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I have accounts on a number of Linux machines that I ssh into from my MacBook, using Terminal. On some -- but not all -- of them, I've found that if I run screen after connection, the backspace key is interpreted as a delete (giving an error if the cursor is at the end of the line), and I have to use Ctrl-H to backspace. After poking around a little online, I found several possible ways to fix this.

The Linux Foundation, the non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting Linux, has announced that digital office solutions specialist Ricoh has become its newest corporate member. Ricoh, best known for its multi-function printing products and digital cameras, says that it hopes to further advance Linux, while developing "more user-friendly devices and useful services for Linux users." Tetsuya Morita, general manager of GW Development Center at the MFP Business Group in Ricoh, said that, “Our Linux Foundation membership is a natural extension of our support for Linux and demonstrates for our customers our commitment to the platform”.

The Ben NanoNote keyboard has improved sensitivity in comparison to many other netbooks. The keys are not only more sturdy, but also reside under a protective clear plastic surface, which helps avoid wear and tear. Additionally, the lid's rigid hinges resist wobbling and the lid itself (which could be a bit heavy, as the device often tips backward) has a small clasp to store it securely. The mini-USB port has a decent rubber covering and the bottom of the device has some convenient, small rubber pads. The labels for the MicroSD port, mini-USB port and reset button are etched recessed in the case. In fact, the only noticeable flaw in our test model had a second Delete key in place of the Enter key, though the Enter function itself worked as intended.

Last year about this time we reviewed the VIA ARTiGO A2000 and found it to be a great hardware complement to the FreeNAS distribution. This time around we take a look at the latest incarnation of the small server box from VIA named the M'Serv S2100. We had to look pretty close to see the differences in the two from the outside. On the front panel they're virtually identical with the exception of one LED. On the back panel the two audio ports have been replaced with a second Ethernet port.

The Bisigi project includes 13 amazing Gnome themes for Ubuntu which comes with a PPA repository for easy installation. Today, these beautiful themes got a new testing Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx PPA (not the same as the main PPA) and the themes will probably be moved to the main PPA repository once the developers are sure there are no bugs in this transition.

IDC has offered to charge $500 to tell you what's commonly felt in the Valley: Java faces a potentially better future under Oracle than under Sun Microsystems. You can pay for the report here or read extracted highlights from entrepreneur and Cnet blogger Dave Rosenberg here. In short: Oracle's software business is so dependent on Java and so important to Oracle, compared to Sun Microsystems' old software business to it, that Oracle needs to keep Java open and cannot afford to alienate a community that keeps the platform and language alive and modern.

Call it a small but strategic step in the right direction. Following in the footsteps of Red Hat and Novell, the folks at Canonical are positioning Ubuntu for use by Wall Street firms. Some details about the effort could surface on April 19, during the HPC (High Performance Computing) Linux Financial Markets conference in New York. Here are some details.

Puredyne provides the best experimental creative applications alongside a solid set of graphic, audio and video tools in a fast, minimal package. For everything from sound art to innovative filmmaking.

Amarok was my favorite among Linux media players, until Amarok 2.0 series started coming in. I totally understand that Amarok 2.0 series is a complete rewrite and I really appreciate the effort they have put on upgrading Amarok. But the bottom line is, Amarok 2.0 series is not there yet.

Just a year ago -- April 21, 2009 to be exact -- I installed a Linux distribution. I installed it from a DVD of Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex, that came with an issue of Linux Pro magazine I bought from a news stand, and I put it on a hand-me-down eMachine with 384MB RAM (the other 128MB being dedicated graphics). It was the first time I had ever installed an operating system. In fact, it was the first time I had ever installed anything at all, anytime, anywhere. I had always just called for (and paid for) professional help from a neighbor who extended me rates more favorable than his enterprise customers paid. Raised at IBM, he had become a born-again Microsoft True Believer and wanted to keep us all happy Windows users.

Invoicing is one of the necessary evils for freelancers and small business owners. It's a pain in the neck to bother with but, on the other hand, it's always nice to get paid. Here are four open source invoicing applications that make the job a little easier.

Lets face it. Nothing lasts for ever. No matter how much we enjoy that perfect meal, movie, romance or whatever it will always be relegated to the past. The same with operating systems. They have come and gone. While there still may be pockets of them floating around in obscure places, such operating systems like DOS, OS/2, AmigaOS, GEOS and windows are either dead, dying or, like a turtle on its back, scrabbling around feverishly but going nowhere.

Last year, the inaugural We’re Linux video contest kicked off a storm of creativity and captured the spirit of Linux and the diversity of its community. The winning video “What Does it Mean to Be Free” was an inspirational piece that communicated the ideals of the open source operating system.

Texas Instruments (TI) announced the availability of a version of its WiLink 6.0 WL1271 wireless module for the Mistral-manufactured Cortex-A8-based OMAP35x Evaluation Module (EVM). The tiny 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+ WL1271 chip is pre-integrated and optimized for TI's OMAP35x system-on-chip, thereby accelerating wireless development time, says TI.

Emacs is not so much a text editor, more a way of life - an "extensible, customisable self-documenting real time display editor" with thousands of ready made extensions that take you way beyond its original remit as a text editor, some of which can be found at the Emacs wiki or on the Emacs Lisp list.

OpenOffice.org (OOo for short) is a great office suite for Linux and pretty much any other operating system, but can always use improvement. This is especially true for templates and clip art. Fortunately, the open source community provides many add-ons or extensions.

In my last article, Quick and Dirty with Open Office Base, I described my initial experiences with building a simple database application for my wife in Open Office Base, having had no prior experience with the program. In that article, I described how easy it is to get started, and how easy it is to build usable software with Base. In this article, I'm going to discuss mitigating one of Base's major weaknesses by connecting it to an external SQL back-end.

The radio stations Deutschlandradio and Radio Orange received the awards from the Free Software Foundation Europe and Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure because they transmitted over the Internet in the Ogg Vorbis media container format. The free Radio Orange 94.0 in Vienna and dradio.de (Deutschlandfunk in Cologne and Deutschlandradio Kultur in Berlin) were honored with the awards (and a cake) the afternoon of March 31 under the slogan "rOGG on!"

Today I finally managed to get GNOME Shell installed so I could get a preview of what is to come on the Linux desktop (at least through the eyes of GNOME). This new GNOME will arrive sometime this year (2010) and will, I promise you, change the way you use your desktop. Finally someone has looked at the current desktop metaphor and said “It’s over!” Think about it, the current paradigm has been in play since, when, Windows 95? Earlier you say? CDE? Let’s stick with Windows 95, because that really solidified the whole “taskbar, start button, icons, notification try” metaphor in the eyes of the public. Well, public, that is about to change - drastically.

Covering SCO is a marathon, not a sprint, so after each big win, I tend to savor the moment, goofing off and enjoying a rest, knowing as I do that they never quit and there will be more awfulness to come.