Caldera has contracted with Richard Sharpe of the Samba team to create a client library that will make Linux and Microsoft integration easier for developers. The Caldera-funded project includes the development of library source code, associated reorganization and reuse of Samba code and documentation of the library API.

Red Hat has announced the availability of the Beta version of Red Hat Linux for Itanium-based systems. This is the first publicly available beta from Red Hat for the Itanium architecture and is available for public download at Red Hat's ftp site.

"NEC's senior VP, Kazuhiko Kobayashi's comments perhaps aren't as negative as they might at first seem. They're actually a call for a greater level of standardisation in the Linux arena - not so very far from the concerns expressed by those observers who fear the Unix-like fragmentation of Linux."

A joint development programme was announced, under which the two companies will ensure Nautilus works with Solaris, supports a broad range of different languages and contains tools to help users with disabilities. Eazel's part of the agreement is to commit itself to using Sun's StarOffice as the default document viewing tool in Nautilus.

Open source databases are emerging as viable alternatives to costly proprietary

databases and, in so doing, are filling a key slot in the open source e-business development stack.

Dell has signed an agreement to offer Eazel's applications on laptop and desktop computers. Dell's investment arm also made an investment in Eazel as part of measures designed to increase the adoption of Linux among PC users.

Are you waiting for your favorite desktop game to come to Linux? Although there's a handful of big-name games available, people who are both gaming enthusiasts

and Linux fans say parity in the gaming desktop is still years away.

"It's been roughly four months since potato got released, which means

woody's been in existance for eleven months, and that we probably want

to think about freezing and releasing it in a few more months."

Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds says the creation of the Linux operating

system is his biggest technological achievement. Good news for the IT

legend: his nine-year-old achievement keeps getting bigger.

After taking a beating on Wall Street for most of the last year, VA Linux

Systems Inc. may finally be winning over skeptics who have questioned the

company's ability to make money over a product that is essentially free.