It's here! An the Linux version has a .DEB installer: Download the Linux version here. Other versions here. The debug Linux version is here.

Not only forcing Silverlight down our throats (see Ben Nadel's hilarious post), but Windows as well.

And the hypocrisy of using Flash all over their homepage is brilliant.

Nice work NBC.

Thank you from all the Linux and Mac users around the world who are shielded from viewing your advertising. The wonderful things that happen when two great companies get together!

If you're running Apache, MySQL or just about any other service, this one's for you. I ran into Webmin over the weekend as I embarked on re-building my home server (all Linux!).

I was finding the new Apache configs a bit of a handful so I started searching. Didn't take long to find this amazing tool for Linux (there's a Windows alpha available as well).

And of course, it's free.

One thing I love about KDE is its default snapping behavior for all desktop windows. When I go back onto my work laptop (Windows) I miss this simple feature.

A fellow Toronto developer, Ivan Heckman from U of T, has created a great free utility that mimics this behavior in Windows. Check it out here.

So what's your favorite free Windows utility?

[Thanks Ivan!]

Flash Switcher is a Firefox add-on by Allessandro Crugnola for those developers concerned with Flash Player versions. I tried it a while back when it was Windows-only.

It's now got Linux and Mac capability as well and works with FF3!

Get Flash Switcher

Also check out his Flash Tracer if you haven't already.

Thanks Allessandro!

I just upgraded my Lightning add-on for Thunderbird from 0.5 to 0.8 and wow! Some of the great new features:

• You can invite attendees to meetings!
• You can use a common location to store your calendars. I've got mine on my FTP server so it's accessible to anyone with access.
• The layout has been dramatically improved.
• You can assign tasks, and convert them to meetings or email messages.
• You can publish your calendar.

Now, I no longer need to hang my head in shame in front of my Outlook-using co-workers when they tell me to set up a meeting.

Get Lightning at:

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning/download.html

For those who may have been hesitant to use LiveCycle Data Services, Adobe has just announced the release of BlazeDS, an open source version of LCDS (formerly FDS). They have also published the AMF spec. Check out both on labs:

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=labs%5Fblazeds

I'm downloading now and will blog about the installation in a future post. The download even includes a Linux version.

Thanks, Adobe!

When you do a lot of beta testing, it's useful to install on a clean system. Virtual machines (VMs) are a great way to quickly test new software without causing harm to your main desktop system.

Lately I've been looking for a virtual machine environment that I can use on Windows (to run Linux) and Linux (to run Windows).

I used to use Connectix VirtualPC until Microsoft bought it. So much for decent Linux support. It was Windows-only as well.

About a year ago I paid for Parallels. It runs great on Windows (and Mac), but the Linux version is a complete dog. Sluggish graphics and it's a RAM hog. I'll be asking for my money back.

Then I found VirtualBox. Excellent cross-platform performance, including Guest Additions for both Linux and Windows (basically a set of drivers for video, network, etc.). You can easily transport virtual hard disks from one platform to another. Speed feels almost native due to the use of Intel VT-x and AMD-V technology.

Most cool is a feature the manual calls "Seamless windows", where you can run apps on the host desktop, essentially hiding the guest OS desktop. Parallels has had this for the Mac for a while, but has yet to keep the Windows and Linux versions in sync.

Oh, and did I mention the cost? $0.

I've just about had it with these idiots. For years I've been able to use My Yahoo! page under Linux. Now, all of a sudden I get this condescending message.

I wouldn't mind using the new beta version if it didn't suck so badly. You can't even customize the display font like you could in the new version. It's just plain "fugly." And you simply cannot get back to the old version (which worked fine!).

I tried to contact them about this to no avail.

If anyone from Yahoo! is reading this, you've just pissed off every Linux user out there. Nice work!

According the the upgrade site, Ubuntu/Kubuntu have been released as of today!

I'm really looking forward to the much-anticipated new version. 7.10, or Gutsy Gibbon, promises a 3-D desktop, a new version of KDE and the native ability to read and write NTFS drives. There's also a new video control panel that's supposed to make hand-editing config files a thing of the past.

Here's the official word on how to upgrade: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading

Let me know how your upgrade goes (if you're in the club;). I'll post again when I've finished my upgrade.

Update: Well, the suggested upgrade path (using Adept) didn't work. I'm now downloading the alternate CD for 7.10 and will try an upgrade from that...