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San Jose Mercury News business columnist Mike Cassidy thinks that maybe the answer for local schools facing daunting technology challenges lies with the penguins. You know, penguins — those who advocate free and open-source software, including Linux and the operating system's mascot, a penguin named Tux.

Larry the Free Software Guy suits up in Nomex and other fireproof clothing and, as a six-month-a-year KDE user, road-tests KDE-native programs against their non-KDE counterparts.

Larry the Free Software Guy would never let 2010 pass without a several timely forecasts. While this year lacks last year's inspiration, it would never stop him from making predictions like "2010 will absolutely, positively, without a doubt be the year of the Linux deskt . . . oh, never mind," and nine more.

Discussing in good faith the likeness and differences between distros, between desktop environments, and between FOSS programs is a vital part of uplifting the entire FOSS process. So why do some inisist on being rigid dogmatards whose only purpose is to argue meaningless points? Larry the Free Software Guy has one word for those who are so inclined: Stop.

2009 is the year of Linux. So is 2010 and 2011 and by 2012, the last pair of eyes will finally glaze over at the prospect. Zenwalk becomes Zenrun. Lindependence comes to Redmond. This and other predictions may or may not happen next year.

After Barack Obama's speech last night following his victory, CNN analyst Alex Castellanos -- a Republican pundit -- made a reference to "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" and implied that the new administration may bring an "open source" mentality to American government.

Recently, a Blog of Helios item made waves in places outside the Linux spectrum, bringing floods of support and comments from those outside our community. Over and over, the same question was asked: "What can we do to help?" Sitting in for Helios, Tom King has written a small guide that suggests answers to that question.

Why pay $650 for Adobe Photoshop when you can have 97 percent of the functionality of Photoshop for free? That's a question software developers and distributors plan on addressing at "Lindependence 2008," a free event in Felton starting July 13, which promoting the Linux operating system and other Free/Open Source Software.

Today, Sept. 17, Linux turns 16 -- old enough to drive in some states, not to mention that in some Southern states, Linux is old enough to marry its cousin. Want to sign a card to Linus and the rest of those who made the operating system what it is today, or tell us how you got started with Linux? Getnix.com has a card to send the principals ready for you to fill out.

Late last night Ars Technica started receiving reports from readers experiencing problems with Windows Genuine Advantage authentication. Windows XP and Windows Vista users wrote to say that they could not validate their installations using WGA, and one user even said that his installation was invalidated by the service. Microsoft is telling users they should "try again" later, with some support techs telling readers that Microsoft is aiming to have a fix in place by Tuesday, August 28.

The Oscars. The Emmys. The Grammys. And the award for excellence in promoting FUD? The Elmers, of course. Larry the Open Source Guy makes his nominations, and more are requested.

In both GNU/Linux and Mac circles, PowerPC Mac hardware is divided into two categories: Old World for the pre-iMacs and New World for those which have color to them. So what do we call Intel Macs? Larry the Open Source Guy proposes Other World.

New Zealand honors those making contributions to Open Source by presenting the first New Zealand Open Source Awards. Nominations are open until Aug. 17 for organisations, projects or individuals. One prize in each category will be awarded Oct. 17.

In the Microsoft patent debate, one simple question -- why? -- has a variety of speculative answers. But is Redmond collecting distros to show a judge that "all these Linux companies violated our patents, and they signed agreements to prove it"?

In 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy said he had the names of Communists in the State Department. They were never named. Fifty-seven years later, Microsoft says GNU/Linux has violated 235 patents. They have yet to be named. See a pattern here?

Mahara -- an open source portfolio, weblog, resume builder and social networking system -- released its latest stable version of the Mahara 0.7 family, 0.7.2.

A dramatic rise of open source in New Zealand's education sector over the last three years provides an example of how Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) can both make a difference in society and provide a model for FOSS in business.