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It's been over a year since I wrote about my conversion to a Linux based digital media environment, and since it's the holiday season (or just after) I thought it was time to update the story, and describe some new Linux based devices I'm using that others might find useful.

If you yearn for the operating systems or arcade games of the past, and are willing to make the effort to bring them back to life, free and open source software is definitely the way to go. Green screens and might-have beens, operating systems and games, BeOS, Amiga OS or DOS can be relived and replayed through a host of emulators, simulators or rewrites in varying stages of completion.

Puppy Linux is something different, a tiny version of Linux that can be stored on a USB memory drive, will run in memory, and can be used for working on the move.

Desktop astronomy has become more accessible over the last few years as hardware and software have come down in price. For an outlay not much greater than a top of the range PC it is possible to put together a CCD powered telescope that is more than adequate for hunting comets or prospecting for asteroids, which are still popular pastimes among amateur astronomers. This optical hardware can be augmented by a substantial range of free software to process the raw images and guide amateur astronomers on where to look and what to see...

The case known as "In re bilski" has the potential to go some way towards righting some of the wrongs of the patent industry, while coincidently, transforming the prospects for innovation in the information and software industries. During the last few years, the United States has witnessed a proliferation of patents in industries that are central to the information economy, despite a wide belief that the rush to patents and business models based on 'Intellectual Property Rights' has the effect of restricting the flow of information and inhibiting innovation.

There has been a lot of press recently about the Open Source "Mono" project, arguing about whether it is safe to use by the Free Software community, and even comparing it to the project I work on, Samba. Given all this controversy I thought I might as well write down my own thoughts on the matter, and even try and change a few minds into the bargain. Mono is controversial as it is a re-implementation of Microsoft's .NET technology, in much the same way as Samba is a re-implementation of Microsoft's Server Message Block (SMB) file sharing protocol. The genesis of each project and how they have developed over the years is somewhat different however.

Like the bad actor in a Victorian melodrama, SCO refuses to lie down, and keeps coming back for more.

Interoperability with Windows is hard. But somebody has to do it. And if you're going to do something, you might as well try and do it well (and try and have some fun at the same time)

Change for the sake of change isn't desirable. If Linux is to break into commercial environments on a large scale, there has to be continuity and consistency. At the same time the desktop cannot afford to ossify, and the developers cannot be expected to ignore the potential that the technology offers.

Microsoft and their attendant band of astroturf bloggers are already raising a hue and cry over Rob's findings, claiming the ODF standard itself is at fault, and in some cases calling for his resignation as chair of the ODF Technical Committee for the heinous sin of pointing out this emperor has no clothes.

Ubuntu is five years old. The release of Jaunty Jackalope coincided with the fifth anniversary of a meeting that Mark Shuttleworth called of a dozen or so Debian Developers in his London flat in April 2004 to map out his project to create a distribution that was capable of taking Linux to the masses. During the five years since that meeting Ubuntu has sprung from nothing to become the most popular Linux on the street.

IBM's prospective (and as yet hypothetical) acquisition of Sun Microsystems could well give Meeks and other developers the chance to confirm their belief that a truly open developer-driven community centred around an independent foundation has the capacity to rejuvenate and enhance OpenOffice.org...

"Through all these vicissitudes the openSUSE community has continued to produce a high class Linux distribution, which continues to receive plaudits, and appears to support a thriving and enthusiastic community, with busy forums and its own weekly news bulletin, which is widely read. The traditions of SuSE continue against the tide."

One of the things about getting older is that you learn to ignore things until you have to do something about them. It's a learned efficiency I suppose, rationing your increasingly precious time out to the unceasing demands upon it. I finally realized I have to do some serious thinking about cloud computing.