OStatic

Over at The Apple Blog today, I wrote about some cool geocaching applications for the iPhone that make the adventure lots more fun. If you?re not familiar with the sport, here?s the scoop. People venture out with GPS devices and look for containers hidden somewhere in the great outdoors by other geocachers. Once found, you jot your name in the logbook, put the container back where you found it, and go find another. Think of it as a pumped-up version of the treasure hunts we used to go on as kids.

If you're already a geocaching fan or want to give it a try but don't have an iPhone, try out these open source apps for your computer, netbook, or cell phone.

Over at The Apple Blog today, I wrote about some cool geocaching applications for the iPhone that make the adventure lots more fun. If you?re not familiar with the sport, here?s the scoop. People venture out with GPS devices and look for containers hidden somewhere in the great outdoors by other geocachers. Once found, you jot your name in the logbook, put the container back where you found it, and go find another. Think of it as a pumped-up version of the treasure hunts we used to go on as kids.

If you're already a geocaching fan or want to give it a try but don't have an iPhone, try out these open source apps for your computer, netbook, or cell phone.

Over at The Apple Blog today, I wrote about some cool geocaching applications for the iPhone that make the adventure lots more fun. If you?re not familiar with the sport, here?s the scoop. People venture out with GPS devices and look for containers hidden somewhere in the great outdoors by other geocachers. Once found, you jot your name in the logbook, put the container back where you found it, and go find another. Think of it as a pumped-up version of the treasure hunts we used to go on as kids.

If you're already a geocaching fan or want to give it a try but don't have an iPhone, try out these open source apps for your computer, netbook, or cell phone.

Ever since netbooks--low priced, ultra-mobile computers with very low price points--became a hot hardware category, with both Linux and Windows versions available, reports have flown around saying that the return rates for Linux netbooks are vastly higher than return rates for Windows machines. Kevin Turner, Microsoft's COO, helped fuel the fire by saying that return rates for Linux netbooks are more than four times higher than return rates for Windows netbooks, here.? I challenge you to find a retailer who wants to sell Linux on these netbooks, because the returns are bad, Turner said.

That position has been challenged a number of times, with the most serious challenges coming from netbook manufacturers. Asus' CEO has said that return rates for Linux netbooks are no higher than they are for Windows systems.?He ought to know, and he's also said that Linux netbooks are quite popular in Europe, where overall open source adoption is high. Now, as The Register reports,?Dell, the number two computer manufacturer in the world, is refuting Turner's position as well.

?Boxee raises $6 million, announces other deals. The company behind the well-liked open source media center app is on a roll.

Investor reveals secret to $1.6 billion in open source success. VC Peter Fenton has spurred on four big open-source sales--JBoss ($350 million), Zimbra ($350 million), XenSource ($500 million), and SpringSource ($420 million).

If you have a proprietary partner is it still open source? Jaspersoft and Talend are teaming with two proprietary vendors to deliver a business intelligence solution for clouds.

Hands on with SUSE Studio. Novell's service allows you to create your own Linux distro respin using nothing more than a web browser.

Consider Linux for secure online banking. Because it isn't a big target for hackers, and for other reasons, it's an ideal platform.

A Moblin netbook by this fall? The first netbook pre-installed with the Moblin v2 operating system technology may reach market in October--on Asus' Seashell system.

There is a lot of hubbub about Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system and its prospects on netbooks, which remain a hot-selling hardware category, but what about Linux on netbooks? Asus and others were early to deliver Linux-based netbooks, Dell continues to offer Ubuntu-based systems, and there are new, Linux-based operating systems that may have bright netbook futures.

We've made the point several times?that Linux and open source applications can get a big boost by being successful on lightweight, inexpensive portable systems.? Still, if you go to a retail outlet to shop for a netbook, you rarely see Linux. Why is that, and what prospects does Linux really have on netbooks?