Open Source

In a comment to one of my recent stories, someone said that they could run Windows 7 on an older PC, but not Linux. Yeah. Right. But, how slow can a PC go and still run desktop Linux? Here's the answer.

For years, Apple fans have claimed that Macs are invulnerable to attack, while belittling Windows as being full of security holes. Now the tables are turned --- not only has a Trojan infected Macs and created a botnet, but several well-known researchers warn that Mac OS X is less secure than either Windows or Linux.

The release candidate of Ubuntu Linux's latest version, Jaunty Jackalope, Ubuntu 9.04 is almost out and it's looking like a good one. Here are the five best things you'll have to look forward to in this release.

There are all kinds of differences between the two, but a major one, which often gets over-looked, is that Linux is in a constant state of evolution, while Windows moves 'forward' in a series of year-long steps. Here's what that means for you.

Firefox fans take note: A just-released report from the security company Secunia found that Firefox is far more vulnerable than Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer --- and by a wide margin. In 2008, it had nearly four times as many vulnerabilities as each of those browsers.

If you're just Joe or Jane Linux user, you probably could care less about the reseller or channel sales side of Linux. It's got nothing to do with you. But, if you're own a business and want to work with Linux or open-source software, than SYNNEX's announcing the launch of the Open Source Channel Alliance is big news.

Microsoft has thrown down the gauntlet to Linux and Mac OS X users: It now claims that Vista is more secure than any operating system ever created, including Linux and Mac OS X. I've got details in my blog.

After working with the latest versions of all three of the major browsers the winner is still Firefox. Here's why.

At the recently concluded Linux Foundation Summit in San Francisco, some Foundation staffers asked several people when they started with Linux, which lead me to the same question.

According to Major League Baseball, you can only watch MLB.com's baseball games on Windows or a Mac. Wrong. You can now watch your favorite team -- go Cubs! -- on most Linux desktops as well.

If you think that Windows now completely rules the netbook world, you've been drinking way too much Microsoft kool-aid according to Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu.

Most of the reasons that Linux has only a tiny slice of the desktop market pie has little to do with Linux, but the Linux distributors are also partly to blame.

In a special IT Blogwatch Extra, Richi Jennings watches the latest play in the IBM/Sun acquisition saga. It seems that IBM wants to pay less, but Sun isn't happy with that, so the deal's off -- or is it? Not to mention IKEA slapstick...

Sun slowly dies. Here's why.

IBM buying Sun is a done deal. But, what does that mean for Solaris and OpenSolaris? Java? NetBeans? Here are my best guesses.