The Software Freedom Law Center and Red Hat's CEO rag on the patent system. "Nobody can write software without risking a lawsuit."

Ingres goes after Sun's customers. The company is promoting a migration path from the MySQL database.

Apple's iPhone now has one-third the market share of desktop Linux. NetApplications measured how much Linux and the iPhone are used to access the Internet.

FOSS sexism claims stir up the pot. Bruce Byfield's recent article on the topic has people talking.

ARMing desktop Linux. ARM-based netbooks are on their way and they can't run Windows.

In yet another move signalling the move toward cross-vendor combinations of commercial open source software, database player Ingres and Red Hat have formed a partnership, announced today. It's designed to provide combined open source software stacks for businesses. Three enterprise customers--Biveroni Batschelet Partners AG (BBP), Allied Express, and Connected Weddings--have migrated to stacks based on Ingres Database, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and JBoss Enterprise Middleware. According to an Ingres statement: "The combined stack gives enterprises and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) a low-cost alternative to proprietary application development." With IT spending down in this economy, and, at the same time, increased spending on open source software, these stack offerings have a lot of promise.

While frugality isn't by any means the only reason a business should consider open source software, it would be foolish to think that the current economic situation isn't making it more attractive to companies. There is often, however, an imposing barrier standing in the way of all-out adoption. The mythical "learning curve" involved in moving to open source isn't half so steep or intimidating as that first step -- where do we go, what applications are best for us, and how do we put it all together and make it all work?

This week, Red Hat and IT services distribution provider, SYNNEX, announced the formation of the Open Source Channel Alliance. The Alliance's aim is to help value-added resellers and solutions providers deliver all the benefits of open source applications to their customers.