Does desktop Linux matter?
I have a lot of great correspondents in our TalkBack section. Among the best, and most persistent, is Cho Ok-Hyeong.
Linux and Open Source
The latest news and views on all things Linux and open source by seasoned Unix and Linux user Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka sjvn, has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting edge PC operating system. SJVN covers networking, Linux, open source, and operating systems.
Paula Rooney
Paula Rooney is a Boston-based writer who has followed the tech industry for more than two decades.
Latest Posts
Branding mobile Linux
Following up on last week's announcement with Samsung, Montavista Software has begun banging the drum for a brand -- Mobilinux.They are not calling it that.
Linux mobile reference design
Samsung has led a consortium to production of a reference design for a Linux-based broadband mobile phone. It's designed for UMTS/Edge networks and features a Samsung processor, an Infineon modem chip, and the Montavista Linux kernel.
Bruce Perens on Carly's ouster
It seems that everybody is talking about Carly Fiorina's rapid departure from HP. We should all be so lucky as to get the velvet boot from a company with a final paycheck of $21.
Open source threat to Windows
I have written a lot over the last few days about open source Windows applications.But there is a more general open source threat to Windows.
How good are the open source Windows apps?
How good are common open source Windows applications, like Firefox, Thunderbird, and the newest, Sunbird (calendaring)?Based on the feedback at Mozilla itself Firefox is OK (I use it for most applications), but Thunderbird still has some migration problems and according to a story in ZDNet UK yesterday Sunbird isn't ready for prime time.
Misconceptions about Samba, and interoperability
Andrew Tridgell clears up a few misconceptions about Samba over on Groklaw. Samba, in case you aren't familiar with the project, provides print and file services to SMB/CIFS clients.
The fork in Linux' road
Today Matt Broersma at ZDNet UK offers some real wisdom on how the Free Standards Group (FSG) is fighting Microsoft's latest charge against Linux, the possibility of forking. The Microsoft charge that Linux "has the potential to fragment like Unix did" resonates with many enterprise customers.
What if?
What if Microsoft's David Weise had not created the "protected mode" that let Windows programs blow past the 640K memory barrier back in the late 1980s?Larry Osterman suggests that OS/2 would have dominated Windows, that IBM would have dominated that ecosystem, and thus the Linux boom might never have happened.