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So far the Linux presence at CES 2011 looks to be mostly in the form of Android and other Linux-based operating systems appearing on new tablets and other mobile devices. Though there should be the assortment of usual companies innovating atop of open-source software / Linux, like SplashTop and others. There will also be the release of Intel's Sandy Bridge, which already has open-source Linux support, among other PC hardware happenings at this event.

In the past two decades, the open source community has evolved from an obscure grass-roots movement of wild-eyed crusaders, indigent grad students, and spare-time hobbyists to an unprecedented worldwide collaboration of full-time professionals and extraordinarily committed volunteers. We pride ourselves on our openness to new contributors, from any country or social background, and most often describe the power structure of open source projects as a meritocracy. Many of us believe that open source is inherently progressive - a way to level the playing field that operates across all social categories and class boundaries.

ZevenOS is a German-born project that offers Debian-based and Ubuntu-based versions of their BeOS-like system. ZevenOS is based on Ubuntu (Xubuntu) and ZevenOS-Neptune is based on Debian Testing. The main purpose is to preserve some of the features of BeOS in a modern, capable operating system. Neptune 1.9.1 was recently released to bring the latest Linux goodies to users.

Recently I discovered a new kind of Linux: DoudouLinux. It is not a new distribution, but a version of Debian tailor-made for children, the designer Jean-Michael says that is usable by children two years old and above. By starting this live meta-distro you get a rich and colorful menu from which childrens can choose what to play. Intrigued by the project, I asked Jean-Michel for an interview and he very kindly accepted, this is also a good chance for him to introduce his project in Italy and other countries where it still is not widely known.

Robotis is shipping an 18-inch, humanoid robot developed as an open source research platform by Virginia Tech’s Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa). The Linux-ready Darwin-OP can walk, kick a ball, and pick itself up after falling over -- thanks to an Intel Atom-based FitPC2i SBC (single board computer), an ARM Cortex-M3 based management controller, 20 actuators, and audio/video sensors.

Google isn’t telling me any secrets about its plans for Chrome OS. Indeed, I’m not even one of the 60,000 or so people that Google has given a Cr-48 Chromebook prototype to play with. Even so, unlike my good friend Mary Jo Foley, I think I know exactly who Google has in mind for its Chrome OS Linux desktop system.

If you have used Gnome-Do in Linux, you will find some resemblance in Synapse. The user-interface is the same – activate the launcher, type the search term, press Enter to execute. The only difference is that Synapse makes use of the Zeitgeist engine to display your search result. An appropriate description would be: Synapse is the launcher for your recently used files/folders/applications while Gnome-Do is the launcher for any file/folder/application.

At first glance, Red Hat Inc. and Eucalyptus Systems are partnering up to jointly promote open source cloud solutions. But take a closer look and TalkinCloud wonders if Red Hat and Eucalyptus are partnering up to compete more effectively against the RackSpace OpenStack cloud effort. Here's why.

The Southern California Linux Expo is happy to announce that Leigh Honeywell has been chosen as the first keynote speaker for SCALE 9X. Honeywell will be speaking on the topic of “Hackerspaces and Free Software,” and how the two communities are mutually beneficial to each other. Honeywell is co-founder and current president of HackLab.TO, a hackerspace in downtown Toronto. She currently serves on the board of advisors of the SECtor security conference, has served as a Google Summer of Code mentor, and is one of the Tres Chix leading the Ubuntu Women project.

A full review of the KDE version of Fedora 14. In my last look at Fedora 14, I covered the GNOME version. Fedora comes in other flavors though, including a KDE version. Since there are many KDE users out there, I thought it wise to cover the KDE release.

Part of the free software experience is having the freedom to setup your workspace the way you want it. KDE, the popular free software compilation for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, offers a plethora of configuration and customization options. Among those options are a number of methods for accessing files quickly and easily.

Google's 'Net-centric Chrome OS platform challenges conventional notions about what constitutes an operating system. It puts the cloud front and center, eschewing the familiar desktop paradigm and native applications in favor of a browser-only environment. It's an audacious and intriguing experiment, but it's not clear yet if it will resonate with a mainstream audience.

The internet has been awash with the fallout from Oracle’s stewardship of OpenOffice.org and Ubuntu’s announcement that Xorg would be replaced by Wayland and Unity would be the next desktop. The F-word was used. A lot. No, not that F-word. The other F-word. Forking. OpenOffice.org has already forked to LibreOffice and I’ve no doubt that Unity haters will fork off to Gnome Shell 3. Fair enough. It’s all about choice in the end and choice creates competition and competition often creates innovation and cross fertilization (as well as fragmentation). Read the article at Freesoftware Magazine.

On the occasion of the presentation of Google's Chrome OS operating system, Richard Stallman, founder of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation (FSF), has reiterated his criticism of cloud computing. As Stallman told the Guardian newspaper, people are being taught "careless computing"; they are simply not as careful when their documents and other information are stored on third-party servers instead of on devices under their own control. He says there are also legal risks, for instance when users in the US lose access control to their data in the cloud because authorities have stepped in.

In the previous article, , we have used only default, primary colors. It's incredible how many things you can do with one single color or a small set of them. Even though black is still the most important color, you will certainly need custom colors very soon.

This article is not about open source software directly, but it demonstrates how the concepts introduced in the free software/open source communities are influencing behavior far outside of the software realm.

As the last article on the methodology “Getting Things Done” I want to present the site Remember The Milk and some Linux tools that you can use to interface with this service. Remember the Milk is an application service provider for web-based task- and time-management.

Oracle has released version 3.3 of Oracle Open Office and announced a web and mobile office suite called Oracle Cloud Office. Discussing the announcement, Oracle Office VP Michael Bemmer said, "Oracle Cloud Office and Oracle Open Office 3.3 deliver complete, open and cost-effective office productivity suites that are designed and optimised for our customers’ needs," adding that, "Customers now have the flexibility to support users across a wide variety of devices and platforms, whether via desktop, private or public cloud".

As budgets tighten, governments around the world are firming up their open source pledges. Rory MacDonald investigates if 2011 might well be the year open source breaks into the public sector…

Clementine gains more and more popularity with its port to KDE4 based upon the Amarok 1.4 player, and the latest version bundles a fair amount of new features. In case you didn’t try it yet, Clementine is a free, cross-platform music player available for Linux, Windows and Mac. Before proceeding let me say that this is a really, really improved release which shows a good amount of work has be put into it.