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There are so many Linux distributions, each one claiming that they are the one flavor best designed for the new user in mind. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, PCLinuxOS -- all outstanding distributions and very much ready for users who want a platform built on the premise that Linux isn't nearly as challenging as many people assume.

Join Aaron Newcomb and Randal Schwartz this week to speak with Boudewijn Rempt about Krita. Krita is a FREE digital painting and illustration application. Krita offers CMYK support, HDR painting, perspective grids, dockers, filters, painting assistants, and many other features.

Linux newbies have probably heard a lot about Ubuntu, but it isn’t the only Linux distribution. In fact, Ubuntu’s standard Unity desktop is still controversial among long-time Linux users today.

If you're reading this piece, you probably already know there's a ghost in the machine of Linux. Specifically, a critical hole in the GNU C Library (glibc). This haunting specter enables remote hackers to gain access to machines without the need for credentials of any kind.

In the last two years, the Linux desktop has settled into a period of quiet diversity. The user revolts of 2008-2012 are safely in the past, and users are scattered among at least seven major desktops -- Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE,LXDE, MATE, Unity, and Xfce -- and likely to stay that way.

Now that everyone has had time to examine Windows 10, it seems like a good time to finally do a proper Windows vs. Linux showdown. After all, I waited until Windows caught up in turns of features and user interface. For the sake of common sense, I've decided to use Ubuntu as our default Linux release.

For years now, we Linux fans -- yes, myself included -- have been dreaming of the fabled "Year of the Linux Desktop". What does that mean? To have Linux-based operating systems snag a bigger piece of the desktop pie, if not a majority. While a majority share of the desktop is admittedly absurd, a respectable share was always something I considered a possibility.

Google's Android 5.0 Lollipop release has lots of good things going for it -- but like many major OS releases at their start, the software also has its share of sigh-inducing quirks and glitches.

It all started at the Linux.conf.au Conference, when Nebula developer (and former colleague) Matthew Garrett kicked off a post-keynote Q&A session with Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds by asking about his often-abrasive, super-aggressive tone on official mailing lists.

I want to make a rather bold statement here (though that isn't unusual). This morning, I was reading some of my usual tech news sites, which included reports of malware, Windows woes, and the usual litany of issues plaguing various platforms.

With many of the videos from linux.conf.au now available, and a three-day weekend about to hit Australia, there's no excuse not to watch the best talks from last week.

Perceptions are quick to form and slow to change -- and nowhere is that truer than with free software graphics and animation software.

Joe Brockmeir and Guillermo Amaral join Aaron Seigo to talk about Kolab. Kolab offers Personal Information Management for deployments of any size. It runs on a Rasberry Pi and in clouds spread over multiple data centers. Kolab provides a secure, scalable and reliable collaboration server. kolab.org

Microsoft will offer free upgrades to Windows 10 -- the next version of its operating system -- first for Windows 8.1 users and then for Windows 7 users, the company announced Wednesday.

Whether you're starting an open source project or deciding whether to participate in one, you don't want to waste time in an endeavor that imposes arbitrary restrictions that will stop you in your tracks down the line.

Every few months, new articles roll out proclaiming "this year" to be the year of the Linux Desktop. A wide selection of reasons are cited, explanations given, and various acts of patting we Linux users on the backs takes place.

Microsoft is making Windows 8.1 available to its PC partners for anywhere from 'zero dollars' to $15 per copy, according to recently disclosed OEM licensing information.

The perfect desktop is undoubtedly the one you would design yourself. However, lacking the necessary time and expertise, many users hop instead from desktop to desktop desktop with the same enthusiasm as others hop between distros, hoping to find the ideal distribution.

Despite my affinity for the Linux desktop, I'm still part of the Mac world, thanks to my wife and her preference for OS X.

A computer programmer in Greece has made available a stable version of a new tool that uses semi-automated social engineering to attempt to steal passwords on WPA networks. Wifiphisher, available on GitHub, seeks to elicit the password to the target router by disconnecting them and then presenting them with a faked router login page which claims that a router firmware upgrade necessitates the entry of the password.