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Aria Systems provides applications that let companies perform automated billing services. Aria uses open source to deliver a product that costs its customers less than products built on proprietary software while providing them with secure, efficient, easy-to-use billing. CEO and founder Ed Sullivan says one factor that contributed to his idea for a better billing system came from his experience as a paying customer playing the popular Ultima Online game.

In this article, et acquainted with the major features of the CFS, see how it works, and look ahead to some of the expected changes for the 2.6.24 release.

As much as I know we need a project management system to build the Geek Ranch I will leave that discussion for another day. But, my current experience illustrates a case when project management software doesn't solve the problems. The first building we are going to construct is what I will call the Auxiliary Building. This is a 4 meter square building that will house a backup generator, batteries and inverter and act as storage for extra chairs and such when the main building is open. During construction, it will serve as a storage space for tools and equipment.

I knew that Wolvix Hunter 1.1.0 had Gslapt -- the graphical front end to the get-slapt package manager for Slackware -- but for some reason I had no idea that it would be useful for updates. But commenter Morten Juhl-Johansen Zölde-Fejér gently told me that Wolvix's get-slapt/Gslapt indeed points to a Slackware 11 mirror, as well as Wolvix's own repository. So I opened up Gslapt, updated and upgraded. I didn't add anything, so I can't vouch for get-slapt/Gslapt's ability to satisfy dependencies, but the upgrade went perfectly, and now I've got a fully up-to-date Wolvix distribution.

Free software (eventually) works better than proprietary software; why?

We reviewed the RAW photo editor LightZone almost a year ago, when the Linux version of the product was a closed source -- but free -- download. After months of updates only for the Mac OS X and Windows versions of the application, Light Crafts has released a new beta for Linux. It is a substantial improvement -- but it also marks the end of the road for the free edition.

I haven't linked to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of Desktoplinux.com in awhile, and he had a great opinion piece today about the $150 PCLinuxOS box and other cheap computer solutions called "How low can you go and still run Linux?" He does a good job of going through the distributions and recommending many low-spec software solutions for hardware of less than current vintage. He mentions many of my favorites, including Damn Small Linux, AntiX (which I haven't tried in awhile ...), Zenwalk, plus another I really should try: the PCLinuxOS "Mini-Me" spin.

If you're reading LinuxSecurity.com then it's a safe bet that you are already using SSH, but are you using it in the best way possible? Have you configured it to be as limited and secure as possible? The goal of this document is to kick in the new year with some best practices for SSH: why you should use them, how to set them up, and how to verify that they are in place.

DVD burners such as as K3b and GnomeBaker use standard commands for manipulating .ISO images, such as mkisofs. However, they give users only limited control over the resulting images beyond selecting their contents. Users cannot even save the image to an .ISO formatted file; instead the burners save in their own project formats. Fortunately, this functionality gap is bridged by ISO Master, a program that, despite a slightly awkward interface, is intuitive enough that most users can quickly learn its fundamentals without having to refer to online help. Only the adding of a boot record is likely to give average users any trouble.

This morning Christina Fullam states that it was decided just before Christmas to cancel the 2007.1 release and roll all the effort into Gentoo 2008.0 since there was little possibility of getting a well-tested 2007.1 release out before 2008.

Until recently, Linux PCs were about as easy to find in stores as a vinyl record. Now, personal computers with the Linux operating system pre-installed are becoming more readily available, thanks to new models from upstarts and established PC makers -- and disappointment with Microsoft's new Windows Vista OS. In just the past several weeks, a handful of new, low-cost systems have hit the market that are powered by Linux -- open source software first developed by Linus Torvalds and enhanced by enthusiast programmers around the world.

Lenovo has launched a range of laptops pre-installed with Novell's SuSE Linux operating system, which it announced in August last year. Originally marked for release in the fourth quarter of 2007, SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 is now available pre-installed on Lenovo's ThinkPad T61 and R61 models. The notebooks are aimed at typical business users, and are expected to be expanded as an option for some Intel Penryn-based ThinkPads in February.

PolishLinux.org has an unconventional review of SLAX 6.0 RC6 which focuses on exploring the nature of LiveCDs and the power of technologies like mounting devices, SquashFS and Union File System in regards to SLAX LiveCD distribution.

This document describes how to install a Postfix mail server that is based on virtual users and domains, i.e. users and domains that are in a MySQL database. I will also demonstrate the installation and configuration of Courier (Courier-POP3, Courier-IMAP), so that Courier can authenticate against the same MySQL database Postfix uses. The resulting Postfix server is capable of SMTP-AUTH and TLS and quota (quota is not built into Postfix by default, I will show how to patch your Postfix appropriately). Passwords are stored in encrypted form in the database (most documents I found were dealing with plain text passwords which is a security risk). In addition to that, this tutorial covers the installation of Amavisd, SpamAssassin and ClamAV so that emails will be scanned for spam and viruses.

Are you dazzled by the way you can drag Google Maps around or move from one place to another without having to reload the screen? Or maybe you're a fan of Gmail and its look and feel? If you want to develop Web sites with Google's signature user-friendly features but are afraid of the work involved, take a look at the Google Web Toolkit (GWT).

High-performance scalable servers add a new level of complexity to networking and system performance. In this article, learn how to optimize your high-performance Linux system as it uses system board gigabit Ethernet adapters from 1 to 4 nodes. Take a look at problematic networking scalability situations and get tips on how to avoid the pitfalls.

In the second of a three-part series, Alan Cox talks about community and the enterprise.

What follows is an idea that parents could use to focus their children's creativity in a solid way, promote teamwork and a healthy interest in Free Software. Read, think and comment

Red Hat, OpenBravo and the rest of the open source industry missed a huge opportunity this week to connect with eager technology customers in New York. Here's what went wrong, and why it's time for open source application providers to start targeting vertical markets.

StreamMyGame, a way to play PC games on across the internet on other devices, is now coming to Linux. Perhaps this is the best way to play Windows games without using Windows, except that you still have to have a Windows PC.