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Application performance guru Kirk Pepperdine (pictured) added his two cents to the ongoing Web discussions about Sun's announcement last week that it is open sourcing its implementation of Java. He pinpoints the Classpath exception as being the key valve that "leaves business free to build upon yet protects the underlying implementation."

If you've got Java-support in your browser, you can try out several free operating systems at Free OS Zoo. This is an experimental feature, using a system called FLOZ.

[The response-time is slow, but it is still cool to try. - Scott]

Intellectual Property is a term widely abused in the software industry by firms such as Microsoft and SCO using it to scare people into not using certain products in favor of their own. This disparaging tactic has even been given a name: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD). It seems that anyone nowadays can make bold, unsubstantiated claims of IP infringement without actually having any proof simply to hurt another products reputation and destroy healthy competition. In this article, we will explore what intellectual property is and why every computer user should care when unreputable companies abuse legal systems in order to gain an unfair business advantage.

Feisty Fawn, aka Ubuntu 7.04, is scheduled for release on Apr. 19, 2007. According to Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu's founder, "The main themes for feature development in this release will be improvements to hardware support in the laptop, desktop and high-end server market, and aggressive adoption of emerging desktop technologies. Ubuntu's Feisty release will put the spotlight on multimedia enablement and desktop effects."

An Austin, Tex., network management company has set out to build an open-source community around network inventory management tools. This week at the Gartner Enterprise Networking Summit, AlterPoint, Inc. unveiled ZipTie, an open-source project that the company said it will seed with some foundational technology from its DeviceAuthority network management product, while continuing to sell its more advanced management tools under commercial licences.

South Africa native and current London resident Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical Ltd. and the Ubuntu Linux distribution, told DesktopLinux.com Friday in an interview that widespread adoption of Linux on the desktop -- so long-awaited by many people -- "is just a matter of time, IMO."

Michael Tiemann objects to the distinction between "open" and "free" software we suggested in the article entitled 'Take your covenant and shove it', Samba tells Novell.

It is increasingly becoming clear what the deal between Microsoft and Novell really means for GNU/Linux. Hear it from Microsoft itself: Ballmer: Linux users owe Microsoft. Can you hear the sound of those rattles? Microsoft is hitting the patent threat hard this time, and no matter if it is just empty words or a true promise, this could hurt GNU/Linux much more than the whole Novell deal was supposed to help.

The newness of the Ajax/REST architectural style presents challenges to IT organizations. A technology like Ajax is more or less useful only insofar as an organization can apply it to solve a particular problem or to fulfill a particular need. This article help you decide if Ajax is right for your IT apps.

Avocent reports that its first-ever digital signage product has won an innovation award at IBC (International Broadcasters Convention) in Amsterdam this week. The Linux-powered MPX1000 HD Multipoint Extender distributes audio and HD video content from one or more sources to up to eight synchronized display/output devices.

Not trying to tip my hand or anything, but WOW! This is a very slick book. The text and graphics are very visually appealing and even the feel of the pages gave me the impression that I was in possession of a truly high quality book. Of course, if the content doesn't stack up, all that other stuff really doesn't matter unless you just buy books because of the "eye candy" factor. Does Meyer's book stack up? You're about to find out.

Red Hat won't be hanging its hat at the Nasdaq for much longer. The Linux software distributor has applied for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange and expects to be traded on the big board on Dec. 12. Its new trading symbol will be "RHT."

The GNU Linear Programming Kit (GLPK) is a powerful, proven tool for solving numeric problems with multiple constraints. This article, the third in a three-part series, uses GLPK and the glpsol client utility with the GNU MathProg language to solve a perfume production problem and a basketball lineup problem.

LPI seeks to ensure that Linux certification training has the right stuff. (Linux-Watch)

A day after Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer held out both a carrot and a stick to Red Hat, the Linux distributor on Friday announced Beta 2 of Enterprise Linux and rejected Ballmer's offer.

The One Laptop Per Child project has manufactured a first set of 200 notebook computers. The devices will be distributed as test units to government officials and software developers. The units are "very close to the final hardware builds of the machine", Christopher Blizzard wrote on his blog. Blizzard is a software developer with Red Hat who is developing the OLPC's Linux operating system. Software developers can use the software to test their applications for potential compatibility issues.

The Daisy MP3 Player isn’t an iPod killer. It’s not supposed to be. Originally created by artist and designed Raphael Abrams as a challenge to himself, the device has come a long way since 2001 and is incredibly easy to integrate into existing interfaces such as kiosks and displays. Abrams’ goal was to create an easy to build MP3 player that was open source and connectible. So if you’re a DIY kinda guy, you should check out the Daisy and see how you can integrate it into your life.

[O.k., so you can build your own. Now it just needs Ogg support. - dcparris]

Red Hat (NASDAQ: RHAT), a provider of open source solutions, today announced that the city of Vienna has selected Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the platform of choice for its servers. Austria’s capital is using the operating system for both mission-critical applications such as database servers and other systems including file servers.

The latest LinuxQuestions.org Podcast. Topics include an LQ stats update, Sun Open Sources Java under the GPL, IBM cool to Sun’s Open Source Java plan, Samba team asks Novell to reconsider, is SugarCRM Open Source and Adobe releases the source for its ActionScript Virtual Machine to the Mozilla Foundation.

Criticism is mounting over the termination of a large-scale Linux project in Birmingham.