Open source software is a passion for some and a business for others. Daniel Robbins was driven by a need to make Linux better than he found it. Robbins created two Linux distros: Gentoo and Funtoo. He created Gentoo Linux during his time as a systems administrator. Funtoo, meanwhile, is a project that Robbins created to extend the technologies for Gentoo.

"Space: the final frontier." These may be the opening words of the Star Trek series so loved by geeks far and wide, but lately, they've been on the tip of more Linux bloggers' tongues than ever. Why? Because Linux recently scored a major victory some 230 miles up in the sky. Specifically, Windows got the big heave-ho from the International Space Station.

Luke Kanies has a passion for the Puppet language he created. He always wanted to start a software company with Puppet as its foundation. The problem he faced was how to make the open source model support his software innovation without getting lost in the process. After eight years as founder and CEO of Puppet Labs, Kanies has succeeded in avoiding the danger lurking nearby.

Business intelligence could be one of the most essential but little-known secrets that drives executive decisions in the marketplace. The BI market is dominated by companies that sell their proprietary business analytics solutions. Few open source companies have countered with software to overtake the traditional vendor establishment. However, open source does have its BI success stories.

Open source technology is central to Morphlabs' business model. The company, launched in 2007 with Yoram Heller as a cofounder, builds fully modular, scalable public and private cloud products. It takes open source software and designs architecture to run on specific hardware. Building its products on top of open source software is the main innovation that allows Morphlabs to dramatically lower the barrier of entry to cloud computing.

OpenGamma is the developer of the first open source analytics and risk management platform for the financial services industry. Its products help companies explore flexible open source alternatives to conventional and costly risk analytics tools. The OpenGamma Platform is a unified system for front office and risk calculations for financial services firms.

Well, we're in the final countdown now as 2012 draws to a close, so you'd think all would be quiet here in the Linux blogosphere as bloggers hunker down to recover from what's been an exceptionally exhausting year. Linux Girl, for one, has been putting in extra hours on her favorite barstool down at the blogosphere's Broken Windows Lounge in an effort to recover a bit of the sanity that slipped away in 2012.

As we consider a number of key trends in enterprise software and systems, it's clear how critical cloud computing is to the industry. The strong connection between Linux and cloud computing will continue to fuel Linux throughout 2013 with public clouds, private clouds, IaaS, PaaS and SaaS all contributing to broader and greater use of Linux.

Most everyone on the Internet reads Wikipedia, whether they rely on it or not, but few understand how wikis work or who owns the content. Understanding content ownership is important, because so many people freely contribute to wikis. If the wiki's owner or contributors decide to revise or move the content, that could lead to a lawsuit.

Oracle's proprietary posture may have soiled the welcome mat and vilified its good standing in the FOSS community as CEO Larry Ellison has pushed the balance point between servicing his customers and nickel-and-diming them to turn a higher profit. Clearly, since Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems -- and with it OpenOffice and Java -- the company has not acted very neighborly with open source developers.

A UK judge is stepping up the pressure on Apple, and possibly complicating its legal strategies in other parts of the world, by ordering it to publish a notice on its UK website and in British newspapers stating that Samsung did not copy the iPad design. The notice must stay on Apple's website for six months.

What do the Energizer Bunny and the ongoing Windows 8 Secure Boot Saga have in common? Yes, that's right: They both just keep going. Scarcely a week goes by these days, in fact, without some fresh proclamation to fan the flames of UEFI controversy here in the Linux blogosphere.

Andreessen Horowitz is investing $100 million in GitHub, the San Francisco startup that provides online resources for software programmers. It's the largest investment the venture capital firm has ever made. Github's acceptance of the cash is notable. Unlike many startups, the company has been profitable since its 2008 beginnings, and it's turned down investment offers in the past.

Google may have to buffer its patent portfolio or start paying licensing fees to Nokia now that the search engine giant is becoming a bigger player in the tablet market. Google launched the Nexus 7, its first Nexus-branded tablet device, last week. The 7-inch slate will run the latest version of the company's Android operating system and will sell for $200.

Qualcomm has taken the unusual step of restructuring its organization in order to better protect its patent portfolio. There are other reasons for the move as well, the company said Thursday, including the ability to more quickly deliver products to customers. However, it emphasized the patent protection element in particular.

Samsung Electronics was dealt a legal blow on Tuesday, as a judge ordered it to halt sales of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet computer while it considers whether the device's design is so similar to Apple's iPad that it constitutes patent infringement. Samsung has already filed an appeal of the California federal court's injunction, and this likely isn't the last of this dispute.

Samsung on Tuesday deepened its involvement in the Linux ecosystem, reportedly upgrading its silver membership in The Linux Foundation to platinum and forking over the $500,000 annual membership dues its new status requires. The move will give Samsung a seat on the Foundation's board alongside six other industry heavyweights, including IBM, Intel and Qualcomm.

With a ruling from United States District Judge William Alsup that application programming interfaces cannot be copyrighted, it appears Oracle's lost yet another battle against Google over Java. However, the war is not over. Oracle has indicated it will appeal, and the judge has indicated that Oracle should turn to patent laws in order to protect the Java APIs.

It's been an eventful year already here in the Linux blogosphere, but it seems fair to say few events have drawn as much attention as the Oracle v. Google trial. Bloggers have been discussing it for weeks already, of course, but developments last week brought forth nothing less than dancing in the streets of the Linux blogosphere.

Recent news that Microsoft and Barnes & Noble agreed to partner on the Nook e-reader line rather than keep fighting suggests the prospect of fewer IP suits in the industry. However, the deal further obscures the blurry IP and patent landscape currently impacting both enterprise IT and consumer technology. It is good to see settlement. However, this settlment comes from the one conflict in this ongoing war that was actually shedding some light on the matter.

Microsoft on Monday said it will pay $300 million to get a piece of Barnes & Noble's Nook tablet action for the Windows 8 platform. The two companies will partner in a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary which will push further into the education market. Barnes & Noble will initially create a Nook app for Windows 8.

With all the fabulous and exciting technologies to talk about here in the world of FOSS -- the shiny, brand-spankin'-new Ubuntu Linux 12.04, to name just one -- it always seems a crying shame to have to waste any breath at all discussing lawsuits. Discuss them we must, however, because in today's litigious landscape, a few powerful software giants keep coming back for more. The latest example? None other than Oracle v. Google, of course.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt defended his company's actions regarding Java and Android as he took the witness stand Tuesday during Google's ongoing trial, in which the company stands accused of misusing Java programming code in the development of its mobile operating system.

The recently released Who Writes Linux kernel contributor list reveals that some of the usual supporters of Linux -- Red Hat, SUSE, IBM, Intel, Oracle -- remain firmly behind the open source OS. There has also been a lot of attention on the other contributors, which now include Microsoft. What I find most fascinating about the Linux contributor list are the contributors that show some new direction and potential for Linux, in this case the processor players.

While it won't likely go down as the "trial of the century," the legal showdown between Oracle and Google that began in San Francisco federal court on Monday could still be quite significant. The case has already been characterized as "the World Series of IP cases" by U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is presiding over the trial.

We've all known for some time now that Red Hat would soon be FOSS's first arrival to the billion-dollar club, but somehow that advance knowledge didn't make the official news any less exciting. No indeed! So when the word broke late last week that that much-anticipated milestone had finally been achieved, cheers and fanfare could be heard throughout the land.

There's just never a dull moment here in the Linux blogosphere, whether there's big news being made at the moment or not. Some weeks, we have wild activity. Even in other weeks, though, where the news days might seem slower, there's never a shortage of things to talk about. Case in point? Just last Monday, when all the Linux world was still waking up from the weekend, a lone voice rang out with the question, "is open source anti-profit?"

The Linux Foundation has come a long way since initiated in 2007 as the fusion of the Open Source Development Lab and Free Standards Group. It has gained some significant members and new groups of collaborators -- the latest batch including graphics and microprocessor giant Nvidia. I believe the move was driven primarily by Nvidia's desire to participate, integrate and collaborate on Linux as the open source operating system continues to grow.

"Bug #1 - Microsoft has a majority market share." - Ubuntu bug tracker. Much has changed since Canonical started on its quirky quest to "fix bug #1." Seven years ago Microsoft was seen as stagnant, ripe for plucking. Longhorn was still MIA, and Microsoft users were busy patching XP against the latest threats. Apple? Apple was still recovering from its near-death experience.

British Telecom has filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming the Android operating system infringes of six of its patents. The suit attacks Google on a number of fronts, including Google Maps, Google+ and Google Music. While the technology in question has been used by Google for years, it may have taken the experts at BT some time to prepare their claim.