OStatic

Comic books, DVDs, old vinyl albums, Star Wars figurines -- collecting things is fun. What's not fun, though, is keeping track of it all. When you have large collection of anything from books to steampunk LEGOS, it's important to keep an inventory so you know what you've got, what you still need, and who borrowed something. Here are five open source collection management apps to help you organize your stuff.

Tellico - This KDE app comes with handy templates for managing your book, wine, video game, coin, or stamp collection. Import data in several formats including CSV, RIF, PDF, and even directly from IMDb and Amazon. Tellico exports to HTML, XML, Bibtex, and more.

Missing: Dell Ubuntu desktop PCs. The VAR Guy explores whether Dell has stopped selling Ubuntu desktop computers.

Open source Hive: Large-scale, distributed data processing made easy. Hive is a data analysis and query front end for Hadoop that makes Hadoop data files look like SQL tables.

Microsoft opened Linux-driver code after violating GPL. Did it act simply to head off any potentially embarrassing legal disputes over violations?

SpringSource and MindTouch seek to redefine the application server. Spurred by economic pressures on IT departments, new breeds of app servers are taking shape.

The tech jobs that the cloud will eliminate. IT pros face new competition for their jobs from cloud services. Which jobs go, and which become more valuable?

If you want to learn Java, Python, or Ruby but can't stand the thought of slogging through a huge pile of books, take a look at the open source video tutorial service, ShowMeDo. It's loaded with screencasts that walk you through how to use popular programming languages and an assortment of open source applications like Vim and Blender.

ShowMeDo has plenty of in-depth videos on all kinds of involved programming techniques, but there are several quick one- or two-minute tutorials on handy techniques like how to install the AdblockPlus plugin for Firefox and how to change the password to a KeePass database. Tutorials are submitted by the open source software community and range from near-professionally produced to self-proclaimed amateurs with an interest in programming.

Open source video platform, Kaltura, has decided to face the online video industry head-on with today's public launch of Kaltura Community Edition. The self-hosted software lets Web site developers and owners integrate customizable video right into a site without the vendor lock-in hassles of proprietary software.

Once installed, you can stream video right from your server or content delivery network (CDN). Kaltura offers a number of useful functions including editing, annotating, remixing, sharing, and video management. The software is licensed under the GNU Affero GPL v3 and is available as a free download, however additional services like advertising, monetization, support, and hosting can be purchased through the company.

Enterprise collaboration software vendor MindTouch continues its march to take over corporate intranets with this week's release of MindTouch 2009. In addition to assorted improvements and upgrades, the new version also adds three useful features that offer an extra layer of functionality to MindTouch-powered sites.

The inclusion of collaborative video capabilities lets project team members publish video right to MindTouch sites where multiple users can collaborate on and edit them. The new content staging and application packaging features make it easy to collaborate on mashups and application development, then compress the files for distribution to other MindTouch deployments.