Apple vs. Microsoft vs. Linux: Good vs. Evil and Do You Really Care?, Jan 04, 2008

Microsoft has had the word “evil,” as in “evil empire,” associated with its name for nearly two decades. Yet it has nearly unmatched positional power in the tech industry.

Since its recent UK release, the sub-£200 Linux-based Eee PC has collected excellent reviews and advance versions of a second release will be on show at CES, likely to include a larger screen and WiMax wireless network support.

OpenMoko is upgrading its Linux-based mobile phone with a faster processor, Wi-Fi networking, and better graphics abilities, the company said Thursday.

No operating system, no not even Linux, is ever completely secure. So it is that the Debian Project released on Dec. 27 its second update to Debian 4.0, Etch, with an eye to improved security.

That was fast. Only two months ago, Good OS, a startup Linux distributor, exploded on the scene with gOS 1.0, an Ubuntu-based desktop Linux with dedicated links to Google applications. Now, the company has announced that it will release the next version, gOS 2.0, Rocket, at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas on Jan. 7.

Enterprise customers are using open-source software more and more, but issues of interoperability are still a stumbling block to widespread adoption, say customers and open-source software vendors.

McAfee warned that license terms governing open source software "may result in unanticipated obligations regarding our products."

There are two dominant software projects that provide Linux with a graphical user interface, but only one of them will get long-term support in Ubuntu's next version of the open-source operating system.

Having successfully reinvented itself as a Linux company, Novell is now making a substantial portion of its turnover from a single and surprising source - Microsoft.

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