Novell unveils SUSE app tools

Novell has unveiled tools and services designed to help independent vendors go to market with Linux software offerings, states Computing.co.uk.

The SUSE Appliance Programme is an extension of the firm's current offerings, and lets developers build and test software stacks and transform the way they develop and release applications.

Novell is providing a wide range of tools, including SUSE Studio Online, a Web-based application for building software appliances "in minutes", SUSE Linux Enterprise JeOS, a pre-formatted configuration of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and a version of the SUSE Linux Enterprise designed to operate in Amazon's EC2 cloud platform.

Zend Technologies has released the latest version of its open source framework for PHP, offering improved support for Microsoft and Novell environments, reports The Register.

The changes are part of what Zend called more of a business focus, which encompasses updates to help those building and plumbing Web services and enterprise applications into PHP.

The PHP specialist is also due to release the latest edition of its PHP development environment, Zend Studio 7.0, which folds in changes added to the framework.

Mozilla has published an official feature list for Firefox 3.6 in the form of a guide for programmers who need to know about the changes, says CNET News.

The Firefox 3.6 developer guide mentions an ability to automatically hide the menu bar, a change that dovetails with sparer Firefox user interface designs that Mozilla has begun exploring for Firefox versions 3.7 and 4.0. That's important for plug-in developers and others who use the menu bar to control their add-ons.

For those developing Web applications, there's a feature for adding sounds that can play in response to specific events.