Source code for the Solaris operating system

is available without a fee. It probably doesn\'t

qualify as Open Source as defined by Bruce Perens

but might still be of interest to readers.

In the ten months since the last release of the NetBSD 1.5 branch, various improvements, new hardware support, and a few security fixes have been integrated. The new maintenance release is now officially available.

Over the last year, many CIOs have moved from the sidelines to the playing field in the search for a successor to IBM MVS, AS/400 O/S, Sun Solaris, HP/UX, and Microsoft Windows NT/2000 in the data center. Based on recent announcements and rollouts, that successor might just turn out to be Linux--the one OS that will run on all today\'s hardware.

I\'M AMAZED. For the first time in recent memory, I find myself in total agreement with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. According to published accounts of the Microsoft Fusion 2002 conference, Mr. Ballmer said, \"We haven\'t figured out how to be lower-priced than Linux.\"

Peru is the latest to join the list of countries embracing Linux and free software. Other countries on the on the list are Mexico, China, France, Argentina, Brazil and Germany. These countries have also made it mandatory for all government-supported organisations to use only free software. If the Indian government and all the agencies it funds use Linux, it will not only make it cost effective but also transparent.

Microsoft, long a proponent of keeping source code secret, plans to publish the source code to a critical part of its Palladium project to enhance security, a representative of the software giant said Monday.

Hewlett-Packard\'s strong backing for Intel\'s Itanium processor line has accelerated Red Hat\'s plans to create a version of its flagship Advanced Server Linux for the high-end chip family.

Sharp launches the Zaurus SL-A300, a sleeker yet more powerful update to its line of handhelds built around the Linux OS. It\'s only out in Japan, for now at least

Could Red Hat become the next Microsoft -- that is, could it become the dominant (not necessarily domineering) operating systems provider? What a ridiculous proposition, you might say. How could a little company that provides Linux open source software hope to topple Microsoft?

A Washington think tank called the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution has released its anticipated study of the dangers of open-source software. Much to our disappointment, the organization\'s press release, which last week promised that the study would explain in gory detail how open-source software will foster international terrorism, turns out to have been a tissue of headline-pimping lies.