Dell is warming up to the idea of reintroducing Linux desktops and notebooks, including certifying its Optiplex desktops, Latitude notebooks, and Precision workstations for Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. But for now, the computer maker plans to remain on the sidelines, rather than pick one distribution and alienate users of another one. ...

Salesforce.com says Merrill Lynch, its largest customer, upped its subscription to 25,000 seats. Salesforce also introduced a new offering for people in financial services. ...

Web 2.0 goofiness alert: A dairy-industry promotional group is trying to bring its milk mustache TV ads to e-mail, touting a milk mustache on the smiley emoticon. ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing a Hong Kong company for allegedly taking in more than $2.7 million from illegal trades it made by hacking into unidentified computer systems and reading press releases just before at least 12 companies were to make important announcements public. ...

Forget a password lately? You've got plenty of company. Password trouble accounts for 20% of calls to corporate help desks, according to SupportSoft, a technology-glitch automation software provider. Systems issues and enterprise software problems each make up 16% of calls for help.