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

Linux in the news


We'll start this week with a few articles for recommended reading:
  • The Wall Street Journal has put out a lengthy article on the PA-RISC port of Linux being done by the Puffin Group. "The arrangement between the $50 billion H-P and the shoestring Puffin Group is a marriage between the stodgy world of big computer companies and a form of capitalism being hatched by Linux zealots around the globe." (Thanks to Jim Turley).

  • Nicholas Petreley's latest article tackles Ed Muth and his attacks on Linux. Summary Recent attempts by Microsoft's Ed Muth to criticize Linux and minimize its importance raise burning questions -- about Windows NT. Ed Muth would be well advised to remove the plank in Microsoft's eye before complaining about the speck in that of Linux. (Thanks to Robert McMillan)

  • Rumor Central has an interesting Linux-related tidbit in its second paragraph. If correct, Microsoft has certainly not been impacted by the Department of Justice proceedings, at least not enough to change their business practices. When Microsoft heard that two of its primary OEMs were planning to run Linux in public, the Redmondians dusted off their thumbscrews and convinced Gateway and Micron to pull out of the demo unless Windows NT took the place of Linux.

  • Open Source Tools Gain Credibility is the title of a CMP article which covers the numerous advantages of open source debuggers, compilers and more."A CIO who tells people to use only commercial tools is committing malpractice," says Cameron Laird. [Linux Center]

  • For the next installation of the rumor that Microsoft is actually porting its Office Suite to Linux, this article by Simson Garfinkel includes specific denials from Microsoft (of course, it is just a rumor, right?). The focus of this article sounds familiar, in that Microsoft is claiming that no such port has been done because none of their customers have expressed any interest. Microsoft hasn't heard an outcry for Linux in its surveys, its usability studies, or in discussions with its major customers.

    Simson ends his article by calling on all of us to let Microsoft know that we'd like to see their software ported over. Do we? If the answer for you is yes, let Microsoft know (and copy your letter to Simson ...).

  • Serious speculation on Microsoft's next counter-moves against Linux is the topic of this article by Matthew Chappee. I can tell you this, there can be no peaceful coexistence between Linux and Microsoft. It's going to come to a head.

News from Abroad

The French newspaper Le Monde has several Linux articles out (obviously in French). Jean-Michel Collard has reviewed them and indicates that there is no "FUD" in any of them. He also indicated that he may be able to provide us with a translation for at least one of them in the near future. For those unwilling to wait, here is link to Babelfish where you can specify the URL of the piece you want translated.

The Tide Turns for Linux is the title of this article from The Press, New Zealand. It focuses on a local company, Egressive, which is specializing in Debian GNU/Linux support and development. The changing tide has reached Christchurch, with the establishment of a company offering customised Linux systems and support for small to medium-sized businesses.

The Jerusalem Post published an article on Star Office in their March 21, 1999 edition. They were apparently quite pleased. I downloaded the program and was able to successfully use the StarWriter component to open and save to MS Word files, and StarWriter was enough like MS Word to impress me. An on-line version of this article exists but requires payment in order to access. If you are interested, search the Jersalem Post archives for "User-Friendly", the title of the article.

Miscellaneous

Desktop alternatives to Windows are the focus of this brief article by Robert Lauriston. Using a MacIntosh is mentioned as an acceptable alternative, but Linux, BeOS, OS/2 and NextStep are all found to fall short. I estimate that it will be at least two more years before Linux is a practical alternative to Windows for the average user.

USA Today has entered the legions of media providing coverage of Linux with two articles. The first is a fairly lighthearted look at a Linux Installfest. This isn't the '60s of placards and protests, but of be-ins and expanding consciousness. Or in the case of the Linux operating system, install-fests and the road trip called Bierwanderung.

The second article takes a more serious approach, starting with a talk with Richard Stallman and the reasons behind the development of free software. "From Stallman you get the idea that any (software) contribution should be available to the general populace for the advancement of all humankind," says George Weiss, an analyst with the Gartner Group in Long Island, N.Y.

Ben Elgin at Smart Reseller brings up a topic that has been known to start a few flames within newsgroups, "Is Red Hat becoming the Linux Microsoft?" He specifically addresses Red Hat's Certification Program and its luke-warm support for the LSB. ... some critics contend that Red Hat's business practices, under CEO Robert Young, are becoming heavy-handed and bad for the open-source industry.

A couple more main-stream press articles came out this week about Apple's open source announcement, including:

Section Editor: Jon Corbet

Guest Editor for the Week: Liz Coolbaugh


March 25, 1999

 

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