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Red Hat is launching a training road show for Red Hat Advanced Business Partners. But that’s not all. The VAR Guy thinks Red Hat’s annual channel revenues will potentially top $600 million within five years, up from about $326 million today.

Conventional wisdom says open source software providers are benefiting from the recession as businesses seek lower-cost IT solutions. But if open source is so darn hot, why are two major open source companies — GroundWork Open Source and SugarCRM — cutting prices and/or introducing lower-cost options? Here's the scoop.

When Oracle announced plans to acquire Sun Microsystems (and by association, MySQL), some folks reacted with concern. Others reacted with delight. But one start-up company — named Continuent — certainly deserved to celebrate.

Zimbra, the open source email provider owned by Yahoo, plans to launch a formalized partner program in the next few weeks or so. More than 700 partners already sell or host Zimbra’s software, which is marching toward 50 million paid customers, The VAR Guy hears. But that’s no all. Here’s where Zimbra is heading next in the channel.

Less than one week after Canonical debuted Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix edition, System76 is playing an encure by launching an Ubuntu 9.04 netbook. The move had been rumored for several weeks. And it’s certainly the first of many Ubuntu netbooks that will hit the market. Here’s the scoop.

The Asterisk industry seems to be answering a loud, global call for open source IP PBX training. While Digium has started planning for the annual AstriCon conference, solutions providers and training centers are striving to educate the masses about the open source IP PBX. Here's how Asterisk training is evolving.

The VAR Guy double-checked this rumor and got confirmation: Diskeeper may leap beyond Windows to offer disk defragmentation software on Linux and Mac OS X. What’s motivating the potential Diskeeper moves? Here’s the scoop.

After Canonical launches Ubuntu 9.04 on April 23, the company will play an encore by launching a series of training courses — for Ubuntu Server Edition and even cloud computing. Here’s the scoop, only from The VAR Guy.

One week after Red Hat and nearly a dozen partners launched the Open Source Channel Alliance, Microsoft flexed its muscle during a gathering of more than 250 solutions providers and IT consultants in Dallas. If you were at the gathering, you'd see why Microsoft's partner program remains so dominant. Here's the scoop.

Synergy. Total IT solutions. Some folks in the channel media are falling all over themselves calling the Oracle-Sun deal a “slam dunk” for solutions providers. Um, The VAR Guy begs to differ. Here’s why.

During a phone briefing with media that continues right now, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth said Ubuntu Server Edition 9.04 has been tested to run on 45 different server configurations from IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and smaller providers. Shuttleworth also hinted that Canonical’s server relationship with HP is growing stronger. Here are the details.

Ubuntu 9.04 — the latest Linux distribution release from Canonical — arrives this week with great fanfare. Server, desktop, notebook and netbook makers are jumping on the Ubuntu 9.04 bandwagon. But where are the channel partners — resellers, VARs and solutions providers? Right now, Canonical doesn’t have many answers.

I’ve attended my share of Linux installation festivals (installfests), where open source volunteers typically take donated Windows PCs and revive them as Linux systems. Now, the installfest craze seems to have found a new calling: The Asterisk IP PBX market, where open source meets telephony.

I’ve used Evolution, the default email client in Ubuntu, for a couple of years to manage numerous mail accounts. In general, I think it’s a great application. But as with everything in life, there’s always room for improvement. Below, I consider the most chronically frustrating and poorly designed aspects of Evolution, and how they could be fixed.

After a business trip to China (stay tuned for details…), the ZaReason team is back in the US preparing to offer Ubuntu 9.04 on PCs and laptops the day Canonical’s latest Linux distribution launches. But that’s not all: ZaReason is preparing to expand its Ubuntu server lineup. Here are the early details.

Now that I've had a week to digest the Open Source Channel Alliance launch, I'm still not convinced that the OSCA will succeed. Here are some thoughts so far on the challenges and opportunities facing the Red Hat and Synnex effort. Read on.

As Canonical prepares for Ubuntu 9.04’s April 23 debut, hardware partners are gearing up to support the new Linux distribution. And, there’s even talk about a major hardware maker — a biggie, folks — showing a little more love for the new Ubuntu. Here are some clues about what’s coming.

The next version of Ubuntu, ‘Jaunty Jackalope’, offers several new features in the server edition. Below, WorksWithU takes a look at what the latest release of Ubuntu, set to become stable on April 23, will mean for server users. Here are the details.

Call it D-day for open source distribution in the IT channel. Synnex, Red Hat and nearly a dozen open source application providers — from Alfresco to Zmanda — have launched the Open Source Channel Alliance. The effort represents a tipping point for open source applications in the channel, reaching a potential 15,000 resellers. Here's the scoop from The VAR Guy.

At first glance, they aren’t dating and they aren’t getting married. But Sun Microsystems and IBM will be shacking up at the MySQL Conference & Expo (April 20-23, Santa Clara). IBM is sponsoring the event, which focuses on Sun’s open source database. Hmmm. Time to re-start the merger rumors? The VAR Guy hopes so. Here's why.