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'Business Ethics' in the Open Source
Community?. KDE developers Kurt Granroth and Andreas Pour were
searching for KDE links on Google when they encountered a sponsored
link to Ximian, a developer of "that other desktop", GNOME. That
prompted this open
letter on Ximian's tactic of buying KDE-oriented keywords on the
Google search engine. "Tactics like this are considered 'legal
risks' in the cut-throat proprietary business world. They almost
always result in lawsuits due to trademark infringement. Is that
what what the open source community has devolved into? Has the old
fraternity based on integrity, pride and 'settling it with code'
been replaced by greed, deception and 'we'll see you in court'?"
Ximian then posted this
response to complaints about its sponsored links on Google, and
to the open letter from Kurt Granroth and Andreas Pour in
particular. "Ximian designed its advertising strategy in good
faith, and had no intention to offend or deceive anyone. Pour and
Granroth, too, had sought in good faith to avoid confusion between
the KDE and GNOME products, rather than to sow controversy."
Among other things, the sponsored links have been removed.
This particular dispute has been resolved successfully and it is
nice to see that the open source community can resolve issues
without lawsuits and recriminations. It provides a happy contrast
to the patent and trade-mark issues discussed on both the
Front page and on the
Security page this week.
Conflict Emerges among St. Louis-Area Free
Software Companies (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). The St. Louis
Post-Dispatch has put up an
article on the dispute between SAIR and LinuxGruven. "Meanwhile,
a Wave subsidiary, Sair Linux of Oxford, Miss., has suspended Linuxgruven
as one of its accredited centers for learning Linux. Sair Linux says
Linuxgruven failed to hire instructors that have passed Sair's tests on
using its teaching materials. In addition, critics have lodged
complaints on the Internet and with the Better Business Bureau, charging
Linuxgruven with deceptive advertising. Linuxgruven recently advertised
a $45,009-a-year job that appeared to be a come-on for its training
courses."
O'Reilly releases new CatB. O'Reilly has announced the release of a
revised and expanded version of Eric Raymond's The Cathedral and
the Bazaar. Among other things, it has new essays on "the
economics of open source" and "open source as a competitive weapon."
O'Reilly 2001 P2P Industry Overview. O'Reilly is getting into the fancy research report business. The company
has just announced the availability of the '2001
P2P Industry Overview', describing where they think the peer-to-peer
industry is going. Introductory price: $895.
Opera 5.02b6 for Linux available. Opera Software has announced the availability
of the Opera 5.02 browser (6th beta version) for Linux. The
"ad-supported version" can be downloaded for free, or one can pay $39 for
a version without ads.
Caldera and SCO change acquisition agreement. Caldera Systems and SCO have announced
some changes in the terms of their acquisition deal. Caldera now gets
complete ownership of the OpenServer line, and will be paying more:
$23 million in cash up front, $8 million more later on, and
16 million shares in stock. They expect to close in the second
quarter of this year.
Caldera OpenLinux eServer now preloaded on
Compaq servers. Caldera Systems has announced
that Compaq will be selling OpenLinux eServer preloaded on some of its
ProLiant servers.
Teaching Penguins to Fly (IT Forecaster). IDC's IT Forecaster has put up an article on
the future of Linux support services. They expect the market to grow in
a big way. "Members of open source communities are used to freely
helping one another to solve technical problems. This distributed model
of self-help breaks down as Linux slips into user organizations, where IT
managers may have few connections to the corps of coders and may have
little input beyond bug reports to give back to the movement."
For your amusement: Windows 2000 clusters. Found on the Microsoft site: this
page on "Industry-Standard Clusters from Microsoft and Intel."
"Now anyone with massive computing needs can create clusters using
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) PCs and a shrink-wrapped version of
Windows 2000. This is a first in computing history and means that
inexpensive industry-standard components can now scale to the highest
levels of performance." A "first in computing history" indeed...
Linux Stock Index for February 08 to February 14, 2001.
LSI at closing on February 08, 2001 ... 40.44
LSI at closing on February 14, 2001 ... 38.31
The high for the week was 40.44
The low for the week was 37.95
Press Releases:
Open Source Products
Unless specified, license is unverified.
- Nevrax (Nevrax France) has released a new
version of the game NeL. NeL is available under the terms of
the GNU General Public License.
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Oki Data (MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.) announced it worked with IBM to
develop the new open source Omni Linux Drivers that are
compatible with more than two-dozen OKI Impact Printers.
Distributions and Bundled Products
- Knox Software (Carlsbad, California)
announced that the Free Version of its flagship product,
Arkeia, is included with SuSE's 2nd Generation eMail Server
II.
-
Linux2order (PROVO, UT) announced it will donate 20% of its CD-ROM
sales, gross revenues, from the new co-branded site
kde.Linux2order.com to the KDE project.
Proprietary Products for Linux
- AccuSoft Corporation announced that
its imaging toolkit, ImageGear, is now available for UNIX
platforms: AIX, Sun Solaris and Linux.
- Beta Computronics
Pvt. Ltd. announced that IVRS, Interactive Voice Response
System, can built around a voice modem and Linux. The perl module to
implement the various IVRS functions like Voice Mail, Tele banking,
Product information, Fax on demand and Call center is available at
http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=ivrs.
-
Enhanced Software Technologies Inc. (PHOENIX) announced its newest
data protection product for Linux-centric networks, BRU-Pro.
-
FineGround Networks, Inc. (PHOENIX, DEMO 2001) unveiled its
patent-pending Condensation technology for accelerating dynamic
web content. The FineGround Condenser is available immediately
on Linux platforms. Pricing starts at $50,000.
- Hyperion Software
announced its first games release for Linux. You can order the
game now from Tux Games for $26.
- MUSICMATCH (SAN DIEGO) released the
gold version of MUSICMATCH Jukebox Plus for Linux.
Products and Services Using Linux
-
I-Logix Inc. (ANDOVER, Mass.) announced Rhapsody 3.0, with
capabilities that allow developers to bridge the gap between
design-level and code-level testing.
-
Kreatel Communications (CAMPBELL, Calif.) is in full production
with its Tornado/K5 digital set-top box which runs on a Linux
operating system with Mozilla Web browser.
-
Lexra (SAN JOSE, Calif.) introduced its new LX-PB20K
Hardware/Software Development Board. Lexra has partnered with
AMIRIX to provide embedded Linux for the LX-PB20K board.
- Rauch Medien (New York, USA) announced
the release of their RM Internet Server Appliance. The RM
Internet Server Appliance offers a complete Internet (HTTP, FTP, and
EMAIL) server solution based on the Linux OS in a 1U chassis.
-
Virata Corporation (SANTA CLARA, Calif.) announced that its
Lithium communications processor, Magnesium DSP, and
vCore voice software package have been selected by TGF Linux
Communications, Inc. for use in its integrated Linux server designed
to streamline voice and data applications.
Products with Linux Versions
-
Insightful Corporation (CHICAGO), formerly MathSoft, Inc.,
announced the release of S-PLUS Analytic Server, software that
delivers enterprise information to decision-makers using Java software
or via the Web.
- Jungo announced the beta version of
WinDriver and KernelDriver version 5.0, its driver
development tools which offer hardware access and code generation
capabilities, through a rich API.
-
Platform Computing Corporation (TORONTO) introduced LSF
(Load Sharing Facility) version 4.1 with new features that incorporate
support for all Linux versions and expanded capabilities for parallel
processing.
-
Smart Storage Inc. (ANDOVER, Mass.) announced major upgrades to
several products in their On-Line Archive product family.
SmartStor Archive v. 4.0 and SmartStor Jukeman v. 3.0,
offer significant new functionality over previous versions, including
Linux support.
-
WebPartner (CUPERTINO, CA) announced WebPartner Performance
Suite, a comprehensive enterprise solution that includes both
front-end and back-end IT performance monitoring and management.
-
Willamette HDL, Inc. (BEAVERTON, Ore.) began shipping
AccurateC, a language rule checker developed for C/C++-based
electronic design and the system-level design modeling platform,
SystemC.
Java Products
-
HP (PALO ALTO, Calif.) introduced HP MicrochaiVM, the micro
edition of HP ChaiVM, a Java application environment for intelligent
appliances. The developer's release of HP MicrochaiVM with CLDC is
available now. Linux, PalmOS, and PocketPC are the supported
platforms.
-
ONTOS, Inc. (ANDOVER, Mass.) released the Professional version of
ObjectSpark 4.5, a software tool that automates the generation
of high-performance, transactional data components.
Partnerships
-
American Power Conversion (WEST KINGSTON, R.I.) announced that APC
has been named the provider of power protection solutions for
Penguin Computing Inc..
-
Lineo and PointBase, Inc. (LINDON, Utah) announced that they will
form a strategic partnership to target the embedded systems market.
As part of the strategic agreement, the companies will integrate
PointBase's 100% Pure Java object-relational database management
software with the Lineo Embedix SDK.
-
Macmillan Software (INDIANAPOLIS) announced its new partnership
with NeTraverse, a developer of Windows application support
software for the Linux operating system. Through this partnership,
NeTraverse will gain the distribution capabilities of Macmillan
Software, while Macmillan Software will enhance its menu of Linux
operating systems, applications, and tools.
Investments and Acquisitions
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Google Inc. (MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.) announced that it has acquired
Deja.com's Usenet Discussion Service. This acquisition provides
Google with Deja's entire Usenet archive (dating back to 1995),
software, domain names including deja.com and dejanews.com, company
trademarks, and other intellectual property. Financial terms of this
transaction were not released.
Personnel
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eOn Communications Corporation (ATLANTA) announced changes to its
senior management team, the restructuring of operations and product
lines to improve profitability, and measures to focus operating
resources on its Linux-based communications systems and software
business.
-
Webb Interactive Services, Inc. (DENVER) announced the appointment
of Rob Balgley as President and CEO of its Jabber.com,
Inc. subsidiary.
Linux At Work
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ACTS Corporation (KINGSLAND, Texas) announced a cost effective,
Web-based testing solution with the release of TestManager, an
advanced Web-based examination, evaluation and administration tool.
TestManager is hosted on an IBM S/390 platform running Linux.
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Blackstone Technology Group, Inc. (WORCESTER, Mass.) announced
that it has built an introductory distributed supercomputing
solution for Pfizer, Inc., a large pharmaceutical company.
Blackstone's solution runs on the Linux operating system on
Intel-based processors.
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Interface Concept (PARIS & SUNNYVALE, Calif.) has selected the
Hard Hat Linux operating system from MontaVista Software to run
the company's new high performance LAN-WAN remote access
communications server and Ethernet switches.
-
weather.com (ATLANTA) announced site enhancements. The new site
uses Linux, ORACLE, IBM WebSphere and other technologies.
Other
- Linux Journal (NEW YORK, NY), the
monthly print magazine, won the LinuxWorld Expo Show Favorite award
for "Best Publication".
-
VA Linux Systems, Inc. (FREMONT, Calif.) announced that
SourceForge OnSite received top honors at last week's
LinuxWorld Expo.
Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol.
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February 15, 2001
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