How to Create a Desktop Linux Monopoly, Feb 13, 2008

What if I told you that it would actually be possible to see a Linux monopoly with the right components in place taking form within a short five-year period? That would be impossible due to licensing and availability, right?

Why is it that we can manage to sway countless hardware manufactures into looking our way yet those who work in other business circles continue to ignore Linux to the point of almost being laughable? Today, we will highlight these companies, just to remind them how their decisions are costing them money.

Ever since the dawn of commercial software, piracy has been a problem without a realistic solution that meets the needs of both the software vendor and the end user. From serial keys to outright DRM (digital rights management) schemes, the software industry has left no preventive measure untried.

I am writing this piece in hopes of sharing what each desktop offering has to provide and which of these options makes the most sense for your business.

Ubuntu has been a force to be reckoned within the Linux world for a couple of years now. It’s undeniably the path to Linux gaining mainstream acceptance. In this article, I’ll examine ten areas where I think Ubuntu could go still further; that is, really improve and even gain back those who abandoned it out of frustration.

Regardless of why, the very idea of being forbidden from using one OS over another seems completely insane, if not immoral

The single biggest argument against a smooth migration to one of the popular desktop Linux distributions is the belief that key applications are not available on the Linux platform. However there are a multitude of fantastic open source alternatives that are easy to install and free to use.

Within the past few years, the software movement known as “open source” has gained serious traction over its proprietary cousins. As it has taken hold of the mainstream, many of these applications – like Firefox and Thunderbird – are used everyday, without a second thought as to their origins.

It's maddening. For someone who is trying make a daily use of what is to be considered a beginner friendly distribution for the first time, most options leave a lot to be desired for the uninitiated.

There is no question about it, Linux and tax software have not been the best fit over the years. As expected, the usual excuses were being used: there are not enough Linux users to warrant a Linux version, or if people want, there is always the online options made readily available to those who chose not to.

...today's piece is a close examination of beginner oriented desktop Linux: where it is and where it could be going.

Linux in all its forms has come such a long way. And when we have an otherwise less than mainstream distribution showing us that offering something that most family households want anyway (parental controls), the total avoidance of this in "beginner-friendly" distributions completely blows my mind.

For a number of weeks now, I’ve been pondering exactly who chooses to migrate to Linux and perhaps even more importantly, why. Seriously, what is the motivating factor when it comes to making the move to a new OS? Generally speaking, it comes down to a need for a change.

In recent months, there is one thing that’s on my mind - open source revenue vs. revolution. Seriously, while the revolution is well underway within the open source community, one has to question which of these two previously mentioned ideologies will, in the end, be the deciding factor on the future of software and OS' as a whole.

With the next version of Ubuntu set to release in the near future, I found myself curious about the general consensus of the average user population. Early on, I made a conscious decision that I would not review this upcoming version of Ubuntu until it had been released in a non-beta format.

In today's review, we want to highlight an HTML editor that we believe will empower a number of budding web developers who would like to make the switch and do so without the need to dual-boot to use a Frontpage-like application.

I've tried, I really have. For a couple of years now, I have been attempting to dump my destructive tendency of using MP3 as my audio format of choice and have instead, been working very hard to get onboard with OGG Vorbis 100 percent. However, this is very difficult when you own an iPod Nano and a Dell Pocket DJ.

If you are anything like me, you have likely found that running WINE powered emulation software is more trouble than it's worth. Blasphemy you say? Nah, because by playing Windows games, you are in fact supporting games designed for Microsoft.

Lately, I have found myself becoming more and more disenfranchised with the whole concept of flash media. I’ve been feeling that way ever since the original Macromedia days and continue to feel that way now with Adobe. Flash has been a royal pain for a number of Linux users, therefore, today, I’m going to present my case on Adobe's lack of interest in the Linux community, and in the end, you can be the judge of its validity.

Linux users have found their options limited, as iTunes is to this very day still not available on the Linux platform natively. Apple is foolish for ignoring this, but we believe that we have located a better alternative in the video podcast realm than what iTunes was offering anyway - Democracy Player.