The state of Massachusetts will revamp its digital output during the next 16 months to create only open-format documents and is increasing its use of Linux and free and open source software (FOSS) among its workers, the state's chief information officer told DesktopLinux.com Thursday in a conference call.

CIO Peter Quinn challenged Microsoft and other companies who sell software that uses proprietary document formats to consider enabling open-format options as soon as possible. Quinn said that "government is creating history at a rapidly increasing rate, and all documents we save must be accessible to everybody, without having to use 'closed' software to open them now and in the future."

The state said Wednesday that starting on Jan. 1, 2007, all electronic documents created by state employees could be saved in only two format types: OpenDocument, which is used in open source applications such as OpenOffice.org, and the Adobe-created Portable Document File (PDF). OpenDocument can be used for saving documents such as letters, spreadsheets, tables, and graphical presentations. It is the default file format for OpenOffice 2.0, currently in Beta 2.

The South Korean postal service is reportedly in the process of migrating some 4,700 desktop computers from Microsoft Windows to Linux. The migration is expected to save the government-run organization 850 million won (about $829,000) per year, according to an article at Silicon.com. The computers, located in 2,800 post office branches, are used to allow the public to access the internet free of charge. Korea Post also plans to be using Linux for its internet banking and payment system by the end of the year, according to the report.

The MEPIS Linux project has begun formal testing of a new version of its operating system, known as MEPIS SoHoServer. The test01 release of SoHoServer, touted as "a general purpose SoHo solution," is now available for download from MEPIS's subscription ftp server.

MEPIS SoHoServer is described a "preinstalled and configured server package" that includes Apache2, PHP4, Perl, Mysql, Proftpd, Bind, DHCPd, Postfix, Dovecot, Shorewall, Squid, DansGuardian, Webmin, and Usermin.

Novell is making no bones about it; the company is attacking SCO in court with everything it has in an attempt to land a knock-out punch.

On Friday, Novell Inc. filed its Answer in the U.S. District Court in Utah to The SCO Group Inc.'s claims that it, and not Novell, owned Unix's copyrights.

Novell also filed counterclaims asking the court to force SCO to turn over its Unix licenses royalties to it and to attach SCO's assets to ensure that it can pay Novell.

Novell opened up by denying essentially all of SCO's slander of title claims in its July 29 Answer.

SCO had claimed that it, and not Novell, owned Unix's copyrights and that Novell's management knew this.

In a recent interview, ReallyLinux.com senior editor Mark Rais discusses the most common issues new Linux users stumble over as they migrate from Microsoft Windows.

According to Rais, new Linux users' questions fall into three categories: moving from Windows to Linux; file management; and installation and boot-up. "These are the key categories," says Rais. "I find that once someone has a handle on these three, they are empowered sufficiently to address almost all other concerns."

More specifically, Rais says that he most often finds himself explaining how to access Linux's file manager in the various GUIs available, the command line, file permissions, how install applications, and how to add application icons to the toolbar for easy access. Rais also discusses common installation and migration issues, including device drivers, and accessing partitions.