It's no secret that Linux powers much of the technology we all rely on every day, but on Thursday the creator of the free and open source operating system received an honor that underscores the software's ubiquity and global importance.

After months of widespread anticipation and a buying frenzy that took its makers by surprise earlier this year, the tiny Raspberry Pi PC has begun arriving on buyers' doorsteps.

As a fan of Ubuntu in particular and Linux in general, I'm always interested when new devices come out with my favorite operating system already installed.

Red Hat may be celebrating its new role as the first open source company to reach a billion dollars in annual revenue, but it's not the only Linux provider to reach a key milestone recently.

Linux powers countless smartphones, TVs, supercomputers, financial transactions, and websites around the globe--not to mention desktops--but the fact remains that most of us have no real idea where it comes from.

It's all too common to hear Linux portrayed by detractors as an operating system suitable only for longtime hackers and “hobbyists,” as it was put in one recent example.

With just a few weeks remaining before the final release of Ubuntu Linux 12.04 "Precise Pangolin," Canonical has released the second and final beta version of the free and open source operating system.

It seems scarcely a year can go by in the world of computer technology without some eager young blogger or another grandly proclaiming the death of Linux on the desktop.

There's been much attention focused lately on Canonical's recently released Ubuntu Linux 12.04 "Precise Pangolin," but it's by no means the only popular Linux distribution out there with a major update in the offing.

As Ubuntu Linux continues to grow in popularity, most discussions of it tend to focus on the basics of the operating system itself, including especially details about its desktop environment and user interface.

There's no doubt Canonical's popular Ubuntu Linux distribution gets the majority of attention in the Linux world these days, but there are myriad others equally worthy of consideration.

Were it not for Windows' long-standing installed base and overwhelming market dominance, it seems unlikely that anyone would argue seriously for the merit of the operating system, plagued as it is by high prices, security problems and vendor lock-in.

Google's patching of vulnerabilities in its open source Chrome Web browser last week wasn't so much notable in itself; Microsoft, to be sure, is forever issuing patches for the many bugs that afflict its products.

Despite the wealth of free applications out there, many small business owners continue to spend an inordinate amount of their all-too-scarce resources on software.

Not surprisingly, the misperception that Linux is harder to use than other operating systems is also one that competing vendors routinely use to scare potential new users away from Linux.

Forty years ago this summer, a programmer sat down and knocked out in one month what would become one of the most important pieces of software ever created.