After a long break, we're back to happily talk about free operating systems. Open source matters more in the fast-changing world of technology, and Linux is making a big impact in cars, wearables and other devices. Those are places Windows will never reach.

We'll keep you updated on Linux and the latest open source tools on the market. Stay tuned.

FreeOS is now on Twitter! Follow us @free_os to get notifications on the latest news, articles and updates on free and open-source operating systems beyond just Linux.

Like PCs, operating systems in smartphones in some cases become irrelevant. A lot of OS upgrades are provided over-the-air by wireless carriers, or users can manully upgrade the OS through distributions -- or ROMs -- that can be found on sites like Cyanogen or XDA-Developers. 

Developing a large and complex program means combining many ideas, often hundreds or thousands of them. In a country that allows software patents, chances are that some substantial fraction of the ideas in your program will be patented already by various companies.

Perhaps hundreds of patents will cover parts of your program. A study in 2004 found almost 300 U.S. patents that covered various parts of a

single important program. It is so much work to do such a study that only one has been done.

Linux essentials:

It’s free for download but you have to pay a tiny bit to mail order it or buy it from a company. If you’re getting Linux for more than 2-3 PCs, you can also get training and support at a small free, if you choose to have it. Else it’s the Linux community on the Net to your rescue.

If you want to get comfortable with Linux, you don’t have to let go of windows. Get Linux installed on a seprate partition and you can switch between Windows and Linux. There are some Linux versions that run off CDs too-xandross and Knoppix.

If we were to re-write Linux, taking clues from

various operating systems, what would we

make sure it did? Our next-generation operating system (NGOS) would be

completely modular in design, aimed at 64-bit hardware, and with an

interface that would change the way people compute. It would support a

large number of applications and hardware devices, accepting device

drivers written for other operating system, and run applications

written for other operating system under an emulation mode.

Q: Tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, and integrated search are some of the distinguishing features of Mozilla. What's coming next?

A: We are working on developing Mozilla as a platform and Web services are where we are putting the bulk of our efforts.

I started work a few weeks ago at a Anglican Church's community centre, in one of Christchurch's poorer suburbs. I am to be the tutor for a class of adult learners and techie for the community centre.

They have five computers, three running Windows 95 and two running Windows 98. It's all kosher, since they got them from a computer recycler I know, which has a charity license setup with Microsoft.

Your statement that Eric Raymond was "contacted by the perpetrator"

of

the DDoS attack on SCO begins the falsehoods. Mr. Raymond made very

clear when volunteering his information and calling for the attack to

cease that he was contacted by a third-party associate of the

perpetrator and does not have the perpetrator's identity to reveal.

The DDoS attack ceased, and has not resumed. Mr. Raymond subsequently

received emailed thanks for his action from Blake Stowell of SCO.

First step in this is to have a Security as a Policy - A Security Policy.

With out this you are not having clear definition to what you want to

protect and what to do when you find any violations. I would suggest

to have a look at Site "Security Handbook" an RFC 2196.

A GNU/Linux distributions has lots of softwares coming along with it as

its installation part,so a GNU/Linux user needs to be aware of what

packages he should install on the server systems which he is going to

use in production environment.