Award for Linux Access to Governmental E-Mail in Czech Republic
According to an announcement by the European OSOR information service, a group of Czech companies and individuals has offered a roughly 3,200 euro award to develop platform-independent access to the mandatory "Data boxes" email service used by government agencies.
The Czech Republic officially introduced the Datove schranky (Data boxes) electronic message service for public administrations halfway through 2009. These public administrations should use the service to supply each other and citizens with news and documents about themselves in a secure way. According to the Open Source Observatory and Repository Europe (OSOR) platform of the European Commission, Czech firms are required to use the Datove schranky service as of November 1, 2009.
Data boxes usage also requires the XMLfiller plugin that can be downloaded free from the developer site. The plugin currently supports Windows up to Vista and as RPM for Linux and Mac OS X. However, Czech users and companies argue that the non-Windows versions gravitate toward Wine and are unsatisfactory. The plugin is also limited to 32-bit operating systems.
A group of 25 Czech companies and individuals, according to OSOR, has now offered prize money of 85,000 CZK (about $4,442 in current exchange) to open source projects to make the Data boxes into platform-independent implementations. Currently two of these projects, Libisds and Java ISDS are vying over software libraries in C and Java to develop user desktop applications. ISDS is short for Informacní systém datových schránek (Data boxes information system). OSOR also reports that a third open source project, Dsgui, is working on making Datove schranky access available on Maemo smartphones.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Kali Linux Waxes Nostalgic with BackTrack Mode
For those who've used Kali Linux since its inception, the changes with the new release are sure to put a smile on your face.
-
Gnome 50 Smooths Out NVIDIA GPU Issues
Gamers rejoice, your favorite pastime just got better with Gnome 50 and NVIDIA GPUs.
-
System76 Retools Thelio Desktop
The new Thelio Mira has landed with improved performance, repairability, and front-facing ports alongside a high-quality tempered glass facade.
-
Some Linux Distros Skirt Age Verification Laws
After California introduced an age verification law recently, open source operating system developers have had to get creative with how they deal with it.
-
UN Creates Open Source Portal
In a quest to strengthen open source collaboration, the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology has created a new portal.
-
Latest Linux Kernel RC Contains Changes Galore
Linux kernel 7.0-rc3 includes more changes than have been made in a single release in recent history.
-
Nitrux 6.0 Now Ready to Rock Your World
The latest iteration of the Debian-based distribution includes all kinds of newness.
-
Linux Foundation Reports that Open Source Delivers Better ROI
In a report that may surprise no one in the Linux community, the Linux Foundation found that businesses are finding a 5X return on investment with open source software.
-
Keep Android Open
Google has announced that, soon, anyone looking to develop Android apps will have to first register centrally with Google.
-
Kernel 7.0 Now in Testing
Linus Torvalds has announced the first Release Candidate (RC) for the 7.x kernel is available for those who want to test it.