For an entertaining example of how Linux can power home appliances, check out the Tangent Quattro Internet radio. This device combines Internet and broadcast radio with a media server client on an embedded Linux platform to give you a variety of audio playback options.

When sharing software, the boring stuff only has to be written once.

The world's largest thin-client vendor has taken aggressive steps in the fast-growing market for Linux-based thin clients. Wyse has partnered with Novell to create "Wyse-enhanced SUSE Linux Enterprise," a virtualization-ready thin-client OS expected to ship in Q4, pre-loaded on four N50L mobile thin client models.

If you follow my blog, you know that I've a bad attitude towards Apple's gear, even though (or just because?) I've been an Apple user for three years now. I've been frustrated by a) lack of support for Java updates, b) Mac OS X not performing as I need (Linux on the same hardware box is faster) and c) the scarce quality of my MacBook Pro (first generation).

TI is offering Linux camera application source code and free codecs with two new IP camera reference designs based on its RISC/DSP SoCs. The Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) model handles widely variable lighting, while a Video Content Analytics (VCA) model targets video analytics processing applications.

Open source software encourages learning, the exchange of knowledge and information, and project improvements that rely as much on its users, and its developers' colleagues, as it does the developer. It's not unlike education. Ideally, learning is a continuous cycle of taking in, processing, and giving back, with modifications.

Whether you’re new to hardware as a service (HaaS) or a true HaaS veteran, keep an eye on the emerging NetBook market. NetBooks are low-cost sub-notebooks from companies like Dell, Asus and Sylvania. They typically cost $275 to $400 or so, and run Windows or Linux.