Archive

Server virtualization technologies for Linux have advanced at a rapid pace of innovation with VMware and Citrix initially leading the way. They are now being joined by significant strategic investments by Red Hat. Unfortunately, the storage side of the equation has lagged behind. Several trends, suc...

Open source software is poised for rapid growth in enterprises over the next 12 months, but cost is no longer the primary driver behind open source adoption. That's according to a new study from global consultancy Accenture, which based its findings on interviews with 300 executives at organizations...

I have a problem with Linux! It has too many cool ways to navigate the desktop and launch programs. I fell in love with the really awesome GNOME Do recently and started a feud with my other computing personas. One relishes the panel, and another is enamored with the desktop draped in icons of my alw...

Discussions, theses, theories and memes abound around Linux's inability to gain traction in the desktop marketplace. Some think the Linux Desktop is too hard to learn. Others say Linux Desktop is deficient. Linux elite say Linux wasn't really meant for the general users anyway. Microsoft says Lin...

The drawback with using most note-taking applications on any platform is that they are limited in the type of data you can put into them. For instance, simple text editors ignore Internet and content links. Plus, you cannot import graphics. Even word-processing programs, which overcome the links and...

By now, you should at least be passingly familiar with Python. One of the fastest-growing languages, Python has been gaining popularity for years and has reached a level of maturity that makes it a top choice for enterprise development. Companies from Microsoft to Google have embraced Python and are...

Google has begun rolling out Android 2.2 in over-the-air updates to owners of its Nexus One smartphone. Android 2.2, also known as "Froyo," has several new features, including a few that target the business market. Updates for other Android smartphones will have to wait until their customized interf...

Dell reportedly is talking with Google about the possibility of using the search giant's Chrome OS on its laptop computers. Dell wants to be a "leader" when it comes to implementing Chrome and Android, said Amit Midha, Dell's president for Greater China and South Asia, who confirmed that talks betwe...

It's hard to imagine a topic more central to the argument for or against free and open source software than security. Hardly a day goes by without news of some fresh exploit in the Windows environment, after all -- but what about Linux and other open software? Can they do better? That's essentially ...

The question of security is one that has plagued proponents of proprietary and open source software alike for as long as there has been a choice. Is free and open source software more secure by virtue of all the many pairs of eyes that can see the code, identify vulnerabilities and fix them? Or is "...

Note to those avoiding Linux: Yes, you can do desktop publishing. You can do it with Scribus. One of the most frequently recurring comments I hear about why somebody -- especially in a small-business environment -- will not migrate to Linux is the alleged absence of a desktop publishing application...

It's difficult to talk about the Gxine multimedia player as a separate app from Xine. Both do pretty much the same tasks -- let you watch videos and listen to audio files. Both of these apps hale from the same Linux library of codecs and other gutsy stuff, Xine-lib. The key difference between these ...

Google on Thursday took the wraps off "Froyo," the next version of Android that's been bolstered with new speed, tethering capabilities and Flash support. Announced at Google I/O, version 2.2 of Android -- the seventh platform release since it was launched in 2008 -- includes a raft of new features ...

Google is planning to open an app store for its Chrome browser to make it easier both for users to discover Web applications and for developers to reach a large potential audience. Chrome users who find apps in the Chrome Web Store will be able to create shortcuts in Chrome for easy access, Google s...

Google on Thursday announced WebM, a royalty-free media file format for online video. With WebM, Google has thrown the gauntlet to H.264, the codec backed by rivals Apple and Microsoft, among others. Buried within the new format's FAQ was news about another Google project: Android. The next iteratio...