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Several companies have joined to launch a consortium to promote Linux for desktop computers, a significant expansion for an operating system that today fits more comfortably on servers.

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-983204.html

First, it’s important to set aside the notion that open source databases are merely toys or teaching tools, suitable only for hobbyists. It’s true that most database management systems began life as research projects. But like their commercial cousins, the open source packages have since matured into full-fledged applications, engineered with real-world use in mind.

Red Hat’s software bundle focuses on the basics: the excellent Mozilla Web browser, the OpenOffice productivity suite (which read all of the Microsoft Office files I tried), and Evolution, an application featuring e-mail, an address book and a calendar that feels like a simplified version of Microsoft Outlook.

On June 5, 2002, Mozilla released version 1.0 of their software, which includes a browser, a mail and newsgroup client, an IRC client and some JavaScript debugging tools. The Mozilla.org staff is making a statement with this release–their product is “Ready for Prime Time.” Are they correct? Let’s find out.

Sun Microsystems is attempting to gain popularity among developers in the emerging Web services market by giving away a crucial piece of e-business software.

After operating in stealth mode for nearly two-and-a-half years, San Mateo, Calif.-based Cloudmark is taking the wraps off a new spam-fighting tool, called SpamNet, which aims to use the power of the people to weed out unsolicited commercial e-mail.

It’s not hard to understand why open-source software, such as the Linux operating system and the Apache HTTP server, is growing in popularity among corporate IT departments. When source code is open, any developer is free to read, redistribute and modify it. This leads to faster bug fixes, improved software and lower development costs.

Finding high-profile open-source database users isn’t hard. Many Web sites, including Yahoo and Slashdot, depend upon open-source databases like MySQL to store articles and comments. Many companies that provide shared servers now offer MySQL databases as an inexpensive option, practically guaranteeing that many low-budget Web sites depend upon the tools.

ArsDigita, an e-commerce company in the midst of layoffs and a major product overhaul, is bucking the trend of comrades selling open-source software.

Tux the penguin may become the preferred mascot of America’s financially strained public education system – for Linux represents a way to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for software.

More than 98 percent of the schools in the U.S. have Internet access, according to a recent Department of Education report. But software costs can be prohibitive, especially now that Microsoft is stepping up efforts to stop license infringement in schools, forcing them to pay for every single copy of Windows they run.