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If all you do with PDF files is view them, you have very little need for an application the likes of PDF Shuffler. But if you find yourself in desperate need of a tool to let you slice and dice one or more PDF files, then this little app may well be one of the best computing tools you will use on yo...

Mobile device developers are in a holding pattern with plans to plug in the much-awaited Google Android 3.0 upgrade. The delay is causing some bad feelings in the FOSS community. But it is unlikely that Google will carry many scars from the dispute. Claiming it needs more time to solve technical gli...

There are a lot of misconceptions about open source software among legal, procurement and compliance officers. "Open source" is often equated with "loss of control" by the legal compliance or procurement department, and restrictions on its use may be imposed without a real program in place. When th...

Sometimes the number of choices the Linux operating system provides can be overwhelming. I am starting to look at other options for my preferred desktop environment as GNOME 3 and KDE 4 go in directions that might be unsettling to my computing routine. One obscure yet interesting replacement candida...

Groklaw will stop publishing new articles May 16 -- exactly eight years to the day after it was launched. This is because its reason for existence is gone, according to founder Pamela Jones. "In a simple sentence, the reason is this: The crisis SCO initiated over Linux is over, and Linux won," Jones...

Occasionally listening to music files or watching videos with lightweight media apps the likes of Gzine, Alsaplayer or Gnome Player is fine if you are not ultra demanding of your listening environment. If you do not fall into that category, Banshee is a much better multimedia option. The Banshee M...

It appears that Sony is definitely planning to join the tablet wars: Its CEO Howard Stringer told the Nikkei newspaper that the company was planning to deliver a Honeycomb-based tablet no later than the end of the year, and possibly, according to some versions of his comments, as soon as this summer...

Having multiple choices of desktop environments is one of the Linux OS's strong points -- as well as its potential nemesis. This lack of a uniform desktop strategy means confusion for Linux newcomers and frustration for seasoned users. For example, the two most used desktop environments are GNOME an...

When Nokia and Microsoft announced a partnership last month, many systems and app developers interpreted the deal to mean Nokia was beginning to turn away QT Symbian and MeeGo platforms. In essence, Nokia would be dialing into Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 technology in the near future -- and, it was ...

Red Hat has by all measures hit the big time, providing validation of the open source business model that even the harshest critics will have a hard time brushing aside. In its fourth quarter, Red Hat's revenue reached $245 million, up 25 percent from last year. The Linux distribution vendor's fou...

Sometimes FOSS can be a confusing source of programs to feed my Linux passion. I confronted that confusion the last few weeks while settling into a preferred Alarm Clock app for my GNOME desktop. I found what I thought was a perfect solution for my need of a do-it-all alarm tool for my computers. A...

Its logo depicting a wily flame-colored fox encircling the globe suggests that nonprofit Mozilla aims to set the world on fire with every new version of its free, open source Web browser Firefox, released in its fourth incarnation Tuesday. Available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android and Maemo, F...

Adobe announced Monday that its Flash Player 10.2 update is now available on Android Market. The update's a production release for Android 2.2 and 2.3 but an initial beta release for Android 3.0.1. That news may impact the Motorola Xoom, as it runs Android 3.0 aka "Honeycomb." Android 3.0.1 is Honey...

The browser in Google's Android mobile operating system is more than 50 percent faster than the browser found in Apple's iOS, according to company Blaze.io. Blaze tested the embedded browsers in Android 2.3 and iOS 4.3. These were WebView and UIWebView, respectively. The tests were conducted agains...

Operating a small business or home office is always fraught with tasks based on creating and maintaining office documents. Often, entrepreneurs are stuck using different apps to handle each phase of record-keeping and pricing business proposals for each customer. Why stretch those tasks over multipl...