Dell’s Ubuntu strategy once again faces Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD). Multiple times in the past 12 months or so, Dell’s strong Ubuntu efforts have been undermined by disappearing desktop offerings. Here’s what’s wrong — and right — with Dell’s Ubuntu initiatives.

Traditionally, configuring Ubuntu servers to integrate with Microsoft Active Directory was not a lot of fun.  It wasn’t exactly difficult, but it involved editing lots of PAM and Kerberos configuration files, and often some perilous trial-and-error.  But these days, there’s a better way–for many situations, at least–and it’s called Likewise.  Here’s how it works, and why I think it’s so great.

I must concede: Sometimes I worry Canonical is trying to do too much too soon with Ubuntu. From mobile devices all the way to enterprise servers and cloud computing, founder Mark Shuttleworth has big aspirations for Ubuntu. There are times when I think Canonical is stretched too thin on multiple fronts. But just when I get really worried, the company makes a major move that impresses me. A case in point: Open source expert Matt Asay has joined Canonical as chief operating officer. It’s a big move for Canonical, Ubuntu and Asay. Here’s why.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about five features that make Ubuntu so much more enjoyable to use than certain less-Free operating systems. The comments on that post got me thinking about several other great features that I didn’t mention. So to give those their due, here’s a second list of five things Ubuntu does that I couldn’t live without.

I’ve long heard good things about Ubuntu Tweak, but never used it myself.  With the recent appearance of its 0.5 release, however, I decided to give it a go.  Here’s what I thought.

Last spring, the world changed forever when VirtualBox implemented support for 3D acceleration in Windows and Linux guests.  I have a tendency to be behind the curve on world-changing events, so I didn’t found time to play with this new feature until a few days ago.  But what I found made me really happy.  Read on for the details.

Talk about a careful balancing act involving Ubuntu. Canonical appears to have financial relationships with both Google and Yahoo. Here’s how the relationships — involving Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and Google Chrome OS — are shaping up. Plus, the potential financial implications for Canonical.

When we launched WorksWithU in 2008, I strongly believed Canonical needed to build strong server hardware partnerships with Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard. But as I heard more about Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) in 2009, I realized Ubuntu in 2010 may find a back door into the server market. Here’s why.

Are Ubuntu servers and desktops easy for enterprises to manage? Before you answer, consider some recent and upcoming moves involving Bomgar, Kaseya, Likewise Software, Groundwork Open Source and Canonical itself. Here are some observations.

I just finished configuring a Vista laptop for my brother, who needs to run some Windows-only applications for college. Whenever I find myself compelled to deal with proprietary operating systems, I’m reminded why I use Ubuntu. Here’s a short list of some of those reasons.