OStatic

In November, I wrote about Ulteo's Open Virtual Desktop, an open source desktop delivery utility. Simply described, the Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop (OVD) is a browser-based operating system and applications suite that is controlled and configured, ideally, by your organization's systems administrators. This makes managing, working, and collaborating from remote locations possible so long as there is a computer nearby with a Java-enabled browser and internet connection.

This week, Ulteo announced some major updates to its OVD, including the ability to deliver Linux and Windows applications (or a mix of both), Active Directory and LDAP authentication capabilities, several file server options, and collaboration support.

Earlier this month, Computerworld reported on the Texas state Senate banning Windows Vista from use in government agencies. Specifically, Senator Juan Hinojosa proposed the ban because of the many reports of problems with Vista. Microsoft officials reacted angrily, saying we're surprised that the Texas Senate Finance Committee adopted a rider which, in effect, singles out a specific corporation and product for unequal treatment. Hinojosa has proposed Windows XP and the upcoming Windows 7 as alternatives, but why wasn't moving to an open source solution even considered? That's the gist of an interesting letter sent to Hinojosa, and here are some of the good points it makes.

David Coursey at PCWorld knew full well he'd opened a can of worms when he asked why anyone would want an Android netbook. Personally, I'd rather have an Ubuntu Netbook Remix powered one, or one with an operating system tailored with the latest Moblin Image Creator utility, but I'm sort of one of those types anyway.

I love and use open source software, nearly exclusively. I think the last time I really sat down to run Windows was when I transferred Windows XP on to my husband's newly built mostly playtime machine. As much as I love open source software, however, I am a stronger advocate for having the right tool for the job, and using the software that works best for the user and the task at hand. The right tool can vary greatly between users, tasks and even hardware. I have a few qualms about Coursey's statement that nobody could possibly ever want an Android netbook, unless the price was signficantly lower. I just don't believe it, and the nature of netbooks, people's expectations of what they can (or can't) do, and hardware disparities between Linux and Windows models further complicates the netbook operating system war.

There are a lot of Windows users out there who use high-profile open source applications such as Mozilla's Firefox browser, but fewer of them tend to reach for the many free, open source applications that they could easily be benefitting from. Especially among users with less familiarity with what to use, I think there is a perception that jumping into open source is difficult, or overly technical. In this post, I'll discuss two instant ways that Windows users at any level of experience can get and begin using very useful open source platforms and applications.

For the past few weeks, off and on, I've heard some low-level, excited buzzing about iFolder. What is it? Think of it as an open source Dropbox service that lives on your servers under your jurisdiction, with a few added perks.

iFolder isn't new, per se, but it hasn't seen an updated source code release since 2007. Late last week, Novell, which sponsors the iFolder project, announced that iFolder 3.7.2 client and server packages -- as well as source code -- were available for download. The new release runs on Mac, Windows (including Vista) and Linux 32- and 64- bit environments. The push is now on to keep iFolder a very community-driven initiative.

Do you use the OpenOffice suite of productivity applications? If so, OpenOffice.org Ninja has a good post up showing cross-platform benchmark tests for OpenOffice and popular forks of it on Ubuntu and on Windows XP. The tests include basic OpenOffice, StarOffice, Go-oo (a Novell- and Microsoft-backed fork that we covered here), and Portable OpenOffice. The results include some surprises.

There are many reasons to love the open source approach. The events chronicled in an article on NetworkWorld surrounding an exploit affecting Firefox outlines, quite elegantly, how open code outwardly appears risky, and -- well, wide open -- and how that same quality generates faster fixes and stronger applications.

A security researcher discovered that Firefox is vulnerable to remote memory corruption, enabling attackers to execute malicious (or at least very much unauthorized) code within the context of the browser. While security researchers spend countless hours searching out bugs and vulnerabilities, it's not usually the case that the offending attack finds its way into the public eye. Yesterday, however, this little exploit was published on several security sites. The vulnerability affects Firefox versions 3.0 through 3.0.7, on all platforms. In less than 24 hours, developers issued a patch for the vulnerability, to be included in next week's 3.0.8 release.

While Novell recently reported down earnings due in large part to shortfalls in its Linux business, Matt Asay notes that the company remains very focused on Linux. He singles out CEO Ron Hovsepian's comments today at the Open Source Business Conference on Suse Linux 11 and data centers, Novell's efforts to make Suse Linux appropriate for netbooks, and more. The thing that really caught my eye is something I wrote about recently: Novell's focus on interoperability.?

Fresh on the heels of disappointing quarterly earnings that were largely pinned on underperformance for its Linux business, and a small round of layoffs, Novell and market research firm IDC are out with survey results on Linux interest and adoption. The respondents were executives in the IT industry. There are several notable findings in the survey, including strong interest from respondents in interoperability between Linux and Windows. Here are some of the key results.

LogMeIn offers a wide array of products to remotely access and administer systems -- as long as the system is running Windows, Mac OS, or certain smartphone platforms. According to TechWorld (Australia), this could change later this year.

The reasons that LogMeIn's Asia Pacific General Manager, Seth Shaw, gives for reaching out towards the Linux platform are intriguing -- and heartening.