Ignore Microsoft, Dice on Linux, and Ubuntu Menus

It was one of those slow news days in the feeds and searches, but there were a few eye catchers. PCPro is running a piece telling LibreOffice to just ignore Microsoft's attempts to retain their monopoly in UK government offices. In what's turning into a series on Linux jobs, Libby Clark talks to the Dice president about Linux hiring in IT today. And in a long overdue about-face, Canonical seems to bringing local menus back to Ubuntu applications.

PCPro.co.uk spoke to The Document Foundation's Italo Vignoli on Microsoft's response to the news that the UK government was planning to move to Open Source and away from expensive proprietary solutions. Apparently, Microsoft didn't take the news well and is trying to sway partners and government officials to use its standards, formats and software. Vignoli said of course Microsoft would feel that way but it's not the best for users.

Libby Clark has written another piece on the Linux job situation, this time talking to Dice President Shravan Goli. He begins by saying Linux pros usually parlay their skills into careers, not just jobs. He says Linux skills have been in high demand for years and don't appear to letting up any time soon. In addition, Linux pros seem happier in their choices than do others in IT and "the future is bright for Linux professionals."

All those folks who cried out about Ubuntu moving application menus to a shared menu bar a couple of years ago can now prepare to readjust their work patterns once again as Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reported today that Canonical is bringing back local menus. A top Ubuntu developer said that universal menu thing didn't work out too well after all. Well, actually, he said, "the applications menus in the top pane really worked very well in small screens but now, especially with HiDPI monitors getting more and more popular, the top panel could be really too far from the actual window location." Nichols says that in the latest betas, testers can configure their apps to use local menus in the Ubuntu control center, but see his full post for more.