LiMo's Linux Phone Platform Nears Launch, Feb 05, 2008

The LiMo Foundation plans to release the first version of its Linux software platform for mobile phones in March, with handsets running the software due soon.

France has voted against the adoption of Microsoft's document format Office Open XML as an international standard, while Australia has decided to abstain.

Deputies elected to the French National Assembly in the next legislative session will find open-source software on their desktop PCs.

With a show of hands, French lawmakers approved a new copyright law on Friday, in a move that could have profound consequences for online music stores, open-source programmers, desktop Linux users and P-to-P (peer-to-peer) file sharers.

Free software campaigner Richard Stallman said French youth should protest against a draft law on copyright that will be voted on Friday.

The airport check-in desk could be where "desktop" Linux usage takes off, according to Unisys's European coordinator of open-source software activities.

A demonstration of the next release of Novell's Linux for desktops drew cheers and applause Wednesday, although the final version of the software is not expected for some months.

The city of Paris is accelerating its move to free and open-source software as part of a strategy to reduce its dependence on suppliers. It plans to replace more of its server software with free and open-source alternatives, and to install open-source applications on desktops, city officials said last week.

Chinese Linux developer Red Flag Software has joined Open Source Development Labs, (OSDL) a nonprofit industry consortium that promotes the use of Linux in the enterprise, the companies said Monday.

A trip to Paris city hall did not fit Gates' schedule. "There was no time," said an aide. That's a shame, because the city of Paris, until now a faithful Microsoft customer, is wavering. It recently commissioned a study of how much it would cost to switch its 17,000 desktop computers to open-source software instead.