There was a lot of talk recently about how Gnome should embrace the online services in order to keep up with the Web 2.0 development. But sadly most of the ideas were like “lets integrate better with web service ” - the problem is that I do not want to start using Google Calendar from now on; I like the way Lightning handles my dates and I like that I have them available offline.

This time around I will be playing around with nexenta OS. Nexenta is a marriage between OpenSolaris and Ubuntu, or what I like to call SolaBuntu :) Solaris has a pretty decent record in the data-center. It is a solid and widely trusted paltform, however, it was showing its age pretty badly.

When I installed OpenBSD 4.4 on my Toshiba Satellite 1100-S101 laptop, I purposefully left Windows XP on the drive. I used the free Linux-based Parted Magic live CD to shrink the Windows partition and leave room for OpenBSD on the hard drive.

The new version of Ardour – the most advanced digital audio workstation for Linux – was announced today. The public release of Ardour 2.7 includes, for the first time, public versions for OS X (Intel and PPC).

Mozilla's open source Firefox browser can be augmented with add-ons -- miniature programs from third-party developers that change its functions. Add-ons can be fun and useful, but Mozilla has warned against using ones still considered "experimental." For example, one called "China Channel" gives users a taste of what it's like to surf on China's censored Web.

The economy is falling as fast as temperatures in November. Recession seems certain, if it's not already here. The stock market's performance resembles Disney World's Space Mountain roller coaster. And every open source vendor, every Linux project, will be touched in one way or another.

I received an Email from a Mac user who tried Ubuntu using Parallels Desktop 4.0. He has successfully installed Ubuntu "Intrepid Ibex" as guest OS, but he wanted help in installing the Parallels Tools.