Stories about: UNSW

In the second part of Computerworld's analysis of the Office Open XML debate, platform strategy manager for Microsoft, Sarah Bond, and several Microsoft gold partners offer their views on why the OOXML format should become an internationally approved standard.

With more than 30 years of history behind it, AUUG, the organization for Unix, Linux and open source professionals, faces its toughest challenge to stay in tact as members at the 2007 AGM decide its future this week.

The recent legal proceedings brought against Whirlpool forum creator, Simon Wright, by the business and accounting software company 2Clix, appears to be on the cusp of being withdrawn.

The lawsuit filed by 2Clix against Whirlpool forum creator, Simon Wright, could have a "chilling effect" on reasonable and factual comments people may make on Internet forums, according to David Vaile, executive director of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at UNSW.

There will be more criminal prosecutions for intellectual property (IP) violations as a result of Australia's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, according to leading IP academics.

More than 650 people attended the annual linux.conf.au Penguin Dinner in Sydney last week which culminated in a $100,000 grant to the John Lions Chair in Operating Systems at the University of NSW (UNSW).

The Free Software Foundation's (FSF) General Public Licence (GPL) is undergoing its biggest overhaul in 15 years and local members of the free software community are participating in the development process.

At the age of four Jon Maddog Hall stuck the wires from a rabbit-ear television antenna into an electric socket which sent him flying across the room. Acknowledging the power of technology, Hall went on to forge a career and life based around it. He has been a software engineer, systems administrator, product manager, marketing manager and professional educator. Hall has been the executive director of Linux International since 1995, the first four years as a volunteer. He has been employed by VA Linux systems, Compaq Computer in the Digital Unix marketing group and Bell Laboratories among other companies.

Google has acquired search engine technology from the University of New South Wales that the institution described last year as potentially revolutionary.

At the age of four Jon Maddog Hall stuck the wires from a rabbit-ear television antenna into an electric socket which sent him flying across the room. Acknowledging the power of technology, Hall went on to forge a career and life based around it. He has been a software engineer, systems administrator, product manager, marketing manager and professional educator. Hall has been the executive director of Linux International since 1995, the first four years as a volunteer. He has been employed by VA Linux systems, Compaq Computer in the Digital Unix marketing group and Bell Laboratories among other companies. He will be speaking at this year's Linux World Conference to be held in Sydney March 28 to 30. Even though Hall wishes he could have 50 hours in a day and use Star Trek transporters instead of planes to save time, he managed to take the time to speak with Computerworld about his life, open source, Linux International and the upcoming conference.

Less than two months after the University of Queensland announced plans to build a 128-node Linux supercomputer, the Australian Centre for Advanced Computing and Communications (ac3) will eclipse that by installing a 147-node cluster running at some 1.5 teraflops in its Sydney data centre.