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If there is a defining feature in Apple's Leopard, it's Time Machine. As cool as it may be, the fact is that we, as Linux users, are obviously not going to see much benefit from this is pitiful. So it's a good thing that open source developers have taken it upon themselves to create something similar, be it not a 'pretty' alternative.

Lately, I have been looking into other distributions that, like Ubuntu, are working to make strides to attract new users. I still have Debian Etch burned to a CD, waiting for a test in our lab. Next up is going to be Fedora. In the past, I have never been too impressed with RPM-based distributions, but to be fair, most of this came from nightmare scenarios with Mandriva and SuSE. And the last time I really took Fedora for a solid run was with Fedora 5, so it has been a while since I tested the Red Hat supported distro.

How long did you think it would take for an Ubuntu-based machine to make it into Walmart, complete with Google applications scattered all over the place? Apparently it was sooner than we had expected. As I type this, I'm attempting to download a copy of the OS now so I can get a feel for just how much Google feel this Ubuntu variant is really offering.

There are a number of newcomers who migrate to Linux and then find themselves at ends with the confusion regarding restricted formats and codecs in the US. The laws regarding usage are confusing and all over the map, thus leaving many Linux distributions forced to mark them as possibly illegal to use in some countries, despite no solid evidence to actually support this outside of MPAA and RIAA rhetoric, which is hardly a court's decision.

I have read roughly half a dozen reports telling horror stories about how many kernel related bugs are not getting to the developers out of fear of being treated like idiots. Speaking as a Linux user who has dealt with other developers in the past, this sounds likely to me.

As I finish my testing on three different Linux supported wireless cards from Edimax running them on Ubuntu Gutsy, I discovered something that I think some people lose sight of. Because all three of these cards are using Ralink-based drivers of one sort or another, they tend to run a bit hot. And bundle that with a notebook not sitting on a notebook cooling pad and you have yourself one very overtaxed piece of hardware.

I was unable to attend the KDE release party at Google headquarters. I was thrilled to get the invite, but I just couldn't make it. And to be honest, that's a shame because the latest release has impressed me, despite me being seen as a crusty GNOME fan. I guess in the end we are all Linux users at heart.

In my previous articles, I have talked about the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project, how it works, what the software looks like and the version of Linux it runs. Well, it seems that since last month, we have the opportunity to not only purchase a little green notebook for a child overseas, but we will even be able to finally get one of these green monsters for ourselves, too.

Admittedly, this is not an issue for me, since I know better than to put anything Ubuntu puts out right off the bat on my daily use machine. I use Feisty (only recently upgraded) on my PC and then Gutsy on my notebook. Unfortunately, while this did not affect me personally, it seems that ipv6 issues are at it again. Yes, I realize this excuse is getting really old, so I will not argue any points regarding the fact that Ubuntu continues to deal with problems related to ipv6 and refuses to make the issue extremely clear in its release documentation.

In the past, I have been particularly hard on KINO and its choice of UI schemes. However, one thing I really appreciate is despite KDENLive 0.4 and 0.5/0.6 crashes and other mindless anomalies, it works.

I just finished taking the latest version of Puppy Linux for a spin and was planning on doing a review. However, considering this was on my notebook, that meant connecting to the Internet, preferably via wireless.

Having spent the last few days really examining what Gutsy has to offer on the wireless front, I have been content with improvements made to the network-manager for GNOME. Having thoroughly tested my RT2500 and RT61 Ralink wireless cards, I was impressed with the new wireless stack and network-manager's ability to handle the wireless cards with zero hassle.

After growing tired of install errors with Simply Mepis 7.0 Beta 5, I finally wrote it off as a Beta bug with my architecture on my notebook. After all, clean partitions and being able to run other releases of Mepis indicate that there are some bugs that have yet to be dealt with on that Beta release.

If there is one thing that frustrates me, it's articles like this that start off on the right track, only to show the writer's complete lack of understanding about the subject he has selected to write about.

Many of us wonder, why is there so much excitement over Skype when, at its core, Ekiga is a more robust application with even more maturity behind it? The answer to that is rather simple - provide a compelling reason to use something besides Skype.

Over the past few months, the concept of green computing has become all the rage. But the undeniable fact is that often times with this low impact approach to computing, we end up sacrificing actual computing power, which makes this a tough sell for many. Frankly, to me it just feels like a marketing ploy. Could this perception be felt by others as well?

I have heard a number of people tell me that as much as they love the speed of development and the community, sometimes Ubuntu just gets ahead of itself. And I suppose in a larger sense, this is what makes Linux such a fantastic platform in the first place. If you dislike GNOME, you can use KDE, or instead, pick a slimmer desktop manager like Fluxbox. Wireless woes?

As you can imagine, I’m enjoying OS X so much right now, and I can’t wait to upgrade to Leopard. With that said, I’ve begun to wonder if the day will ever come when I go through the switching process again and switch from OS X to another operating system.

Most of you reading this are likely doing so with the now popular Web browser lovingly known as Firefox. Born out of the frustration to need something with less bloat, Firefox fit the bill with flying colors. These days, however, this is looking less and less like what we can expect from them in the future.

When it comes to the average user, they would be better off with a Mac. Yes, I say this typing on my Gutsy box with my wife's new iMac in the next room. When there is no support person around to help get things off the ground, going with a Mac is the logical out-of-the-box solution for most home users.