October 2011 - Free-software-melb - lists.softwarefreedom.com.au

Forum now available via Gmane gateway
by Ben Finney 15 Dec '11

15 Dec '11

Howdy all, This forum is now available via the Gmane gateway <URL:http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.foss.melbourne>. As described at that page, this allows the forum to be accessed via many methods in addition to the mailing list, such as NNTP (which is how I'm now posting this message), a weblog-style interface, and syndication feeds. I have given Ben Sturmfels instructions for how to make the past messages of this forum appear as postings in Gmane; hopefully he can find the time to do that. -- \ “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the | `\ precipitate.” —Steven Wright | _o__) | Ben Finney

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Is a GUI better? Show me!!!
by Andrew Thornton 05 Nov '11

05 Nov '11

OK. If I am a software developer then Elvis still lives. So maybe this is all reinventing the wheel. I don't know. Anyway. I find Unity in ubuntu very counter-intuitive. It feels weird. Yet it is meant to be the latest thing/fad/trend to make me happy. No evidence. No measurements. No tests. I am just meant to be a "happy" Unity user. So, what about this: 1. the distance the mouse travels across the screen to use a GUI 2. the number of mouseclicks. 3. the clock time taken to do task x. 1 + 2 + 3 = user figure for a GUI. The lower the score the better. All you guys here who make software. Do you do any measurements like this to arrive at the usability of software such as a GUI or anything else? Or is it just Macbeth Witches style chuck in eyes of newt, frog legs, pigs' blood and basil into the cauldron and hope for the best? Andrew

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Free software versus Microsoft's “UEFI Secure Boot”
by Ben Finney 24 Oct '11

24 Oct '11

Howdy all, At the latest meeting we discussed the impacts of Microsofts plans for UEFI Secure Boot for software freedom. The statement from Free Software Foundation on this topic was referenced <URL:http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/secure-boot-vs-restricted-boot>. Matthew Garrett has a lot of experience with the Linux boot process, and has a number of posts on this topic, the most recent being <URL:http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/6503.html>. -- \ “The way to build large Python applications is to componentize | `\ and loosely-couple the hell out of everything.” —Aahz | _o__) | Ben Finney

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Alex's OpenShot keyboard shortcut enhancement & Applied Code reading
by Rodney Brown 22 Oct '11

22 Oct '11

Alex's lightning talk on reading the python code of OpenShot to add a keyboard short cut reminded me of some of Diomidis Spinellis's blog posts - his IEEE Software "Tools of the Trade" columns, the latest of which are now available as podcasts http://www.computer.org/portal/web/computingnow/tools-of-the-trade Applied Code Reading: GNU Plotutils http://www.spinellis.gr/blog/20090811/index.html Applied Code Reading: Debugging FreeBSD Regex http://www.spinellis.gr/blog/20090916/ I think they may be from his book "Code reading: the open source perspective" http://books.google.com/books?id=8lYbNfsAVT4C&hl=en I should have read one post more closely "Process Substitution" was something I didn't know, advanced plumbing ... http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_books/advanced_bash_scripting_guide/proces… Chapter 22. Process Substitution Process substitution is the counterpart to command substitution. Command substitution sets a variable to the result of a command, as in dir_contents=`ls -al` or xref=$( grep word datafile). Process substitution feeds the output of a process to another process (in other words, it sends the results of a command to another command). Command substitution template command within parentheses >(command) <(command) His example follows.. To locate classes that call the method userGet, but don't call the method userRegister we process their source code with the following bash script. comm -23 \ <(find . -name \*.java -print0 | xargs -0 grep -l userGet | sort) \ <(find . -name \*.java -print0 | xargs -0 grep -l userRegister | sort) The script depends on a wonderful feature of the bash shell: the ability to make the output of a command appear as a file.

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Furthering tonight's discussion about FOSS PDF readers on Gov. sites
by David Schoen 20 Oct '11

20 Oct '11

Hi, As I expected AGIMO (Australian Government Information Management Office) do set some standards already. I've collected a few things that might be of interest to the group. PDFs are never allowed to be the only source for any information - "Agencies are reminded that it is still a requirement to publish an alternative to all PDF documents (preferably in HTML)". See: http://webguide.gov.au/accessibility-usability/accessibility/ A list of PDF readers is already available from AGIMO, some free alternatives are included. There is also an invitation to suggest more alternatives to add to the list. See: http://webguide.gov.au/types-of-content/pdf/list-of-pdf-readers-public/ I've cherry picked some of the statements from some of the sites I'm familiar with below. Good: - None that I can find :( Bad: - http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/accessibility - http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/accessibility-statement - http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/accessibility - http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/accessibility-statement - http://www.pc.gov.au/legal/accessibility - http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/accessibility-tips Couldn't locate: - http://www.dbi.vic.gov.au/accessibility Most of the departments are inviting feedback via "Contact Us" style links so that is probably a nice easy place anyone on this list can start. I for one will provide the webguide.gov.au links I've listed above to content admins when opportunities arise. Cheers, Dave

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Free software discussion group next Thursday 20 October 6pm
by Ben Sturmfels 19 Oct '11

19 Oct '11

Hi Freedom Lovers, What an eventful month it's been! Software Freedom Day, discussions about DRM'd BIOS (UEFI secure boot), some interesting chatter on the mailing list and a software patent review to round out the week. Looking forward to seeing you all next Thursday for some interesting conversations. 6pm seemed to suit people, so we'll stick with that (feedback welcome). Melbourne Free Software Discussion Group Thursday 20 October, 6pm http://www.softwarefreedom.com.au/free-software-melb/ VPAC Head Office Training Room, Level 1 Building 91 110 Victoria Street Carlton South Map: http://www.vpac.org/about/contact Please arrive 10 mins early. Agenda ------ 1. Video formats on the web: We've come along way, but why are we still divided about standards? (discussion) 2. My favourite free software games (show and tell by Ben Sturmfels) 3. Brainstorm ideas for a small, achievable projects that the group could take on. Easy-medium wins. Les suggested getting gov. websites to link to free software PDF readers. (discussion) Look forward to seeing you there! Cheers, Ben

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Buying or building a computer in Melbourne
by Ben Finney 13 Oct '11

13 Oct '11

Howdy all, I want to get some machines for the home network, and I want them to be fully supported by only-free software. I would be happy to pay some business in Melbourne to build it from parts and test it, and ideally be available for warranty support. The big trouble is finding people who can meet the free-software requirements. Saying “free software only” doesn't ring any bells with vendors, for the familiar reasons that nobody thinks about software freedom. Saying “only hardware supported by Linux without binary blobs” just gets boiled down in their head to “Linux”, and reliably leads to disappointment when they recommend hardware that doesn't meet what I described. There are some resources to help with this. But pointing a vendor at <URL:http://www.h-node.com/> and asking them to choose only hardware that gets an okay in that database is not much of an option; my money is likely not worth it to the shop to spend their time on that site. There are also efforts to put together computers and sell them <URL:http://open-pc.com/>; but they're patchy and poorly-available and the store interfaces are average-to-terrible. Needless to say none of them are in Melbourne, so delivery costs are a huge factor. Worst of all, those well-researched complete machines are almost never specified in detail, so I can't just say to a Melbourne shop “build me one of these, test it with this USB stick, sell it to me, and give me warranty support”. The information just isn't there for me to take to the shop. Where can I get satisfaction here? I need some or all of these functions: * a machine to act as ADSL + wireless router and DNS + DHCP + HTTP proxy * a machine to act as grunty software development workstation * a machine to act as thin desktop client * a machine to act as home theatre for video & audio It's not 2000 any more; even Debian now has an entirely free-software kernel. Now all I need is to know exactly what good-quality parts to buy to have the above functions. Surely I don't have to individually compile all these specifications myself? -- \ “Human reason is snatching everything to itself, leaving | `\ nothing for faith.” —Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090–1153 CE | _o__) | Ben Finney

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Mozilla post on "Open Apps Ecosystem"
by Patrick Sunter 12 Oct '11

12 Oct '11

Hi guys, apropos our recent discussion on FOSS options for phones, I thought the commentary on the need for open 'Apps' was quite good (by chair of Mozilla foundation) http://blog.lizardwrangler.com/2011/08/09/the-app-model-and-the-web/ cheers, Pat.

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Rare opportunity on software patents
by Ben Sturmfels 11 Oct '11

11 Oct '11

Hi Folks, The Australian government is requesting comments in a review of "innovation patents". Submissions close *this Friday* 14 October. This is a rare opportunity to be heard. Please write to <mail.acip(a)ipaustralia.gov.au>, explaining the problems of software patents and pointing out that "innovation patents" are the same, but worse. (I've added some notes below to help get you started.) Important: 1. Please focus on software patents only, not patents in general. 2. Please BCC to <swpat(a)sturm.com.au>. 3. Try get your colleagues and organisation to co-sign. For more on the campaign, please visit: http://endsoftpatents.org/australia. The ACIP review: http://www.acip.gov.au/reviews.html#patsys Thanks for your help. Regards, Ben Sturmfels Ideas for your email ==================== Please feel free use your own words and ideas too. FYI: "Innovation patents" came about in 2000 as a replacement for "petty patents". They have a term of 8 years (std. patents 20 years), minimal examination and much lower barrier of "inventiveness" - easy to get, just as hard to defeat. Intro ideas: software patents in general ---------------------------------------- - you're in the software industry - patents on computation and information processing do the opposite of promoting innovation - harmful to both software industry and society - as such should be abolished - you're one of the thousands who signed the paper petition to the House of Representatives calling for this Body ideas: "innovation patents" are the same but worse ------------------------------------------------------- - pose all the same risks as standard patents - are worse because they have lower requirements for examination and inventiveness - should also be abolished Closing ideas: -------------- - you wish you'd been aware of the 2009 Review of Patentable Subject Matter so you could have commented on that too

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Re: [free-software-melb] looking for calendar application
by Bernie Schelberg 08 Oct '11

08 Oct '11

> From: andrew thornton <andrewtech(a)iinet.net.au> > To: free-software-melb(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au > Subject: [free-software-melb] looking for calendar application > Message-ID: <4E8E59E8.2080705(a)iinet.net.au> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; Format="flowed" > > > Hello > Is there a free and/or opensource calendar > application? Can't find one on sourceforge. Tried mozilla sunbird. But I > want to do this: > > I have dropbox on two computers connected > by short range wireless/ethernet internet. Person on computer a wants to > make a calendar file, save it, drop into dropbox, then i see it on > computer b, and i make the file public and email a link to business > colleagues with the schedule calendar file. > > I can't get this to occur with mozilla > sunbird. Please don't suggest thunderbird/lightning. I use that. But he > can't email. He needs an idiot level calendar application for windows. > Sunbird saves as weird.ics files that I can't open. If I can't open them > how will anyone else use them? > > Does such a calendar application exist? > > Thank you > Andrew I've not used it myself, but Evolution includes a calendar that might be able to do what you want. .ics is a standard format, I don't know why you're having trouble with it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICalendar. Bernie

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