Microsoft contributes code to the Linux kernel

Microsoft has submitted code needed for Hyper-V compatibility to the Linux kernel. This has sent zillions of analysts and industry observers into a frenzy. At the end of the day, this makes perfect sense. Microsoft wants to support Linux on Hyper-V, and this is the best way to do it that would also be the most acceptable to the Linux community (especially since the code is licensed with GPL-2). There is no Trojan horse here, backdoors, blah blah blah. I find this especially ironic, because many in the Linux community have been screaming for years about how various hardware vendors refuse to release GPLed drivers, but when Microsoft does what they have been asking for, they act horrified.

For another take on the situation, read TechRepublic contributor Vincent Danen’s post, “Microsoft aims to be a Linux kernel contributor: What’s in it for them?“

Linux Magazine has an interesting discussion with Linus Torvalds on this as well. His take: Where’s the problem?

Microsoft’s Dryad is released to academics

I’ve been following Microsoft’s Dryad project for some time now. In a nutshell, Dryad is a system for distributed computing. Its architecture lets programs using it scale from multiple cores in the same PC to hundreds of PCs with no changes in the software. Dryad has been made available to academics to help them with their research.

Guide for experienced developers moving to iPhone

Matt Gemmell has written an “emergency guide” to help ease experienced developers into iPhone development. If you are interested in learning more about iPhone development, you’ll want to check it out.

Silverlight 3 enables direct binding of two UI elements

Jesse Liberty has a good tutorial on how direct UI element binding in Silverlight 3 works. You no longer need a data object as a “middle man,” which should make this task a bit less wearisome.

Two Ruby updates, and a Rails update

Ruby 1.9.1-p243 has been released (it is a bug fix release), as well as Ruby 1.9.2 preview 1 (which adds new functionality). In addition, Rails 2.3.3 was released, which has both new features and bug fixes.

IronPython 2.0.2 released

IronPython 2.0.2 has been released. It fixes a number of minor bugs.

PayPal increases integration options

PayPal is opening its platform so that developers can integrate PayPal payments with Web sites. This is a welcome change of pace from having to redirect users to the PayPal site. PayPal is also allowing flexibility in who pays the PayPal fee.

Microsoft releases two new useful APIs

Microsoft has released Bing# and Gestalt. Bing# is a .NET API for the Bing search engine, so you don’t need to deal with the underlying protocols. Gestalt, built on top of the Silverlight engine, allows developers to use Ruby and Python (and, one would imagine, anything else built on the .NET Dynamic Language Runtime) within their Web applications instead of JavaScript.

Embarcadero offers buy one, get one

In these tough times, everyone loves a deal. Embarcadero is offering “buy one, get one free” on its tools, which is a very good deal.

Jama Contour meets JIRA

Jama Software announced the release of the JIRA Connector for Jama Contour. This tool connects Jama’s Contour tool (which is a requirements management application) with JIRA, a tool for bug and defect tracking.

uTest grows its testing community

uTest announced that its community of testers has grown 30% in the second quarter of 2009. I am very impressed with the uTest value proposition, and it is clear that others are as well.

New Smalltalk Web framework released

Iliad, a new Web framework for Smalltalk Web development, has been released. I keep rooting for Smalltalk. While I haven’t used it, I like everything I’ve learned about it. From what I know of Smalltalk, I think that with the proper framework, Smalltalk can eliminate huge swaths of pain in Web development, and I hope that maybe Iliad can do it.

If anyone has used Smalltalk, please share your thoughts in the discussion.

How to get accurate Silverlight 3 documentation

There is apparently a mistake with the Silverlight 3 documentation that makes it display the beta 1 docs in Visual Studio. Here is a workaround to let you see the correct information.

PHP North West conference in the UK: October 10th

The PHP North West conference will be coming to Manchester, UK, on October 10, 2009. This is a one-day event. Get your tickets early, as the price will go up soon.

J.Ja

Disclosure of Justin’s industry affiliations: Justin James has a working arrangement with Microsoft to write an article for MSDN Magazine. He also has a contract with Spiceworks to write product buying guides.

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