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Who gets the better deal when it comes to added software goodness? It's not even a close contest, Linux& Open Source Editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols says.

Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java Desktop System and Red Hat Inc.'s Red Hat Desktop are built on free software, but neither is free of cost. Both desktop Linux products have annual, per-machine subscription fees, although it's possible, with either product, to cancel a subscription and continue using the software indefinitely without updates or support. However, the availability of software updates and support is one of the biggest draws for enterprise-oriented Linux distributions.

Well, not quite. But in a presentation to students at Melbourne, Australia vice president of engineering Wayne Rosing has hinted that its time for the company to give something back. Craig Silverstein, technical director at Google has started a project to look at Google code and to figure out what parts they can give back.

The free and open source software (Foss) community has got a new home in East Africa. A recent venture between Linux Solutions, the International Institute of Communication and Development and Uganda Martyrs University has led to the formation of the East African Centre for Open Source Software (EACOSS). Wire Lunghabo James, managing director of Linux Solutions, says EACOSS intends offering FOSS training for the "growing army of ICT professionals in the region". The center is initially focused on developing these skills in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

Analyst and Harvard Research Group vice president of Linux strategy Bill Claybrook discusses the increase in the number of supercomputers running Linux over the past four years in an article published today at NewsForge. According to the Top 500 Fastest List that tracks supercomputer performance, Linux currently runs more than half of the world's fastest supercomputers.

The South Australian Democrats has rejected a $50,000 content management system from an unnamed vendor for its new Web site in favour of the free PostNuke open source system. Legislative Council member Ian Gilfillan said he expressed “shock and horror” when he was told of the $50,000 price tag.

A group of companies have banded together to bring InfiniBand support to the Linux operating system, a move that could boost the open-source operating system in high-performance computing circles.

Let's start with TLS while we wait for SPF.

Microsoft continued turning up the heat on Linux with its "Get The Facts" campaign last week. This time, Microsoft is claiming that Windows 2003 is faster at file and print serving tasks than a Red Hat Linux server, based on a test performed by Veritest.

In a move to try and curb its huge public sector budget deficit, the French government said that it would grant software firms the opportunity to win contracts until now given to Microsoft, according to a report from news agency Reuters.

MySQL AB, the company behind the popular open source database MySQL, is looking to ramp up its presence in the Australian market.

Skype Technologies made available a first test version of its Internet telephony application for Linux on Monday, 10 months and more than 14 million downloads after releasing the first version for Windows.

A newly discovered security hole in Linux, published on an open source website, has raised questions about how Linux security issues should be handled. The vulnerability could allow malicious users to bring down Linux machines with just 24 lines of code, which are available from several open source websites and internet news groups.

The Linux kernel and the open-source software components that surround it have progressed to a point where Linux on the desktop has become attractive for certain enterprise deployments. However, several challenges remain for desktop Linux, many of which relate to supporting the galaxy of hardware devices that exist for desktop and laptop computers.

Desktop Linux is good enough to supplant Windows in a number of enterprise desktop roles, and it has been for some time now. However, major enterprise Linux vendors—most notably Red Hat Inc.—have been too busy until recently with server-room Linux to produce desktop products with the sort of management frameworks and stable product road maps that enterprises require. That changed with the release last month of two desktop Linux variants from major enterprise players: Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java Desktop System 2 and Red Hat's Red Hat Desktop.

Skype Technologies S.A. has launched the first beta version of its voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) program, Skype for Linux. The software can be downloaded for free and is available immediately.

The Eclipse open-source software foundation next week plans to release software that will offer developers an alternative to Windows for delivering desktop applications.

By using Linux you can say goodbye to hefty software costs, hidden pop-ups, and corporate tracking systems; all hallmarks of the much more common Microsoft system. The choice? 1) Pay tons of money to use a junk system that is designed to exploit you (to pad the wallet of Bill Gates); or 2) Pay nothing for a good system that you can even design yourself.