In the first go round, Linux arch-developer Linus Torvalds used his appearance on the Linux Foundation's OpenVoices podcast to talk about why the Linux kernel would be sticking with the GPLv2. Now he's back again, sitting down with Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin to talk about Microsoft's patent bluster, how he's nonplussed about the work MS has done towards Linux interoperability, the importance of not scaring away potential kernel hackers, and quite a bit more.

And while the Great One was busy sharing his views, other open source projects were busy pushing out new versions of their software.

The GNOME project released Version 2.20 of the GNOME Desktop last week, bringing a host of new improvements to the popular desktop environment. Among the new features are integrated desktop search, enhanced image browsing, simplifications to the interface settings, boosts to the power management system, and a new version of the GTK+ toolkit. As always, the software is available as a download from the GNOME project's website.

If that weren't enough, also coming off the assembly line this week is the fourth alpha of Ubuntu's upcoming 8.04 release, codenamed Hardy Heron. Included in the feature pool are a new default BitTorrent client, new options for remote desktop connectivity, the Firefox 3 browser, and quite a bit more. We always like to remind readers that alpha software is by nature unstable — otherwise, they'd call it a stable release — and should be handled with care.

That's all for now here in the studio, back tonight with a look at traffic and weather.