News
Site News
10 Ways that Enterprises use Linux
The world's largest technical support, software and hardware companies use Linux on a daily basis for a variety of tasks and solutions. This post gives you an overview of all the ways in which large companies use Linux. Most don't use Linux on the desktop but do use it in ways you might expect (and a few you might not expect) a company of that magnitude to use it. They've leveraged Linux for some of the most critical workloads and 100% uptime service levels. Welcome to the world of enterprise Linux.
The New Face of Open Source: Facebook
The Ultimate Social Networking Web Site, built entirely on non-custom Free/Open Source Software (FOSS)
Denmark ditches Microsoft OOXML and goes with ODF
The Danish Parliament has agreed to ditch Microsoft-based software in favour of the ODF standard from April next year (2011).
NZ School Ditches Microsoft and goes Totally Open Source
A New Zealand high school running entirely on open source software has slashed its server requirements by a factor of almost 50, despite a government deal mandating the use of Microsoft software in all schools.
London Stock Exchange switches to Linux
IN THE CITY OF LONDON, the financial heart of the UK, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has begun a twelve-month migration to a Linux based trading system.
GenoCAD Goes Open Source - Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, an affiliated corporation of Virginia Tech, has announced that it has licensed the source code of GenoCAD to the International Society for Computational Biology (ISC
Open Norway: Norwegian Broadcasting Moves to OpenOffice and ODF
Norway's national broadcasting and TV facility NRK is intent on using the Open Document Format as a standard and is therefore changing its clients over to OpenOffice.
Fujitsu Gets, Gives Value to Linux
If asked to name significant Linux organizations, Fujitsu Ltd. might not be a company that comes immediately to mind. But to underestimate the value Fujitsu brings to the Linux ecosystem would be erroneous: the world's fourth-largest IT services provider and Japan's top IT company has a big stake in Linux, and some big-name Linux customers.
Hungarian Government Mandates Use of Open Standards Technology
The Hungarian Parliament has made the use of Open Standards mandatory by law in the intercommunication between public administration offices, public utility companies, citizens and voluntarily joining private companies, conducted via the central governmental system.
French Army Sides with (Open Source) Mozilla in Microsoft Email War
PARIS/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A new email client unveiled by Mozilla this week contains code from an unusual source -- the French military, which decided the open source product was more secure than Microsoft's rival Outlook.
ES (Spain): Cenatic Campaign: Ten Reasons for Using Open Source in Education
Using open source software offers schools a unique opportunity to advance the information society that is fair and free, says Cenatic, Spain's resource centre on open source and open standards.
5 Linux-based Cloud Businesses
Amazon Web Services (AWS) uses it. Elastichosts uses it. Google uses it. Yahoo uses it. Engine Yard uses it. Facebook uses it. "It" is Linux, of course. But what else do all these companies have in common? If you said "cloud technology," you're correct.
Juniper Backs FreeBSD With MIPS Port
As part of the FreeBSD 8.0 release, there is new experimental MIPS support which was contributed by networking vendor Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR).
Google's (Linux based) Chrome ready to shine?
Chrome OS is Google's a direct attack against bitter rival Microsoft, but this time it may have bitten off more than it can chew.
European Governments Help Increase ODF Interoperability
Representatives from three European member states, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, took part in the second Open Document Format (ODF) interoperability workshop held in the
Linux rulz: Top500 (Supercomputers) say so
Today’s release of the list of the top 500 supercomputers shows that well over 90% are running Linux. Also, IBM’s Roadrunner has finally been dethroned; in a big way!
Nicaragua Builds An Innovative Agricultural Information System Using Open Source Software
An experiment in Nicaragua shows just how powerful Open Source software can be in leveling the playing field. The second poorest country of the Americas now has one of the best software solutions for displaying agricultural data in the western hemisphere.
Nokia shipps its Linux-Maemo based N900 Smartphone
This Nokia Ultra Smartphone is heir to both the Symbian-based N97 smartphone and the Maemo-based N810 Internet Tablet, with all the competitive features of the Apple IPhone and many laptop computers combined.
Netherlands government launches ODF service at Italian Plugfest
The Dutch Government adopts Open Source ODF Document Format form the Italiam Plugfest.
Virgin America Dumps Servers, Flies for the Clouds: Open Source Payload
Virgin American consolidated on Open Source Software Technologies, moves to Cloud Computing for Future Savings, Economies of Scale.
U.S. Defense Department Promotes Open Source
An open memo from the U.S. DoD declares that open source software is no worse than traditional software, perhaps even more useful.
French Tax authorities switching to Thunderbird
According to a report in the French language publication 01net, the French General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFiP) is switching to Mozilla's Thunderbird email client for 130,000 users
WhiteHouse.gov Web Site Goes Open Source
WhiteHouse.gov has gone to the Open Source Drupal CMS. After months of planning, says an Obama Administration source, the White House has ditched the proprietary content management system that had been in place since the days of the Bush Administration in favor of the latest version of the open-source Drupal software, as the AP alluded to in its reporting several minutes ago.
EvriChart: A Linux Success Story
Tony Maro, CIO of EvriChart, a hospital records management and archiving business, successfully migrated his company’s Windows-based line of business document management extranet application and his employees’ 40-odd Windows-based desktops to a 100 percent Linux-based server and desktop infrastructure.
A Math Teacher with his Students bring (Linux) Desktop4education to Austrian Schools
This is an introduction to a case study that was published recently, this case study is a good example for everyone of us, if we need to extend the use of opensource and especially Linux we need to start from the basic, that are our children, and the best place where to start , are the schools .
XO (Linux) Laptop for every pupil in Uruguay
Uruguay has become the first country to provide a laptop for every child attending state primary school.
Linux in Education: Athens (Michigan) Schools
Michigan public schools has successful adoption and use of Linux in their school system.
Small Businesses Should Bank Securely – And That Means Linux: Washington Post
Bill Gates isn’t going to like this one bit. The Washington Post is recommending that Small Businesses use Linux based computers instead of Microsoft Windows for their 'on-line' banking and financial related operations.
OpenOffice boom in Belgium
The number of public administrations in Belgium that use the open source office productivity suite OpenOffice is rising steadily. And with it the use of the open document format ODF. OVAM, Flanders' Public Waste Agency, already adapted its back office to support ODF a couple of years ago. They are now awaiting the decision of the Flemish Minister of Environment to move the four hundred desktops to OpenOffice.
France begins IT Research Centre on Innovation and Free Software
France's national computer science institute, Inria, says free software is essential to develop digital society. The institute is launching a research centre to focus on this type of software, Cirill (IT Innovation and Research Centre for Free Software).
Dutch Police go Open Source
The Dutch Police Service have chosen Red Hat Enterprise Linux technology solutions to manage the operations for all departments of the forces sixty thousand plus personnel.
Ontario Researchers Tout Open Source eHealth Alternative
Researchers at Hamilton's McMaster University say they have devised an electronic medical records system that can be implemented by physicians across Ontario for two per cent of the money the provincial government has spent on eHealth Ontario.
London Stock Exchange dumps Windows for Linux
The London Stock Exchange replaces it's huge Microsoft infrastructure investment with Red Hat Linux solutions after disastrous two plus years of problems and failures.
NSW (Australia) Office of State Revenue CIO reflects on five successful years of open source
NSW Office of State Revenue CIO David Kennedy looks back on the challenges and achievements the government agency has had with open source technology and offers advice to CIOs on developing a successful open source strategy.
50 Open Source Apps for Small Biz/Home Office ...from Datamation
When it comes to businesses using open source software, medium and large enterprises seem to get most of the press. However, small office/home office (SOHO) setups with 10 employees or less may see even greater benefit from switching to open source applications.
How to Save $1 Trillion a Year with Open Source
How Governments, Industry, Academia and every other aspect of like using technology can save almost a third of the estimated $3.4 Trillion to be spent according to ITC reports.
IBM Throws Out Microsoft Office [for OpenOffice based software]
360,000 IBM workers have been told to stop using Microsoft Office and switch to the Open Office-based software Symphony.
Linux powers world's fastest stock exchange
Day trading is so passe. Today's sharp traders make their cash by trading milliseconds ahead of the other guy. To do that you need really fast stock exchanges, which is where Linux comes in.
Nokia Releases Linux Handset
"Nokia releases their first Linux mobile handset, the N900 The handset is based on the latest release of Maemo, the Nokia mobile Linux platform, and includes e.g. GSM and 3G access (with HSPA, giving datarates of up to 10Mbps downlink and 2Mbps uplink on suitable networks), WLAN, Bluetooth, camera, assisted GPS and, most importantly, a touchscreen complemented by a hardware QWERTY under a slider
ES: 'Open source science allows others to get involved'
Researchers at the Spanish University of Granada are publishing as open source their software simulating the human nervous system, saying this is the only way to allow other teams to become involved.
Consider Linux for Secure Online Banking
Do you make online financial transactions from a Windows computer? If so, you may want to re-visit that decision. It's a given that almost all malicious software targets Windows. In my opinion, while it is possible to secure a Windows computer, the process is too hard, too time-consuming and/or technically over the head of most people.
Technical School changes to Ubuntu (Linux) and saves Millions
A technical school located in the North of Iceland "Akureyri" saves 5 million Kronas (€ 27,706.39 = US$ 39,375.0648) by changing the operating system of the school computers to open source Ubuntu.
Verona's University Migrates 4000 PCs to Linux
Verona is about to become famous for more than just Romeo and Juliet and opera: the university of the romantic Italian city is migrating 4000 of its desktops to Linux and open source.
The Gap moves from Windows to Red Hat Linux
Retail giant The Gap Inc. has moved it's entire business platform from Microsoft's Windows to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Venezuela to Provide Children with 50,000 Mini (Linux) Laptops
Mérida, July 29, 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) This week the Venezuelan Education Ministry began its program, dubbed Project Canaima, to provide primary schools with mini laptops, and incorporate the technology into the education system.
Global Business: Hats off to Redhat
Peter Day talks to Matthew Szulik of Red Hat Inc.,and hears how this North Carolina (USA) company took on Silicon Valley - "and the proprietary software goliaths".
Open Source for America
We are a coalition organized to serve as a centralized advocate, to encourage broader US Federal Government support of and participation in Open Source Projects and Technology.
How the Government is turning to Open Source, and Why
Open source shares critical values with government and public education that make them function in the ideal; meritocracy of ideas, transparency, collaboration.
Edmonton considers divorcing Microsoft
“I told Microsoft I’m giving them their divorce papers,” says City of Edmonton CIO Chris Moore. The municipality’s IT department is considering walking away from Microsoft Corp. applications and investing in open source instead. It’s just one step in a major IT transformation, the CIO explains.
NICTA opens its software to the world
Research organisation National ICT Australia (NICTA) has stepped up its support for open source software by launching the OpenNICTA portal (http://www.opennicta.com) where people can view and download software developed and licensed by the organisation.
London Paper cuts costs by 66% with open source website
The London Paper has switched to an open source content management system as part of a major overhaul of its website.
USPS goes open-source with tracking system
If you’ve gone to USPS.com to track and confirm delivery of a letter or package, you’ve used the U.S. Postal Service’s Product Tracking System (PTS) and probably not known it. And you might not have noticed either when USPS moved the system to open source.
Introducing the Google Chrome [Linux based] OS
It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva brings attention to Free Software
In a symbolic show of support for Free Open Source Software and the OpenDocument Format, Brazilian President Lula da Silva recently attended the Linux-related FISL 10 conference in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he gave an address underscoring the importance of Free Open Source Software to Brazilian national interests.
Discouraging FOSS
Linux users have been aware for some time that Microsoft does not share their love for their favorite operating system, Linux.
The State of Munich's Ongoing Linux Migration
"The Munich decision to move its 14,000 desktops to Free Open Source Software created a big splash back in 2003 as news circulated of the third-largest German city's defection from Microsoft.
Berlin art colleges switch to Linux
Berlin's art colleges are completely switching over to Linux. Most of the productivity software on the workstations has already been swapped for free alternative products as part of a project that started over eighteen months ago.
The little Linux school house
Open-source software in schools isn't just a good idea, it's becoming a financial necessity if we're to keep enough teachers for our kids in classrooms.
Making Uruguays' 300,000 XO [Linux] Laptops Count
The project of XO [One Laptop per Child] in Uruguay Schools progress.
Linux Makes the Grade in California Schools
A few growing pains aside, a Linux deployment in a Santa Rosa, CA elementary school district is maturing robustly, letting teachers and students stand apart from their previous dependence on Microsoft Windows while they try on new open software attitudes.
Organizations Find Switch from Windows Better than Expected
British market researchers took some lessons from a survey of 1,275 Linux migrators in organizations worldwide.
Vancouver Opens Up
The City of Vancouver, British Columbia - Canada - has moved much of its City information into Open Standards and Open Source technology.
Report Recommends How to Switch to Linux
Experts predicted that the economy would make this the year that many organizations switched to Linux. A coming Windows 7 upgrade considered to be better than Vista -- seemed to increase the odds.
Video: Open source government
Open source is answering the call at government agencies on all levels as they look for opportunities to carve out costs and improve security, transparency, public participation, and collaboration.
Brazil is Aggressively Expanding their Telecentro (Linux based) Program
Expansion of Community Free Software Workshops and Technology Education.
Open-Source Software Gains As Moneymaker
Free open-source software is not so free anymore as more companies — including longtime makers of conventional software — strive to make money on the technology.
Military enlists open source community
U.S. Defense Department is adopting a collaborative approach to speed software development, reduce cost.
Universities Get $5 Million To Tap IBM-Google (Linux based) Cloud
National Science Foundation grant recipients will explore image processing, large-scale data analysis, improving the Internet, human genome sequencing, and other areas.
Rockefeller Introduced Legislation Calling for Universal Adoption of (Open Source) Electronic Health Records
The Health Information Technology Public Utility Act of 2009 will make Health IT more accessible
BullionVault.com - Gold with an open source soul
Gold and open source do not normally go together, but at BullionVault, the combination of both has created an innovative way of trading in the precious metal
Open-Source Misperceptions Live On
Why many false and malicious conceptions still linger about Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) at large, and particularly in the Information Technology arena.
Five Ideas To Get FOSS Into Governments
Here are some ideas discussed during my keynote today in Oslo at GoOpen 2009 for practical steps various people, from citizens to policy wonks to representatives, can do to help get open source in actual use and delivering on its promise (and I know it's not easy)
IDC: Linux spending set to boom by 21 percent in 2009
Those selling Linux-based solutions, however, can expect to spread plenty of holiday cheer, according to a new report from IDC, "The Opportunity for Linux in a New Economy." (PDF)
Businessweek: E-Health [Free/Open Source] Software on a Budget
Midland Memorial Hospital, Texas deploys Veterans Affairs VistA Open Source Medical Records Management Software, and saves two-thirds of costs from proprietary firms while increasing efficiency.
All Tatarstan (Russia) Schools Moving to Free Software
By the end of this year, all schools of Tatarstan plans to transfer to the free software operating system based on «Linux».
Hungarian government goes 50 per cent open source
The Hungarian government has announced that it will be modifying procurement rules to allow open source to be used in public sector organisations.
Business turns to Linux in economic downturn: survey
More than 50% of IT executives in a recent survey said that they were planning to accelerate Linux adoption in 2009.
French police switch from Windows to Linux
The French national police force has slashed its IT costs by 70 per cent by cutting Microsoft out of the equation.
Russia Rolls Out Open Source for Government
Russia is rapidly turning into open source's best-kept secret. A little while back I wrote about plans to roll out free software to all schools; more recently, there has been talk about creating a Russian operating system based on Fedora. And now there's this:
UK goes Open Source
Initiated by the Conservative opposition party, the push towards Open Source Software will now be realized in a ten point Government Action Plan penned by the governing Labour Party.
Linux virtual desktops sweeping Brazilian schools
The companies behind a 356,800 seat deployment in Brazil claim world records for the largest desktop virtualisation rollout, the largest desktop Linux rollout, and the lowest cost per seat.
An (Canadian Government) open door for open source?
Federal government puts out a call for information on free software
Now Brazil goes Big on the GNU/Linux Desktop
Brazilian project to provide 324,000 GNU/Linux notebooks for schools.
23,000 Linux PCs forge education revolution in Philippines
Providing high school students with PCs is seen as a first step to preparing them for a technology-literate future, but in the Philippines many schools cannot afford to provide computing facilities so after a successful deployment of 13,000 Fedora Linux systems from a government grant, plans are underway to roll out another 10,000 based on Ubuntu.
Australian University Migrates IT Systems to Red Hat Solutions
CQUniversity in Australia has migrated its critical IT systems to Red Hat solutions. Red Hat (News - Alert) Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Network (RHN) Satellite have delivered a number of benefits to CQUniversity including significant cost savings, increased performance, ease of management and reliable, ongoing support.
Vietnam to widely use Open Source Software
VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications has issued an instruction on using open source software products at state agencies.
Massively powerful Linux computers built to save energy
From ZDNet's GreenTech Pastures blog comes news of Linux-based computers from SiCortex that offer between 72 and 5,832 processors each, with each CPU drawing less than a watt of power. In other words, it's a green supercomputer. Prices go from $25,000 to $1 million, and according to the ZDNet post, the company has moved 54 boxes to entities that include big research universities and the Department of Defense.
Home
10 Ways that Enterprises use Linux
