suns offering, www.openoffice.org, which gives you a totally free MS Office like suite to get you word processing, spreadsheeting and databasing immediately.

Some shareware software has come of age to become accepted commercial software such as PaintShop Pro. It has come a long way and competes well, with many of the major and most used functions of its larger competitor, Photoshop. However the next evolution of freeware came with the development of Linux, which is Open Source. As the growing community becomes IT literate, many people are willing to combine their skills to mature a software program. Unlike traditional freeware, where software evolution depended on the dedication of one programmer and their skills, Open Source allows a community to concentrate on evolving the whole package together. Some of the things they have created, like the Meta Dot Web Portal, which allows people to build corporate intranets and websites in an instant (www.metadot.com), could probably not have been comprehended a decade ago. But it's a growing area, and more people are jumping on the Open Source bandwagon, which is one of the great positives of what has come out of the internet.

Hotnews

Australia has reached half a million registrations for .net and .com domain registrations. Though the figure is relatively low compared to many other countries, Australia has a strict policy about registering in this domain, and many businesses end up opting to register overseas. So all in all, it's a significant achievement.

With the State Government essentially dissolving OICT, it has announced the appointment of the all of Government CIO, Paul Edgecumbe, who was previously the CIO of the Department of Education.

Holographic Versatile Disc, pioneered by Optware in Japan, looks like a normal DVD from a distance, but can hold 200 times more information than your average DVD with a capacity of 1 Terabyte. It's also 40 times faster to access and transfer data, and has been earmarked as the successor of HD DVD (25 Gig capacity), which is supposedly the successor to today's DVD.

Stephen Mayne, an ex-staffer of the Kennett party, has been raising political eyebrows ever since he started crikey.com after his own unsuccessful bid to enter politics. For a sum of $1 million he has sold the business to ex-Sydney Morning Herald editor Eric Beecher and his partner under the banner of Private Media Partners. However, Stephen will remain a staffer and no doubt the political rumour landscape that crikey.com has created will remain.

An AOL Engineer has pleaded guilty in stealing 92 million email addresses and associate aliases, which saw seven billion unsolicited emails being sent out.

Kyoto University Hospital have done a pioneering transplant by putting insulin producing cells called 'islets' from a mother into her 27-year-old daughter. The transplant has been hailed as a success and holds great promise from those suffering from type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes.

Hotsites

developer.apple.com/darwin/

Apple has got its own Open Source project called Darwin - an attempt to allow the community to better access their software offerings.

www.freewarefiles.com

This is an excellent Freeware site. Though I've probably mentioned it three or four times in the last nine years I've been writing this column, it's still an excellent place to start to find great free software.

www.opensource.org

When you take a look at the awards pages, you realise how far the Open Source community has gone, with people and products recognised for all manner of software development.