Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

I have a problem with my ISP, BellSouth. Its DNS (Domain Name System) service is slow, and there have been times that it just doesnt work. Since I make my living off nonstop Internet connectivity, this is bad news. Without DNS, using the Web and e-mail becomes almost impossible. What to do? Well, I could […]

Sun is going to add the upcoming GNU General Public License Version 3 to OpenSolaris in addition to its current Common Development and Distribution License. This may give OpenSolaris a much needed kick in the pants. I have never liked the CDDL. Like many other open-source licenses, which are based on the MPL (Mozilla Public […]

When you think programming languages and Linux, the languages that tend to come to mind are C, C++, Perl, PHP, Python and, lately, Ruby. But, Java probably doesnt enter your mind at all—thats because until recently Java was a proprietary language. Sun, however has now liberated Java under the GPLv2 open-source license. I think that […]

Although youve always been able to run some Windows programs on Linux thanks to the Wine Project, CodeWeavers made that easier to do with its CrossOver Office line. Now, in a major new release and name change, CodeWeavers is introducing CrossOver Linux 6.0 and CrossOver Mac 6.0. Both programs let users run many popular Windows […]

The Eclipse Foundation has joined the Java Community Process, according to sources close to the organization. A formal announcement is scheduled for the week of Jan. 15, the source told eWEEK. A quick check of the JCP membership list confirmed that the Foundation is now listed as a member. Historically, the two development groups have […]

Rumors are circulating that The SCO Group is headed toward bankruptcy. But is the Unix company that took on IBM, Novell, Red Hat and the entire Linux world really in danger of going broke? The latest rash of rumors was triggered by a claim in a recent legal document, Novells Redacted Reply to SCOs Opposition […]

Linden Lab, creator of the “Second Life” online virtual world, is open-sourcing the code of the sites viewer application, enabling developers to make modifications, enhancements or add new features to the Second Life Viewer. The third-party support libraries and open-source code are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. The Second Life Viewer is […]

Officially, Nokia Inc. is still mum about its new Linux-based N800 Internet Tablet, the successor to its N770 Internet Tablet, but its already on sale in some U.S. stores. As reported by LinuxDevices.com, the N800 is now for sale at some CompUSA stores for $399.99. This new model, from sources close to Nokia and the […]

Kaj Arno, MySQL vice president of community relations, quietly revealed on his blog before Christmas that MySQL has changed its license to “GPL2 Only.” This does not mean, however, that MySQL, the well-known open-source DBMS vendor, is sticking to the GPLv2 forever. Unlike the Linux core developers, who have little if any interest in switching […]

Matt Asay, formerly the man in charge of Novells Linux and open-source strategy, thinks that Novell may be getting ready to buy up Altiris or XenSource sometime soon. In his blog, AC/OS, Asay wrote on Jan. 3 that “Word on the street is that the company has $200M or so burning a hole in its […]

Today, you can do everything you want with a Linux desktop, except play the latest games. Even there, Linux is catching up. So why do only a handful of people run Linux instead of Windows? Here are my top four reasons why Windows wins and Linux loses. Before I start, though, let me say—because people […]

Amsterdam has decided to give the Linux desktop and OpenOffice a try. In late December, the city—previously a Microsoft-only operation—announced plans to spend 300,000 Euros (roughly $400,000) on testing Linux and other open-source software in its housing department and in the Zeeburg borough office in 2007. According to the Dutch newspaper Trouw, Amsterdam, along with […]