If you buy Linux, you’re not only keeping money away from Microsoft, you’re telling OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), that you really do want Linux. And, if enough people do that, the OEMs will support Linux on more of their systems, their vendors will make drivers for Linux components, and the entire Linux desktop world will be the stronger for it.

Marcel's show covers a post from Boycott Novell and a reader comments on OEMs and choice (or lack thereof)

In a presentation to attendees of the recent Ubuntu Developer Summit it was revealed that: In 2 years Ubuntu has been pre-installed on $7.5 billion worth of hardware; Canonical is working with leading OEMs in Taiwan; Ubuntu will account for roughly 9% of all global PC shipments by 2014.

I’m starting to see some big potential for symbiosis between two Linux and open source leaders: Red Hat and Ubuntu. Red Hat’s departure from the consumer desktop Linux market comes at the same time Ubuntu continues rolling in the same market with the release of Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron this week.

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, the popular Linux distribution for desktops and servers, just announced Ubuntu TV, a version of the distribution targeted at OEMs and ODMs for use in connected TVs.

This is the company’s first step outside its core business segment. The zillion dollar/euro/rouble/rupee/yuan question is, will it fly?

Battery Status is a project for GNOME, that shows information about laptop battery state. It comes with a lot of additional features, so usual icon of GNOME Power Manager can be removed from Notification/Indicator Area.

You’ve heard of Smart Phones and Netbooks. Now, get ready for Smartbooks — mobile 3G wireless devices that appear to be slightly larger than the iPhone. Qualcomm is rallying OEMs to introduce Smartbooks sometime in Q3 or Q4 2009. And here’s the twist: Qualcomm is hiring Ubuntu talent to help drive the project forward. Here's the scoop.

A huge company like Microsoft or Apple, or even Red Hat or Novell, can afford to put on big advertising campaigns, but most distributions, even ones like Ubuntu, cannot afford to do this. Instead, they must fall back to fan-based promotion or other small budget techniques.

Good OS (gOS) has achieved a major new release of its Ubuntu-based operating system. Targeting OEMs that want quickly customizable Linux netbook OSes, gOS 3.0 integrates closely with Google Gadgets, as well as with Google Mail, Calendar, Reader, News, Applications, Picasa, and so on.