Software

Canonical has released version 10.10 of the Ubuntu Linux operating system, code-named "Maverick Meerkat." This will be supported for 18 months on desktops, notebooks, netbooks and servers. It's available in 37 languages. With Ubuntu 10.10, Canonical has begun focusing on consumers and mobile devices...

One of the hallmarks of using the Linux operating system is the ability to choose. The choices do not end with opting not to use Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X and instead choosing from among dozens of Linux distros. You also get the freedom to decide which individual software tools and applications ...

One of the best productivity tools I had when I used Microsoft Windows was a collection of portable applications. I missed those tools when I migrated to Linux. Now several open source projects could make portable apps available to mainstream Linux users. Three websites are trying to create that fun...

Typically, we use computers to help us track our information and organize our data. Most everything else involves the computer functions related to accessing and processing all that information. Often, we use software apps to handle our journals, wikis and to-do lists. Putting all three of those fun...

As spectators crowded in to see keynote speeches Monday at Oracle's OpenWorld 2010, the question on everyone's lips was: What's Mark Hurd going to say? The recently ousted HP CEO was hired by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison shortly after Hurd left HP amid a scandal involving a female contractor and fudged ...

The team that created Diaspora, the open source social network launched earlier this year to take on Facebook, released their source code on Thursday, as promised. "This is now a community project, and development is open to anyone with the technical expertise who shares the vision of a social netwo...

Audacity, an open source multitrack audio editor, has versions for Linux/Unix, MacOS and Windows. If all you do with audio files is play them, then Audacity could be much more than you need. This is not an application for organizing your music collection. It has no fancy search and play functions. S...

For over a decade, Linux watchers have predicted that one day the open source operating system will become the dominant player -- and yet that day never seems to arrive. Already, of course, Linux has a very healthy share of the server market and a growing place on the desktop, but it's the rise of I...

Have you run a virus scan lately? Nope? Don't need to, you say. That's because you run a Linux OS. Think again. To quote the title line of Bob Dylan's third studio album, "the times they are a-changin.'" Yes they are. And part of that change is the greater risk of malware attacks to the Linux operat...

In my dumber days when I ran Microsoft Windows, I was more concerned with backup programs. After I moved into the Linux desktop, I became much less paranoid about system failures. The Linux environment just never crashed. That does not mean that I never make backup copies of my critical data files.

Corporate America is playing a cruel joke on Linux desktop. Businesses benefit from free Linux, improving their bottom line on the shoulders of Linux -- all the while ignoring (and damaging I think) the Linux desktop. Linux servers toil in back rooms bringing big bucks to companies smart enough to u...

Today, if you're in need of a task manager application, you're looking at a category filled -- perhaps even overfilled -- with options. If you carry a smartphone, you probably have a to-do list app in your pocket already. Gone are the days when Linux users had to panic over finding a suitable clone ...

The world of open source software has ample choices for editing and manipulating audio and video media files. But when you just want put your feet up and relax, fewer really ideal options are available. One solid choice is the Gxine is a media player. The VLC Media Player is a cross-platform media p...

My newfound favorite computing app is the desktop dock. Over the last few weeks, I freed myself of dependence on the desktop icon to find and launch the programs I use every day. My search for the ideal docking app came to a halt with Avant Window Navigator, also known as "AWN." I was ready to settl...

A new group announced Tuesday aims to create a community-built and -maintained version of Oracle's OpenSolaris operating system in which all portions of the code are open and fully available for use by developers. Called "Illumos," the new project will replace the closed portions of Oracle's OpenSol...