While OSCAR (Open Source Cluster Application Resource) has been conceived for clusters with disks since its very first version, diskless and systemless support was a feature that a lot of people expected. The Center for Scientific Computing has built several clusters without disks; we tested OSCAR and were easily convinced of its quality, especially when compared to our own homemade scripts.

In January, as thousands of Linux OS enthusiasts streamed onto the show floor and into conference sessions at the 2004 LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, they caught up with an old friend who many barely recognized. In a span of only 12 months, Linux has evolved from an emerging technology to an operating system on the forefront of production IT deployments.

To say there is general confusion about Linux and open source software within many organizations is an understatement. The confusion seems to stem from misunderstanding the Linux and open source philosophy but is due in no small part to misinformation. Attempts at understanding Linux and open source are hindered by the decentralized nature of Linux and open source software.

Welcome to the third installment of my Linux Careers column. The last two columns focused on recruiting strategies in the open source community. Now I want to examine certifications and their place within the open source community. This topic will be covered in two separate columns.

There's no question that the open source community has a lot going for it. Besides a staggering amount of developer power that can be turned against important problems, the open source movement also has a passion and commitment that the commercial software world often envies.

Those who like .NET may find themselves lamenting, 'I still have to deploy applications on the Windows operating system. I am still locked to one vendor - Microsoft.' If this sounds like you, Ximian's Mono project might be the answer. The Mono project was started in July 2001 by Miguel de Icaza, cofounder of Ximian, with the aim of bringing the Common Language Infrastructure platform to free systems.

One of the problems with open source software is that it isn't controlled or monitored. It's all very well for us Linux types to sit here and say, 'Open source software is better,' but how do we quantify and qualify that statement with hard evidence that will convince our customers, users, and most important, management?

In the past few years blogging has taken the geek world by storm, and lately it's started to pull in the non-geeks as well. The act of maintaining a weblog, or blog, isn't too impressive in itself, but it represents an interesting change in interpersonal communication models.

In this article, Ibrahim Haddad presents on the Open Source Development Labs Carrier Grade Linux Requirements and Ericsson's contributions in this area.

In reponse to a query on the Groklaw site, someone has posted a very instructive crash course in the history of the Free Software/Open Source world. It's worth reading, and all its original links are here reproduced in full.

The self-described 'Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project,' Richard Stallman, writes in a Letter to the Editors of Linux.SYS-CON.com that recent commentators could be right in saying that UserLinux is a step forward from today's commercial GNU/Linux distros, but denies that the developers of GNU, in 1984, adopted 'the line of least resistance.'

Traditionally dominated in the past by OEM vendors hawking off-shore CD-R drives and line printers for resale, COMDEX this year has shifted toward more of a software focus, including Open Source, says LinuxWorld senior editor James Turner wearing a different hat as a conference track chair.

Open source software (OSS) development and use, as described by the General Public License (GPL) and other similar licenses, creates tremendous gains in the quality and volume of software development and use, says Paul Nowak - in a new application of Garret Hardin's seminal 1968 Science Magazine paper, 'The Tragedy of the Commons.'

Computer users need to be taught to value freedom, says Richard Stallman, so they will defend it - and recognizing the value of freedom yourself is the first step in helping to do this.

Eric Raymond has the unique ability to focus on low-level technical details while at the same time tracking the highest-level technology trends. His book The Cathedral and the Bazaar is both a great history of early Linux development and a great introduction to the workings and the culture of the open source community. Eric (who is often referred to simply as 'esr') has been associated with the Unix community for 20 years. He's contributed code to different versions of Unix, spoken frequently as an open source advocate, and has a new book coming out - The Art of Unix Programming. Eric is president and cofounder of the Open Source Initiative (OSI).

If the software you're considering is an operating system, like Linux, then the GNU Public License (GPL) is good for your business. If it's an application or a software ingredient, then the GPL may be bad for your business.

There is a potential conflict of interest between business and society, and that conflict can arise in free software. It's up to all of us to choose how to resolve that conflict.

Last week, the company began showing code to U.S. analysts that, it claims, prove that the source code to the Linux operating system contains sections of code lifted directly from SCO's Unix code base.

DOD policy called a victory for the open-source movement and a precedent that will lead to a jump in usage of open-source software at DOD and elsewhere in government.

In light of SCO's finding, Novell reluctantly acknowledged that the amendment 'appears to support SCO's claim that ownership of certain copyrights for Unix did transfer to SCO in 1996.' Patents, however, are a different matter.

The German subsidiary of The SCO Group Inc. has temporarily shut down its Web site after a local Linux user group received a restraining court order against the U.S. software group, but plans to reactivate the site shortly.

While conspiracy theories are fun, Joe Barr is certain of two things. One is that Linux is going to continue its inexorable march to the desktop. The second is that the Microsoft monopoly is not going to go gentle into that good night.

It's final. After several months of intensive research and debate, the Munich city government has decided to migrate its entire computer network to the open source Linux operating system, dropping Microsoft Corp.'s Windows system in the process.

Novell said it never transferred the copyrights and patents of Unix System V when it sold the software to SCO in 1995.

The SCO Group reported a profit in its second fiscal quarter thanks in part to its recently launched initiative to more aggressively collect licensing fees for its Unix operating system software.

Microsoft agreed to license Unix technology from The SCO Group in a move that could support SCO's controversial efforts to collect royalties from companies using the open source Linux operating system, a Unix clone.

SCO says Linux developers, distributors, and customers are using code that doesn't belong to them and if they don't settle up with the Lindon, Utah, software company, they can expect to see their day in court.

The mainframe may be a dinosaur, but it is a carnivorous one. That was IBM's message at a press event in San Francisco where it launched its new line of mainframe computers.

European enterprises interested in a different approach to acquiring the Linux operating system may want to take a good look at a bundled service package now available from Fujitsu Siemens Computers

Fujitsu Ltd. and Red Hat Inc. plan to strengthen their ties with an extensive partnership to collaborate in sales, marketing, support and engineering, the companies announced.

Didn't do it. That's the clear message IBM sent with its reply to The SCO Group's $1 billion lawsuit in which it accuses Big Blue of illegally trying to damage Unix to build up Linux.

Marten Mickos, MySQL's chief executive officer, sat down with IDG News Service for an interview at the company's first user show last week in San Jose, California. He talked about how businesses can use MySQL, its competitors, and why the Nordic region might be a cradle for open-source products.

None other than Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer paid a personal visit to Munich city mayor Christian Ude at the end of last month to drum up support for the company's operating system software, which faces growing competition from open-source Linux.

Seventy seven percent of those surveyed experienced Windows security problems in the last year and said that security was their 'top concern' when deploying Windows applications.

The government is a key buyer of information technology in India, and backers of open-source software were hoping that the Indian government would throw its weight behind open source.

Despite a vaguely defined purpose, no track record and several known risks, organizations are starting to implement projects based in .Net. Carmine Mangione delves into the .Net enigma and explains why jumping on the .Net bandwagon — like blindly adopting any technology without first weighing the pros and cons — could potentially sink your organization. (5,000 words)

To each his own, but I like eye candy. For all its benefits and power, X11 and X Window System managers have been among the most drab and poorly rendered graphical environments for years. Recent versions of XFree86 began to support anti-aliased fonts, which helped. But that's pure protein. It's good for you, and it helps you get your work done. Only recently has XFree86 begun to add the sugary content that we shallow folks crave. (3,000 words)

Over the past two years, Texas has become ground zero in the war between proprietary and free/open-source software for use in state and local government. Our unilateral correspondent gives an update on three key battles in the Lone Star state. (1,700 words)

Motorola grabbed a lot of headlines in February when it announced the world's first mobile phone that runs Linux. However, developers won't be able to create Linux applications and run those on the phone because Linux is not secure enough, Motorola spokesman David Rudd said this week.

In monitoring his son-in-law's performance in the Busch Series, Joe Barr discovers that NASCAR.com is packed with great information and features for racing fans. Unfortunately for Linux and Macintosh users, the site's most-exciting feature -- streaming audio and video -- is rigged to work only with RealOne and a Windows PC. Joe explores the reasons behind this incompatibility and wonders whether the problem is of the technical or marketing variety. (1,500 words)