With Linux becoming more popular and easier to use, more and more people are adopting it as their primary operating system. But the transformation from Windows user to Linux user can be a tough road to take. Most new users become long-term users because they have friends that introduce Linux to them, and help them through the first few weeks of rough-patches. Here are ten steps to help you introduce Linux to a would-be convert.

I stated yesterday that open source had not been widely adopted in the UK without really backing the statement up. Fortunately SiriusIT, the UK-based open source services firm, has revamped its site with a blog entry explaining the situation with the example of open source adoption in the schools sector.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has started deploying Linux-based Opengear console servers to remotely monitor and manage its international locations, including Australian Embassies, Consulates, High Commissions and territories.

The policy indicates open source should be looked at first and if it doesn’t meet requirements then commercial options should be considered, says NZOSS president.

You've looked at the newest Dell XPS, maybe a spiffy HP Pavillion. You've surfed over to Apple's Web store to drool over the powerful, stylish machines of Steve Jobs. But there's a problem: You're broke. You just don't have — or shouldn't be spending— the $600 to more than $2,000 you'd have to pay for one of those new digital hotrods.

Alexander Ponosov, director of the school in the village of Sepych, Perm Territory, who has found guilty of installing pirated Windows software in 12 school computers, has changed jobs. He is now engaged in popularizing the free Linux operating system, Window's biggest competitor, after winning a competition held by the Russian Federal Education Agency (Rosobrazovanie) to test Linux in school computers in three regions of the country. Ponosov received wide attention after the local prosecutor charged him with installing pirated software in school computers.

Striking a balance between mindsets might be a factor on which the success of Free software is hinged. Put simply, a struggle against so-called 'pragmatism' may have been one of the greatest barriers to wider adoption of Free software. However, at the same time, such a struggle ensures that Free software never devolves to become excessively assimilated to proprietary software, at which point its fundamental goals are simply not met.

Educational institutions will increase spending on open-source software and services over the next few years, but that doesn't mean proprietary software will be left in the dark, according to a new report covering 14 countries.