The remote package update manager program apt-dater is now available in version 0.7. It performs software updates on a mass of remote hosts.

Sony has brought a new mini-notebook to the market that is small, light, stylish and with Windows Vista, although its instant-on feature is Linux-powered.

Developer Stefan Dirsch is responsible for maintaining the openSUSE build scripts of the fglrx driver. In a message on the openSUSE developer mailing list, he appeals for a successor to take over the maintenance.

The Ubuntu Developer Week, which began yesterday and runs until Friday, is a perfect opportunity to look over the shoulders of the Ubuntu developers.

Canonical has released its third alpha version of Ubuntu 9.04. It brings a few new features to test, including notification settings in the user interface and the much publicized ext4 filesystem support.

Core components of the Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 are now available as open source. Re-named Open Web Server 1.0, Sun Microsystems has released the server under the BSD license.

Taiwan-based hardware manufacturer Shuttle has released a series of mini-desktops running Linux. The next generation will have power-efficient VIA Nano processors.

The new edition of the Russian distro comes with bugfixes for the network manager, default printer settings and an updated version of OpenOffice 3.0.

Linux and free software will get some prominence at the upcoming CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany, March 3-8. A star-studded preview event will open the show, and a press conference has already taken place in Munich.

Linux kernel developer Jonathan Corbet has just previewed the features of the upcoming Linux Kernel 2.6.29 that includes Btrfs, which he claims is the filesystem of the future.