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Who will be Microsoft's (MSFT) next CEO, succeeding Steve Ballmer? The shortlist of candidates likely includes executives from Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), Oracle (ORCL) and more. Microsoft's board has formed a CEO search committee, which will work with Heidrick & Struggles (a top executive recruitment firm) to find Ballmer's replacement. Who are some of the potential candidate names? Hmmm...

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Red Hat (RHT) have their own OpenStack distributions. SUSE and Ubuntu each bundle OpenStack with their private cloud platforms. So does VMware (VMW) -- king of virtualization -- need its own OpenStack distribution to compete with emerging cloud rivals?

You know the general trend: NoSQL databases are catching on for big data applications. The challenge: Where are the NoSQL partner programs? A quick check of the market finds very few in place.

As 10gen's VP of business development and strategy, Matt Asay oversees the NoSQL and Big Data company's partner initiatives. Translation: Asay, a veteran of Alfresco, Canonical, Novell and others -- essentially is 10gen's channel chief. So what are the partner opportunities for those that want to work with the MongoDB database provider? Here are 10 key questions for Asay.

Within the Ubuntu community, users know Canonical delivers its Linux distribution upgrades each April and October. So anticipation should be building -- right now -- for Ubuntu 13.10's launch in October 2013. There's only one problem: Most eyes are focused on the Ubuntu Edge smartphone initiative at the moment. Is that good for Canonical's partners and customers?

Google Glass, part of the wearable computing wave, is attracting plenty of developer interest. The New York Times, Facebook, Twitter and CNN, among others, have already introduced applications (known as Glassware) for the Glass Explorer preview. What's next? I see a big opportunity in the IT support market.

Traditional relational databases like Microsoft (MSFT) SQL Server, Oracle (ORCL) and MySQL continue to gain popularity. But channel partners would be wise to check out NoSQL (Not only SQL) alternatives, which are catching on for big data, analytics and real-time cloud computing applications. Here's why.

Ubuntu Edge is Canonical's forthcoming smartphone. It runs Ubuntu and Android, and becomes a full-blown PC when connected to a monitor, keyboard, etc. Canonical launched a $32 million crowdfunding campaign to get Ubuntu Edge off the ground. But the campaign has apparently stalled.

IBM will furlough U.S. hardware employees to cut costs in late August and early September 2013. Employees will take a week off with one-third pay, Bloomberg reported. Ouch. The key takeaway: Cloud computing is squeezing IBM's hardware business, and the value of IBM's x86 server business could be falling -- even more -- each quarter.

Rackspace (RAX), the server and cloud hosting vendor with a strong investment in OpenStack and other open source cloud technologies, continues to expand its educational initiatives around the open cloud. This week, it launches a new network operations class as a part of the curriculum at the Open Cloud Academy, a key part of the company's efforts to train the next generation of IT professionals for the cloud.

Canonical may be facing an uphill battle in bringing the Ubuntu Edge, its Linux-powered "superphone," to market. But in a sign of the company's impressive influence within the mobile ecosystem, it has been quietly building a network of channel partners through its Carrier Advisory Group (CAG), which includes a number of big-name mobile carriers and which continues to grow.

Is the Ubuntu Edge, the Linux-powered "superphone" that Canonical hopes to develop through a crowdsourced funding campaign, a dying prospect? Maybe. But that doesn't mean the project hasn't already succeeded in significantly advancing Canonical's goals in the smartphone and mobile-device market. Here's why.

Samsung continues to signal it intends to blanket the mobile operating system landscape just in case something goes awry with Google’s (GOOG) Android OS or Chrome browser, and even if its Tizen open source initiative with Intel (INTC) goes nowhere. The Korean manufacturer, taking a page from rival Apple’s (AAPL) book, is launching its first ever developers’ conference. Here are details.

Samsung is hiring Linux and open source professionals as never before. That may come as little surprise given the company's investment in Google (GOOG) Android tablets and other mobile devices, but it also suggests that the Linux Foundation was right when earlier this year it proclaimed soaring demand—and remarkably high pay rates—for people with open source talent.

Linux wireless networking, Gluster and Ceph distributed storage, the OpenStack cloud and much more are on the agenda for this year's LinuxCon/CloudOpen North America conference, whose program the Linux Foundation has announced. Here's a look at some of the highlights that the channel can look forward to at the event, which will take place in New Orleans Sept. 16-18.

When it comes to Surface RT and Pro tablet sales, Microsoft (MSFT) PR has lost all credibility. Why's that? Just look at Microsoft's statements about special Surface RT price discounts and sales on July 15 -- and then fast forward to July 18, when the software giant said it's taking a $900 million writeoff for the Surface RT tablet failure. Here's the update.

"License, schmisence" may be the mantra of at least some open source developers, who are more interested in software code than legal minutiae. But that's a mistake, according to open source consulting company BlackDuck, which claims that as much as $59 billion may be "locked up" in open source projects that haven't declared explicit licenses.

VMware (VMW) has sold Zimbra, its Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange alternative, to Telligent. I'm not shocked, considering VMware has been selling off non-core assets and Zimbra's website had barely been updated this year. But what exactly does Zimbra's sale mean to the software's open source community? Here are some educated guesses.

While PC sales fall, scattered reports suggest Google Chromebook sales are climbing. But by how much? And is anyone profiting from the cloud-based notebooks?

The Microsoft Reorg is official. CEO Steve Ballmer's memo was roughly 2,700 words and filled with lofty statements about agility, collaboration, innovation, cloud computing, devices, services, Windows 8, Office 365 and more. But what does it all mean for Microsoft's (MSFT) customers? Here are 10 key takeaways.