After releasing a new Kernel version, Linus Torvalds needed a few days of rest to put some remaining patches into the next release. The so-called merge window has closed, with the 2.6.33 branch now open.

To counter the back-and-forth about the future of the free MySQL database after Oracle's takeover of Sun Microsystems, developers have put effort into releasing another test version, called a second milestone, of the product.

After saying farewell to the functionally replete Ubuntu 9.10, developers are working on the next version, 10.04, which should be particularly stable. The first alpha of its LTS version has now arrived.

Ever since Sun bought the virtualization smith Innotek in 2008, the development of its VirtualBox has taken giant strides.

Milestone 5 for the coming Java Development Kit 7 includes just minor changes. Despite these little updates, JDK 7 has caused quite a stir.

After Asus added Windows XP to its netbooks, euphoria in the Linux camp soon abated. However, it proved to be a misplaced hangover.