Oracle rebel LibreOffice debuts
Programmers have released the first version of LibreOffice for Windows and Mac, the product of a rebellion against Oracle's open-source office suite called OpenOffice.org, says CNet.
A group called the Document Foundation - unhappy with Oracle's control over OpenOffice after it was acquired along with Sun Microsystems - forked the software into the group's own version in September. LibreOffice 3.3 is the first stable release.
LibreOffice has won support from long-time open-source allies such as Red Hat, Novell, and Ubuntu. But it's got rivals aplenty: while the Document Foundation focuses on separating from its Oracle and Sun roots, the larger rival remains Microsoft Office and new challengers come in the form of cloud computing products such as Google Docs.
Open source powers space race
A group of Australian Linux enthusiasts are using freely available software and hardware designs to engineer a spacecraft that could one day land on the moon and reap millions of dollars in prize money from Google, reports Computer World.
The Lunar Numbat project was started by a team of Australians and New Zealanders who have partnered with the Google Lunar X-Prize team White Label Space.
The ultimate aim is to put a Linux-powered robotic 'Australian marsupial' on the Moon. The Google Lunar X-Prize is offering $30 million to the first privately funded rover to land safely on the Moon, rove 500 metres and send high definition pictures and video back to Earth.
Hack unlocks Apple potential
Apple TV just got a lot less boring with the help of nifty new tools that override its restrictions and add powerful capabilities, according to Wired.com.
The XBMC app for Apple TV 2 - which requires jail breaking - expands the set-top box's multimedia playback to support almost every type of audio or video format, including 1080p HD content.
By default, the Apple TV can only play a few formats compatible with iTunes, and only supports 720p video.
Share