SuSE 10 released

Novell has released the latest version of its flagship Linux distribution with little fanfare, reports eWeek.

Novell`s SuSE Linux 10 is the first Novell distribution to have been built under its OpenSuSE community model launched in August.

The new version is built on the foundation of Novell`s SuSE Linux Pro line and is also the successor to Linux Pro, being aimed at enthusiasts and less-experienced users.

SuSE Linux 10 comes with the GNOME 2.12 and KDE 3.4.2 interfaces, more than 1 500 open source Linux applications and packages, the latest Firefox and Opera Web browsers, the release candidate of OpenOffice.org 2.0 office suite, and e-mail and instant messaging clients.

The new Linux also includes spam blockers based on SpamAssassin anti-virus software, an integrated firewall, and previews Xen 3 virtualisation, iFolder 3 for universal file access and the early version of Mozilla Sunbird Calendar.

Downloading TV shows from a Web site is a long way off, according to a panel of Internet executives meeting in San Francisco to discuss the future of entertainment and media.

News.Com reports that the likely reason for the delay is the fact that cable and satellite TV companies want to protect their turf and continue to make consumers buy 200 channels worth of content.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is quoted as saying he is confident the forces of freedom will win, but it will take a long time.

There are also technological reasons likely to cause delays. Hastings points out that video-over-the-Web must be good enough for fancy equipment, like 50-inch plasma TVs, saying the Internet is not quite geared up for that yet.

Sony has lost a legal battle in Australia over the modifying of its PlayStation games console, reports BBC News.

The Australian High Court has ruled that chipping the console so that it can play imported games does not breach copyright law, even though the selling of mod chips was ruled illegal in the UK in 2004.

The report says the ruling ends a four-year legal battle between Sony and a supplier of so-called mod chips, which bypass regional controls on the machine.

Consoles can be modified by chips that are soldered to a console`s main circuit board to bypass copyright and regional controls, allowing users to play games purchased in other countries as well as running backup copies or bootleg discs.