updated Abiword, GanttProject, WinMerge, Wikidpad, Tuxpaint, Portable Puzzle Collection, Sokoban Yasc, Freeciv, Paint.NET, Dia, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Filezilla, Miranda IM, XAMPP Lite, VirtualDub, VideoLAN, TrueCrypt, Launchy
For more details about the TTCS OSSWIN CD, including links to other download mirrors (including BitTorrent) can be found at https://www.ttcs.tt/osswin-cd/
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) recently began an ad campaign in the local Trinidad and Tobago newspapers. The text from the two ads are below :
Do not put your business at risk by using PIRATED SOFTWARE
Would you trust the information technology security and and quality provided by pirated software?
Pirated software is not secure. Apart from technical mishaps, it can allow viruses and malware to infiltrate, which could damage your PC or even your business’ entire network
Do you know that using pirated software reduces your employees’ productivity and efficiency?
Your employees will spend time and effort in solving technical problems deriving from the use of pirated software, which will impact their productivity and efficiency; increasing your costs and decreasing your profitability
Do you know the legal risks you and the company you represent face by installing pirated software?
Pursuant to the law (In Trinidad and Tobago unauthorized copying of software is considered a violation of the law that could lead to civil and criminal penalties of up to $100,000.00 [T.T] for each computer program copied and imprisonment for up to 10 years), if a company uses software unlawfully, it may be liable for violating copyrights. This is so, even when management is not aware of the unlawful use at their facilities.
Don’t hesitate to contact us
Telephone : 1-868-623-1272 Fax : 1-868-624-9877 email bsatt@softwarelegal.net
The second ad :
Do not put your business at risk by using PIRATED SOFTWARE
Effective 10th May to 30th June 2008, companies interested in participating in the campaign “Don’t put your business at risk by using pirated software” should, together with the BSA, coordinate their efforts in order to review and if necessary regularize the software
installed on their equipment.
In order to participate, these are the required steps :
Register with the campaign, by sending the registration form by fax or E-mail (the form may be obtained upon request from the BSA).
Develop an inventory of all programs installed on your computers and of the licenses you have, then send this information to the BSA. A compliance analyst will check it and provide feedback on the differences found, as well as assist you in normalizing your situation if necessary.
This is the best time to get some advice
Don’t hesitate to contact us Telephone : 1-868-623-1272 Fax : 1-868-624-9877
Version 3 of the multi-platform web browser Mozilla Firefox will be released on Tuesday 17th June 2008. The non-profit Mozilla Foundation is attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours on Tuesday 17th June 2008.
(Update : June 17th – after some initial hiccups, you can download Mozilla Firefox 3 . For live interviews with the Mozilla team, updates on the download count so far (and earlier, the problems with website updates), visit http://air.mozilla.com/ )
Firefox v3 has several improvements, not just in features but in the speed of loading webpages. Check out this screencast of some of the features in Firefox 3. There is also a Field Guide to Firefox 3 with many screenshots. To help with the record, visit http://www.spreadfirefox.com/worldrecord and click on the red “Pledge Now” button. You will be asked to select what country you are from (and yes, Trinidad and Tobago is listed as one of the countries) and optionally your email address (for the Mozilla Foundation to keep you informed on Tuesday) and click the Pledge Now button. By doing so, you are pledging to download Firefox 3 on Tuesday.
The http://www.spreadfirefox.com/worldrecord page has an interactive map where you can see the number of pledged downloads. As of 2:00am Monday 16th June 2008, the number of pledged downloads from Trinidad and Tobago is 573. So head over to the http://www.spreadfirefox.com/worldrecord page if you haven’t pledged to download Firefox 3 (and of course do so on Tuesday!)
If you’ve haven’t updated your Adobe Flash player since April 8th, 2008 to version 9.0.124.0, please do so as there are several exploits targeting older versions of Flash.
To verify the Adobe Flash Player version number, access the About Flash Player page, or right-click on Flash content and select “About Adobe (or Macromedia) Flash Player” from the menu. Customers using multiple browsers are advised to perform the check for each browser installed on their system.
Windows XP Service Pack 3 – ISO-9660 CD Image File – This file is a CD image file for users who wish to create an update CD for Windows XP Service Pack 3, for example for offline installation by administrators. The file name is xpsp3_5512.080413-2113_usa_x86fre_spcd.iso and is 544.9 MB in size.
Windows XP Service Pack 3, Checked Build – This installation package is intended for developers downloading to a machine intending to debug or develop software on Windows XP Service Pack 3.
However, if you’re are just updating one PC, visit Windows Update which should be a much smaller download.
The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS) is looking at what to do for a TTCS OSSWIN CD 2.0 release.
Does anything need to change?
One of the big problems encountered with the TTCS OSSWIN CD is the space for programs. Updated versions of programs unfortunately are larger in filesize than their predecessors. Recently, more and more programs had to be removed (see the TTCS OSSWIN CD changelog). So, YES, something needs to change.
Here are several options the TTCS has considered. Ideally, it will be good to have a version 2.0 of the TTCS OSSWIN CD done in time for Software Freedom Day 2008.
Develop a DVD version of the TTCS OSSWIN CD.
A DVD would solve (for now at least) the file size problem and allows for many more programs to be put on a DVD and more material about each program (such as larger screenshots, or short videos, even. There are several concerns, however :
whether to maintain the TTCS OSSWIN CD concurrently with a DVD version. This relates to the difficulty of maintaining two software collections – it could be done separately but then this introduces more maintainence headaches and I’ve learned that the more hassle something is, the less likely it will be done (data backups anyone?). So IMO, a system has be developed/designed to allow for updates to the CD and DVD versions to be done in one location (ie : updates to the information text and the program is done at one location).
the interface for a DVD version : the current interface for the CD will probably not work well with more software items in its menu. Already the Utilities section scrolls off the page on lower resolution displays (see screenshot below – there are three more items below Drempels yet on a 1280×1024 display, they are not seen). So a new webpage design needs to be also designed to cater for the many programs on such a DVD.
Drop the games from TTCS OSSWIN CD
With regards to the CD version, a possible option being explored is to drop the games section from the TTCS OSSWIN CD. This will allow space for more programs in the other categories in the short term. Also the easiest option to implement.
It has been suggested by some that the presence of the games might be turning off persons such as business users who may not take the OSS seriously for use in businesses, so the removal may make the CD more “friendly” to its use in businesses.
The downside of this option : no games! Life is no fun without games :-). A TTCS OSSWIN CD Games edition could be done…which leads to the third option :
Develop multiple editions of TTCS OSSWIN CD
It has been suggested that specific editions of OSSWIN CD be done to target different persons. Two examples : a TTCS OSSWIN CD (Business Edition) which takes out the games and a TTCS OSSWIN CD (Education Edition) which takes out games and adds a programming software category.
The idea would be that the targeting of different editions of the CD to the different users would result in increased usage among such targeted users. Similar to the ideas expressed in this TED Talk : “What we can learn from spaghetti sauce”.
Downsides?
The difficulty of maintaining multiple editions as mentioned earlier.
Microsoft Vista has multiple editions. Does that make it easier for users to decide which one is right for them?
However, it is possible that a single DVD version could do this type of end user targeting by having different menus for different users. So on startup (say), the screen could have menu options or ask the question :
Are you a Business User?
Are you a home user?
Are you a Teacher?
then a different software selection on the DVD would be given.
So, those are some of the considerations. Your thoughts about the current version of TTCS OSSWIN CD?
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (XP SP3) is available for download from Microsoft’s servers (although not from Windows Update or the Download Center due to a compatibility problem with Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System). This service pack for all 32 bit versions of Windows XP includes all previously released updates and a small number of features backported from Windows Vista.
