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"We discuss Open Source GIS (obviously), the Canadian government's role in supporting OGC and Open Source tools, and the hurdles to data access in both the US and Canada."

Keane will also help complete an open systems migration at NWS. AWIPS originally was deployed in Unix, but NWS is in the process of moving to Linux, specifically Red Hat Enterprise 3.0.

In his 15 years at Microsoft, Allchin has earned a reputation as a straight shooter who admits when Microsoft makes mistakes. But he's also a fierce competitor who pushed the integration of IE with Windows 98 to thwart Netscape inroads, a move that earned Allchin a center seat at the U.S. government's anti-trust case. Later, Allchin implied that open source was "un-American"...

I can´t predict the future and I am no expert in OSes, but when looking at the growth of Linux (412%) and the theses below I think I will take a risk and bet on Linux. Yes, a Nokia 770 Internet Tablet with Linux, broadband access over Wi-Fi, hi-resolution widescreen display, Flash Player and more is on my gadget list for Santa.

Have you been introducing open source applications into your IT environment? Absolutely. In our engineering and building inspection departments, because everything about Delaware County is growth and everything starts in the building phase. When that information is entered, it's entered into multiple systems. We can get in there, pull that information out and update it as necessary, regardless of the application we're working in.

Senior government officials from 13 countries were among a group of open-source advocates behind a report presented to the World Bank last Friday calling on nations to accelerate economic growth by using products based on what are called open-technology standards. The group defines open standards as technologies that are openly published and which are not owned by any company. The benefit of open standards is that they allow information to be easily shared by different software Get your FREE Oracle Database Software Kit today! programs, reducing user dependency on a single provider and making information more accessible to a wider group of people.

Few technology initiatives have generated as much interest among chief information officers as the open-source software movement. The open-source model offers attractive license-free infrastructure technology; large, multiuser applications; and desktop applications. Built by development communities, applications evolve and improve as community members offer their revisions to their peers, who reject or accept the changes into the applications' code.

Sharp Japan has given US-based Linux PDA fans one more reason to wish the dollar could hold its own against the Yen. The newly shipping (in Japan only) SL-C3100 is the second harddrive-equipped Zaurus model, and it also features English-language software aimed at Japanese students. Sharp's first harddrive-equipped Zaurus, the SL-C3000, began shipping in Japan in mid-November -- about the same time that Sharp announced it would not market future Zaurus models in the US.

"We've learned from Apache," acknowledged Bill Staples, product unit manager for IIS. Version 7.0 takes the IIS feature set and breaks it down into individual components, or modules, that can be loaded on an as-needed basis. The result is a Web server with much less overhead.

That training included the opportunity to learn more about open source technology. "One of the nice things about using open source software is that you get to see the code yourself. That way, you're not restricted or held up by not doing something because you can't afford it," he said. By developing solutions in-house, Aldridge said, the county's cost savings are noteworthy.

It's about collaboration, said Aldridge. By sharing open source applications with other counties, "We're sharing -- without cost -- the best for each county." With open source technology, customizing solutions to fit each county is an option.

MRV Communications says its LX-series console servers are the "most secure available," and that revised Linux-based firmware allows them to meet mandatory US and Canadian government security requirements. TNew v3.6.0 firmware also offers a 2.6-series Linux kernel, IPv6 support, and improved security, the company says. MRV says the new firmware allows its LX-series of console servers to comply with the requirements of FIPS-140 (Federal information processing standard 140 level 2). FIPS-140-2 calls for both data encryption and a product design that detects evidence of tampering. LX-series devices are currently undergoing FIPS-140-2 certification testing FIP by US government-certified testing agency Atlan Laboratories, MRV says.

I'm a big fan of two things that I get in X-Windows (on UNIX systems) which I don't usually get in Microsoft Windows: 1. Middle-click pasting 2. Whatever I'm selecting automatically going to the clipboard. 3. Focus following mouse, allowing me to keep one application in the foreground while actually typing on the application in the background. Usually wherever I'm contracting (at the moment, a software security company in Utah), I'm stuck using Windows despite how productive I am in Linux. Occupational hazard, I suppose. There are a few utilities I use to make my life easier when stuck using a legacy operating system such as Microsoft's Windows:

No Linux, please. We're Aussies. Intellectual Property Australia has rejected the attempt by Linus Torvalds and his Linux Mark Institute to control the Linux trademark, ruling the word wasn't distinctive enough.

In a deal similar to one it already has with Novell, IBM is now joining hands with market leader Red Hat to push Linux into emerging markets such as China, India, Russia and Korea without overlooking the established markets. The alliance, which started with a pilot in Europe earlier this year, is cast as an anti-Microsoft software- capturing migration play.

Macros are important in an office suite. They are the only realistic way for non-programmers to create interactive documents quickly or add special features to the application. While many open source office suites are embracing OpenDocument as a common file format, the lack of common macro language support will prevent meaningful file interchange.

The Dell Latitude 110L features a Linux operating system, a mobile Celeron/Pentium chip and starts at around $1,000.

Jorg Janke flipped through an Italian dictionary and found a word to describe the key attributes of his open-source ERP software. That word: compiere, which means “to fulfill” or “to complete.

Klik is a system which creates self-contained packages of programmes installable over the web with a single click. In the article below Kurt Pfeifle discusses the potential uses of this technology for helping the non-coding contributors to KDE. He also looks at how the system works and the obvious security issues involved.

The Code Project, Mainsoft, and IBM are challenging developers to a race. Developers won't be setting any land-speed records, however -- this race is to be the first across the finish line with a port of an ASP.Net application to run on Linux.

You're ready to be a card-carrying Linux geek, but with several different Linux distributions available, you don't know where to start. Which one offers the best balance of tools, performance, and price? takes you through the most popular Linux distros and introduces you to a brave new world without Windows.