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The concept behind Ubuntu Server is wonderful— a lean, carefully-selected batch of packages that gets you up and running quickly, and that you can easily add to as you need. I can see using Ubuntu Server as a LAN server, and as a training server, but I think opening it up to the Internet is asking for trouble.

Yes, it's the same question that comes up every year, yet Linux's desktop marketshare remains tiny. But 2008 poses some major opportunities: endless gripes and woes with Windows Vista; ever cheaper PCs and laptops such as the ASUS Eee; and the growing switch to online apps (making the underlying OS less relevant). This Tech.co.uk opinion piece claims that this time, it's not just hype, and 2008 *really* could be the year of Linux on the deskop..."

For a while an unlikely entry in this year's FPS-dominated Freedomware Gamefest, Armagetron Advanced is coming up strong! It is the most unique of all games we have a tournament for. New players could mistake it for "snake in 3D", but it is so much more.

Pre-loaded Linux machine supplier C3PC has partnered with free software community Nuxified.org to offer support on Linux.

This document describes how to install a Postfix mail server that is based on virtual users and domains, i.e. users and domains that are in a MySQL database. I will also demonstrate the installation and configuration of Courier (Courier-POP3, Courier-IMAP), so that Courier can authenticate against the same MySQL database Postfix uses. The resulting Postfix server is capable of SMTP-AUTH and TLS and quota (quota is not built into Postfix by default, I will show how to patch your Postfix appropriately). Passwords are stored in encrypted form in the database (most documents I found were dealing with plain text passwords which is a security risk). In addition to that, this tutorial covers the installation of Amavisd, SpamAssassin and ClamAV so that emails will be scanned for spam and viruses.

The Mozilla Corporation today released Firefox 3 Beta 1, which is now available for download in a variety of languages. The beta includes updates to the default theme, the new places site management features, improved security architecture, and Gecko 1.9. Release notes with a more complete list of features, are also available.

According to its developers, "Mercurial is a fast, lightweight Source Control Management system designed for efficient handling of very large distributed projects." Dozens of projects already use the software. Here's how you can get started with some basic version control tasks using Mercurial.

IBM Tooling for Service Component Architecture allows you to model, transform, or implement SCA applications. This eclipse-based tool helps developers visualize and define the component architecture, transform the assembly diagram, and code, test, and package the SCA project.

Upon the announcement of government's adoption of ODF and open document standards, Tectonic spoke to Microsoft to find out how this would effect the company. Admittedly surprised by the document's release and disagreeing with certain definitions, Microsoft appeared confident that the Office Open XML format fulfilled the criteria.

See how Open Source components can be used individually or collectively to build a Grid solution, using native solutions or by taking advantage of the standardization of Grid solutions.

KACE, a systems management appliance company, announced on Nov. 19 that its new survey revealed that 90 percent of the Windows users are concerned about migrating to Vista, and that 44 percent would consider deploying Macs or Linux-based systems to avoid Vista migration.

A few days back I was exultant over the fact that I had helped a man whom I believe to be balanced in his assessment of operating systems - iTWire editor Stan Beer - and assisted him in taking his first steps on the road to experiencing the myriad benefits I've enjoyed by moving from Windows to Linux. But Stan has had far too many problems with instability on his Ubuntu system. Finally things came to the stage where the box just wouldn't get past the stage where it enters the GRUB boot menu. Hence he has had to put his Linux plans on hold. Damn!

The Free Software Foundation published the GNU Affero General Public License Version 3 on Nov. 19. This new license, based on the GPLv3, enables those who use AGPLv3 software over a network to receive the source code for that software. The AGPL was created to deal with the so-called ASP (application service provider) loophole in the GPLv2. With the approval of the GPLv3, the AGPL was also incorporated, but that version was oriented toward papering over the ASP loophole. This new version makes it explicit that developers can use GPLv3 and AGPLv3 code in common projects. By publishing this license, the FSF aims to foster user and development communities around network-oriented free software.

The XSS flaw, found in the Firefox JAR URL handler, is a problem child endemic to just about anything Web 2.0. Mozilla is working to fix a flaw in the JAR URL handler that could leave Firefox users open to cross-site scripting attacks that are impossible for anti-virus programs to prevent. It turns out that the vulnerability, first reported in February by Jesse Ruderman, is far more serious than first realized. In fact, it turns out to be endemic to "almost everything that smells like Web 2.0," security researcher Petko D. Petkov, also known as "pdp" of GNUCitizen, wrote in a Nov. 7 posting.

I’m a sucker for a Linux or BSD distro with a live CD. Even if you can’t do an install directly from the disc, at least you can figure out whether the damn thing will boot and how your hardware will react when it does. One of my favorites, ZenWalk, just released Zenwalk 4.8 Live. Both Zenwalk and Vector — the top Xfce-based, Slackware-derived distributions — are very good, but I like the way Zenwalk looks and works just that much better.

I now have my new box up and running and thought I would post some benchmark results that I've run. All of the 3DMark Benchmarks were run in window mode at 1024x768x32 unless other wise stated.

Part 7 of this series shows you why Emacs is the self-documenting editor, and the many ways in which you can take advantage of the help and assistance offered in this editor. In this tutorial, learn about describing keystrokes, commands, and functions. You'll also read, browse, and search through a complete Emacs reference manual.

Rather than choose her current career, it almost seems as if Cathy Malmrose's career chose her. Malmrose is CEO of ZaReason, an OEM that manufactures and sells desktop and notebook systems with Ubuntu, where she deals with everything from talking with the US Department of Commerce concerning export issues to inspecting the hardware for quality assurance purposes.

Shuttle has begun offering British buyers a range of its XPC machines with Linux pre-installed, the small form-factor PC specialist said today. Shuttle has two XPCs on offer: the SD3002W and the SD300Q2, the former loaded with SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP1 and the second with OpenSuSE. They're pitched, respectively, at business and home buyers.

Many organizations face a productivity problem with employees who abuse chat programs like MSN Messenger. Some IT departments are instructed to block this kind of traffic for users who either abuse or simply don't require the software. You can block applications like MSN Messenger in your proxy server, but some clients may still have access to the applications, because there are many versions of MSN Messenger in use, making blocking the application with a proxy server difficult. Instead, block MSN Messenger traffic more easily with iptables.