If you cycled the clock back a few years, you would find that most people who were enthusiastic about Linux tended to debate its prospects as a desktop operating system. Fast-forward to today, and it's clear that Linux is finding many of its biggest opportunities at the server level, in embedded Linux deployments, and in other scenarios that lie outside the desktop computing arena. There are more and more signs that the next frontier for Linux may be in cars, as evidenced by Toyota's decision to join the Linux Foundation as a Gold member.

In a shrewd move that could usher in lots of new developers for Linux-based mobile operating systems, The Linux Foundation today announced six new training courses focused on development for Linux-based Android and MeeGo operating systems. If you cycled the clock back four years from now, you would be unlikely to be able to predict the barnstorming success that Linux-based mobile operating systems are having--primarily due to the meteoric rise of Android. Linux has become the dominant operating system for mobile and embedded computing devices, and those interested in building development skills for mobile platforms should check into The Linux Foundation's training offerings.

Unless you've been living in a cave underneath your rack room lately, you probably can't help but notice all the 3D movies Hollywood is releasing. Playing on the consumer's love of the three-dimensional experience, Nokia and Intel and are getting together to bring 3D technology to mobile devices.

The two companies are involved with a research project at a Finland university that will eventually bring open source 3D technology to Intel's MeeGo mobile operating system. The project is aimed at developing software for a variety of MeeGo-based devices, but Mika Setälä, director of strategy alliances and partnerships at Nokia, says further research could lead to "something on the hardware side" as well."