See also: last week's Commerce page.

Linux and business

Cygnus has put out a pile of press releases. They have announced a new version of their eCos embedded operating system, that they are working to optimize their GNU Pro toolkit for Alpha processorsin conjunction with Alpha Processor Inc., and the availability of the GNU Pro toolkit for Red Hat's and SuSE's distributions.

SuperNova, providers of software solutions for enterprise application development and integration, announced a partnership with RABA Technologies, providers of advanced IT professional services. Together they plan on providing a complete enterprise application integration solution to SuperNova customers, focusing on Linux system integration.

Loki Entertainment Software announced contracts to port three more games to Linux. Look for "Myth II: Soulblighter"(TM) by Bungie Software, "Railroad Tycoon II"(TM) bundled with "Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century"(TM) by PopTop Software, and "Eric's Ultimate Solitaire"(TM) by Delta Tao Software to be available for Linux sometime in 1999.

ParaSoft announced a new, lite version of Insure++, an automatic runtime error detection tool. The lite version is available on the Red Hat Linux 6.0 Application CD.

Aplio, Inc., an Internet Telephony appliance technology firm, announced that it has selected Linux as the operating system for its future Internet appliances and embedded technology

The Timpanogas Research Group announced its intent to release its FENRIS Netware file system under an open source license. The code will go out under the GPL.

Here is the announcement from SGI about their increased support for Linux. They also put out another one saying that "...SGI will announce a significant contribution to the open source community that will bolster Linux as an enterprise-ready operating system." at Linux Expo.

A company called Zenguin announced an application installer for Linux. One wouldn't think that Linux needs such a thing, but their take on the problem is that they allow distribution-independent installation.

Here is the announcement from Progress that they, too, will be porting their database system to Linux.

The Open Group announced that their X Window System activities will be split off into a separate organization called "X.Org." The new organization takes over the role of standard and code maintenance, as well as promotion.

Tangram announced that its asset tracking system will now be able to keep track of your Linux systems as well...

The Gartner Group, Inc. will survey users, Internet service providers, independent software vendors, platform vendors and Linux distributors on Linux directions. Their goal is to help vendors understand the role Linux will play in the future.

The folks behind the Babylon translation system are running a survey to determine whether there is sufficient demand to justify a port to Linux (and other systems) or not. If you would use such a product, you might want to let them know. (Thanks to August Hoerandl).

TheLinuxStore announcedthey will be showing off their systems at Linux Expo, including a new line of Linux-based laptops.

Another example of how we are seeing more industry-specific software showing up under Linux: MSBI Management announced Mortgage Builder, a program for the origination of mortgages.

Press Releases:

• Acer Inc. has been certified for Red Hat Linux 6.0 on Acer Altos 1100 servers.
• Applix, Inc announced that the company has joined the IBM Netfinity(R) ServerProven(tm) program, certifing that Applixware for Linux and Anyware for Linux have been tested for compatibility on IBM's Intel-based Netfinity servers.
• Blueridge Technologies has completed a full port of its OPTIXElectronic Document Management System to the Linux operating system.
• Check Point Software announced their Meta IP address management solution is now available for Unix and will be available for Linux later this quarter.
• Computer Associates International, Inc.teams up with Pacific HiTech to broaden the acceptance of Linux and Linux-based applications by corporate users across the Pacific Rim and worldwide.
• Corel Corporation announced the arrival of CorelDRAW 9 to North American retail outlets. This should be available in a Linux version.
• The Enator Group will resell SmartGate VPN to customers in Northern and Central Europe.
• Ganymede Software teams with Cobalt Network's RaQ Servers to test and monitor end-to-end service performance. Cobalt's RaQ Servers come pre-configured with the Apache web server, sendmail, and Linux operating system.
• Halcyon Software announced the introduction of Instant ASP (iASP) which lets developers deploy Active Server Pages (ASP) or JavaServer Pages (JSP) on all leading Java-enabled operating system platforms, Web servers, and application servers.
• IBM announced a new version of DB2 Universal Database for UNIX, Linux, Windows NT and OS/2.
• Linuxcare, Inc. announced the launch of Linuxcare Labs, a comprehensive program for independently certifying hardware and software for use with the Linux operating system.
• Live Software Inc. announced the release of CF_Anywhere, a new product for developing sophisticated web applications.
• MyDesktop launches the Linux help site LinuxPlanet.com to help users jump ship from Windows.
• O'Reilly & Associates announced that they are making the entire new book, "OpenSources: Voices From the Open Source Revolution" freely available on their web site.
• Power Center Software announced the Power Center Enterprise System Management Suite for the Linux OS.
• Quantified Web Systems, Inc. announced the availability of Urchin ASAP 2.0, web statistics software, free of charge, from their web site: www.urchin.com
• Resonate, Inc. announced that its traffic management solution, Resonate Central Dispatch(TM), will run on Red Hat Linux 6.0.
• UniTree Software, Inc. announced the release of its High Performance UniTree Virtual Disk Manager (UVDM) product, and promises a Linux version will be available this year.

Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol.

Next: Announcements