The NY Times had a story yesterday, much-written-about in the blogosphere, that said that bloggers were working themselves to death. This was one article about blogging I was glad to be left out of, even so, it could have been about me, a number of years ago, when my lifestyle almost did kill me.

In what is a big mistake, in my opinion, Microsoft has chosen to only support Suse Linux in Hyper-V. If they want to truly compete with VMware and other virtualization companies they are going to have to open this up. This does not mean you can not run other distros, however it will not be supported by Microsoft. In today's corporate world that is a death nail for most companies.

Adobe has put an alpha pre-release of AIR for Linux up in hopes, it says, of getting feedback from the community, not to mention winning adherents. It's English-only. The company also joined the Linux Foundation to encourage the growth of RIA technologies on Linux, it said. The company says Linux developers can use HTML, AJAX, Flash and Flex to build rich Internet applications (RIAs) that deploy to desktops across operating systems.

Here is a question that I have been pondering on and off for quite a while: Why do 'cool kids' choose Ruby or PHP to build websites instead of Java? I have to admit that I do not have an answer. Why do I even care? Because I am a Java developer. Like many Java developers, I get along with Java well. Not only the language itself, but the development environments (Eclipse for example), step-by-step debugging helper, wide availability of libraries and code snippets, and the readily accessible information on almost any technical question I may have on Java via Google. Last but not least, I go to JavaOne and see 10,000 people that talk and walk just like me.

Oracle is throwing its Clusterware software at its paying Unbreakable Linux support customers for free. Unbreakable Linux being Oracle's controversial year-old version of Red Hat, which it now claims has won 2,000 customers. Previously only part of Oracle's Real Applications Clusters (RAC) widgetry, Clusterware is portable cluster software that groups together individual servers so they can cooperate as a single system.

Likewise Software, which some people may remember as Centeris, has revved its namesake cross-platform authentication software calling the latest thing Likewise Open Spring '08 - at least to the outside world. Inside they call it 4.1. Anyway the new cut, which integrates Linux, Unix and Mac systems with Microsoft's Active Directory, now supports something like 110 platforms, virtually all the non-Windows enterprise platforms there are, it says.

Anyone who's ever been involved in the beginning of a nonprofit consortium will tell you that the first year is the hardest. The initial high of coming together in the name of a shared cause gives way to the drudgery of meetings, working groups and member politics. The realities of executing against the vision and the inherent challenges of keeping an all-volunteer organization active and engaged set in. For many such consortia, the first year can be the last.

Oracle announced that Oracle Unbreakable Linux support customers at the Basic and Premier support levels can download and deploy Oracle Clusterware at no additional license fee or support cost. Oracle Clusterware is portable cluster software that groups together individual servers so they can cooperate as a single system. A fundamental component of Oracle Real Application Clusters, Oracle Clusterware can operate independently and helps ensure the protection of an application, Oracle or third-party.

When the next generation of SUSE Linux arrives, and goodness knows when that will be - Novell doesn't even want to talk about an ETA until the end of this year - but it says that when it does get here one of its avatars will be as an appliance, supported by a new toolkit that builds specialized images.

Trusted Computer Solutions announced that it has become a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork and now offers organizations that have invested in Oracle Enterprise Linux versions 4 or 5 with Security Blanket 1.2, an automated system lock down and security management tool. Security Blanket enables systems administrators to configure and enhance the security level of their Linux operating platform by simplifying the current arduous methods for 'hardening' systems that must be undertaken on a regular basis to meet security compliancy requirements.

The North American Components business of Arrow Electronics announced the availability of embedded Linux software solutions from Timesys Corporation. Enabling developers to create their own commercial-grade custom Linux platforms, Timesys' Web-based LinuxLink software subscription includes an embedded Linux platform, precompiled and tested for a given processor, and a full suite of Eclipse-based development tools, documentation and support.

This session will provide attendees with an overview of the iPhone SDK, including discussion of the App Store, Apple's planned distribution channel for SDK applications. Keep in mind that the contents of the SDK and experiences while using it are covered under NDA, so be prepared for me to talk in generics and leave out specific details that might be covered by the NDA. I am planning on providing a quick introduction to Objective-C for those attendees who may have never seen it and might be worried that it will be difficult to code in (it isn't!).

QLogic announced that it is the first HBA vendor to ship production ready N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) solution for a shipping Linux distribution. Enterprise Linux customers can now get NPIV-capable Fibre Channel HBAs for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1 (SP1), the latest Linux platform from Novell that features enhancements in virtualization, high performance computing, security, interoperability and system management. QLogic series HBAs provide hardware-assist features that enable dynamic provisioning and flexible usage of HBA resources, helping IT managers to extend SAN best practices into virtualized data centers.

SourceLabs announced a Self-Support offering for Linux, as well as a similar offering for open source Java. The tools and services give developers, corporate IT professionals, and their solution providers a new way to more effectively support open source software than large vendors pushing expensive support contracts, enabling greater productivity, independence and self-reliance. Close to 3000 users registered for SourceLabs' Self-Support Suite with advanced discovery during a successful private beta program launched in December 2007.

US-based software firm Novell has extended its partnership with SAP to deliver expanded support options to companies running their business operations on SAP applications and the SUSE Linux Enterprise operating system.

In order to deliver expanded support options to companies running their business operations on SAP applications and the SUSE Linux Enterprise operating system, Novell and SAP announced an extension of their long-standing relationship. In a move that will help meet the growing demand for SUSE Linux Enterprise and provide support for the open source community, Novell and SAP are planning to offer enhanced options for customers who choose to run open source.

Novell announced that Sesame Workshop has selected Novell to streamline its hardware and software infrastructure. Using Novell ZENworks Asset Management, Sesame Workshop is now better able to comply with audit requests and properly manage its leasing contracts. By consolidating its Web server infrastructure using Xen virtualization on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Sesame Workshop is lowering server hardware costs, increasing flexibility and enabling its data center to respond to the needs of its business.

Novell announced that Western & Southern Life has implemented SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell in each of its branch offices for 25 percent of the cost of an equivalent proprietary solution. With a flexible platform, the company can take advantage of open source applications to reduce software costs, such as proxy software which has increased caching speed by 50 percent. The company is also using Xen virtualization in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and plans to migrate many of its Sun Solaris applications to Linux.

Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation announced that the Fujitsu LifeBook U810, LifeBook T2010, LifeBook P1620 ultra-portable convertible notebooks and the LifeBook S6510 thin and light notebook have been YES Certified by Novell. The certification means the notebooks have been tested for compatibility with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from Novell.

Alcatel-Lucent and Red Hat will integrate Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Realtime technologies in Alcatel-Lucent communication products for small and medium enterprises (SME). The collaboration supports Alcatel-Lucent's Dynamic Enterprise commitment to interconnecting people, networks, process and knowledge in a flexible, open environment while helping Red Hat expand its business.

Webtide announced that it has developed a web and application server designed to operate on Google's Android mobile platform. Android is a freely downloadable open source software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications based on Linux and Java. The port of Jetty on Android is named i-Jetty.

Standing on the IP remnants of the failed Open Country Linux systems management start-up, an outfit called LinMin came out of stealth mode the other day offering a dirt cheap, reportedly commercial-grade way of provisioning Linux on bare metal.

Novell has sent out MonoDevelop 1.0, an open source Mono development tool that supports Microsoft Visual Studio project formats as well as C# and other programming languages. Using the thing, developers are supposed to be able to write desktop and ASP.NET web apps on Linux and Mac OS X quickly. It will also make it easier to port .NET apps created with Visual Studio to Linux and the Mac, maintaining a single code base of all three platforms.

SAP is going into the Linux appliance business. It expects its OEM friends and IHVs to sell a quad Xeon-based server that Intel's put together for it that's got SUSE and SAP's own MaxDB database and Business All-in-One software pre-installed.

Under its collaboration deal with Microsoft, Zend Technologies has certified Zend Core 2.5, its commercially supported version of PHP, on Windows Server 2008, and that's supposed to mean that high-performance web applications written in PHP should run as good on the Microsoft operating system now as on Linux or Unix, something that was never true before - even though most PHP development is done on Windows.

Linspire and Fluendo announced a partnership that will bring legal multimedia software to desktop Linux users worldwide. Now available and one-click accessible through CNR.com's software delivery service, Fluendo's multimedia software products are now available to Freespire 2.0, Linspire 6.0, Ubuntu 7.04 and 7.10 users and will soon expand to additional popular Linux distributions.

Linspire and Parallels announced the availability of Parallels' Workstation 2.2 desktop virtualization solution for download through the CNR.com free software delivery service to desktop Linux users. Available for the Freespire 2.0, Linspire 6.0 and Ubuntu 7.04, 7.10 operating systems, the CNR Service will expand to provide support for additional popular Linux distributions. Parallels Workstation allows users of any skill level to run multiple operating systems on a single computer.

IBM is lending at least its ODF-based Lotus Symphony software to another mission to rid the world of Windows PCs. According to a Reuters story Tuesday, IBM is part of an eastern front designed to supply Microsoft-free Linux-based PCs to Russia and perhaps other Eastern European markets.

Mainsoft Corporation announced that its C++ application porting platform, Mainsoft for UNIX and Linux, Version 5.2 now supports five new platforms, including the Intel Itanium 64-bit processor. Altogether, independent software vendors (ISVs) can now port Visual Studio applications to 21 UNIX and Linux platforms.

Acquia has yet to price its maintenance and support subscriptions - there should be a variety of SLAs - but they're supposed to include an electronic update notification system code named Spokes for updates that have been reviewed for security and compatibility and are supported by Acquia. Acquia is currently at 12 people, expecting to be 25 by the end of the year. Its Series A money comes from Northbridge Venture Partners, Sigma Partners and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. According to Dries' blog, Drupal 7 should offer the ability to create, share and mashup managed content, letting Drupal be a data repository accessed by tools and web sites across the network.

SCO filed a Chapter 11 Reorganization Plan and Disclosure Statement with the bankruptcy court in Delaware on Friday, a step on the company's path to emerging from the protective cover of bankruptcy, going private, and rejoining the fight over Linux. Pending court approval, the 63-page document says SCO is going to pay off all its qualified creditors in full on the plan's effective date - well, at least the ones that aren't counting on a windfall by way of litigation. It will also seat a new board and, possibly, enthrone a new CEO.

One of the beauties of Linux from a business point of view is that it doesn't require the 'latest and greatest' hardware to run properly. This means you can increase the return on investments (ROI) for legacy hardware. As I'll show in this article, as in the case with virtualization, the 'latest and greatest' software is not required either.

Parallels has released the beta of its baremetal hypervisor-based Parallels Server hardware virtualization scheme to public download. It works on Windows, Linux and Intelbased Macs and includes a Parallels Management Console, Transporter physicalto-virtual migration tool and backup utility.

Red Hat announced that Florida Hospital relies on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, Red Hat Global File System, Red Hat Cluster Suite and Red Hat Network to maintain reliable disaster-recovery systems that protect and maintain critical patient information.

Josep Mitjà, COO of Openbravo and OSA board member, argues that while technological advances in open source software should be viewed on a worldwide basis, its ultimate success in the market requires a localized approach. The secret, he says, is to 'think global, but act local.'

Throughout the last decade, society has witnessed an explosion of network connectivity among PCs and mobile devices as well as a vast proliferation of networked applications, ranging from Web-based email to online banking. The end result of this is that network connectivity has become an almost indispensable resource for many individuals.

AccuRev and Electric Cloud announced a technology partnership designed to improve software development productivity and efficiency. The combined solution, which integrates the automated build, test and deployment functionality of Electric Cloud's ElectricCommander software with process-enabled software configuration management (SCM) using AccuRev, advances multistage continuous integration and scalable agile best practices.

AccuRev announced the availability of AccuRev 4.6 for ClearCase, the latest add-on to its software configuration management (SCM) solution. AccuRev 4.6 for ClearCase provides coexistence for optimal support of parallel, geographically distributed and Agile development with AccuRev in existing ClearCase environments. This enables a coexistence strategy, where teams are able to use the most appropriate SCM solution for each group, project or user.

Avenda Systems announced two software releases that will enhance the adoption of Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP). The Avenda NAP Agent for Linux extends NAP to network endpoints running the Linux operating system. Network Access Protection (NAP) technology from Microsoft is a comprehensive infrastructure that allows system administrators to monitor and control end-point access to enterprise networks.

Although organizations are not realizing the full potential benefits of open source due to the way open source projects are currently managed, this does not mean that there are no benefits from developing in open source. Once you get past the 'free developer' presumption and carefully look at the larger picture, it becomes clear that open source, even in its limited participatory forms today, brings real value.