As the year ends, it is fair to say there have been many free and open source software organisations that have made rapid strides, not merely in 2009 but right through the noughties. But one organisation badly needs to get its act together.

In a year of dramatic change and mergers for the data storage industry, it should come as no surprise that the most-read stories on Enterprise Storage Forum this year were about ... dramatic change and mergers.

Where did the last 10 years go? At the end of 1999 we were living in fear of the millennium bug and the dotcom bubble was about to burst. This decade has seen the web mature from an awkward precocious child in to a competent but unpredictable teenager.

Free software made steady progress in 2009, even if it didn't have the excitement of previous years.

It's been over a year since I wrote about my conversion to a Linux based digital media environment, and since it's the holiday season (or just after) I thought it was time to update the story, and describe some new Linux based devices I'm using that others might find useful.

Here is an interesting project, a preseed Debian caching proxy server and network analyzer, the Internet Acceleration Appliance.

While companies worldwide look for ways to reduce costs, shed dead weight from their labor resources and streamline their businesses, it makes me wonder if Linux will survive the global economic meltdown.

Kerala's use of Free/libre software in government is commendable, but barriers still remain (although not technical ones, just bureaucratic, including pressure from Microsoft)