A realistic exploration of the Desktop Linux opportunity, Jun 09, 2009

The starting point for the argument to use Linux on a desktop is typically that Windows is completely broken and the only reason people carry on using it is because they are lazy or have been brainwashed by the Redmond evil empire. Linux is then positioned as the answer to everyone's problems based on technical superiority and the righteousness of open source.

In a conference call, the top brass of the two firms suggested that the $7.4bn merger is an attempt to come up with an integrated solution.

CIOs love Linux, but what does your Linux-using reputation say about you as an employee? IT execs say it shows a kind of problem-solving skill they're looking for

Ubuntu and Red Hat are the most used Linux distributions among the 35,000 members of content-management vendor Alfresco's community, the company found in its second survey of trends in enterprise open-source software usage.

Besides ease of use for end users, Ubuntu is cost-effective and even eliminates per-seat license costs entirely, on both the desktop and the server.

Lately, however, more and more companies are discovering that they have alternatives when it comes to choosing an IT infrastructure, and that there really are some sound reasons not to go with Windows.

Businesses will soon be able to try out a new product from Ingres that aims to reduce maintenance work by combining the company’s open-source database with a version of Linux from rPath.

Munich has begun its migration to Linux on the desktop, a year later than planned and nearly three years since the city announced its move to open source software.

The Franconia region around Nuremberg, Germany, hopes to establish Europe’s first "Linux Valley" with the launch of a new business campus focused on open-source innovation.

Novell on Friday said its SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 platform, which launched on July 17, was met with an extremely warm reception, with 165,000 Web surfers from across the globe downloading components of the platform within the first 10 days, according to a July 28 Novell release on InternetAdSales.com.

The intricacies of free and open-source software licenses require an honest conversation between you and your legal department.

Many feel it’s been Schwartz, not McNealy, who has been steering the ship through some of Sun’s boldest moves in recent years. In addition to personnel cuts, they include product maneuvers such as open sourcing Solaris as the proprietary OS bowed to competitive heat from Linux, and creating a new per-user pricing structure for its Java Enterprise System software suite when competitors such as IBM and BEA Systems trumped Sun in the Java software market.

As governments around the world increasingly turn on to open source software, the West Australian government has no choice but to play a leadership role if it doesn't want to be left behind.

Everywhere you looked in Dunedin there seemed to be someone sporting a black T shirt with a penguin on it. I must admit that I found their earnest technological enthusiasm somewhat nauseating.

The success of Linux and other open source projects has depended heavily on the support and investment of major IT companies, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has said.

According to ’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII), almost 70 percent of all software purchases last year were of Linux-based products. Meanwhile, provincial governments, installed 45,000 desktops with Linux operating systems.

Quoting the Robert Frances Group’s analyst report on the TCO of Linux, entitled “TCO for Application Servers: Comparing Linux with Windows and Solaris”, he stated that the Linux TCO is 40 percent less expensive than a comparable x86-based Windows solution and 54 percent less than a comparable SPARC-based Solaris solution for a J2EE application server.

How Cendant Travel Distribution Services replaced a $100 million mainframe with 144 Linux servers and lived to tell about it.

Open source computing has sparked a revolution in South America, but the heads of Microsoft say they aren't losing any sleep over the trend. With developing countries the world over looking to cut IT costs, maybe they should be

When it comes to open source, the NSW RTA has been there and done that. But other departments - and, maybe, even politicians - can use its experiences to guide their own open source policies.