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Since Linux, Windows and Mac are effectively equal, why doesn't the "Free as in Beer" of Linux trump the $200 price tag of Windows like a free offer does in every other marketing situation? Because Windows Is Free. The impact of pirated software on free software, by Dave Gutteridge on August 15, 2007, is an excellent exploration of the marketing effects of pervasive software piracy.

LXer Feature: 17-Aug-2007

An interview with IBM's Vice President of Open Source and Standards about their Open Source Strategy, the recent pledge of its patents for more than 150 open software standards, his take on the ODF vs. XML issue, and much more in The LXer Interview of Bob Sutor.

We are excited to announce the release ofMirth 1.6! This is a significant upgrade which includes both critical bug fixes and new features. The functionality and stability of existing connectors has been improved to fully integrate with even more third-party systems. The user interface has also been enhanced to make channel development and maintenance even easier. Additionally, this release includes NCPDP support, real-time connection monitoring and plug-in functionality.

Unicon Systems, the developer of a Linux based platform of choice for mobile applications, has been awarded The LinuxWorld 2007 “Best of Show” Product Excellence Award.

Maybe you've heard of VMware. You know, EMC's baby, huge IPO, Bloomberg called it the hottest tech stock since Google in 2004, drove a member of our staff mad? Virtualization has clearly become an industry darling, and VMware controls 55 per cent of that market. This kind of monster success tends to paint a big ol' target on a company — and a volley of the slings and arrows that accompany outrageous fortune are already on the way.

Amarok 1.4.7 was released with improved collection backend, new streams, altered icon and bugfixes. *** The annual Desktoplinux.org Survey is under way. *** MEPIS released a KDE 4 Beta 1 live DVD using packages from Kubuntu. *** The videos from Lugradio Live are up including Ben Lambs' Conquering the Desktop with KDE 4. *** Finally, following the 10th anniversary of the free desktop last year, congratulations to another project which has gained double figures in age, but whatever did happen to those Scheme applets?

San Diego -- Mainframe programmers and sysadmins get more than just sales pitches and informational talks at SHARE this week -- they also get real-world training. I sat in on a number of educational sessions and hands-on labs at the conference, taught by engineers from IBM, Novell, and independent software vendors.

The first release candidate for Gimp 2.4 has been released. Among the many improvements in this upcoming version, new version of several of the most used tools and an improved interface with redesigned menus and new icons for tools.

After I wrote an article on optimizing disk performance, some readers commented that tweaking settings was just part of the job. They pointed out that you can get more speed if you also compile your kernel, adjusting it optimally for your specific hardware and needs. Compiling the kernel isn't the challenge it used to be; nowadays the process is streamlined, and you don't have to do much but pick your choices and key in some commands.

One month ago LINUX For You magazine made a call to the Linux/OSS community to send in questions it has for Linus Torvalds. We were overwhelmed by the amount of questions we recieved. It took us a whole night to sort out the best ones. The final setlist? 35 questions. We did not number them just so he doesn't get frightened by just that number. In fact, we had his answers within hours; makes me think we could have sent him a few more? Anyway, without furthur ado, here's Linus Torvalds: blunt, excellent and descriptive...

Once again, Linux Journal leads the way in idiotic, pointless misogyny. And they wonder why they have no women subscribers.

This article describes how to integrate DSPAM with embedded ClamAV into a mail server based on Postfix featuring virtual users and domains, i.e. users and domains that are in a MySQL database. DSPAM is a scalable and open-source content-based spam filter. The setup shown here is suitable for Debian Etch servers.

"I will predict that virtually every open-source company (including Red Hat) will eventually be acquired by a big proprietary software company.", Thus spake Tim O'Reilly in the comments to one of his other posts. In other words, why don't I just give up, sell out, and go home? I guess I would if I thought that Tim were right. He's not, not in this instance.

Sonos has integrated Sirius radio playback into its Linux-powered whole-house audio equipment. The commercial-free service can be trialed for 30 days by selecting a menu option on the Sonos Digital Music System's PDA-like controller (pictured at left), the company said. Sirius is best-known for its satellite radio product, which competed with XM Radio before the companies announced a merger earlier this year. However, Sirius also offers an Internet radio product.

The good part of *NIX-like systems is that some basic concepts are extremely well designed, starting with the filesystem philosophy and the security metaphor. Therefore, using Linux or BSD on your home desktop or on your laptop instead of Windows is not only a question of ideology or price — it's a matter of good taste. There are however a few places where something is under-optimal, not because GNU/Linux or *BSD are following "ancient *NIX principles", but simply because *NIX operating systems were designed in the times of the mainframes and minicomputers, where everything was a server, and usability issues like those raised by nowadays desktop/laptop computers were not considered.

Debian, one of my long time favorite Linux distributions turned 14 today. Without the Debian project there would be no Ubuntu. Debian was begun in August 1993 by Ian Murdock, as a new distribution which would be made openly, in the spirit of Linux and GNU. Debian is pronounced /ˈde.bi.ən/. It comes from the names of the creator of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra. Happy 14th birthday Debian!

This week on Open News The Axe Falls On SCO, Google Signs On To The OIN, and Peugeot Revs Up Linux Desktop Deployments.

In the aftermath of federal district judge Dale A. Kimball's recent ruling, which determined that Novell, not SCO, is the rightful owner of the UNIX copyrights, the once-mighty proprietary UNIX vendor is on the verge of annihilation. As SCO's grasp on survival weakens and the company braces itself for descent into financial oblivion, much can be learned by reflecting on the circumstances of the case. A close reading of the ruling provides fascinating insight into the details of SCO's battle and sheds light on the peculiar events through which SCO has branded itself with the bitter taint of infamy.

A clever group of whippersnappers have got the right idea when it comes to home entertainment, namely, LinuxMCE-based systems that don't break the bank but offer a pretty stacked feature set. Fiire, a company which manufactures and sells modular media boxes and remotes aimed at unifying your media center has a few items it'd like you to see. The whole shebang is based around the FiireEngine, a $799 box that acts as a central hub to your media world.

On April 1 this year, I wrote a spoof headlined "Ballmer joins Linux Foundation board." Considering the statements that were reported last week as emanating from the executive director of the same foundation, Jim Zemlin, I wonder if my tale will still be considered a spoof after a few years.