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The "Podzilla" open source application suite was ported to a relatively inexpensive line of flash-based mp3 players. Originally developed by the iPod Linux project, the software now runs on SanDisk's $100-$150 Sansa e200 devices, reports Sebastian Duell, chief SansaLinux project developer.

How do you herd cats? Well, as the famous EDS commercial shows, it isn't easy. In a sense, that's what the Linux Foundation, the nonprofit pro-Linux organization, will be doing this week at the invitation-only LF Collaboration Summit at the University of Texas Super Computing Center here. Linux, as anyone who follows it knows, is the result of the efforts of hundreds of developers, and it serves the needs of at least as many companies and--thanks to its role in leading Web sites such as Google and its popularity with Web-hosting companies--hundreds of millions of users.

Yes, as you see the market of low-cost laptops is very hot. Today we are learning about a new low-cost laptop from Netherlands. Van Der Led Jisus laptop comes with 8.9" display means that it want to compete with the second generation of Eee PC ( Eee PC 900) or second-gen of CloudBook ( CloudBook Max) or Wind PC ,…. This laptop will be available for purchase from May 25th 2008.

It's just a rumor, though it's likely spot-on given DigiTimes' past success with its well placed ASUS source(s). Apparently, ASUS is looking to get a jump on HP's new Mini-Note and that upcoming ultra-portable from Acer by launching its second generation 8.9-inch Eee PC early. As such, they'll have to forgo Intel's new Atom processor (shipping in June) and slap in an older-generation dual-core ULV instead.

I must confess to a certain disappointment with Red Hat. On the one hand, it is clearly the leader of the open source world – both historically and in terms of its size. On the other, it is remarkable for the low profile it keeps: it is striking, for example, how much more influence Canonical's Mark Shuttleworth seems to command, even though his company is a tiddler by comparison to Red Hat's whale shark.

Python has not been a language that has been front and center all that much (though it is mature and enterprise ready as I noted in a recent story). Python's position changes today with the official launch of Google's App Engine.

PC vendor Everex and gOS (Good OS), the Linux distribution based around Google applications, is taking the next step in online-based computing by introducing a limited edition MySpace PC. The companies hope that the white-cased, two-pound MyMiniPC will attract what Everex officials claim is some of the more than 100 million MySpace users. As such, it's the first PC, using any operating system, designed expressly to use with a social network.

IDC analyst Al Gillen, who is giving the opening keynote at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit kicking off today in Austin, Texas, is expected to cite figures from an IDC white paper entitled "The Role of Linux Servers in Commercial Workloads" that show that Linux has done well and proved itself in the enterprise, and is expected to continue that trend through 2011.

Today, Red Hat took a public stand challenging the standards for patenting software. In the Biliski case that is now before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, this patent issue is ripe for consideration. In a friend of the court brief submitted to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in the Bilski case today, Red Hat describes the special problems that patents pose for open source and seeks modification of the standards for patentable subject matter that take open source into account. Here is a quick summary of our brief.

9000 computers in Swiss schools have been dual-booting Windows and and Ubuntu for some time now in anticipation of guidelines from the Switzerland’s Department of Public Instruction, whose motto is “Long Live Free Software.” The Tribune de Geneve featured a story on Friday about the elimination of dual boot capabilities in all of these machines and a migration exclusively to Linux (the original story is available here in French or here in English courtesy of Google’s language tools). Beginning this September, all 9000 computers will run only Ubuntu and free and open source software. While officials are happy to be saving money on licensing, the Department of Public instruction largely made the move out of what they considered best practices for student education

The brazilian Election Supreme Court announced at April 4th 2008, that the 2008 elections at Brazil will use GNU / Linux electronic voting machines with software digital authentication. The Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (the brazilian Election Supreme Court), officially announced on April 4th, 2008, that the brazilian 2008 elections will use 430 thousand electronic voting machines migrated from VirtuOS and Windows CE to GNU / Linux and open source softwares for security and auditing defined by proper law.

Software giant Microsoft has said in an interview that allegations that it had improperly influenced the vote on OOXML as an ISO standard were unfounded and arose mostly from individuals and companies unhappy with the vote’s result. “People who didn’t like the outcome are attacking the outcome,” said Tom Robertson, Microsoft’s general manager for interoperability and standards, in an interview Friday. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) last week anounced that its members had voted in favour of approving OOXML as a new document format standard.

The VAR Guy is pretty bullish on Ubuntu Linux, the operating system that is quickly leaping from PCs onto servers and mobile Internet devices. But he's also starting to wonder if Google Android -- rather than Ubuntu -- will be the open source platform of choice for mobile Internet devices (MIDs). Here's some speculation.

Oracle is sifting through millions of lines of code in BEA Systems WebLogic and AquaLogic, to check that products are, as claimed free of unwanted open source licenses. The database giant is making sure here's no code licensed under GPL and LGPL that can be downloaded with BEA's middleware. GPL and LGPL are viewed by the companies as “viral” - a contentious term that critics say is a misunderstanding of the licenses - and therefore potentially damaging to BEA's licensing-based revenue.

If you haven’t yet started using Firefox 3 beta 5, the last of the betas before final release, then you’re missing out. Firefox3b5 is quick, very quick, lean and much better to use than Firefox 2. Firefox 3 is also neatly integrated into Mac, Windows and Linux desktops and uses native icons and themes. Javascript has also been siginficantly improved in Firefox3b5 making it noticeably quicker using online apps such as Google Mail and others. If you are already using a Firefox 3 beta then the one thing that is a frustration is that most of your popular extensions will claim to not be compatible with the latest release. In most cases it is simply that developers haven’t yet made their extensions compatible with Firefox3b5. But this doesn’t mean that most of them wont work.

Under its Open Source Collaborative Innovation (OSCI) initiative--what Red Hat refers to as an effort to encourage open source software deployment--the open source vendor launched four programs in Singapore, with three of those focused on institutes of higher learning here. Expanding the Red Hat Academy, Red Hat recruited three new partners: the Asia Pacific College of the Philippines, Singapore Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). Under OSCI, Red Hat also set up a training center at Singapore Polytechnic. The third program is about setting up a facility at ITE College's East campusand the fourth program involves Red Hat working with six local software vendors to integrate their applications with Red Hat's OS.

While KDE users get to boss KIO slaves for easier access to system and network resources, humble GNOME users can perform similar feats with its virtual file system, called GnomeVFS, which is an extension of the physical filesystem on a disk. Using GnomeVFS, users can work with non-local data that can come from unusual places, such as within compressed gzip archives.

Bill Gibson, CIO of the Australian Tax Office, talks to ZDNet Australia about why he doesn’t completely trust open source software; how the ATO handles security and why competing vendors will have to learn to work together. He also discusses new collaboration technologies he’s exploring within his organization, such as instant messaging and video conferencing.

The Linux Driver Project (LDP) is alive and well, with over 300 developers wanting to participate, many drivers already written and accepted into the Linux kernel tree, and many more being currently developed. The main problem is a lack of projects. It turns out that there really isn't much hardware that Linux doesn't already support. Almost all new hardware produced is coming with a Linux driver already written by the company, or by the community with help from the company.

Though I have my doubts, PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) may be on the same track towards open hardware we are seeing in some computer components and devices. Be warned, however, the effort is grounded in marketing and survival instincts that just might not suffice to become a success. Although use of open source is established for use in PHEV, the same cannot be said of the hardware components. The reader must recognize what is quoted below is mainly a self interested party pushing a marketing scheme. I would hope it works, however, I have good reasons for skepticism. Moreover, it was the individual, engineering types that created and posted the how-to instructions and schematics.