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I can honestly say without reservation that the GNOME Mobile & Embedded Initiative (GMAE) is a novel idea, and I certainly support the hard work that has gone behind bringing GNOME to the mobile world. However, I can't help but feel like the desktop Linux world will likely be left out in the cold as their embedded siblings continue to embrace the Microsoft desktop platform. Will this initiative be enough to get developers to finally offer desktop Linux users the options for keeping their data in sync without hours of command line and config file editing? To date, I remain unaware of any successful, user-friendly instances where embedded Linux has given the time of day with regard to easy “syncability” to desktop Linux. Sure, there are a number of hacks, workarounds and other such solutions, but it’s not a simple solution. It just goes to show just how sad this whole thing really is.

This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions about how to install the free VMware Server (version 1.0.2) on a Debian Etch system. With VMware Server you can create and run guest operating systems (virtual machines) such as Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, etc. under a host operating system. This has the benefit that you can run multiple operating systems on the same hardware which saves a lot of money, and you can move virtual machines from one VMware Server to the next one (or to a system that has the VMware Player which is also free). In this article we use Debian Etch (4.0) as the host operating system.

Microsoft's announcement last week that it will sell a $3 software bundle to students in developing countries is a positive move that won’t hurt the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) effort, according to Michael Evans of the non-profit group’s board.

Wireless networking on Linux is entering a new era. An era of bliss and ease; where users and network administrators have abundant time for relaxing lie-abouts on sunny warm hills because their wireless systems are humming along contentedly, instead of being vexing and unreliable.

MontaVista Software has bought two UK-based companies, MontaVista Limited and Liberte, in a move that strengthens its ability to meet exploding demand in Europe for commercial Linux products and services.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers say building robots doesn't have to be rocket science. They've unveiled a set of recipes for building Internet-controlled robots with off-the-shelf parts. The Telepresence Robot Kit (TeRK) features one key piece of Linux-based hardware called a Qwerk controller, but otherwise calls on would-be robot builders to use off-the-shelf parts.

Sean Moss Pultz updated us on the status of the OpenMoko and Neo1973. Looks like things are going well. Here is the announcement.

This latest update to the Linux kernel features improvements to virtualisation, power management and sound support.

A few weeks ago, MEPIS released SimplyMEPIS 6.5. The latest version of the Ubuntu-based desktop distribution offers a number of interesting new features, including a 64-bit release and Beryl for 3-D desktop effects. After spending a fair amount of time with the release, I found it to be a worthy update to earlier versions of MEPIS.

Adobe today announced plans to release source code for Adobe Flex as open source, giving developers the opportunity to enhance this framework for delivering rich Internet applications.

A few days ago first KDE4 CD images presenting the current development version of KDE4 have been published in the Internet. Nobody should expect that this version is close to the final product. As the SVN code being intensively and continuously developed, no wonder it’s neither stable, usable nor it contains all the features planned for the final release due in late 2007. This review should be then treated as a pure experiment, “a glance” at the current status of KDE4 development.

Dissatisfied with their existing smartcard setup, a group of Japanese fanboys rigged up their, um, FreeBSD door controller (doorputer?) to accept Bluetooth input from Wiimotes. We see only two problems with this setup: first, it's far less secure than, you know, keys; and second, everyone knows Linux runs a doorputer like, so much better than BSD.

I have been a TiVo owner since almost day one; seven years with a Series 1 box. But TiVo's elimination of lifetime subscriptions has made me plan on migrating to a do-it-yourself DVR, probably running MythTV. As I spec out hardware, I am increasingly frustrated at the paucity of PCI slots bestowed on us by motherboard makers today. I want good sound, good NTSC, FM, and HDTV, and hopefully multiple tuners, but there is scarcely a mobo in sight that has that much room in the interior. However, I found an alternative in Silicondust's HDHomeRun, a standalone, dual-tuner HDTV receiver that streams video over the network, and supports Linux right out of the box.

Hammer Storage, a division of Bell Microproducts, used embedded Linux as the software platform in its flagship consumer network-attached storage (NAS) device. The "MyShare" NAS appliance runs Linux on an ARM9-based Marvell processor, and has two internal SATA II drives, for capacities up to 2 terabytes.

If most of the Linux distributions derive from either Slackware or Debian, why not just go to the source? Slackware looks way too hard to figure out, but Debian, which just released version 4.0, offers a net-install ISO -- and I've always wanted to install a distro over the Internet -- so I burned the CD this morning and am currently installing a Debian system over the Internet.

Today we talk with the author of the K3b Project, the well known application that lets you burn CDs/DVDs and that lets you rip music from CD audio and films from DVD Video. We are going to talk with Sebastian about his story: when he started using KDE, when he started to create K3b and to talk about his plans in KDE 4 with a new KDE 4 project. This interview was originally released for KDE Italia.

OpenOffice.org and business intelligence software maker Pentaho on April 20 announced a deal to include the latter's open source reporting engine in OpenOffice.org's next feature release. "Report Designer" will serve as an extension to the free office suite's database application, "Base."

It's important to consider how the best use Ajax features along with Dynamic HTML (DHTML) to create a compelling user experience.

IBM has announced the availability of an open beta version of its virtual Linux environment to enable x86 Linux applications to run without modification on POWER processor-based IBM System p servers. Designed to reduce power, cooling and space by consolidating x86 Linux workloads on System p servers, it will eventually be released as the roles off the tongue ‘IBM System p Application Virtual Environment (System p AVE).’

If the Linux community is going to get the respect it deserves it is going to have to do something like this sooner or later to stand up and demand the attention of the marketplace. I believe people will be speaking about this project for years to come, either because of the strong solidarity and support it got from the community or the indifference and divisiveness it displayed.