The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) is an important document for the European public sector. Version 1 had strong support for open standards and royalty-free licences to patents. A leaked version 2 shows that open standards and open source are out, and "openness" of the vaguest kind is in, as are software patents.

UBUNTU LINUX 9.10 was released last Thursday. Codenamed 'Karmic Koala', it has been anticipated for months by the distribution's many fans. Out of curiosity, the INQUIRER installed it and played around with it to assess how it measures up.

Many Linux enthusiast are despairing of the low uptake of desktop Linux and its poor availability in high street shops. This is especially frustrating because most of the people using desktop Linux would consider it to be a superior solution to the Windows based machines on offer (and it probably is). I think I have fingered one of the causes for this problem though: desktop Linux needs salesmen!

It's been over two years since Vector Linux 5.8 was released, and a lot can happen in that time. But what specifically is that? And has all that extra time allowed Vector to improve and grow and become a distribution to be reckoned with? Let's find out.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about NoSQL and provided a short overview of the landscape of non-relational databases. One that has become increasingly popular is Apache CouchDB, so I’d like to spend a couple weeks digging into it a bit and talking about why it’s so interesting. Before I do, it’s worth noting that Ubuntu 9.10 was just released and uses CouchDB under the hood.

One of the new features in Ubuntu 9.10 is the Ubuntu Software Center. In a rather bold move Canonical has migrated away from the standard Add/Remove Software tool and (in the future) plans to drop Synaptic and Gdebi as well. Is this a move just for “moves” sake?

Keeping any computer system running can be some work. There are many control panel tools and settings dialogs in KDE that make it easier for graphical-minded users to get things done. Here are five stand-alone applications that will help you stay informed about your computer’s status and health.

The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is holding ApacheCon US 2009 from November 2-6 in Oakland, California. The foundation for a free webserver is also celebrating its 10th birthday. In honor of this 10th birthday, the celebration includes three days of the conference program available as a FREE Live stream.