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I am an avid user of open source software and a firm believer in the benefits of FOSS. I have a choice of operating systems at my disposal, but I now cringe whenever I have to work in the Microsoft world. I much prefer the vast array of Linux apps. Why? They are bloat-free problem solvers. Take, for...

Chinese-language consumers unwilling or unable to pay the cost of a legitimate copy of Microsoft's Windows XP now have a new alternative: a clone of the operating system that's based on Ubuntu. Dubbed "Ylmf OS," the software is available from Rain Forest Wind Guangdong Computer Technology as a free ...

Mark Shuttleworth, founder and CEO of Ubuntu commercial sponsor Canonical, announced on Thursday that he is stepping aside to develop cloud products and begin new partnerships. He named Chief Operating Officer Jane Silber to take his place as CEO of Canonical. The change in management will begin imm...

Canonical's Ubuntu 9.10, otherwise known as "Karmic Koala," could be for the Linux community what the recently released Windows 7 OS from Microsoft is to the Windows world. Of course, this latest release that replaced Ubuntu 9.04 did not have as much to do in bettering its predecessor as did Window...

IBM and Canonical have launched a Microsoft-free desktop software suite for U.S. companies, claiming the package will offer substantial cost reductions compared to a Windows 7 migration. The IBM Client for Smart Work package was launched late last month in Africa as part of the company's "Microsoft-...

Freescale Semiconductor has launched a new low-cost processor, the i.MX515, that's designed to power what Freescale hopes will be new lines of Linux-based netbooks retailing for less than $200. There are lots of interesting angles to Freescale's efforts -- the lower price point, the technology behi...

Given the many options out there, someone in the market for a portable computer may have a hard time deciding whether to go with an ultra-small netbook or a small-but-not-THAT-small notebook computer. If you want a netbook, you've got another choice ahead of you: Would you like that with Linux or Wi...

Just a few more days. Yes, the U.S. presidential election is a mere week away, but there's another countdown going on. Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition, the Intrepid Ibex release, is set to go live on Thursday. The beta has excited both users and potential users of the popular distro because of its rich ...

Canonical, the commercial sponsor of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, is now a member of the Linux Foundation. The foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting the accelerated growth of Linux, announced Canonical's membership on Tuesday. Ubuntu community members have been active participants in a v...

IBM fired the opening salvo at this year's LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, and to the surprise of no one, it was aimed squarely at Microsoft. Sure, it was the low-hanging fruit -- Microsoft's an easy target. It's kind of like taking pot shots at John McCain at an Obama fund-raiser. But here, the amm...

Technology moves at a lightning-fast pace. A brand new desktop computer has an average lifespan of two to five years, after which both its hardware and its software have become obsolete. For businesses and other organizations, this poses a significant challenge as they attempt to keep their IT purch...

Months of eager anticipation came to an end Thursday with the long-awaited release of Ubuntu Hardy Heron. Both desktop and server editions of Ubuntu 8.04 were released as free downloads, and both are Long Term Support releases, meaning that they come with commercial support for five years on the ser...

Sun Microsystems, one of the largest server makers, announced that it would increase the number of products certified for use with Ubuntu Linux, one of the fastest growing open source operating systems. The upcoming expansion -- which is expected to be detailed in the coming days -- is the latest de...

After three days of attacks by leading hackers, a laptop running Ubuntu remained untouched while two others, running Mac OS X and Windows Vista Service Pack 1, succumbed. The attacks were launched at the CanSecWest PWN 2 OWN contest in Vancouver, Canada. This was sponsored by security firm TippingPo...

The Ubuntu developer community moved its long-awaited upgrade, Hardy Heron, into beta release on Friday. Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system designed for general consumers. The development of the OS, first released in 2004, has been sponsored by Isle of Man-based Canonical and the company's own...

The career path to the software industry used to be cut and dry. Coders had a choice of either developing projects as part of a remotely dispersed community or punching a clock as a slave to a commercial software house. The former usually meant being considered a player in the software bush league.

Certifying Linux technicians is a developing trend. The Linux OS is growing up. This is pushing many computer engineers and IT professionals to prove their skills as programmers and systems administrators. While not quite a common job requirement yet, some employers and high-level software developer...

Given that Google and the Open Handset Alliance released the Android software development kit this week, you might think that would have been the hottest topic of conversation on the Linux blogs in the ensuing days. There was a great deal of discussion about it, to be sure -- but it was still oversh...

It's been a contentious few weeks on the Linux blogs, what with the big Microsoft news on Monday as well as a few key product happenings and subsequent evaluation. The release of Canonical's Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon on Oct. 18 has been a particularly hot topic. Included in the release, which replace...

The Linux-based mobile device marketplace is growing and thriving, and Nokia is but one beneficiary, though a strong one indeed. As a sign of the times, Nokia's Thursday launch of the "Internet Tablet" device N810 represents a move away from phones and into new opportunities in mobile devices where ...