Barcelona, Spain -- Apple's iPhone, Google's Android OS platform and Nokia's Maps 2.0 GPS technology are striking a blow against cellular network operators' closed and lucrative business model. Where the operators have long been accustomed to dictating services, applications, device definitions and--most of all--prices, last week's Mobile World Congress here heard a cry for openness: for applications and services that can run independently of cellular operators on any mobile device.

Having re-installed a brand new copy of Ubuntu and required updates, there are a few applications that I immediately download because, without them, I would not be able to do most of my day-to-day work. Here, in no particular order, are the five application or tools I have to have but aren’t included in a default Ubuntu install.

We caught up with a few members of the KDE SIG to talk about the work they're doing to get it ready for release, their own opinions on the software and what they think about the progress made by Fedora in getting over its GNOME centric reputation.

Most Linux users will probably admit to having a “Lock Screen” button. Why? Because it is very useful to be able to slide your pointer to the top right of your screen and click a button before stepping out of the room for a few moments.

My friend told me that his laptop wasn't working, and asked if I would fix it for him. As usual, I didn't make any promises other than that I would do my best. He also gave me two other machines which he said were significantly older and which I could have if I could find a use for them. This conversation was last week sometime, and I'd been too busy for most of the week to even boot them up.

When KDE 4 was released, I rushed to grab the brand new packages like a kid on Christmas day. Now, a few weeks on, I can share some of the problems that I encountered that would pose a real problem for the average user. All these are based on the latest 4.0.1 release on Ubuntu Gusty.

The highlight of the second day of Open Source India Week (OSIW) was a very interesting and topical special session on Open Source accessibility solutions for the disabled.

The Linutop is a pocket size desktop PC, the size of a paperback novel. It does not have an internal hard disk drive, but instead its open source operating system resides on a USB key.