The ominous 13th entry in my ongoing Crystal Ball Sunday series highlights a somewhat controversial and oft misunderstood computing space known as Cloud Computing. As I explained in my I'm Smarter Than Larry Ellison entry, Cloud Computing allows applications to be hosted in leveraged environments... (Read More)

After posting 5 Things I Wish Linux Had, I did some mulling and gathered comments from readers and compiled this additional list of items that I wish Linux had. I've also included one thing that I wish Linux didn't have. These are part of my 2009 Wishlist and are more focused on the future... (Read More)

The other day, I saw an article on Forbes.com named Ellison Shoots Hole in Cloud and just had to read further. I did read it. The whole thing. I was puzzled, then I laughed, and finally I was mystified by his comments. The article made me wonder just what the hell is wrong with Larry Ellison and... (Read More)

I've had several people ask me what I think the best, top, most user friendly, ultimate, and so on distribution is--so now I'm publishing my Top 10 Linux Distributions in reverse order of preference. Ease of installation, commercial support, community support, updates, administrative tools,... (Read More)

Today the Mono Project released the much-anticipated Mono 2.0 for Linux. After two-and-a-half years in development, Mono 2.0 is finally here and ready to run your .NET 2.0 applications, Windows Forms, ASP.NET content on Mac OS X, BSD and Linux. Mono is multi-language capable--choose your own path... (Read More)

I'm a fairly prominent member of the Linux Community as a writer, contributor, and longtime evangelist for the cause and there are a few things I'd like the Community-at-Large to consider on my behalf. These are five things that I wish Linux had. Consider this as my wish list for the 2009... (Read More)

Howdy and welcome to Crystal Ball Sunday #12: Built-In Home Entertainment and Automation . Linux is the perfect medium for set top boxes (aka Set Top Units or Personal Video Recorders (PVR)) because of its customizability, optimization features, and no cost status. Whether you know them as Set Top... (Read More)

Have you ever heard of or considered using Linux? Here are five reasons to give it a look for your desktop or server. Over the past 15 years or so, Linux has gained worldwide acceptance as a first-rate server operating system but do you know why? It's because Linux can also be used as a Desktop... (Read More)

I guess no one ever asked before--maybe no one cares--or maybe it just isn't discussed. While at VMWorld, I asked a major virtualization vendor representative if they had implemented VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) in their Enterprise. The answer I got is shocking to me. Maybe someone should... (Read More)

Day four at VMWorld was short for me due to poor planning on my part--my flight out of Las Vegas at noon. I entered the show early yesterday when it was mostly just the vendors hanging around waiting for the hoard to arrive. I walked through the floor with the goal of seeing a couple of vendors I... (Read More)

VMWorld's third day came complete with discussions of the pros and cons of VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure), Virtual Appliances, and the biggest party I've ever seen at the Las Vegas Speedway. VDI is this year's hot topic at VMWorld but I suspect that it's embers will die before VMWorld 2009.... (Read More)

Here is the big announcement I promised you from VMWorld. MokaFive, a Desktop Virtualization company, originally created Desktop VMs (Virtual Machines) that reside on a USB flash drive. Now, MokaFive takes Desktop virtualization to the next level: Your Desktop on your phone. MokaFive specializes... (Read More)

As promised, here's the big news hot off the pressroom floor. Cisco and VMware announced at VMWorld 2008, in Las Vegas that they are entering into a partnership that highlights three main areas: ** The Cisco Nexus 1000V Product will be available as an add-on module for VMware ESX. ** Cisco WAAS... (Read More)

Next week, September 15-18, brings us the biggest Virtualization event in North America and your Linux guy will be there with bells on. I'll be there in my new freelance reporter capacity as Linux Magazine's Virtualization Columnist/Editor. You can expect blog posts and possibly some breaking news... (Read More)

Desktop virtualization got a boost last week when Red Hat, Inc. purchased Qumranet, an Israeli Open Source company that specializes in virtualization solutions. Its product offerings include KVM (Kernel Virtual Machine), Solid ICE, and SPICE. This acquisition brings Red Hat into head-on competition... (Read More)

This week my crystal ball tells me that Linux is due for a major makeover and not just another pretty theme: A real makeover. It's time for Linux developers to stop following the Windows and Mac Desktop deveopers and get creative on their own. I understand the argument against this change in... (Read More)

The New Dell Inspirion Mini 9 may well become my best friend. I noticed today that Dell is previewing their new line of Mini Notebook computers and they are impressive. The Dell Inspirion Mini 9 is Dell's entry into the mini notebook market at a very low price point: $349. What do you get for your... (Read More)

The November election brings with it the promise of changes, new beginnings, and hope for those who've endured the past 8 years with less than an enthusiastic attitude. The choice of President and Vice President means far less to most of us than the people they choose for Cabinet positions. Their... (Read More)

Welcome to the 10th installment of the Crystal Ball Sunday series. This is an exciting time to be involved with Linux because the temperature is right for some Linux vendor consolidation. In my August 22nd post, Microsoft and Novell: Buying In or Selling Out, I subtly predicted that Microsoft would... (Read More)

Not only do the French have a different word for everything, they also have a strong Open Source leadership position. The French have done much to foster the growth and acceptance of Open Source software--especially Linux. The Mandriva Linux distribution was born and raised in France (now in its... (Read More)

A few days ago, Red Hat, Inc., announced that an intruder had broken into some of their systems and possibly compromised some important software packages. The most significant among them is OpenSSH--a secure method of connecting to a remote Linux system. Red Hat quickly took the systems offline to... (Read More)

One has to wonder what's going on in the world between Microsoft and Novell. They signed a deal in 2006 worth over $300 million so that Novell could provide licensing certificates and support to Microsoft for its SuSE Linux distribution. Novell, in turn, has to pay Microsoft $40 million over 5... (Read More)

The Linux Foundation announced today that Canonical, Inc., commercial sponsor of Ubuntu Linux, joined its fold to become the latest supporter of the expansion of Linux into the business sector. Recently, many big commercial software companies have joined the Linux Foundation including Adobe and... (Read More)

Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, posted a nasty smackdown on security nerds and their obsession with security in the gmane.linux.kernel newsgroup. Linus is referring to security professionals who feel that security should be the only focus for bug fixes and patches. His argument is... (Read More)

Major players in the laptop computer market go virtual with Linux. HP, Lenovo, and now Dell offer laptops that have a Linux Mode. Linux Mode in the Dell Latitude line offers the user a minimal environment where one can surf the web, check email, and perform a few other tasks. In this mode that... (Read More)