It is one thing to recognise a problem, quite another to fix it. Although the Globalisation Institute is quite correct in saying that Microsoft's effective monopoly of the desktop is unfair to competitors and holds back the market, its proposed solution is no solution at all.

MResult Healthcare and PatientOS announced today a new cost-effective solution for implementing Electronic Medical Records.

Instead of buying OLPCs or Classmate PCs, one community in Brazil is looking at their own solution to bring technology into their schools (using Linux of course). Their solution is a touchscreen desktop computer, according to CNet. At around $550 and lacking the mobility of the OLPC, it is not, however, clear if this new solution is really better.

This guide describes how to set up a full email solution in Debian Linux (all code is from Debian Etch). I was asked to design a secure, scalable, portable solution for a small company.

Software engineering tends to be an evolutionary process. Problems are addressed with solutions that can create new problems and subsequently new solutions. Ideally, the new problems that are created justify the original solution. The technology discussed here is one of the secondary solutions to a problem created by server virtualization.

If you run an ecommerce site, you may want a content management system (CMS) to help manage your online product line. VirtueMart, available under the GNU GPL and fully integrated with Joomla!, does that and more. It provides a full ecommerce solution in a LAMP environment.

Smart cards and digital signatures are presented as among the most important components of e-government in Europe, but they are still far from being an effective, Linux-friendly solution to reduce administrative and business costs. But the same tools may become a way to make the general public use or support Free Software.

I have something to confess. I don't keep regular backups. If the hard drive in my laptop was to fail I'd have a serious problem. I would be faced with the very real risk of losing weeks, maybe even months worth of work. What I need is a backup solution for my Ubuntu desktop that works with me. Here is how I found that solution and it was much easier than I had first thought.

Mandriva is working with the hardware manufacturer partner Positivo, to deliver this open source solution which will help teachers to improve students’ education. Also, this will be one of the world biggest organized deployment of Linux, with potential to get to 1.5 Million units, and confirms Linux as a key, cost-effective alternative PC operating system.