Everybody loves the wild and wacky names that end up gracing releases of the various Linux distributions throughout the year, even if some of them — we're not going to name names, that might hurt our karma — have gotten a bit more bizarre of late. Among the more interesting processes for picking release names comes from the Fedora Project, where unlike most other distributions, the new name must share a unique link to its predecessor. Its time then to put your thinking caps on, as the race to make that most creative of links is underway.

Conflicts in the Open Source world — as in the proprietary world — are hardly a surprising phenomenon. Indeed, our community can't even agree over what to call one of its most popular projects — a fight we have no interest in entering, particularly not here. What is perhaps more surprising is when these disputes escalate like a deleted scene from Fatal Attraction — escalate so far that the powers-that-be must intervene.

When the Linux Foundation acquired the Linux.com domain from SourceForge earlier this year, it vowed to relaunch the site as more than just a go-to place for Linux-related news. The new site went live this morning and it's sporting enough bells and whistles to make any Linux enthusiast proud.

Nobody really controls the Internet — untold numbers of servers located in hundreds of jurisdictions simply can't be policed by any one individual, organization, or government. What is controlled, however, is the assignment of IP addresses and domain names — a function that is carried out by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers through the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. That control is set to expire later this year, and ideas on who should take it from there are already beginning to circulate.

The saga of SCO v. Linux, known variously as SCO v. Novell, SCO v. IBM, SCO v. Everybody and their Mother, may be coming to a close. Yes, we know this comes as a shock — if anyone needs a moment to compose themselves, or, you know, dig out a case of Dom, we'll wait — but it may well happen faster than any of us ever expected.

There are awards, and then there are awards. The Oscars may hold audiences captive for a night, but the Nobel Prize is an award forever. The Open Source community has its share of awards as well, and award season would appear to be upon us, as two of the largest have opened nominations.

If there's one fact of life for large companies, it's that small companies and individuals are going to sue to try to get a piece of your much bigger pie. As corporate pies come, Google has a pretty big one, and they've had no shortage of suits over the years from those looking to get their knife in the company's pie-pan. Such is the case again, as according to reports the search giant has been served with a lawsuit over its use of the name "Android" for its popular mobile phone platform.

At the beginning of the year, many analysts predicted that, given the economic climate, this would be the year for mergers and acquisitions. Indeed, they were right: acquisitions are up in everything from banking to technology, with the latter category perhaps best represented by Oracle's surprise snatch of Sun Microsystems just a few weeks ago. The buying, at least from where we're sitting, looks primed to continue, and Open Source companies are no exception, as was aptly demonstrated this morning as it was revealed that Open Source vendor Hyperic has been acquired by the likewise Open Source SpringSource.

Financial troubles are an ever more common reality as the economic climate continues to venture through the monsoon season, and not-for-profit organizations are no exception. Such appears to be the case for the GNOME Foundation, the forces behind the venerable GNOME desktop, as the organization's 2009 budget is finalized and thoughts — and worries — turn to 2010.

Thanks, in large part, to a little company called Standard Oil, Open Source isn't necessarily the first term to come to mind when one thinks of the name Rockefeller. However, that's exactly the term Mr. Rockefeller's great-grandson, Senator Jay Rockefeller, is pushing in Congress — attached to a bill to strengthen Open Source in health-care.

Last fall, T-Mobile became the first wireless provider to offer a handset based on Google's Android platform: the T-Mobile G1. And the world rejoiced. Now, some six months after that debut, Samsung has jumped in the game with its own Android offering.

It's that time again, ladies and gents — time for the biannual release of a new Ubuntu version. This time it's the Jaunty Jackalope, officially Ubuntu 9.04, rolling off the line, and bringing with it a fresh new set of features users have been longing for.

In September, for the second year in a row, Linux developers from all over will pack their pipe wrenches and low-slung trousers as they prepare to descend on Portland, Oregon to get down to business. Though the packing can wait a few more months, now is the time for developers interested in sharing their love of digital fittings and flanges to get their name on the list.

Sun Microsystems — and what would happen to it — has been in the news for some weeks, amid rumors, then negotiations, then rumors, again, concerning the flailing company's future. The now-infamous IBM purchase and its spectacular failure earlier this month exponentially increased speculation — speculation that was put to rest this morning when it was revealed that database-giant Oracle will be adding Sun to its solar system.

One of the nice things about Linux — but by no means the most important — is the enhanced security that comes along with running it. That doesn't mean Linux never runs into security issues, though, and this week, the vulnerability in question centers around a nifty little service called udev.

What the heck is going on in Boston? Apologies to any Bostonians in the audience, but something is in the water, at least in the education and law enforcement districts. Once again, the "Cradle of Liberty" is in the news as the Defenders of the Fourth are forced to rush in to defend the baby against the hand that rocks the cradle.

It wasn't that long ago that we clued LinuxJournal.com readers into the rapidly diminishing time to get a nomination in to be Debian's (Fearless) Project Leader. Like a whirlwind, that time has run out, the votes have been cast, and the lucky fellow is...

Way back in January, the Linux Foundation launched a search — a global search — to find something that was sorely missing. No, not Linus's car keys: the face of Linux. Just three months later, they have.

Putting Linux on mobile phones is all the rage these days, what with Google's Android popping up on prototypes left and right, and even the venerable Palm pushing the Pre, a penguin-phone of its own. That wasn't always true, though, but way back in those dark days of proprietary phoning — at least a little ways back — there was Openmoko bringing us hope of truly-open telephony.

Europe is opening up by leaps and bounds, from the Gendarme in France to German embassies around the world. There is one more to add to the score, as last week the Hungarian government announced it too will be going Open Source, in a big way.