Street View gives users a 360-degree view of a road via Google Maps.

Authorities want to know how long the images would be kept on Google's database and what measures it will take to make people aware of privacy rights.

A similar street mapping service, run by local ISP Kapou, was also suspended for the same reason.

In a statement, Google said that it had not seen the full details of the The Hellenic Data Protection Authority's request, but had taken steps to protect people's privacy.

"Google takes privacy very seriously, and that's why we have put in place a number of features, including the blurring of faces and licence plates, to ensure that Street View will respect local norms when it launches in Greece," the statement read.

"We have already spoken with the Hellenic Data Protection Authority to ensure that they understand the importance we place on protecting user privacy.

"Street View has not been banned in Greece. We have received a request for further information and we are happy to continue discussing these issues with them. We will discuss with them whether it is appropriate for us to continue driving in the meantime.

"Although that dialogue is ongoing, we believe that launching in Greece will offer enormous benefits to both Greek users and the people elsewhere who are interested in taking a virtual tour of some of its many tourist attractions."

First launched in the US two years ago, Street View has now covers nine countries, including the United Kingdom and Google wants to expand the service to cover all of Europe.

Users zoom in to a given location in Google Maps, and then drag the "Pegman" icon above the zoom bar on to a given street.

A picture view of that street appears, which users can control to get a 360-degree view of the area or to progress on street level, throughout the city.

Google says the service shows only imagery already visible from public thoroughfares.

Under fire

However, it has come in for criticism from some quarters, being accused of an invasion of privacy.

While many of these charges have been dismissed, either through the courts or by regional information commissioners, in some cases people have taken a more direct approach.

In April, residents near Milton Keynes blocked the driver of a Google Street View car when he started taking photographs of their homes saying the service was "facilitating crime".

The Pentagon has also banned Google from filming near or inside its military bases, saying it posed a "potential threat" to security.

The director of the UK-based privacy watchdog Privacy International, Simon Davies, said the Greeks' decision would set a precedent for other nations.

"This is fantastic news. The Greek regulators understand the risks of future technology creep. They have watched what has happened in the US and UK very carefully and will be familiar with the arguments on both sides.

"This highlights the difference between regulators - some will allow the public space to be exploited, others acknowledge that people's privacy needs to be protected.

"Now we wait for the domino effect, as the Greek decision sets an example that others may follow - we will see what happens next in Central Europe."

Ben Linus is Spongebob Squarepants!!!

Read the release announcement and release notes for further information.

Download (mirror list): F10-PR-i686-Live.iso (681MB, SHA1, torrent), F10-PR-i686-Live-KDE.iso (650MB, SHA1, torrent), F10-PR-x86_64-Live.iso (686MB, SHA1, torrent), F10-PR-x86_64-Live-KDE.iso (655MB, SHA1, torrent).

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Some info from the release announcement:

Enhancements

This beta release includes the following improvements:

* Virtualization Enhancements
+ Support for up to 126 CPUs in the x86_64 Hypervisor
+ Support for up to 1TB memory per host on x86_64
+ The number of dynamic IRQs was increased for x86_64 to allow
  for more guests on large systems.
+ Support for more than 16 disk devices per guest
+ Virtio drivers were added for use of Red Hat Enterprise
  Linux 5 as a guest on KVM hypervisors
+ Automatically determine correct parameters for large memory
  machines.  The domain 0 will be automatically restricted to
  32GB, but the hypervisor will see the full amount of memory
  in the machine
+ Intel EPT support for higher performance in Fully
  Virtualized scenarios
+ Support for 2MB backing page tables on x86_64
+ Out-of-the-box support for > 4 NICs
+ Blktap statistics were added
+ Fixes were made to properly reserve kdump memory for Xen and
  to provide crash with needed address
+ Timer problems after migration were fixed
+ Intel VT-i2 support for new ia64 processor was added
+ Lengthy network outage after migrations was fixed
+ Xen logfile rotation
+ Xenstore database moved to tmpfs
+ Xen paravirtualized drivers are included for
  fully-virtualized (FV) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 guest
  kernels. Thus the xenpv-kmod package no longer needs to be
  added to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
  FV kernels to get paravirtualized (Xen) disk and network
  support
+ Support for vmcoreinfo for IA64 Xen

* Cluster Improvements
+ Cluster mirror support (2-leg mirrors only)
+ The GFS2 parallel cluster file system is supported
+ Fencing improvements:
  - SSH support has been added to the DRAC, Blade Center,
    iLO, and Egenera fencing agents
  - Support for WTI RSM8R4 and WTI MPC-8H power controllers
    has been added to the WTI fencing agent

* Desktop Enhancements
+ NetworkManager 0.7
  - Mobile broadband for select hardware
  - Static IP support
  - Networking before login
  - Much faster connection times
  - Connection sharing/multiple active connections
+ Laptop support
  - Keyboard quirks backported
+ Updated graphics drivers
  - r400/r500 are now fully supported (no longer
    Technology Preview)
  - Eagle Lake and Cantiga (2d only)
  - Expanded Matrox G200 coverage

* System Services Enhancements
+ Rebased cups (print server), now with full Kerberos support
+ Rebased ksh, lm-sensors, lftp, net-snmp, openIPMI, openldap,
  openmotif, python-urlgrabber, rpm, tog-pegasus, vnc, yum,
  yum-utils

* Tool Enhancements
+ SystemTap
  - Initial implementation of userspace tracing (user static
    markers and stack unwinding coming soon)
  - Remote script compiling (secure version coming soon)
  - Beginner's Guide will be available for GA
  - Improved tapset organization and documentation
+ GDB Debugger
  - Rebase, now based on version 6.8 (previously based on
    version 6.5)
  - Multiple location breakpoints for C++ templates,
    constructors, inlined functions, etc.

* Encryption Enhancements
+ Root and swap encryption support in the installer
  - Hibernate / resume support with encrypted disks

* Security Enhancements
+ Authentication and Identity
  - pkinit clients can now be configured to use keys for
    client certificates which may not contain
    Kerberos-specific extensions
  - pkinit interoperability fixes
  - krb5 now applies the correct file context to database
    lock files
  - krb5 servers no longer log everything twice by default
  - nss_ldap now configured with support for paged results
    extension
+ SELinux enablement of new NetworkManager and audit
  functionality
+ Improved Audit and Logging
  - TTY input audit support
  - Remote audit logging via unencrypted connection

* Windows Interoperability
+ Rebased samba from 3.0.28 to 3.0.32 which supports Windows
  Vista and 2008 and various fixes for DC functionality
  (interoperability with Citrix and Domain trusts)

* Kernel Improvements
+ New features include:
  - Added private futexes support
  - Added preempt-notifiers implementation
  - Included tracepoint/markers infrastructure
  - Added response oriented wake up behavior to scheduler
  - Fixed gettimeofday for HPET, PMTimer, TSC
  - Updated NMI infrastructure to latest
  - Enabled deep C states for idle efficiency for Intel's
    Tylersburg chipset
  - Added extend MCE banks support for Intel's Dunnington,
    Nehalem processors
  - Added ACPI tstate support (processor throttling control)
  - Added AMD IOMMU driver support
  - Enhanced Partition Statistics
  - Enabled CIFS' DFS support and update CIFS to latest
  - Updated Autofs4 to the latest
  - Increased stack size for ia32 application
  - Added kprobe-booster and return probe-booster support
  - Added PCI domain support
  - Added RAID 4/5/10 in dm-raid
+ Hardware support enhancements:
  - Drivers added:
      ath5k, hp-ilo, inet_lro, neic, niu, r8169, rt2x00,
      rtl818x, uvcvideo, virtio
  - Drivers updated:
      3w-9xxx, 3w-xxxx, aacraid, aic94xx, alsa, arcmsr, bcm43xx,
      bnx2, bnx2x, cciss, chelsio, cpufreq, cxgb3, e1000,
      e1000e, fusion, hpiolo, ibmvscsi, igb, ieee80211, ipw2x00,
      iwlwifi, ixgbe, lpfc, mac80211, megaraid_sas, mptscsi,
      myri10ge, netxen-nic, OpenIB, powernow_k8, qla2xxx,
      qla24xx, qla84xx, sata, sata_svw, tg3, zd1211rw

Technology Previews

Technology Preview features are included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux to provide the features with wide exposure with the goal of supporting these features in a future release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.  Technology Preview features are not supported under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 subscription services and may not be functionally complete.  Red Hat welcomes customer feedback and suggestions for Technology Previews.  Advisories will be provided for high-severity security issues in Technology Preview features.

The following Technology Preview features are new or enhanced in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 beta.  See the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 Release Notes for more information.

- AIGLX including X server and updated Mesa package
- Compiz composition manager
- dm-multipath install
- Dogtail gui
- Limited eCryptFS support
  + Add ecryptfs support to kernel
  + Add authentication in crypto library to kernel
- ext4 file system / e4fsprogs
- Firewire
- GCC 4.3
  + Compiler based on gcc 4.3
  + OpenMP3 conformance
- generic fcoe (potential TP)
- Indic languages: Assamese, Kannada, Sinhalese, Telugu
- iSCSI boot
- Kerberos security for CIFS
- kernel DFS support for CIFS
- ktune: a service that sets several kernel tuning parameters
  to values suitable for specific system profiles
- Support for 32-bit paravirtualized (PV) guests on
  64-bit AMD64/Intel(r) 64 hosts
- SystemTap utrace support for user space tracing
- Trusted Computing Group (TCG) / Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
  Support
  + Include the TCG stack
  + Include the Trousers TSS stack
  + Add trust computing/trust platform module in kernel and
    tpm-tools
  + boot-loader support will be considered for inclusion in a
    future release
- VMware ESX cluster fencing agent

GPL Version 3 Licensed Components

The following packages in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 are licensed under GNU General Public License Version 3 (GPLv3):

* gcc43-4.3.2-7.el5
* gcc43-c++-4.3.2-7.el5
* gcc43-gfortran-4.3.2-7.el5
* gdb-6.8-23.el5
* lftp-3.7.3-1.el5

With Google Earth for iPhone, you can:

• Tilt your iPhone to adjust your view to see mountainous terrain
• View the Panoramio layer and browse the millions of geo-located photos from around the world
• View geo-located Wikipedia articles
• Use the 'Location' feature to fly to your current location
• Search for cities, places and business around the globe with Google Local Search

Until now, the only option iPhone users had was EarthScape. But it's not as easy to use as Google Earth and it doesn't use Google's maps, so it doesn't have the same coverage.

Check it in  iTunes App Store. Also read the blog post on the Lat Long Blog.

This video will also help you get an idea:

The report, titled “Estimating the Total Development Cost of a Linux Distribution,” is available today.

This report is an update of a 2002 study done by David A. Wheeler that examined the Software Lines of Code (SLOC) present in a typical Linux distribution (Red Hat Linux 7.1). At that time, Wheeler found that it would cost over $1.2 billion to develop a Linux distribution by conventional proprietary means in the U.S.

The authors examined the Fedora 9 distribution using Wheeler’s tools and methods, specifically the SLOCCount tool that estimates value and effort of software development based on the COnstructive COst MOdel (COCOMO). The report goes into detail on the methods used, how they specifically apply to the Fedora distribution and the Linux kernel, and what an estimate of Linux’ value really means.

Highlights of the paper include:

– How Much Does a Full Distribution Cost?
Using 2008 salary figures, the tests published in the paper revealed that if developed today, the full set of Fedora 9 distribution packages would cost $10.8 billion. The Fedora 9 distribution contains 204.5 million lines of code in 5547 application packages. The development effort estimate comes close to 60,000 Person-Years.

– How Much Does the Linux Kernel Cost?
Applying this test to the Linux kernel included in Fedora 9 found the value to be 6.8 million lines of code worth $1.4 billion. The development effort estimate for the kernel alone exceeds 7500 Person-Years.

– How Does This Really Measure the Value of Linux?
This study reveals that collaborative development creates enormous economic value. In the past two years alone, over 3,200 developers from 200 companies have contributed to the kernel. An even larger number has contributed to full Linux distributions. Measuring the economic effort involved is imperfect, but this report clarifies why the methodology is the best approach and some of the limitations.

”This year has seen an incredible proliferation of Linux-powered devices outside of traditional Linux strongholds: devices powered by the Moblin platform, netbooks like the eeePC, mobile phones like the Gphone, and consumer devices like the Amazon Kindle. Would these products be possible without Linux?” said McPherson. “I think this points to the power of the collaborative development model. Monopolistic software companies used to be able to fund heavy R&D budgets, keeping out competition. Given the cost associated with building an OS like Linux, one wonders if proprietary companies will ever go it alone again.”

Amanda McPherson is vice president, marketing and developer programs, at the LF and leads its promotion, developer, and community-relations activities. Brian Proffitt is community manager with the LF, managing the Linux Developer Network. Ron Hale-Evans is senior specifications writer with the LF and works closely with the Linux Standard Base (LSB) developer team to create LSB specifications.

Beta 3 is now available for immediate download and testing. Major changes in this release include: live CDs for x86 and x86_64 GNOME and KDE; OpenOffice.org 3.0; Mono 2.0 Final; Linux 2.6.27.1 (fixes e1000e issue); parts of 11.1 branding are now in place; GNOME 2.24. Installing openSUSE 11.1 beta 3 on Mac OS X machines should work fine. KVM is broken in this release due to a kernel configuration change before beta 3. OpenOffice.org 3.0 integration continues and should be much better in this release.

Here is the full release announcement. Download: openSUSE-11.1-Beta3-KDE4-LiveCD-i386.iso (682MB, MD5, torrent), openSUSE-11.1-Beta3-GNOME-LiveCD-i386.iso (693MB, MD5, torrent). Full installation DVD images are only available via BitTorrent: openSUSE-11.1-Beta3-DVD-i386.iso (3,766MB), openSUSE-11.1-Beta3-DVD-x86_64.iso (3,952MB).

It uses KDE 3.5.10 as default desktop as the developers could not achieve a similar functionality from KDE 4. They will however offer KDE 4 as an alternative desktop environment available from the repository once they stabilize it.

Read the release announcement for more information and download links. Interested beta testers can get the CD image from here: PCLinuxOS-N1PTT-TR3.iso (651MB, MD5).