http://www.linux-watch.com/?kc=rss Keeping an Eye on the Penguin en-us Just as Microsoft has being accused of playing dirty over sales tactics and patents, the software company has launched its first open source organization. The CodePlex Foundation aims to act as a liason between commercial enterprises and open source developers and communities while increasing open source participation, says the foundation. http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS3632061827.html?kc=rss An IDC study predicts that open source software will grow at a 22.4 percent rate to reach $8.1 billion by 2013, says eWEEK. Meanwhile, in an SEC filing, Microsoft has added Linux vendors Canonical and Red Hat to its list of as rivals, and acknowledges the growing threat of Android. http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS3927699066.html?kc=rss A lobbying group has been launched by more than 70 companies, academic institutions, and communities, to promote open source software as a "transparent and cost-effective option" for U.S. government agencies. "Open Source for America" counts AMD, Canonical, Google, Novell, Oracle, and Red Hat among its members. http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS2523288137.html?kc=rss A software company based in Redmond, Wash. has released 20,000 lines of code under GPLv2 for three Linux device drivers. Microsoft says its first open source Linux code contribution is designed to speed the performance of the operating system when it's run in a Hyper-V virtual machine. http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS6567014545.html?kc=rss Google followed up on Thursday's announcement of a Linux-based Chrome OS for netbooks by listing nine technology partners that are supporting the open-source platform. Meanwhile, one report claims that Intel, which is not on the list, is collaborating with Google on Chrome OS. http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9174113805.html?kc=rss