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Open source software (OSS) developers find and fix software bugs quickly, according to Evans Data Corp.'s Fall 2005 Open Source Software/Linux Development Survey. Seventeen percent of OSS developers find and repair severe bugs in less than 4 business hours on average. Another quarter say they can find and fix severe bugs in their software in four to eight business hours.

What would happen to Linux, Free Software, and Open Source Software if Microsoft reformed itself? What if Microsoft abandoned their evil, customer-hostile, restraint-of-trade ways, and did a complete turnaround? Would FOSS even have a reason to exist?

Jeremy Jones recently bought a new laptop and decided to run Linux. Don't shudder--it actually works! Here's how he installed, reinstalled, and configured Ubuntu GNU/Linux on a Dell Inspiron.

One of the great things about being a VC is that I am always meeting new and exciting companies that are focused on changing the landscape of enterprise technology. So how do you actually meet these companies, you might wonder? There are literally thousands of startups, all vying to be the next big thing. Amongst VCs, everyone has a different approach, but we’ve often found our best investments when we do two things: define a trend where innovation creates a disruption in the status quo, and listen intently to what customers (or prospective customers) are saying and doing.

In the enterprise, there is probably no greater disruption than what is going on with open source. The momentum of Linux, Apache, JBoss and MySQL is accelerating, which I am sure you already know. I won’t bore you with the myriad issues around deploying open source related technologies in the enterprise, whether that be about licensing, security, manageability, etc. I’ll leave that to the folks that are paid to write about this stuff. [Editor’s note: the latest blog post by CIO magazine’s Christopher Koch is a good dialogue on open source.] But I will leave you with one thought, which is this: if you can buy something that is at a minimum just as good as the alternatives at half the price (or less), why wouldn’t you? After all, we’re talking about technology, not luxury cars here.

In a deal late yesterday at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia, the US retained its effective control over the Internet. Instead of wresting control from the US - an issue high on many an attendee's agenda - the forum agreed to set up an international forum in to deal with Net issues, although it will have no binding power.

The Chinese government will purchase more than $20 million worth of computers from IBM, making it Big Blue's largest Unix installation ever in Asia, the company said Wednesday.

It wasn't entirely clear from an 'apt-get source boot-floppies' how to make a custom CD image. I just wanted to make a netinst CD with a kernel that had some new driver that I needed so I could get Debian on the box.

I work as a consultant in a Windows-centric work-place and we remotely administer Windows servers. We trouble-shoot Windows clients. We keep spammers out of our Exchange servers. We defrag. We update. We install antivirus programs. We eliminate spyware. I suppose it would be fair to say that Microsoft keeps us in business. One day, while the boss was away, I shoved a spare hard-drive into my computer and installed Ubuntu 5.04. I managed to work for a month and a half before the Boss noticed I was using Linux - and that was only because he happened to glance at my screen. Half a year later, I am still using Ubuntu (now version 5.10) at work and I am more productive than ever.

The site is down because they are under a DOS attack. I can think of several possible ramifications, but I thought you might want to know.

The number of open source deployments by governments across the world has accelerated over the last few years. To date at least 160 international local and national governments have deployed open source software and over $2bn has been spent on the Linux open source operating system, according to figures from Linux vendor Red Hat.

LXer Day Desk: 11-17-2005

Many American conservatives recoil when people bring up the issue of persecution. They call it un-American. We quote the US Constitution when it serves our interests. But when someone is in the minority, reminding the majority of our rights under the constitution means encountering verbal abuse.

So as unpopular as the following argument may seem, let me remind you that a democracy that guarantees citizens certain rights and privileges forms the foundation of our system of government. Vocal incriminations will not change that.

Now, let's take a closer look at some core issues of ethics.
Diggable

RealPlayer 10 for Linux, based on the open source Helix multimedia player, has reached gold status and is now available for free download. RealPlayer 10 supports RealAudio, RealVideo 10, MP3, Ogg Vorbis and Theora, H263 and others. The Mozilla-compatible plug-in allows listeners to watch and listen to embedded video directly from their Web browsers, without needing to open up the player. Source: DesktopLinux.com

Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, introduced free software so advertisers can track how often Web surfers click on ads and then buy their products.

Google Analytics also will let customers see how users move around an Internet site and whether they produce a sales lead, said Richard Holden, a product management director.

The new features heighten competition for companies including WebSideStory Inc. that offer rival software. The move also shows Google's ability to use its surging ad business to offer for free a product it once priced at hundreds of dollars.

Analysis: If you're moving to Linux, CodeWeaver's CrossOver Office lets you take many of your favorite Windows programs with you.

As a result of articles referring to the threat of Worms and Viruses attacking Linux systems, many new Linux users are in a panic. They are running around wildly, weaping to their mothers for help... or maybe not? I find very few new users who are either panic stricken regarding worms & viruses or for that matter even concerned. The few beginners who've asked me about the need and options tend to be curious rather than consumed by FUD related materials.

To help them out and calm any panic stricken nerves, I've completed a brief, encouraging and straightup list for protecting your Linux home system. Obviously, if you're using a Linux server in a business environment you'll need to go beyond some of these tips.

[Ed: - Security Innovation is so 'independent', it is a professional services provider for Microsoft. Though the Press release says the study can be found at MS' Get the Facts page, I couldn't find it. -hkwint]
[Ed. - UPDATE: The study is here. - hkwint ]

Today at the IT Forum 2005 event in Barcelona, Spain, Microsoft announced findings from a report it commissioned from Security Innovation, a leading independent provider of application security services, which concluded that as requirements evolved over time, the Microsoft Windows platform was more consistent, predictable and easier to manage than Linux.

Related Story:
Linux News Questions Microsoft's Need for a "Get the Facts" campaign?

Even as Microsoft readies a host of new ad-supported online services to battle rivals, the software maker has been mulling a plan to offer free, ad-supported versions of some of its desktop products, CNET News.com has learned.

Although no specific plans have been made, executives within Microsoft are examining whether it makes sense to release ad-supported versions of products such as Works, Money, or even the Windows operating system itself, according to internal documents seen by CNET News.com.

The chief executive of the Open Source Development Labs (ODSL) has said that the threat facing Linux from software patent-infringement claims has receded.

LXer Day Desk: 11-16-2005

If Microsoft offers a superior product to Linux then why would they need a "Get the Facts" campaign? Over the years, the Redmond computer technology firm has learned that buyers make decisions based on who else uses a product. They know executives will say to themselves, if Rayovac uses it, then it must be good enough.

So what do you see? Just about any time a major publication runs a story about Linux, Microsoft gets them to place a "Get the Facts" advertisements nearby and often right in the middle of the story. That seems pretty suspect to me.

Do you ever wonder if publications run Linux stories just to garner Microsoft's ad money? Or have you considered that desperate times call for desperate measures? It makes me wonder.

Diggable

A gaggle of new threats that target computers running the Linux and Unix operating systems appears on the Internet.

Anti-virus companies and The SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center advised network administrators to be on the lookout for Internet-borne attacks that target a vulnerability in a common component known as XML-RPC (Remote Procedure Call) for PHP.