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Days after Linus Torvalds discussed the possibilities of Linux and Solaris joining forces as open-source projects, Sun Microsystems Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz has invited the Linux leader to dinner to allay his suspicions about Sun's motives.

"We want to work together, we want to join hands and communities," Schwartz wrote on his blog Wednesday. "We have no intention of holding anything back, or pulling patent nonsense. And to prove the sincerity of the offer, I invite you to my house for dinner. I'll cook, you bring the wine."

Linux is governed by version 2 … Read more

OpenOffice.org programmers have released a very rough version of the open-source office suite that runs natively on Mac OS X.

The Microsoft Office competitor works on Linux and Unix systems using the X11 graphical interface, but the new version uses Apple's native Aqua interface.

It's alpha software, though. "This software may crash and may destroy your data. Do not use this software for real work in a production environment," the download site warns. And there are serious issues yet to be addressed: it can't print, copy and paste aren't fully functioning, and the … Read more

Those schools that are using Dance Dance Revolution to get their kids into shape aren't the only ones who've found a great use for the game, but it's doubtful Dance Dance Immolation will ever make it to a gymnasium near you.

Created by Interpretive Arson, a fire-art group from Oakland, Calif., Dance Dance Immolation uses a freeware version of DDR melded to pilot lights, gallons of propane, and heat-resistant proximity suits. Instead of losing points, though, a single misstep gets you shot in the face with fire.

Originally developed by three friends--Jonathan Shekter, Ian Baker, and Matt Blackwell--Crispix is the name for their hacked version of open-source StepMania (download for Windows or Mac), a freeware adaptation of Dance Dance Revolution that forms the brain of Dance Dance Immolation. StepMania is not only open source, it's also multiplatform. So why was it built on a Windows XP machine?

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IBM announced Friday that it's making available as open-source the software it developed for modeling the movement of infectious diseases.

The Spatiotemporal Epidemiological Modeler (STEM), which can run on any operating system, will be available through a project run by Eclipse, the open-source development foundation, called the Eclipse Open Healthcare Framework Project.

The mapping software has customizable tools, and epidemiologists can apply their own algorithms to fit the needs of specific projects and various outbreak scenarios. Among the variables the software can include are air travel, road systems, borders and animal interaction with a disease.

It can also be … Read more

New York appears to be the latest state concerned with the long-term accessibility of its digital documents.

RoAnn Destito, chair of the Governmental Operations committee in the New York State Assembly, introduced a bill on Wednesday to study "production and preservation" of the state's electronic documents.

The study's director would investigate how access to "electronic data can be created, maintained, exchanged and preserved by the state in a manner that encourages appropriate government control, access, choice, interoperability and vendor neutrality."

The bill also recommends that New York confer with other states' electronic document strategies. … Read more

Google has added a new option to Google Docs and Spreadsheets to make files open for others to look at without the need to register or sign in with a Google account. To make any doc or spreadsheet open, users can click option for "invitations may be used by anyone" in the "Share" tab. Once enabled, any invite to view the spreadsheet will take users right to it, bypassing any annoying log-in screens. Users will still need to log in and be on the collaborators list to make any editing changes, but this should open things … Read more

Bills introduced over the past year to promote open digital document formats in U.S. state governments have foundered, according to a review of state-level standards activity.

Computerworld on Sunday published an article that found that bills in Minnesota, Texas, Florida, and Oregon around open formats did not pass. The bills called for the use of standards and open document formats in desktop software.

A number of European governments have adopted Open Document Format (ODF) as the standard for electronic documents from productivity applications. Microsoft's rival Open XML format has been certified as an Ecma standards and is now … Read more

Penguins aren't generally considered the speediest animals around, but this weekend one of the birds will be zipping around the track at the Indianapolis 500. Two Linux enthusiasts have taken it upon themselves to increase the visibility of the open-source operating system by getting a penguin-adorned car into the big race.

Their grassroots effort, called Tux 500, is aimed at raising funds to sponsor a Linux-sponsored race car operated by Chastain Motorsports. While the original fundraising goal of $350,000 appears to be out of reach, as of Thursday morning, Tux 500 had collected more than $16,300, with … Read more

RedFlag Chinese 2000 Software will work with Sun Microsystems to improve the OpenOffice.org software in the Chinese market, the companies said Wednesday.

RedFlag will work on integrating features for the Chinese market, adding about 50 engineers to the project, and Sun will help train the company's engineers, a Sun representative said. No money is changing hands as part of the partnership.

RedFlag produces a Chinese variation of OpenOffice.org called RedOffice. The company is a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Science.