News

Someone Actually Wants SCO?

As astonishing as it sounds, someone actually wants to buy SCO, the bankrupt software company that has spent the last few years biting at the ankles of the Linux community.

Congress Backs Up BitTorrent

It's long been alleged that Comcast was targeting BitTorrent users by throttling their downloads. Last week, the AP reported that it had conducted tests that confirmed the company was blocking BitTorrent traffic.

Help Drive Linux Drivers

Anybody who has ever tried to hook a printer up to a Linux box knows that good device drivers are in short supply. Apparently, however, the community isn't very good at conveying the need.

Microsoft Friends Facebook

The Empire now has a new territory: social-networking giant Facebook. The deal reportedly valued Facebook at $15 billion, and ended with an investment of $240 million by Microsoft. As a result of the partnership, Microsoft will now has an exclusive hold on Facebook's lucrative ad market, and possibly room for new Microsoft applications or Facebook software on Microsoft systems.

Linux Survey Needs Help

Attention Linux Users! The Linux Foundation's Desktop Linux Survey needs your help! As we previously reported, the Linux Foundation has opened the doors on the Third Annual Desktop Linux Survey. The survey, which is available until November 30, has received over 10,000 responses already!

"Unlimited" Costs Verizon $1 Million

Not knowing what a word means can cause all sorts of problems, but it's not that often that one of those problems costs a million dollars. Unless you're Verizon, that is.

700 MHz Auction Brings Mountains of Confusion

The FCC auction of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum is turning out to be more controversial than a Steve Ballmer speech. The auction, slated to begin January 24, 2008, has been tied up with court challenges from Verizon, confusing announcements from AT&T, and in-and-out games from Microsoft.

GIMP Goes 2.4

The GIMP project announced the release of Version 2.4 today, complete with a bevy of bug fixes and new features. Among the features of the new release are a new and improved icon set, better selection tools, scalable brushes, improvements on zoom, cropping, and color management, a red-eye removal tool, and quite a bit more.

Biting The Bit

A joint raid by UK and Dutch police brought down mammoth members-only BitTorrent service OiNK yesterday, and may represent a warning to operators of similar networks.

iSurge For Apple

The numbers are in, and they look pretty good for Apple. Reports show that Apple shipped more than 2.1 million systems, up 34% from 2006, and posted $6 billion plus in revenues. Detailed numbers reveal that computer sales were strong, composing 62% of Apple's revenues, and that laptops are the hot item, covering 62% of computer sales.

Turbolinux Goes Microsoft

Turbolinux, a major presence in the Asian Linux market, inked a deal today with Microsoft, to provide the ever-popular “patent assurances” as well as access to Live Search and a planned cross-platform login. The deal apparently centers around a plan to provide single-login functionality for both Windows and Linux, allowing a single user login to transfer between platforms.

Score One For The Good Guys

Microsoft announced that it will no longer fight the European anti-trust regulators, after last month's spanking in the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.

Green No More

Trolltech, the company behind the Qtopia platform, has given up on the Greenphone, it's Linux mobile phone. David Bialer announced that Trolltech had expended it's existing stock of the Greenphone, originally released in 2006, and would not be ordering new stock. Bialer cited developments in the Linux smartphone market as making the Greenphone obsolete.

One Bad Apple

The rumor-mill is abuzz with reports that Apple has fired 800 employees over fraudulent iPhone rebates. According to tech blog ArsTechina, two independent sources have confirmed that Apple went on a firing binge over employees who submitted claims for the $100 credit offered to early adopters of the iPhone. For those who aren't in the know, Apple employees got their iPhones for free.

Ubuntu Gets Gutsy

Ubuntu 7.10, better known as “Gutsy Gibbon” arrived with a fanfare today, sporting a host of shiny new features. Ubuntu, which claims 30% of the Linux desktop market, now boasts Compiz by default, the ability to write to Windows NTFS drives, built-in dual-monitor support, an easier method for installing Firefox plugins, and and quite a bit more.