I am always being told off by i-technologists for quoting Picasso as having said that computers are useless. But I still love his reasoning: 'Because they can only give you answers.' Picasso, like AJAXWorld Magazine, liked questions. So we thought we would share with you what some of the world's leading rich Internet application pioneers are thinking may be the next questions that we need to see answered. From that, readers can themselves infer: where is AJAX headed next?

Many articles have already been written about service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Service Component Architecture (SCA), for example, see references [1] and [2]. In this article we'll focus on a freely available, open source implementation of the Service Component Architecture that provides a simple way to implement SOA solutions. This SCA implementation is being developed in the Apache Tuscany Incubator project. The project started in 2006 and is being used by many who are looking for a simple SOA infrastructure. The recent Tuscany SCA version 1.0, which was released in September 2007, supports the Service Component Architecture specifications 1.0.

In order to describe itself as an 'open source' company, need a company merely be 'a company that will help you make the switch to open source in your company' - or does it have to be one that lets users feely download, compile, and use the software in question? Where is the dividing line? How open is 'open'? At Enterprise Open Source Magazine we contacted a range of FOSS luminaries for their take on the issue.

We have measured performance information to distinguish the differences between the Windows and Linux platforms. Given comparable hardware we found the performance differences almost trivial.

One of the more frustrating features of a Fedora Core installation is its lack of popular multimedia and driver support as well as alternative applications like Abiword. But, with a few simple steps you can easily access a large collection of such software from your system using YUM.

For C++ programmers all over the world, Boost and the Boost libraries have become indispensable. Weighing in at 60 C++ libraries, Boost is a large collection of peer-reviewed code covering a wide range of domains. But why should you care about that? Well, because Boost can quickly become indispensable for you too.

My aunt and I were having an e-mail discussion about which is the easiest to use: a real photo album with pictures or a computer photo album, as on a CD-ROM. I suggested that we put all the family photos into an album rather than having them strewn all over the place in photo folders. She suggested scanning them into the computer and building a photo album that way. I tend to agree with her, as a digital photo album is easier to preserve and present than the more traditional photo album.

Many of the Internet community organizations that enable the processes for the development and administration of the Internet will host the Internet Pavilion at the `ICT 4 all' exhibition at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, 15-19 November 2005. Organisations at the Internet Pavilion will include the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Number Resource Organization (NRO), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the London Internet Exchange (LINX), the Council of European National Top level Domain Registries (CENTR) and the African ISP Association (AfrISPA).

Whatever happened to the days when a new college grad could be sent to a two-week developer's course and come back proficient enough to develop and deploy small departmental applications? J2EE - That's what happened!

This article discusses the implementation details for the new device management methods udev and HAL, now used on all Fedora Core 3 and 4 systems for all devices. It's time to relearn how devices are managed!

Sometime between the years 1995 and 2004, Linux reached the mainstream of computer users the world over. No longer was it all about Microsoft or the Mac. Now there was a new sheriff in town, and it was a penguin packing some serious heat.

This article provides an update of the Carrier Grade Linux initiative, the CGL specification, distributions, platforms and deployments.

Recently, I spent some time trying out various Linux distributions on my late model Toshiba laptop. Since that article came out, several new releases have come out and I've tried a couple of new distros. So here's a brief update.

As Linux moves in everywhere within enterprise computing - in embedded solutions, on the desktop, in distributed applications, and on mainframe - the LinuxWorld Magazine News Desk brings you all the latest developments.

Linux.SYS-CON.com's senior contributing analyst, Bill Claybrook, spoke with John Loiacono, executive vice president of Sun Microsystem's Software Group about his new job, and what he has in store for Sun's Linux strategy.

It seems as if every day a new Linux distribution emerges into the world. True, it can lead to some confusion in the marketplace and fragmentation of the Linux brand name, but open source is all about confusing the end user by having five equally good products that do the same thing, so I decided to go down to my local CompAmerica and check out the selection.

'This decision puts the onus squarely on the board of PeopleSoft to meet with us,' said Oracle chairman Jeff Henley triumphantly as Judge Vaughn Walker ruled against the US Justice Department and 10 states, ending their quest to block Oracle's would-be 'hostile takeover' of rival PeopleSoft. There aren't sufficient grounds to block it, Judge Walker decided.

What is open source? It is a way of developing, distributing, and licensing software. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, the roots of open source as we know it today were established.

The implementation of Linux open source code, along with IBM’s prowess, is gaining ground in government sectors at home and abroad.

Spammers are making money exploiting other people's systems and no one is immune. This article examines the implications for organizations and for Linux caused by the spam/virus convergence, and details the level of protection necessary to minimize organizational impact and risk.

OSDL's Carrier Grade Linux working group is hard at work on an open source platform for the telecom industry. This article describes the goals, structure, and working groups of CGL; presents the CGL architecture; and provides an overview of the CGL 2.0 requirements.

'It looks as if Mono is going to get a lot more manpower,' writes Dennis Hayes. 'If this translates into more code, Mono could be entering a whole new era. Novell's acquisition of Ximian has been very good for the project, and Novell seems to be true to their word about keeping open source open,' he adds, before discussing Mono's 0.30 release System.Windows. Forms (SWF) implementation changes, and some other ways that Novell has helped Mono and open source.

'I did a research degree entitled 'The Linux Operating System: A Socio-Legal Study' at the University of Warwick, UK, from 1999 to 2001,' writes Maureen O'Sullivan. 'The conclusion of this work was that users and developers of free software needed and deserved legislative protection and recognition, in addition to the licenses on which they rely. This was so glaringly obvious that I was surprised at the time that no one seemed to have pursued this idea vigorously.'

IBM, Sun, HP...today's news round-up favors the IT giants, each one now rushing toward Linux faster than the other. Sun's going to create a Red Hat version of the Java Enterprise System, for example, while HP is taking Turbolinux to Asia and IBM continues its internal rush to Linux.

As Microsoft looks nervously on, Miguel de Icaza and his team of core developers continue to make great strides with their implementation of the CLI, 'Mono' - a free implementation of the .NET Development Framework. While Redmond sees the benefit to them in more implementations of the common runtime, it's maybe not so easy to stand by and watch a Linux-loving group of codeheads achieve the wholesale duplication of Windows APIs.

Four years ago, OpenOffice.org didn't exist. Today, it is probably not only the largest free software project in the world, but also the most important. On a personal level, it's also become a major feature of my life - which explains this column.

Next time you see a sporty Audi A8 cruising down the road, you'll know that Linux played a role in designing this popular car. Throughout its storied history, Audi has taken on the role of automotive technological pioneer.

There's tremendous talent in the open source community...but before you can capitalize on the potential within it, you have to understand it. This column explains how to access a wealth of information, with respect for the community that makes it available.

The year's end is approaching, so it’s time to do the traditional combination of a retrospective and a look forward. Looking forward, what can we expect in 2004? Well, Linux Kernel 2.6 is the next big step for Linux. But what else can we expect? Martin C. Brown looks back first, then shares more readers' predictions, looking forward into the new year and beyond.

Old father Linux may be 12 years old this month, but little Google is already 5.

Welcome to my first LinuxWorld Magazine column. Some credentials are in order: I am the president of Glacier Technology Services, an IT recruiting firm based in Savannah, Georgia. In March of 2000, we formed a division called HotLinuxJobs that focuses on recruiting Linux and open source candidates on a nationwide basis.

Today Linux is not just about cost savings reported by enterprises, not just about security demanded by Web servers, and not just about government and academia: Linux is also about Small Business USA.

Given the rise and rise of Linux in the enterprise, LWM invites one of the giants of the commercial computing world, Computer Associates, to sketch for us its 'take' on what the rest of 2003 has in store...

Sometimes the irony is so sharp you can cut deli meat with it. As we settle in for a long hot summer and a fall of legal skirmishes between SCO and the rest of the known Linux universe in regards to the patents and other intellectual property surrounding Unix, there's a certain karmic reckoning to be had in the fact that the very first application that Unix was put to was to assist the Bell Labs Patent department in preparing patent applications.

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer didn't mince his words when he wrote in a Wednesday memo to all Microsoft employees that noncommercial open source software, particularly the Linux operating system, was a 'competitive challenge.'

While conspiracy theories are fun, Joe Barr is certain of two things. One is that Linux is going to continue its inexorable march to the desktop. The second is that the Microsoft monopoly is not going to go gentle into that good night.

In an effort to win big government and institutional contracts when up against Linux, Microsoft Corp. is prepared to draw from an internal slush fund to offer its software at deep discounts or even for free.

Microsoft claims Windows 2003 Server is twice as fast as Linux, at least when it's used for file serving. I spoke to Jeremy Allison, head of the Samba team, who provided a few insights into the test configurations that don't leap out at the reader because they are hidden away in appendixes to the benchmark document. Allison feels this, in itself, is substantially responsible for the outcome.

I assumed I could boot the well-known Linux distributions from a CD-ROM drive, make some on-screen selections, let the distribution know what hardware to use, twiddle my thumbs for a while as it loaded software and configured itself, and then have a working system. Was I ever wrong. (8,000 words) © Tsu Dho Nimh

Despite a vaguely defined purpose, no track record and several known risks, organizations are starting to implement projects based in .Net. Carmine Mangione delves into the .Net enigma and explains why jumping on the .Net bandwagon — like blindly adopting any technology without first weighing the pros and cons — could potentially sink your organization. (5,000 words)