Software

IBM has revealed that it is considering a plan to support an open source software distribution known as Red Flag Linux from Beijing-based Red Flag Software as part of its long-term strategy in China. Red Flag would be the third Linux distribution supported by IBM and its approximately 300 software a...

Open source coders have developed a Firefox variant, Torpark, that allows users to go online without worrying about the government, Internet service providers or others tracking their Internet activity. Released by a self-described group of computer security experts and human rights workers that cal...

The technology that college students are going back to this year is increasingly connected to the open source Linux operating system, says Red Hat, which is highlighting the growing adoption of its open source software and network solutions at institutions of higher learning. Like large enterprises,...

Red Hat this week released its first JBoss product within a new open source stack that folds together Red Hat Linux, JBoss Application Server, JBoss Hibernate and either of two open source databases -- MySQL or PostgreSQL. The Red Hat Application Stack, available via subscription, is offered as an a...

New research by a pair of Harvard University academics suggests that Linux will never be able to displace Windows based on the simple economics of Microsoft's head start and its continuing ecosystem advantages. In a paper titled, "Dynamic Mixed Duopoly: A Model Motivated by Linux vs. Windows," Harv...

Leading Linux vendor Red Hat is developing a new software vulnerability database with the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The database will give vendors of both open source and proprietary software a place to post official statements and security related information pertaining to the...

One week after it issued a faulty update to its popular Linux distribution, the Ubuntu project is still the subject of scorn among users of its open source software. The Ubuntu update inadvertently broke users' interface functionality, forcing them into command line mode. Many downplayed the error, ...

Following last month's release of Lotus Notes collaboration software for Linux, IBM this week started supporting the open source platform on desktop and server computers with its enterprise instant messaging solution Lotus Sametime. Big Blue said the collaboration messaging solution would support in...

Virtualization -- the use of multiple instances of operating systems, applications, or other software running on single hardware devices -- comes in many different forms and flavors, but among the most often mentioned of late is XenSource and its open source Xen virtualization technology. While stil...

Linspire, a company that is aiming to develop a more mainstream version of Linux, has often taken heat for being less open with its software than other Linux distrubution providers. Now, the San Diego-based firm is inviting criticism again, this time by offering a free version of its Linux OS that i...

IBM has announced another contribution to the open source community: software technology that supports the exchange of healthcare information. The move is "a major step in the drive toward a national electronic medical records system," the company said. The software, donated to the Eclipse Foundatio...

In an effort to reach out to open source developers, Apple Computer this week said it will release buildable kernel source code for Intel-based Macs, beginning with code for Mac OS X, version 10.4.7. The firm previously released similar code for its PowerPC-based Macs. Apple quietly announced the o...

Virtualization continued to capture attention last week as open source system utilization software from OpenVZ won operating system-level support from Debian Linux. OpenVZ Project Manager Kir Kolyshkin told LinuxInsider the announcement was key for the open source project's larger objective of incor...

Linux leader Red Hat made clear this week its support for XenSource and its open source Xen virtualization technology, announcing plans to integrate the offering into the next major release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Despite speculation that Red Hat might be building its own virtualization technol...

It didn't take long for Novell to remark on how well its newest Linux operating system, Suse Linux Enterprise 10, is doing in the marketplace. The company on Monday touted interest in the new platform as well as positive reviews of it, just two weeks after its release. Novell claimed more than 165,0...