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I had a note from a reader last week with a question that hadn't occurred to me. Daniel Blake asked: "Will Novell's Linux servers be able to run NLMs? We have a great deal of money invested in software that runs on NetWare that we can't just throw away and start over again." Read on, Daniel, I gave you misinformation!

The organizing team for the KDE Community World Summit is asking for submissions of talks and presentations to the big KDE event in August. Deadline is 30th of May.

Stephen Hemminger recently posted to the lkml in frustration, asking which Linux distributions support a stock kernel. He specifically listed problems between the stock kernel and Mandrake, do to its use of supermount, and SuSe do to its usage of ReiserFS attributes. He explained, "When running a non-vendor kernel, I need to reasonably expect that the system will boot and all the filesystems and standard devices are available."

Extreme Networks has released the ExtremeWare XOS operating system, which is Linux-based. The software runs Extreme’s line of BlackDiamond 10K Layer 3 Gigabit Ethernet switches, and is used to control services, protocols and applications running on the switch.

Ingenient Technologies has ported its CODEC set for embedded Linux to the Texas Instruments (TI) DM342, a programmable digital media processor that targets IP (Internet protocol) set-top boxes and digital media adapters. Ingenient also offers a DM342-based hardware reference design that supports Linux.

Bruce Perens, the Linux developer and advocate who helped coin the term "open source," has joined the board of directors of Open Source Risk Management, a company that sells insurance-like protection for Linux use. Perens' cooperation with the New York-based start-up was predicted, but OSRM expects to formally announce his association Monday.

Linux is going to be handling a third of all travel bookings in the world now that IBM has persuaded Cendant Corporation to switch its Galileo 360 eFares engine to Linux-based xServers.

Open Source software continues to make inroads across all verticals, and with the latest release of the tool Blender3D, it looks like animation may be next. Blender3D version 2.33, released this week, includes numerous significant enhancements, most notably the restoration of some of the core functionality it had when it was a proprietary, closed source program. Blender began its life as a closed source program and officially became open source under the GPL license in October 2002.

If there were no other reason to switch from Microsoft Windows to GNU-Linux, the Linux Virtual Desktops would be more than reason enough to make the switch.

Novell's Mono Program, which promises to allow .Net developers to develop Linux applications, should enable companies to make the best use of their developers.

Wireless operators and telcos are attracted to Linux and open source for the usual reasons of cost savings and avoiding vendor lock-in, but Berkeley DB's recent selection for use in bmd wireless network messaging solutions highlights that open source is living up to a good reputation of quality in the wireless and telecom industries.

After a long period as an area of specialist interest, Linux and open source have finally achieved a commercial presence, and the tipping point is now in sight. An alternative to Microsoft means contractors and employees face a new set of issues. The most obvious opportunity is a wider pool of potential roles using open source technologies, providing another avenue of employment for IT professionals.

The Xandros Desktop OS is known for their intuitive graphical environment that works right out of the box. Their polished desktop product is based on KDE. Your humble Dot editor had the privilege to talk to Rick Berenstein, Xandros Chairman and CTO and Ming Poon,Vice President for Software Development about Xandros and their products and the relationship between Xandros and the KDE project. Without further due ... enjoy the interview!

By switching to IBM from a Unix-based fare-pricing system, the company will over three years save 90% of the IT costs associated with its Galileo 360 eFares system, said Robert Wiseman, chief technology officer at Cendant TDS.

Open source developers are not students and hobbyists; three in four are employed, while a third believe open source expertise improves job opportunities. These survey conclusions have sparked deeper investigation of the movement and its impact on European e-government. The original survey took place under the IST project FLOSS. "At the time, there was little information on open source/free software," says coordinator Rishab Ghosh, from the Merit/Infonomics research institute in The Netherlands. A better picture emerged after two surveys of the field. "We got 2,800 responses from developers worldwide and 1,500 from user organisations, mostly in Europe." The resulting 2002 report has proved very popular, with 200,000 downloads and 80,000 links on the Google search engine.

Many of today's Windows applications will break on high-end Longhorn tomorrow, but why bother with Longhorn when you can run Windows apps better on Linux today? Now here's a thought: In all the debate over Longhorn versus Linux 2.6—or, as I like to pose it, vaporware vs. "Red Hat Fedora is running on my desktop right now"—has anyone ever considered that legacy Windows users might be better off running their applications on—drum roll, please—Linux?