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The primary benefits of open source lie, not surprisingly, in its openness. Being freely available lowers the costs of acquisition, but more importantly, with the right to see and modify the code, companies find themselves in the unique position of being able to tailor their software to the way they run their business.

Design your application's GUI look in XML, write the code in Java and plug the whole thing in to the GNOME desktop.

A new wave in the evolution of open-source software is taking hold - and the results may not be pretty. Open source has matured from a free-to-use rebellion against costly brand-name programs to a stage where the products are robust and sophisticated enough for serious business use.

The European Union will contribute 660,000 euros to the research project FLOSSWorld. It is the follow-up project to FLOSS and FLOSSPOLS, which have surveyed and studied the development and use of "Free/Libre/Open Source Software" (FLOSS). After the precursor projects concentrated on Europe exclusively the new one will also take in countries outside of it.

Every year or so I like to see how Microsoft is doing in its attempt to make a desktop operating system as usable as Linux. Microsoft Windows XP, Home Edition, with Service Pack 2, is a tremendous improvement over previous Windows versions when it comes to stability and appearance, but it still has many glitches that keep it from being competitive with GNU/Linux for everyday users, including a tedious installation procedure, lack of productivity software included with the operating system, hardware compatibility problems, and a price so much higher than any of the Linux distributions I've tested lately that I don't feel this product is a good value for most home or small office users

In a circle of non-geeks, when one brings up the name " Linux ," some might think you are referring to a particular cartoon character. Others may have heard the name associated with computers. Still others will know that it's an operating system, but think it's one that's only used by programmers. Finally, you may, possibly, encounter one who has actually seen or used a computer with Linux . But that's all beginning to change. Linux is moving into the main stream.

In Part 1 of this two-part excerpt from Linux Desktop Hacks, we offered hacks on controlling desktop access. In this second installment, learn how to view Microsoft Word documents in a terminal and how to create an internet phone.

Nokia unveils a pocket-size Web browser for wireless broadband networks--its first Linux-based device. Also: Scooba on the way.

At Gartner's Symposium ITxpo 2005, Nokia threw the biggest party, called "JazzMania". Maybe the style -- let's just call it a sort of Dixieland jazz with a Spanish touch -- may not have been to everyone's taste, but it did go well with the warm Wednesday evening on which Nokia opened up its treasure chest and explained its patent policy for Linux. But Nokia not only declared it would work with the "good guys"; in doing so, the company also kicked the "bad guys" in the shin -- firms who press charges for patent violations concerning the Linux kernel or who support other companies (third parties) who want to press charges concerning Linux. In other words, Nokia is ruling out the SCO Group and those that SCO supports. For instance, Nokia's Internet Tablet PC, a small device that runs on Linux, is intended as an affront both to Microsoft and its large Tablet PC.

When I first saw the press release for the A4Tech "battery-free" wireless optical mouse, I figured there was some kind of marketing wizardry involved. Maybe there weren't "batteries," per se, but it was rechargeable through some other means? Or did it contain some revolutionary new mouse technology, like harnessing the kinetic energy of mouse movements? Or something more esoteric, like powering the mouse with my own sense of self-satisfaction? Turns out it's actually powered by RFID -- and it ended up being a great mouse, especially considering the $20 pricetag.

Who really owns Unix's copyrights, Novell or SCO? The U.S. District Court hears arguments over issues connected with this question.

Several IT executives reinforced the idea that Linux now has the technical brawn and industry support to hold up the most demanding business applications in such environments as finance, airline reservations and stock trading.

Attendees at the BioIT World conference last week got a first look at a powerful new Linux clustering package for supercomputing environments.

Scientific Linux (SL) might seem a strange choice as a desktop operating system for someone who is retired, disabled, and elderly, and who has relatively little scientific or programming knowledge, but I get great excitement from exploring the art of Linux distributions, and with Scientific Linux, that excitement is amplified by knowing I'm using the same operating system that is being used by many of the world's leading scientists.

Free software advocates and IT delegates from around the world will be in Kerala, India, this week in the hopes of building free software collaborations for the future.

Nokia is introducing a Linux-based handheld tablet for web-browsing over a wireless broadband connection. It is the company's first non-phone mobile device and the latest in a long line of attempts to create a so-called "internet appliance" for quick online access around the home.

Linux developers could find themselves with a peculiar choice this July: either build an open-source replacement for a proprietary software tool that has become critical to product development, or pay for the commercial version.

Since 1993, Larry McVoy has been one of the closest allies to Linus Torvalds, creator of the open source Linux operating system.

An italian web magazine interviewed Guido Van Rossum, the guru of Python. An interesting interview has been created.

VoIP is finally becoming a mainstream application for small and large business -- but with IP telephony at the high end, and Skype cleaning up in homes and home offices, there's a gap in the market. If your connectivity is based on Frame Relay or metro Ethernet, you're most likely a big enterprise with hundreds if not thousands of employees on several sites, and you use probably those connections to provide Internet access, as well as inter-office or branch office connectivity.