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As Linux use continues to grow, requests for popular applications on the operating system continue to grow as well -- requests that mostly go unanswered by vendors of those software. Last month Novell posted a survey to find out what applications Linux users want most. After three weeks, the company released the top 10 applications users requested. The list is a mix of the usual suspects and a couple of surprises.

IBM unleashes a series of discovery motions at former and current SCO allies: BayStar, HP, Microsoft and Sun.

For LJ.com readers, here's an exclusive excerpt fromLinux Patch Management: Keeping Linux Systems Up to Date.

IBM Corp. is seeking to compel Microsoft Corp. to hand over internal documents detailing its rivalry with the Linux operating system, in a move that could shed new light on the Redmond company's response to one of its biggest competitive threats.

The demand is part of a wide-ranging subpoena through which IBM is trying to examine the relationship between Microsoft and a company suing IBM over Linux.

[Ed: While they're at it, they should subpoena David Boise and ask if his legal fees were actually laundry from the anti-trust case.]

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ReactOS is part of a decade old effort to replicate a Windows operating system as an open source or free software based system. It's not the only effort trying to duplicate Windows type functionality on an open source system. The Wine project which began in 1993 is a similar effort but unlike ReactOS its goal is not to produce an entire operating system, but rather just allow Windows applications to run on Linux. Certain elements of Wine are also part of ReactOS.

SUN MICROSYSTEMS bought up Linux firm Aduva for an undisclosed sum. Aduva, an Israeli start-up, has its HQ in Sunnyvale Californian and an R&D centre in Ramat Gan, round the corner from an Intel fab. Aduva provides Linux and Unix management services focused on reducing the total costs and risks in the lifecycle of a Linux Server and, it says, dynamically managed Solaris Servers.

"JBoss has always been about pure open source. We started in OSS and we will die in OSS."

Despite an increase in the number of corporates involved in the development of free and open source software applications, the majority of FOSS code is still being developed by individuals and the vast majority of these do it primarily to learn new skills. Rishab Ghosh of Maastricht University said this during the opening of the Idlelo 2 conference in Nairobi, Kenya this morning.

If you have a fairly standard platform, the Xandros Desktop distribution may be a good fit for you. Rob Reilly files his review of the latest version of this Debian-based distro.

DistroWatch reports - This week brings us Dapper Flight 4, the fourth alpha release of Ubuntu 6.04 - The Dapper Drake. Dapper Flight 4 is the product of over 3 months of tremendous effort to mold the latest and greatest software the open source community has to offer into a coherent easy to use whole.

OSDir captured this hot release is their Ubuntu Linux 6.04 Alpha 4 Screenshot Tour.

Most Linux people don't know much about JBoss, the open source firm reported in talks with Oracle about a $400 million purchase. That tops any free software deals I can recall. Novell paid $210 million for SUSE in cash. So, what about this JBoss company? They did it without any initial outside funding, generated revenue and self-funded and stayed true to open source 100% while selling services.

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The Libre Graphics Meeting (LGM), a first-of-its-kind conference for developers of free and open source graphics applications, is scheduled for the weekend of March 17 through 19. LGM will feature speakers from the GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, and other graphics projects teams, and will showcase the public premiere of Elephant's Dream , the 3D animated film created in Blender by Project Orange.

Depending on what you read, IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker report shows that either Linux server revenue grew by record levels or Windows just bumped off Unix in server sales. Pick your flavor within.

ATEN Technology Inc. (aten-usa.com), a provider of KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) and remote connectivity solutions to manage servers and other network devices, announced Feb. 21 an addition to its line of rackmount LCD KVM solutions. The new KL1116 Hideaway LCD KVM Switch is a 16-port KVM unit that allows access to multiple computers from a single LCD console and is available in 15-inch or 17-inch display model.

Kernel developer Dave Miller made it: He successfully booted an Ubuntu 6.04 Dapper Drake prerelease (with kernel 2.6.16) on the Sun Fire T2000 with the UltraSPARC T1.

The goal of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) is to provide a single-chip system, and therefore SoC resource analysis and sizing is critical. Failure to properly size processing, memory, or I/O needed by software services can kill an SoC project. But all too often, SoC design analysis focuses on processing at the expense of memory or I/O sizing. Any mis-sizing or mismanagement of memory and I/O on an SoC can at the least cause significant project delay and rework.

Judging from comments made at last week's 3GSM World Congress (see below for Linux-related 3GSM stories), the future of Linux and other open source operating systems as a core cell phone platform are bright, but also filled with challenges.

Two entries made the cut in the first phase of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) Tor GUI competition. The user interface designed by the CMU Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory took the "Best Overall" award, and the entry from April3rd scored the "Most Aesthetically Pleasing" award.

Why not take the Domain Name System (DNS), which is used primarily on the Internet, and implement it in mobile phones. It turns out that its not that crazy of an idea after all.

OpenLaszlo is a rich client application architecture that uses Macromedia to build Flash widgets with XML and JavaScript logic. This article details the basic concepts of OpenLaszlo, and gives examples of situations in which an OpenLaszlo solution might be beneficial and it also details how it compensates for the shortcomings of Ajax dynamic web development.