Sean Michael Kerner

While Mozilla is busily developing its next-generation Firefox 3 open source Web browser, work continues to improve stability and security with the current Firefox 2.x. A case in point is the new Firefox 2.0.0.13 release, which is accompanied by no less than six Mozilla Foundation Security Advisories — two of them critical. The critical bugs […]

Microsoft is no stranger to open source and Linux conferences. In the dark ages, Microsoft was simply the target for venom, but in recent years Microsoft has stood up to be counted (and accounted) for its open source actions. Is this a good thing for Open Source? This week’s Open Source Business Conference (OSBC) is […]

So how is Oracle doing with its Oracle Unbreakable Linux? Pretty well. According to Monica Kumar, senior director Linux and open source product marketing at Oracle, there are now 2,000 customers for Oracle’s Linux. Those customers will now be getting a bonus from Oracle: free clustering software. Oracle’s Clusterware software previously had only been available […]

We all know that some Web sites suffer from security vulnerabilities — but 90 percent of them? In a new report, security researcher Whitehat Security said it found a staggering nine out of 10 Web sites have some type of serious vulnerability that a hacker could potentially exploit. The study, which examined more than 600 […]

The first Beta for Red Hat’s Fedora 9 (code named Sulfur) is now out. As expected it includes the latest and greatest in Linux technologies including new GNOME, KDE, Firefox and Linux kernel packages. I spoke with the new Fedora Project Leader Paul Frields last month about Fedora 9 and at the time he highlighted […]

According to JasperSoft, they are the world’s most widely deployed business intelligence (BI) software. It’s now also certified for Windows Server 2008. In an announcement today, JasperSoft announced a new wide ranging partnership with Microsoft to ensure that JasperSoft’s BI solutions work well on Windows platforms. A key new initiative is something called JasperSoft ODBO […]

For more than a decade, PostgreSQL has been a cornerstone of the open source database market. In recent years, EnterpriseDB has emerged as a leading vendor supporting and driving PostgreSQL forward. It will now continue its efforts thanks in part from a little help from IBM (NYSE: IBM). EnterpriseDB is also re-branding and expanding its […]

If you thought that most open source developers work for open source companies, you might well be wrong. According to a survey from open source services vendor OpenLogic, 50 percent of its respondents actually work for a proprietary vendor. The OpenLogic study aims to put into focus why people contribute to open source in the […]

From the we’re holier than thou files: What is behind Mozilla CEO John Lilly’s anti Apple Safari tirade? The blog based tirade alleges that Apple was somehow unethical in its distribution of the new Safari 3.1 browser. The basis of the allegation stems from the fact that anyone with the Apple Updater on Windows (and […]

With $2.2 billion on the table, the U.S. government may well be the culprit for derailing the proposed buyout of 3Com by Bain Capital. Bain formally withdrew its offer yesterday citing the equivalent of irreconcilable differences with 3Com over how to deal with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States […]

From the everyone wants the latest ‘fox’ files: Mozilla developers have announced that Firefox 2.0.0.13 release candidate builds are now available. The final generally available release for 2.0.0.13 is currently set for March 25th (though I suspect it could be sooner). Firefox 2.0.0.13 is a a security and stability update for the current mainline Firefox […]

NEW YORK. I’m sitting in the iPhone Summit part of AjaxWorld now in a session titled “Social Computing: the iPhone as an ideal platform“. Sounds like a neat topic right? It is…but too bad the actual session didn’t stick to the topic. The session is being delivered by Steve Markya CTO of ICEsoft Technologies who […]