News IT&C

Some system utilities do a variety of things well. They come with tools to give users lots of solutions in one package. Other system apps like the Atol File Manager perform a dedicated function flawlessly without adding other specialties. Atol...

A new industry group hopes to improve the design and construction of data centers through the application of open source principles. Dubbed the “Open Source Data Center Initiative,” the group was formed last week by GreenM3 along with the University...

With its $99 price, the new Android-based Motorola Backflip clearly stands apart from Apple’s iPhone on more than just appearance. Both are smartphones, to be sure, and both are offered through AT&T. They also provide many of the same features...

It’s not often that Linux Girl is struck speechless by some tidbit of news in the tech world, but every once in a while it happens. Last week, it happened. Amid all the high-level discussion of Internet security at the...

Users of apps from BIRT, the open source Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools project, will be able to access them on the iPhone starting Monday. Actuate, which founded the BIRT project and coleads it with the Eclipse Foundation, is putting...

Canonical founder and CEO Mark Shuttleworth, developer of the Ubuntu open source operating system, announced in December that he was stepping aside to develop cloud product design and curry new partners. He named Chief Operating Officer Jane Silber to take...

Sometimes there’s nothing like a good lawsuit to force people to acknowledge just how much something is worth. Take FOSS, for example. Sure, there are estimates made of its value from time to time — the latest, in fact, just...

The lawsuit Apple filed this week may target smartphone maker HTC, but Cupertino is likely shooting for much bigger prey. Specifically, Google is the real focus of Apple’s wrath, said Chris Hazelton, research director for mobile and wireless with the...

I am an avid user of open source software and a firm believer in the benefits of FOSS. I have a choice of operating systems at my disposal, but I now cringe whenever I have to work in the Microsoft...

As a result of recent updates to the BBC’s Flash-based iPlayer, open source media players can no longer play its content. The updates implement SWF Verification, a copyright protection mechanism that excludes free alternatives to Flash player, such as that...