See also: last week's Linux in the news page.

Linux in the news

Companies

Embedded Linux targets military apps (LinuxDevices.com). Here's an article on LinuxDevices.com looking at the Rymic Systems box that is being considered by the U.S. military. "The system's operating system is uClinux, a 'small foot-print' version of Linux that supports MMU-less processors such as Netsilicon's Net+Arm. Utility software within the device provides Ethernet-based Internet access, including FTP, HTTP client and server functions, and POP3 and SMTP mail protocols."

Coming soon: an Italian Renaissance in Embedded Linux? (LinuxDevices). LinuxDevices looks at ETLinux and RTAI - two Italian-based embedded Linux offerings. "Notwithstanding Linuxcare's lack of priority on EtLinux development, embedded Linux developers have continued to express strong interest in it for future embedded designs, as evidenced by data collected in LinuxDevices.com's Embedded Linux Market surveys. Recognizing the continued interest in EtLinux, a former employee of PROSA recently told LinuxDevices.com, 'we hope to restart developing EtLinux'."

Red Hat beats the Street (Upside). Here is Upside's take on Red Hat's third quarter earnings report. "In their careful quizzing of company officials, it's evident that analysts want a clearer idea of how the company will grow revenues 85 percent in the next fiscal year, and they didn't necessarily get it."

VA bolsters push for big business customers (News.com). News.com listened in on the VA Linux Systems conference call, where CEO Larry Augustin presented a strategy more oriented around large business customers. "Augustin said the company is making progress in its enterprise effort, recently closing a deal to sell more than 1,000 servers to a financial services company."

Eazel's Linux software moves to Sun's Solaris (News.com). C|Net's News.com has posted their take on the Eazel/Sun partnership. "For years, Sun didn't bother much with desktop software, preferring to focus its marketing efforts on servers and small computing devices, where Microsoft doesn't have much of a stronghold. Instead, Sun focused on bypassing Windows by promoting Java, software that works regardless of whether a consumer's computer uses the Mac OS, Windows, Solaris or any other operating system."

Open-source software firm enters wireless territory (News.com). C|Net looks at Sendmail's venture into the Wireless arena. "Terms of the Nascent acquisition weren't announced, but Olson said it is a stock and cash agreement with a multimillion-dollar value. Nascent's staff of 10, most of them programmers, will be added to Sendmail's 165 employees, and Sendmail will use the Nascent acquisition to launch a mid-Atlantic sales office."

Linux Firms Sing The Big Blues (ZDNet). ZDNet takes a look at how IBM's participation is making waves with Linux distribution and service companies. "Some TurboLinux executives are having second thoughts about agreeing to support the complete IBM eServer line. In TurboLinux's case, company executives say it has its hands full with its own clustering work and attempting to be first to market with Linux for the Itanium."

IBM's Palmisano sets sights on business customers (News.com). C|Net's News.com interviews IBM President and COO Sam Palmisano, asking the IBM exec about that company's plans for Linux. "The concern with Linux is that it's not ready for the enterprise environment because it's not industrial-strength. Well, there's nobody more industrial-strength in the world than IBM. There's no platform more industrial-strength than Freeway or 390.

I am going to be presenting (a keynote) at LinuxWorld in January...If I stroll in there not with some Net-gen company but a German bank, Japanese bank or U.S. securities firm--these are very conservative places--it will give this whole movement a lot of momentum. And we're going to stroll into LinuxWorld with those references."

The future is... Darwindows? (ZDNet). Apache, Perl and even XFree86 on the Mac - ZDnet looks at Darwin, the BSD-based underlying OS to Mac OS X. "So Darwin will probably work with your Apple hardware, it's a breeze to install, the system requirements are modest compared to MacOS X -- 32MB of RAM and 800MB of storage -- and, as a member of the BSD family, it has the pedigree of one of the world's most stable, scalable, and Internet-capable operating systems."

Business

To open source, investors tune out, companies tune in (Upside). Upside offers up this broad-scoped piece on how companies are soaking up open source concepts and methods even while investors are tuning out the efforts. "Slowly but surely, companies such as IBM, Hewlett-Packard (HWP) and even Oracle (ORCL) have re-positioned themselves as the best friends of the open source community, while former starlets such as Red Hat (RHAT) and VA Linux (LNUX) scramble to earn their first profitable dollar."

Open-source database companies open shop (News.com). C|Net looks at the recent announcements from Great Bridge, NuSphere and AbriaSoft in the open source database market. "Great Bridge hopes eventually to reproduce the success Red Hat has had in establishing a foothold against operating system competitors such as Sun Microsystems and Microsoft. Though Great Bridge's database software competes with that from bigger fish such as Sybase, Oracle, IBM, Informix and Microsoft, the more likely competitors for now are smaller companies such as AbriaSoft."

Sun moves up on IBM in server sales (News.com). News.com looks at the server market in light of a recent IDC report. "Systems based on the Linux operating system and rack-mountable servers grew much faster than the overall server sector, IDC said. Linux server sales increased 178 percent from the third quarter of 1999 to the third quarter of 2000, while rack-mountable server sales grew 400 percent."

Mega-Corps Fawn Over Linux (Wired). Wired News takes a look at Bruce Perens' new job with HP and other open source evangelists. "It's a job description that Perens shares with open-source supporters at several large U.S. technology firms, including, on the opposite coast, IBM (IBM). Big Blue's unofficial evangelist is Linux guru Irving Wladawsky-Berger, who goes by the official title of vice president of technology and strategy."

Open-source backers: No fear (ZDNet). Bruce Perens responds to ZDNet's column on open-source backers being afraid of being co-opted by big companies. "Did the community bend? No, the mountain came to Mohammed: IBM and Apple changed their licenses to comply with the Open Source Definition and got the collaboration they were looking for. So, even when Stallman's licenses aren't used, the corporations participate using the Debian Project's rules."

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolves? (ZDNet). Evan Leibovitch thinks the open source movement is bigger than IBM, HP, Compaq, and Sun all rolled up together - and the GPL is the IT world's Magna Carta. "Those who want to participate in the Linux world, regardless of size, are quite welcome to add their fingers to this grand virtual Ouija board. They can help steer, but if they push too hard the rest will just push back -- harder."

Hollywood dealt setback in DVD code case (News.com). The California Supreme Court is ordering a lower court to show why Matthew Pavlovich should remain part of the DeCSS case even though he doesn't live in California. "The order applies only to Pavlovich and does not ensure he will be removed from the suit, but it could signal that the end is near for many defendants in the year-old case: Of 21 defendants listed by name in court papers, 18 do not live in California, according to Pavlovich's attorney, Allon Levy."

Linux - a failure on the desktop?. Here's an article on the "Temple of Technology" site claiming that Linux has failed on the desktop. "Another important problem is the GPL itself in my opinion. This means that there are limited commercial interests in investing huge amounts of money into a product that a user can download for free. The main stream of revenue is therefore boxed versions for users uncomfortable with downloading it from the net, or users that would like the manual that comes with the boxed version."

Resources

Update on Indrema's Linux-based set-top game console (LinuxDevices). Indrema has provided to LinuxDevices.com a status update and clarification concerning issues of game development and licensing, development tools, plans for games, and expected availability of the Indrema Entertainment System itself (i.e., the game console).

Reviews

APC SmartUPS 700 (SignalGround). Signal Ground is carrying a review of the APC SmartUPS 700, a Linux-friendly UPS system. "The software came in an RPM. It installed without a hitch on my Debian system (after converting the packages to .deb format with alien), and it put most of its files in /usr/lib/powerchute. After the software is installed, you have to run a configuration script. The script does a number of different things, including configuring serial connectivity, modifying your "halt" shutdown script, and updating the EEPROM on your UPS."

Interviews

Interview: Robin Miller. O Linux interviews Robin Miller of NewsForge. " We love LWN and LinuxToday dearly, but we are not the same as they are. They are much more focused than NewsForge, but NewsForge is much more complete than either of them and has an entirely different style. I like to think our headlines are funnier, too."

Miscellaneous

Ten Linux toys for the eye and imagination (LinuxWorld). From sliding penguins to card strategy to building cities, LinuxWorld shows us some of the games available for Linux this year. "I'm sure everyone with a computer has heard of Sim City, the excellent city simulation. As mayor of your own metropolis, you must build roads, balance the yearly budget, plan city additions, and provide power and water services for the virtual residents, known as sims. If the sims are upset or don't think you're doing your job properly, they'll let you know by complaining like hell or moving to another city."

Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol

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