OStatic

If Vern Yip is reading this, I still need your help. Though Sweet Home 3D tops Google's SketchUp in a number of areas, it's still not much help for someone with no design sense.

This makes it even more odd that I was so excited when I spotted Elizabeth Krumbach's post on the open source, cross platform 3D interior design modeling application. I've lived in my house for nine years -- we have shades on all the windows, but only one window has actual curtains. It's just that SketchUp is a fun little application, and it's one of the only applications I've tried to run with WINE (and failed miserably in the attempt).

Sweet Home 3D, as Krumbach says, is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Because it's open source, there's the potential to model a structure (and the stuff that fills it) to a whole new level of precision. Perhaps the only drawback (and it could be a machine quirk, as everything's being difficult today) was its seeming somewhat crashprone on my Ubuntu 9.04 64-bit laptop. That could also be chalked up to my learning curve. But let's take a closer look.

As a Mac user, I'm often disappointed at the lack of good open source software designed specifically for my operating system so I was really happy to read the news at TUAW.com that Sweet.fm is now an open source project. If you have a Mac and like to stream music from Last.fm, this is one app you need to check out.

Want to hear an odd little theory (or perhaps more of a personal hang up) of mine? I don't own a Mac, and have never owned a Mac -- and I can say without reservation that many Macs I've worked with have been great, robust little machines. I also have never owned any Apple device (iPod, iPhone, or even a Newton). There are a few reasons on that front, one being that I don't have a Mac, and historically I've seen that these devices just don't play as well on other platforms as they do on Macs.

Here's the rub: Macs are nice, contained sorts of bio-domes, technological terrariums of sorts. The hardware and software all work together by design (which makes computing pleasant when all goes to plan and frustrating when it doesn't). When you need (or want) to use an outside service, problems ranging from aesthetic annoyances to complete non-communication arise.

Open-Xchange is an open source groupware and email alternative to Microsoft's Exchange Server. Though Open-Xchange previously supported Mac systems to some degree, it wasn't truly a cohesive, native experience.

If you're running OS X and use Open-Xchange, syncing your calendar, email, tasks and appointments between desktop, server, and mobile device just got a lot more functional, and much easier.

Even though the economy is rough all over, this really is one of the best times to be working in an open source company. There are advantages for those running the business, and for those using its services. Perhaps the only better arrangement would be along the lines of what Likewise Software has put together -- an open source company developing and offering support services for software that integrates and secures mixed network environments.

There are a lot of mixed networks out in the wild, of course. This is why Likewise has successfully secured a $10 million Series C round of funding, which the company plans to use to pursue growth in new markets and fund the development of its product line.

For the past few weeks, off and on, I've heard some low-level, excited buzzing about iFolder. What is it? Think of it as an open source Dropbox service that lives on your servers under your jurisdiction, with a few added perks.

iFolder isn't new, per se, but it hasn't seen an updated source code release since 2007. Late last week, Novell, which sponsors the iFolder project, announced that iFolder 3.7.2 client and server packages -- as well as source code -- were available for download. The new release runs on Mac, Windows (including Vista) and Linux 32- and 64- bit environments. The push is now on to keep iFolder a very community-driven initiative.

There are many reasons to love the open source approach. The events chronicled in an article on NetworkWorld surrounding an exploit affecting Firefox outlines, quite elegantly, how open code outwardly appears risky, and -- well, wide open -- and how that same quality generates faster fixes and stronger applications.

A security researcher discovered that Firefox is vulnerable to remote memory corruption, enabling attackers to execute malicious (or at least very much unauthorized) code within the context of the browser. While security researchers spend countless hours searching out bugs and vulnerabilities, it's not usually the case that the offending attack finds its way into the public eye. Yesterday, however, this little exploit was published on several security sites. The vulnerability affects Firefox versions 3.0 through 3.0.7, on all platforms. In less than 24 hours, developers issued a patch for the vulnerability, to be included in next week's 3.0.8 release.

LogMeIn offers a wide array of products to remotely access and administer systems -- as long as the system is running Windows, Mac OS, or certain smartphone platforms. According to TechWorld (Australia), this could change later this year.

The reasons that LogMeIn's Asia Pacific General Manager, Seth Shaw, gives for reaching out towards the Linux platform are intriguing -- and heartening.

Late last year I broke down and picked up Rock Band for the resident game console, a Nintendo Wii. From this statement, astute readers can safely make the assumption that neither I, nor other members of my household, are big into gaming. I am, however, better with balance boards and nunchuks than I am any musical instrument, be it a stylized controller or the real deal.

Given the humbling experience Rock Band (continues) to be for me, I wasn't exactly eager to try out the open source rhythm game, Frets on Fire. However, the open source aspect and the advantages that brings to the game's genre, the Guitar Hero-esque focus on one instrument, and the project being chosen as SourceForge's March Project of the Month, I figured my ego might benefit from a slight bruising.

My fingertips aren't raw, but this confirms I won't be joining a band, real or virtual, any time soon. Frets on Fire on an easy setting makes me long for the simplicity of kernel recompiles and the soft whir of a rebooting system.

It's been a long, drawn out, brutal battle on the IT frontlines. Skirmishes can happen anywhere, at random -- in the server room, the board room, the cafeteria, or even, tragically, in civilian populated areas like pubs, restaurants, homes and big box electronics stores. The Mac and Windows battlefront consumes the resources of many foot soldiers, but the biggest, bloodiest conflicts involve the elite, highly trained IT commandos, who must be diplomats as well as fighters, and integrate a number of platforms across a single network.

Overly dramatic? Perhaps, but depending on your work environment and how quirky your mixed network is to configure, maybe not by much. There are several utilities available to promote diplomacy and peaceful interaction between machines in a mixed network. Likewise Software offers its open source Likewise integration applications to keep the peace -- and preserve platform equality and rights -- in a mixed network setting.

The OS Wars are frustrating and costly, but can be resolved with less heartache and far fewer casualties than other conflicts. This is why Likewise is promoting platform peace through t-shirt sales, with the proceeds going to charities supporting the civilian and military casualties of real wars.

Last month, I took a brief tour of the pre-release Songbird music player. Songbird is a cross-platform media player based on Mozilla code. This week, the Songbird project released the finalized 1.0 version of the player.

The pre-release versions of Songbird featured iPod support, Last.fm scrobbling, SHOUTcast radio, plugin extensions, and a localized concert discovery service. The 1.0 release adds one more feature to its default list -- MashTape -- and turns an ambitious eye toward the future.