Because many people complained a lot about the looks of the new Ubuntu OS and other major Linux distributions, and how they wanted a more eye-candy, professional desktop, we thought that the following tutorial would be a nice Christmas Gift for all of you Linux enthusiasts out there.

Today, in Ken Hess’s Linux Blog, the top 10 Distrowatch distros are listed as ones to try out by downloading and burning them to disc or virtualising.

A frequent worry of Linux newbies is that they will have to learn how to use the terminal, something that is unfamiliar to new users. There is some debate, however, over when you have to use the terminal, if you have to at all. The question is: it is possible to use Linux without using the terminal?

Here is a scenario where you have Windows users who need to log into an encrypted directory that is mounted on a Linux Samba share. This provides an interesting option for security.

The free and open source software community has been waiting for the G1 cell phone since it was first announced in July. Source code for Google's Android mobile platform has been available, but the G1 marks its commercial debut. It's clearly a good device, but is it what Linux boosters and FOSS advocates have long been anticipating?

Again this year MAKE Magazine blog has publishes the annual Open Source Hardware Guide listing no less than 60 open source hardware projects, ranging from simple microcontroller boards to a fully functional cell phone.

One of the big journalistic trends of 2008 was to call every new Internet paradigm open source. Blogging was open source journalism. Social networks were open source crowdsourcing. This was both a compliment and a warning.

To many people, the move from Windows to Mac and O SX might seem very odd indeed. To them, Linux would seem a better choice. Personally, I get along fine with *nix. I first used it in the Berkeley flavor in 1981, at Berkeley, as a matter of fact. I have used it on and off ever since, on a variety of platforms and in a number of flavors.