There are dozens of reasons why people have underestimated how quickly Linux has been grabbing Windows' market share. Windows starts out with a false boost and maintains its illusory market share even as it gets replaced by Linux. In 2004, don't be surprised when Linux overtakes Windows to become the main focus for developers.

We put a microscope to SCO's complaint and find logical leaps, factual gaffes and a heap of trouble for IBM if SCO's main contention is true. (2,600 words)

Showcasing a questionable understanding of the history of Unix, open-source software and computing in general, SCO's lawsuit against IBM has sent shockwaves rippling across the IT community. Parts of SCO's complaint would be laugh-out-loud funny if only the possible repercussions for Linux and open source weren't so detrimental. (1,400 words)

Unix developer The SCO Group has filed a lawsuit against IBM Corp. charging it with misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition and other illegal actions related to IBM's Linux business. The suit seeks at least US$1 billion in damages.

A software vulnerability in the widely used Snort open-source intrusion detection system (IDS) software could allow an attacker to crash the Snort sensor or gain control of the host device on which the sensor runs.

Now that Linux boasts full-featured office suites, there's no reason it can't become a boon for small- and home-offices. Joe Barr compares two Optical Character Recognition packages -- Kooka & Gocr (free software) and OCR Shop (proprietary) -- that may be of special value in the legal and medical fields. While Joe finds one of the packages to be clearly superior in terms of performance, his personal pick of the two applications might surprise you. (1,500 words)

A security vulnerability in one of the most commonly used e-mail server software packages could have a wide ranging impact akin to the Microsoft SQL Server vulnerability that spawned the recent Slammer worm, according to an advisory published Monday by Internet Security Systems.

Ximian and SuSE Linux AG have partnered to link SuSE's e-mail and groupware server with a desktop front-end from Ximian, which will give users of the SuSE product another choice for client software.

The first version of the Embedded Linux Consortium Platform Specification is hoped to aid application interoperability and spur interest in Linux development in the market for built-in systems software.

Our Hero installs and compares the two most popular window managers for Linux & other Unixes. His recommendation? It depends... (2,000 words)

The new browser, dubbed the Opera 7 'Bork' edition, translates the language on the MSN page to that of the famous Swedish Chef Bork from The Muppet Show.

Motorola will launch a mobile phone that runs Linux later this year, it said, introducing yet another software platform for mobile phones.

A group of free software advocates plan to protest at a Washington conference designed to promote open source and free software to governments because a representative from Microsoft is scheduled to speak there.

Our Hero uncovers Microsoft's ingenious, covert marketing efforts to promote Linux and open source via its own products' security vulnerabilities. This column is intended for mature audiences with a keen eye for sarcasm. (1,600 words)

In a quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Microsoft has confirmed it sees the open-source software movement as a threat to its commercial business model.

Walmart.com has begun selling Lindows.com's Linux-based operating system, the first stand-alone operating system not made by Microsoft to be featured at Wal-Mart's online store.

MontaVista Software, a privately held developer of embedded Linux software, said Tuesday its revenue doubled in 2002 compared to the previous year.

The name sounds like it might be a disease, but thanks to the German IT-Security Agency, KDE users will soon have a functioning open-source groupware application suite. Building on and integrating existing personal information management tools, the Kroupware project is beta testing a server component to compete with Microsoft Exchange. The suite will be integrated into KDE 3.2.

Bill Gates outlined his optimistic vision of the coming digital decade in a speech to the Italian Senate as open source advocates in penguin suits protested his visit and called on the Italian government to legislate in favor of the use of open-source software by the state administration as an alternative to Microsoft's ubiquitous operating systems. [IDG News Service]

Sun Microsystems made a filing to a federal appeals court on Tuesday laying out its objections to Microsoft's request for more time to include Java technology in Windows operating systems.

Microsoft fell victim to a software vulnerability in one of its own products on Saturday, when the W32.Slammer worm infested host machines on the Redmond, Washington company's network, flooding that network with traffic.

The story of how BitKeeper became Linus Torvalds's (and many other kernel hackers') tool of choice in maintaining the Linux-development tree is worthy of a book. Here's the Cliffs Notes version of McVoy's contribution to Linux kernel development, BitKeeper, and countless hours of flaming on the role of open source and proprietary software.

With the core prototype awaiting user reaction, Murphy examines consolidation and software pricing issues raised by readers. He finds Moore's Law has been working its magic on Unix software costs while only Nixon's Law seems to have applied to Microsoft's. (2,600 words)

A judge dismissed Lindows.com Inc.'s motion for summary judgment Wednesday in its trademark-infringement tangle with Microsoft, leaving the issue to be decided at a jury trial scheduled for April.

Linux and Unix users and vendors beware: The SCO Group has hired high-voltage attorney David Boies, former antitrust Microsoft Corp. slayer, to look into possible violations of SCO's Unix and Linux intellectual property.

In a Thursday morning keynote address primarily devoted to a run-down of some notable IBM customer deployments of Linux, IBM software head Steve Mills affirmed that Linux is a large and growing revenue generator for his company.

Sanjay Kumar keeps 'Tux' perched beside his desk to make sure Linux is always on the minds of those at Computer Associates International.

In mid-2001, Morgan Stanley began overhauling its IT infrastructure, aiming at a new management architecture based on a thin-client model that would allow all data, applications and even operating systems to be hosted on network servers.

Evolution, a Ximian open-source groupware product for PCs running the Linux and Unix operating systems, is being more tightly integrated with Sun Microsystems's Sun ONE messaging and collaboration servers.

IBM claims it will enable DB2 database software users to build Linux clusters on IBM servers more quickly and cheaply than before with a new package of hardware and software products.

Bruce Perens, former Linux/Open-Source strategist for HP, advises Joe Barr about hot-headed journalism tactics and sounds off on Bitkeeper, pre-loaded Linux PCs and the ever-fervent Windows vs. Linux TCO debate.

Bruce Perens, the former Linux/Open-Source strategist for HP, talks to Joe Barr about his work with the Cyber Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, his new Prentice Hall book series and his life since departing HP. (1,300 words)

At first glance, using open-source software for a firewall or other security application seems counterintuitive, even absurd. Why would a corporation use code that's available to anyone - hackers, cyber-terrorists, disgruntled employees - to protect their most vital information assets? Yet that's what's happening at places like Stanford University, EDS, and Los Alamos National Labs, to name but a few of the many organizations using open-source security software.

IRC is that information dirt road for hackers, right? Well, yes and no. It's a whole lot more. Here are the basics to getting started with IRC. (1,550 words)

Robert McMillan talks to Marc Sachs of the White House Cyberspace Security Office about the current and future role of open-source technologies in U.S. government departments. (2,200 words)

At wit's end due to crowded shopping malls, miserable weather and that FAO Schwartz song that plays over and over and over until you lose your mind? Have no fear: an open-source, first-person-shooter game called Cube can help relieve some of your stress, and Joe Barr is here to tell you how. (1,300 words)

Ever since his own jump to open source, Joe Barr has been hearing complaints from Linux newbies and never really bought into any of them. Until now. Joe points out three major obstacles for anyone making the jump to Linux and explains how the operating system's usability can improve. (1,700 words)

The pluses for Mandrake installation are its speed and the absolute ease of obtaining and applying updates. It completely obliterates the Windows contenders in both the update category and the installation of attached devices. (1,900 words)

Joe Barr tests the installation process for the sample version of Xandros 1.0. Our hero finds that the Distribution Formerly Known As Corel Linux isn't just pretty... it's pretty darn easy to install, too. (2,200 words)

Version 3.75 of MainConcept's professional video-editing suite has some excellent, easy-to-use components. However, a few pesky bugs have our reviewer waiting for the upcoming release of MainActor 5 for Linux. (3,500 words)