Summary: Microsoft's Open Technologies subsidiary will attempt to bolster the company's cloud platform by launching a catalog of open source VMs that allow developers and users to more easily build, share and deploy Linux configurations on Azure

Microsoft's Open Technologies subsidiary has launched a preview service of a community-based catalog of open source Linux virtual machines for Azure.

VM Depot, as it is called, was announced yesterday and is aimed at easing the creation and depoyment of Linux VMs on Windows Azure.

Summary: Linux leader Red Hat announced an upgrade of its Linux that offers better support for the latest hardware, OpenJDK, security, Samba 3.8 and Microsoft Hyper-V

Red Hat announced today an update of its leading enterprise Linux distribution that keeps pace with hardware, security, developer, interoperability and virtualization improvements. 

The last upgrade in the 5 family, version 5.8, shipped last February. Version 5.9 demonstrates the company's commitment to a 10-year suport lifespan for each platform, the company notes.  

Summary: Lenovo is joining forces with Bluestacks to bring Android apps to some of its Windows 8 PCs.

Las Vegas -- Lenovo may be Microsoft's Windows 8 go-to partner, but the company is not picking sides. Lenovo is also partnering with Bluestacks to run Android apps on some of its Windows 8 PCs.

Bluestacks announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that Lenovo will preload its Android App Player software and service on Lenovo’s Idea-branded consumer PCs. BlueStacks is also showcasing at the show its latest version of the App Player which is designed and optimized for Windows 8 Ultrabooks, laptops, and tablets.

Summary: According to Amazon, the number one selling laptop isn't a Windows PC or a Mac, it's the Samsung Chromebook, which runs Google's Linux-based Chrome OS.

We all know now that Windows 8 sales have been.... disappointing. You can blame the hardware. You can blame Windows 8's mixed-up interfaces. You can blame the rise of tablets and smartphones. Whatever. The bottom line is Windows 8 PC and laptop sales have been slow. So, what, according to Amazon, in this winter of Windows 8 discontent has been the best selling laptop? It's Samsung's ARM-powered, Linux-based Chromebook.

Shocked? Amazed? Why? The Chromebook has several things going for it.

Summary: The Free Software Foundation Europe is claiming that recent changes to the Google's Android Software Development Kit licensing terms has made the SDK into proprietary software. But if you look closely, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) member Torsten Grote claims that Google's "Android SDK [Software Development Kit] is now non-free software."On Twitter, Grote summed up his position as "#Android SDK is no longer #FreeSoftware. Is #Google turning evil?"

Grote's solution is not to drop Android. Rather, he suggests developers use "the truly Free Software version of Android called Replicant."

So, Canonical is bringing Ubuntu Linux to smartphones, but what does that really mean? I've seen a lot of confusion about this new offering, even from other Linux and device pros, so, here's my quick guide to what's what with Ubuntu on phones. 

1) It's Ubuntu, not Ubuntu for phones.

Yes, Canonical will be releasing Ubuntu for smartphones, but, unlike Microsoft with Windows RT for ARM-powered devices and Windows Windows Phone 8 for smartphones, there will be no separate version for each device. If all goes as planned when Ubuntu 14.04 rolls out in April 2014 one Ubuntu image will support smartphones, smart TVs, and computers. 

2) You won't be buying an Ubuntu phone anytime soon.

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth said yesterday in the news conference announcing Ubuntu Linux on phones that the soonest it would arrive in late 2013 or 2014. I'm voting for 2014.

Instead of going after both the tablet and smartphone with a newly-improved touch-enabled version of Ubuntu Linux, Canonical will be focusing its efforts in 2013 on smartphones.

While the smartphone interface is clearly based on Ubuntu's Unity interface, it's not just the same old desktop shrunk down to a smartphone. According to Canonical, the smartphone Ubuntu will use "all four edges of the screen for a more immersive experience. Ubuntu uniquely gives handset OEMs and mobile operators the ability to converge phone, PC and thin client into a single enterprise superphone."
 
“We expect Ubuntu to be popular in the enterprise market, enabling customers to provision a single secure device for all PC, thin client and phone functions. Ubuntu is already the most widely used Linux enterprise desktop, with customers in a wide range of sectors focused on security, cost and manageability” said Jane Silber, Canonical's CEO in a statement. “We also see an opportunity in basic smartphones that are used for the phone, SMS, web and email, where Ubuntu outperforms thanks to its native core apps and stylish presentation.”

This new version of Ubuntu will be "aimed at two core mobile segments: the high-end superphone, and the entry-level basic smartphone, helping operators grow the use of data amongst consumers who typically use only the phone and messaging but who might embrace the use of web and email on their phone. Ubuntu also appeals to aspirational prosumers who want a fresh experience with faster, richer performance on a lower bill-of-materials device."

Summary: Canonical appears to be getting ready to release a fully touch-enabled Ubuntu Linux operating system. Will Ubuntu tablets and smartphones be far behind?

Canonical, Ubuntu Linux's parent company, is hinting in big, bright letters that's its about to release a fully touch-enabled version of Ubuntu Unity. The site's banner headline now reads "So close, you can almost touch it." with a clock counting down to 1 PM Eastern time, January 2nd. If this is indeed what Canonical is planning, can Ubuntu-powered tablet and smartphones be far behind?

Canonical has been planning to bring Ubuntu to tablets since it first introduced its controversial Unity interface in 2010. Then, in conversations with Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu's founder, I was told that Unity was meant to be Ubuntu's master interface for desktops, netbooks, and tablets.

Summary: Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth promised to make his popular desktop Linux more suitable for mobile devices and the cloud -- which are key imperatives for any desktop OS vendor going forward

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth ushered in the new year with a promise to his followers that the Linux desktop will be retrofitted for mobile devices and the cloud.

Seems to be the imperative, particularly as tablets and smartphones increasingly replace the desktop PC and the cloud becomes the storage mecca of the next generation.

In security's name, Microsoft has made it difficult to install Linux, or any other operating system, including older versions of Windows, on Windows 8 PCS. In addition, Microsoft has made it all but impossible to install Linux on Windows RT devices such as the Surface RT.

Microsoft has done this by adding a feature to UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), the next generation of BIOS, called secure boot. Its avowed purpose is to prevent rootkits, malicious programs that run before the operating system boots, from running.

So far, so good as even the Free Software Foundation (FSF), an organization with no love for Microsoft recently admitted.