Some small businesses and start-ups are standardizing on Ubuntu Server Edition because it’s a low-cost alternative to Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 and 2008. The VAR Guy wonders: Could a bigger trend be coming? Will hundreds — or thousands — of small businesses make the move to Ubuntu Server Edition?

For many computer users, the desire to find something more cost effective than Windows has been growing from a low growl to a loud roar. Obviously not everyone is a great candidate to make the switch to the open source operating system. Once you are able to better understand some of the strengths of using the Linux desktop, however, you too might find that migrating makes a lot sense.

Why is it that many corporations and small to medium businesses cannot or will not take a step back and look at the competitive advantage and cost savings Linux and Open Source software will give their business?

Linux is used as a server all the time. From branch-offices using Linux and Samba to Google running, well everything, on Linux, it's the operating system for choice for most businesses. Except that is, for small offices. There, Microsoft's SBS (Small Business Server) is the server of choice. The Clear Foundation wants to change that with their ClearOS 5.1 small business server distribution.

Some of my Linux-savvy friends and I have been hashing out what the best Linux desktop would be for a SMB (small to medium sized business).

It's funny isn't it? By default, any Linux distribution comes with business server functionality like an e-mail, file, and print serving, but Microsoft still gets the lion's share of the small business server world. Steve J. Vaughan-Nichols wonders what's going on here?

As I was doing some research for another article, I ran across a forum in which small business users were discussing why they wanted a particular software product (Quickbooks) ported to Linux. One poster's comments caught my attention. What he said convinced me that all small businesses should be running Linux on their desktops.

Five years ago, when Geoff Beasley decided to move his sound studio business from a Windows-based one to a Linux-based setup, he had one simple bit of logic driving him: things could not be worse under Linux.

There is a market area that can accommodate for the most part, three groups. Small business, Schools and non-profit organizations. Small business counts for up to 70% of all businesses in the U.S. All three of these areas use similar software, especially in the offices.