Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Dell isnt resting on its recent consumer Linux PC laurels. The computing giant has added a new laptop—the Inspiron 1420 Notebook—to its Ubuntu Linux 7.04 offering. It is also replacing the Dimension E520 desktop with the new, low-priced Inspiron 530. The new Inspiron 1420N is powered by a 1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor. […]

For many years, the term “open source” has been subject to abuse. Despite efforts by the OSI (Open Source Initiative) to trademark the phrase, the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) claimed the phrase was too generic to be trademarked, thereby weakening efforts to guard against its improper usage, according to Danese Cooper, secretary and […]

My summer travel horror show started on my way back from San Francisco after covering the inaugural Linux Foundations Collaboration Summit. About half an hour before the US Air flight to Charlotte, N.C. was to board, we were told there would be a 4-hour delay. Not good. That delay ensured that there would be no […]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Last week, at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit held at the Googleplex, some of Linuxs top kernel developers discussed the state of the Linux kernel today and where it might be going. Among the kernel developers present were Andrew Morton, James Bottomley, Chris Wright, Ted Tso and Greg Kroah-Hartman. About the only top […]

Last week, more than 230 Linux leaders converged on Googles Mountain View, Calif., campus to discuss the most pressing issues for Linux, at the first-ever Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit. On June 19, the Linux Foundation released a statement summarizing the events main accomplishments and declared the event a success. The group—comprising kernel developers, distribution vendors, […]

Without further ado, here are my answers to the “reasons” not to buy open-source software. 1) Microsoft is the safe choice Safe? Safe!? Come on. Microsofts products are infamous for not being safe. Vista was supposed to be soooo much more secure than earlier versions of Windows. I said that was nonsense when Vista was […]

Novell Inc. on June 18 released its first service pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. This service pack, also known as SP1, features significant enhancements in virtualization, high-performance computing, security, interoperability, and system management. At the same time, Novell also announced the commercial availability of the SUSE Linux Enterprise […]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—At the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit held at the Googleplex last week, Linux developers, IHVs and ISVs hashed out their differences in an attempt to find common ground. Hardware issues Hardware, as ever, remains a pain point for Linux developers and users. Speaking to a matter near and dear to many Linux desktop […]

OK, so why have Novell, Xandros and Linspire all gotten into bed with Microsoft? Is it… 1. They were seduced by Steve Ballmers charming smile? 2. Theyve gone over to the dark side of the force? 3. Terror of Microsofts mighty patent portfolio had them groveling at Microsofts feet? 4. It actually makes business sense […]

Novell claims it will become the first vendor to offer a supported solution for Xen virtual machine guests, with its release next month of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack. This is a bundle of Xen-compatible paravirtualized network, bus, and block device drivers said to enable unmodified Windows and Linux guest operating systems […]