It’s easy enough, just run
sudo dmidecode --type memory

And you’ll get something back, like:
# dmidecode 2.10
SMBIOS 2.5 present.

Handle 0x1100, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x1000
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM_1
Bank Locator: Not Specified
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 800 MHz
Manufacturer: AD00000000000000
Serial Number: 0000100B
Asset Tag: 010807
Part Number: HYMP125U64CP8-S6

Pretty cool, huh?

It doesn’t stop there, however.

Valid type keywords are:
bios
system
baseboard
chassis
processor
memory
cache
connector
slot

Go crazy.

Remember, this is still very early in H.264’s history so the licensing is very friendly, just like it used to be for MP3. The companies who own the IP in these large patent pools aren’t in this for the fun of it – this is what they do. They patent and they enforce and then enjoy the royalties. If they are in a position to charge more, they will. We can expect that if we allow H.264 to become a fundamental web technology that we’ll see license requirements get more onerous and more expensive over time, with little recourse.

Sure, “freeware” is not incorrect (if you’ll excuse the double negative), but it’s not quite correct either. It’s leaving out the most important component of the software, it’s free license.

It’s available for no charge (freeware) because the license that it has, enables others to distribute it for free. The license is the reason that it is able to be freeware, so it’s that’s the more important aspect.

Of course, Apple can say whatever they want, but a requirement of the GPL is to make the source code available and license clearly visible.

Nevertheless, I contacted the development team informing them, just in case they took exception. However, they didn’t care, with Ryan Flegel saying:

“Freeware” isn’t incorrect, and it’s also a term that everybody understands. I think it’s fine the way it is.

And that’s fine, because it’s their choice. I just wanted to make sure that they are happy with it

-c

The Greens are heading a call for the Government to use free software and for the first time in my life I find myself agreeing with them.

Greens communication spokesman Scott Ludlam said:

“We know [software] costs are sky high and governments are a huge revenue source for companies like Microsoft, but there are also very strong public policy grounds for using open-source software. And one is to make sure that government information is accessible to the largest number of people as possible at no cost to them.”

It was on the front page of the Canberra Times yesterday.

If the PM wants to save money, here’s a great way to do it. In fact, for the cost of licenses for a single year, the Government could hire 5000 full time highly paid open source developers. By leveraging existing free software it wouldn’t be too hard to build anything and everything that the Government uses for it and the Educational sectors.

-c

Their flagship product, Crossover, is a commercial product based on Wine which lets you install many products from the Microsoft platform.

Mike sent me an email that for the next 24 hours or so, Codeweavers are offering Crossover Professional and Crossover Games for FREE.

Update: You don’t need to register your email, just download the version that you want.

Oh, and there’s an OS X version too.

-c