The African Internet Service Provider Association(AfrISPA) today released an open source tool for monitoring and analysing Internet Exchange statistics. Ungana IXBase has been developed by the African IXP Research Project to aid their study of African Internet Exchange points on the continent. The project’s goal is to increase understanding of how Internet Exchange Points(IXPs) can […]
The first Independent Communications Authority of South Africa(Icasa) licence for an Asterisk-based PBX has been awarded to OpenVoice Holdings. The switching system (SWS) license means that OpenVoice’s Asterisk PBX may be legally connected to the telecommunications grid. The burgeoning Asterisk industry has been hard-hit by lack of Icasa licences, with reports of telecommunications monopoly Telkom […]
The Go Open Source campaign today annouced a R3 million investment into skills aimed at creating a formal channel for Linux and open source software in South Africa. Called the Go Open Source “channel partner programme”, the project aims to equip small and medium businesses with the business skills needed to to operate and grow […]
Slashdotted?In an exclusive interview on Friday, infamous hacker Kevin Mitnick told Tectonic that, given the choice between finding security vulnerabilities in closed and open source, he’d prefer to attack an open source environment. “Open source would be easier [to hack],†admits ex-hacker turned security consultant Mitnick. “It’s less work.†Mitnick says that open source software […]
Imagine trying to piece together a wireless network with no manuals, sporadic and slow access to the Internet, inadequate tools, a shortage of supplies, and hostile climates. The authors of a new book, “Wireless Networking in the Developing World”, don’t need to imagine because they have all worked under these conditions and now they have […]
Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, has announced his support of the Gnu public license (GPL) version 2, despite version 3 currently in draft format. Industry analysts have doubted that the Linux kernel could be moved to GPLv3, and with Linus’ statement, it is now a given that Linux will stick to GPLv2. “The Linux kernel […]
Andrew “Tridge” Tridgell was named this week as the winner of the annual Free Software Foundation award for his work as originator and developer of the Samba project. Samba reverse-engineered Microsoft’s version of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, which is used for file-sharing and print services. Tridgell was presented with the award with Free […]
An annual survey of 300 futurists, academics and business people from 28 countries by the Global Future Forum (GFF) has found that future technology needs answers to ethical questions. Speaking at a public lecture in Johannesburg on Tuesday, David Smith, CEO of the GFF, says: “Technology is getting faster and smaller all the time – […]
The open source movement has always had its fair share of enemies. It’s no secret that there’s little love lost between Microsoft and the OSS community, while SCO continues its attack on Linux. These are what one might term “above-the-line†threats – they’re easy to recognise, and come from organisations that clearly have much to […]
David Madie is from Copenhagen, and he’s on an unusual mission in Africa: following a young computer entrepreneur, whose story he believes would show another face of what has been condescendingly called the ‘dark continent’. Documentary film-maker Madie runs his own company called Eighty Days Productions. Its name is inspired by the novel by Jules […]
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