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

Linux in the news

Nicholas Petreley's latest piece has hit CNN and he's ready to teach the uninitiated how to appreciate Linux. "I recommend you deploy Linux according to the following principle: Don't use Linux as if it were Windows. In other words, make your personal computers a little less personal and centralize whenever possible. This allows you to realize the promise of network computing." (Thanks to John Caulfei\ ld).

This article in Computer Reseller News is about the advantages of open source software in general. "...whether or not you care about Linux, you should care about the open-source movement in general. Customers clearly are looking for more control over their information-technology solutions. Now, more than ever, this choice will extend to software."

This week's OpenLine column in Fairfax IT claims that Microsoft and the free software community are good for each other. "Whether you are an advocate or a company hoping to surf the OpenSource/Free Software wave, Microsoft is your best ally."

Performance Computing has set up a new Linux-IT area containing pointers to their Linux articles. Some old stuff can be found there, along with this lengthy piece on corporate adoption of Linux. "The value of Linux is underscored among IT managers who already have overseen open-source projects using Intel 386, 486, and Pentium machines no longer able run the latest Windows releases at acceptable performance levels. These systems were turned into corporate Web sites, database servers, departmental file and print servers, and intranet firewalls-reliably, securely, and cheaply."

Web Review reviews a set of thin server systems, including a number which run Linux.

TechWeb reported on the VA Research acquisitions in this article. "VA Research Linux Systems, which made itsname selling Linux boxes, has bought two of itscompetitors: Linux Hardware Solutions, in Wilmington, N.C., and Enlightened Solutions, in Atlanta. "

What's your Linux strategy? asks Web Review. "In other news, Al Gore has nearly finished putting together the platform for his Presidential bid. Sources close to the Vice President say he will release it as soon as he wraps up the last details of his Linux strategy."

This brief article (in German) in Heise Online is about a lottery system in Germany. Demand on the system forced a higher-performance upgrade, so they went with Oracle's application server and Linux. English translation available via Babelfish. (Thanks to Johannes Gritsch).

An advice column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram received a question: "should I use Linux?" Here's their answer: "I'd recommend you using it, but not installing it. That's what your good buddy at work is for. You know who I'm talking about: the four-eyed geek in Information Systems who gives 'socially dysfunctional' a whole new spin."

Linux on laptops will get easier to find, according to this Computer Reseller News article. "Within 30 days, IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., plans to increase its support of Linux by shipping a base model ThinkPad notebook for use with the operating system, said Phil Hester, chief technology officer for IBM's Personal Systems Group. 'We plan to ship a base machine without any operating system on it so you could load any form of Linux you want,' he said."

An interview with Grady Booch, one of the proclaimed "fathers of object-oriented programming", touched upon free and open source software. Clearly, it is a concept he is not yet ready to embrace. "``It's a great example of capitalism at play. Red Hat, which has probably not added anything to the semantic nature of Linux, has made a lot of money out of repackaging it. I don't know how long that slave labor will continue.'' He said that giving software away for free couldn't last long and he was ``yet to see any Fortune 1000 company bet a major part of their strategy on Linux''." (Thanks to Stefane Fermigier).

The Raleigh-Durham Triangle Business Journal shows a level of knowledge of Linux probably not always found in the investment world, answering an often-seen question nowadays, how can I invest in Linux? After touching on Corel and Applix, they end up with a tip to watch for a Red Hat IPO in the near future. 'In the meantime, however, the best advice is to find a job at Red Hat or marry someone there. The "friends and family" allocation of the IPO is about the only way that the average investor will get shares of this hot little number.'

SCO's CEO Doug Michels sneers at Linux in this ComputerWorld interview. "Linux is a religion. It's like considering the Catholic Church a competitor. I'm not a religion; I'm a commercial operating system. Companies like Red Hat ... take Linux technology with a lot less value added, and they package it up and say, 'Hey, this is better than SCO.' Well, it isn't. And very few customers are buying that story."

Business week has run a whole set of articles on Linux. Linux takes off, but where is it really going? is a mostly introductory article about the rise of Linux. It is amusing that they point out the fact that Linux "has only half the market share of NT" as a negative - imagine reading those words a year ago. They have interviews with Eric Raymond, and, to get the other side, Microsoft's Ed Muth. Finally, this article discusses the GPL and raises questions about its viability in court.

Red Hat 6.0 Release Coverage:

TechWeb has an article on the new Red Hat Linux 6.0 release, along with some comments on the Caldera OpenLinux release. Nothing particularly new. Built on top of the newly-minted Linux 2.2 kernel, the release should fuel the growing momentum behind Durham, N.C.-based Red Hat.

News.com's article on Red Hat Linux 6.0 includes some better details. It mentions rpm 3.0 is included, which promises to do better compatibility checking to make sure installed packages will work and the availability of Kickstart, for automated, customized installations. Erik Troan seems to be the source for the more technical details. Troan said the new kernel improves Linux multiprocessor performance during tasks such as executing scripts to deliver custom Web pages, compiling software, or accessing databases. He said the company sees linear performance improvements going up to four processors, but doesn't have data on eight-processor machines.

Comdex Reports

Information Week has run a general article about events in the Linux world, evidently inspired by Comdex. "The battle of the operating systems took center stage last week."

Byte.com interviews Linus is a nice, chatty piece, with some nostalgia thrown in and overall a good impression of someone who got a taste of what it can be like in the Linux community from the Linux reception at Comdex. "The camaraderie was there. The technical largess was there. What was delightfully missing was hype, marketing mavens, and over-testosteroned sales guys. How refreshing." (Thanks to Andreas Sikkema).

Stephen Adler has put up an extensive writeup of Linus's visit to FNAL and the Comdex experience.

Here's a report on LinuxPower from Comdex in Chicago.

The Edmonton Journal ran a brief article about Comdex. "Microsoft takes up the single largest chunk of floor space at Comdex for its Windows 2000 system. But the densest crowds have flocked to a cluster of booths that feature Linux..."

This Cox News service article demonstrated the reaction of one person to the presence of Linux at Comdex, someone who clearly doesn't know what is different about Linux and free software ..."What I am here to tell you is that other, more powerful companies have made the same boast of crushing Microsoft . . . and have done it with at least as much logic."

Introductory Linux Articles

C|Net has put up Ten Questions About Linux. It's a sort of FAQ for people who know nothing about the system.

Section Editor: Jon Corbet

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