This article is a review of the KDE edition, using a 32-bit ISO installation image. When first booting the system, one of the first things I noticed was that the boot with music option, which was the default, has been removed.

Yes, The VAR Guy is attending UbuntuLIVE in Portland, Oregon. He’s already noticed several Ubuntu Linux trends that could potentially benefit solutions providers and their customers. So, it’s the perfect opportunity for a big countdown: 50 things you need to know about Ubuntu.

"One of the things that is very confusing to new Linux enthusiasts is the "distro," or distribution. And one of the most confusing things about distributions, for the beginner, is that there is no official definition of what a distribution is, exactly: distributions existed in many forms long before anyone cared."

Recently I’ve noticed an increases in the number of people I know who are migrating from Windows to GNU/Linux. Either my tireless advocacy is grinding them down, word is starting to spread. Perhaps they’ve actually seen Vista in action and decided to jump ship now. Either way there are some things they are going to miss when they make the leap.

One of the first things I noticed after using Ubuntu for a while was how snappy the OS is, especially compared to Windows Vista (which in my experience can't even keep up with its predecessor XP). Then I poked around the Linux forums a little bit and found out that I could work even faster in Ubuntu by changing some default settings, and using a few of the OS's unique keyboard shortcuts.

Having gotten tired of repeated typing in everything at the prompt of an interactive command line FTP session and doing similar things via GUI route, I started to wonder if there was a scripting alternative and, lo and behold, I found it after a spot of googling.

KDE Plasma desktop offers an alternative to the traditional icons scattered all over the desktop with a Plasma widget called Shelf. Just like a shelf in a library, the shelf widget keeps files, folders, devices, and applications in order and easily accessible.

"...Now is the time to join and give to Free Software Foundation. 2008 is going to be extraordinarily important year for free software.

Eben Moglen likes to quote Gandhis first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win progression when describing the free software movement. As I pointed out when I joined the FSF board, were beginning to see powerful interests fighting free software. Its going to increase in the next few years. Things will probably get a lot uglier for free software before they get better. We can win but things are far from settled. The FSF is the front-line organization in this fight and we need a robust and proactive foundation, and an active and involved membership, if were going to win.

There is another bill [PDF] in the SCO bankruptcy for us to go over with a fine-toothed comb, this one from Pachulski Stang, their 20th bill. And we have finished doing the text of the exhibits to SCO's proposed sale, and I noticed some things in the trademark list I thought I might highlight. It always pays to do these text versions. You do notice things that otherwise don't seem to stand out.