Netbooks are everywhere. Coffeeshops, libraries — you name it, netbooks are in it. But will the $250 price tag soon be a thing of the past?

“By the way, can you recommend an open source programme to match Microsoft Outlook?” The request came this morning on my Facebook wall from an old friend named Brian. And since it was recently Brian’s birthday, and he was named Citizen of the Year on Australia Day, I thought he deserved a decent answer.

I’m getting tired of seeing Linux-Windows comparison charts trying to convince Windows users that Linux is better.

Is there such a thing as a perfect Linux or BSD desktop distribution? If so, what features and functionalities would such a distro have for it to have attained that high state - of perfection (on the desktop)? In order to answer these questions, we set out here the most important features we expect.

I wanted to highlight this press release, instead of just putting it in News Picks, to make sure you see it and understand the significance of it. It's a press release from Open Invention Network, the Linux Defenders 911 folks, and they announced today that TomTom is now a licensee.

The Linux Foundation, a nonprofit organization created in 2007 to promote Linux, recently assumed control of the linux.com domain.  This is a good move, as it helps consolidate the image of Linux, making it easier for new users to find and understand the operating system - in other words, it brings greater centralization to Linux, which is badly needed if free software is to become ubiquitous on

Digium and Fonality are two of the best-known channel brands in the IP PBX software market. But they rarely see eye to eye — especially when it comes to claims about giving back to the open source Asterisk community. In his personal blog, Fonality CEO Chris Lyman (pictured) offers his stance on giving back to Asterisk. The VAR Guy enjoys vendor showdowns. And this certainly qualifies.