As I was doing some research for another article, I ran across a forum in which small business users were discussing why they wanted a particular software product (Quickbooks) ported to Linux. One poster's comments caught my attention. What he said convinced me that all small businesses should be running Linux on their desktops.

Some small businesses and start-ups are standardizing on Ubuntu Server Edition because it’s a low-cost alternative to Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 and 2008. The VAR Guy wonders: Could a bigger trend be coming? Will hundreds — or thousands — of small businesses make the move to Ubuntu Server Edition?

Rather than rely on unreliable statistics to make the point that Linux for small businesses in 2008 is a more viable option than ever, we simply need to look at the continued maturation of SMB-friendly Linux offerings.

For Jonathan Oxer, the president of Linux Australia, today, the final day of the 2008 Australian national Linux conference is a day of fulfilment and also some sadness.

At first glance, Microsoft’s software portfolio — Windows, Office, Small Business Server and Exchange — still dominates the small business market. But Red Hat CEO Jim Whiteshurst says his company has found a back door into the small business market. Perhaps surprisingly, it doesn’t really involve desktop Linux.

For the second time in its 11-year history, Australia's national Linux conference (LCA) has a distro summit on its agenda. The last distro summit was held in 2008, when former Linux Australia president Jonathan Oxer was the organiser.

A few weeks ago, Microsoft rolled out what’s arguably its most important product this year: Windows Server 2008, the operating system for corporate server computers. It’s a cornerstone to a bunch of other Microsoft software, and it will be used by businesses large and small.

Sam Varghese of Australia's iTWire took a look at Mandriva Linux 2008, following his recent review of OpenSUSE 10.3. "All in all, I found it to be staying in line with what it was - a distribution at the cutting edge, simple and easy to set up and use."

This tutorial shows how you can set up a Mandriva One 2008 Spring (Mandriva 2008.1) desktop (with the KDE desktop environment) that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops.