Recently I came upon a company called System 76 promising to bring pre-installed Linux hardware to the masses. At first I was a bit skeptical as I’ve seen this promise time and time again. So I requested review hardware thinking it would be nothing more than vapor ware. Surprisingly, however, the hardware arrived. Even more surprising was that the hardware was really quite nice.

Dell is readying a netbook for the K-12 educational market with a rubberized case and an optional touchscreen. Incorporating an Intel Atom N270 with 1GB RAM, the Latitude 2100 offers a 10.1-inch display, WiFi, gigabit Ethernet, up to 250GB storage, and Ubuntu Linux, says Dell.

I believe the browser will become the new operating system. I know, I know. That's a horrible generalization. It sounds dangerously similar to Sun's oh-so-successful slogan "The network is the computer". But I really do believe it.

Dell's been showing Ubuntu lots of love over the past few months, so it's no real shock to see the Linux-based operating system slide on over to Dell's hottest 13-incher.

Linux International executive director Jon ‘maddog’ Hall looks forward to a time when users aren’t forced into ‘closed’ relationships with phone providers.

What do football, Linux and nitrogen have in common with each other? Quite a lot, it seems, as far as start up company Kinetic Performance Technology is concerned. The company formed six years ago and is now behind some of the nation's top footballers and athletes. We speak with one of its co-founders in the first part of a series that will focus on successful technology start-ups.

Scoffers have been dismissing the Linux netbook, but I've been saying all along that the Linux netbook was alive and well and that Google would make its desktop Linux move with Android this year. But, I sure didn't see everyone this side of Microsoft jumping in the Linux netbook pool for the summer. Well, you know what? That's exactly what they're doing.

Open source has long flourished on Wall Street. But the more dramatic shift for Wall Street right now is that it is considering open-source alternatives for fundamental, industry-specific applications.