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

Linux in the news

• Forbes Magazine has an article about Red Hat Software. "But not much of a future lies in selling $49 software. In February Red Hat began offering costly support contracts. Young figures this could be big; so far he's found few takers. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. in Burlington, N.J. is spending $1 million or so to buy 1,250 Linux-equipped PCs from Dell, but it won't pay Red Hat a dime for support, says Michael Prince, chief information officer. 'I suppose Red Hat's business model makes sense to somebody, but it makes no sense to us,' he says." (Thanks to Marty Leisner).

• What if Microsoft opens the source to Windows? asks the Industry Standard. "So don't save all your money for the rumored RedHat IPO that's supposedly coming later this year. Freely available source code will go a long way toward satisfying Microsoft's legal and regulatory adversaries. And the contributions from a broader group of programmers will make Windows stronger, as security holes are identified and plugged and optimized code makes programs run faster and more logically." Amusingly, the discussion of Apache links to a stock chart for Apache Corporation - an oil and gas exploration firm.

• FatBrain interviews Linus Torvalds. "I get about 200 a day. I read all my e-mail. Well, I read the first five lines of e-mail. If there is nothing interesting, then I just delete it. And I can see who sent it. I get e-mail from friends and family occasionally, but mainly, they send e-mail to my wife. She's my social manager."

• Also on FatBrain: The growing Linux divide by Robin Miller. "In a very crass sense, these new Linux users represent income opportunity for Linux manipulators. Just as Windows users are in the habit of paying Windows manipulators to solve computer problems for them, users who chose Linux for its stability and flexibility, rather than because it's a neat tech-toy, will need lots of hand-holding, and most of them will be happy to pay for it." (Both found in NNL).

The hot topic for this week is Open Source:

• It's The World of Open Source by (GNU C++ creator and Cygnus founder) Michael Tiemann on ZDTV. "In 10 years, open source will be broadly applied. To give a geopolitical analogy: The adoption rate of open software is a lot like the adoption rate of democracy. It's not yet 100 percent, but it's compelling, it's rewarding, and it's the best way to do it."

• CNN covers Bob Young's Linux Expo Keynote. "...the content of his address seemed to say that the introduction of a viable open source model to the business world has already spelled victory for the open source movement."

• The Denver Post has an article about Red Hat Software. "Eric Raymond, president of the Open Source Initiative, points out that Red Hat can never dominate the way Microsoft does because if it angers the community, nobody will cooperate with the company or buy its products." See also the second part of the article which, inexplicably, is not linked from the first part.

• Computing Canada has run an article about businesses getting into open source software. "More and more companies, for example, are providing their source code - either including it as part of the package they sell or by making it available to anyone on the Internet - as a way to expand the market for their products or services and to allow others to build on it." Zope is used as an example.

• Mac World discovers Apple's open source moves. "'It's as if we had hired a huge bunch of programmers for free,' asserts Ernie Prabhakar, Apple's product manager for Mac OS X Server. 'We'll have a final product with better performance and new features.'"

• qui profite le logiciel libre? (Who profits from free software?) asks TechWeb France. The answer, of course, is Red Hat Software. The article attributes a lot of Red Hat's success to the RPM package manager; it also touches on the Mandrake distribution. English translation available via Babelfish. (Found in NNL).

Linux and business:

• News.com speculates on Linux IPO possibilities. "One factor to consider as VA ponders going public is compensating the myriad programmers who have contributed to Linux over the years... If a company such as VA or Red Hat went public and made a lot of money off Linux, 'What does that mean for all those people who've done a lot of work and don't necessarily' make money out of it? Will they still want to contribute to Linux? 'That's one of the issues we're struggling with,' Augustin said."

• ZDNet compares Red Hat's and Caldera's distributions. "In testing these releases, PC Week Labs found that Caldera Open Linux 2.2 (released in April for $49.95) is the more polished of the two but that Red Hat Linux 6.0 (released in May for $79.95), with its GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) interface and Web-based linuxconf administration tool, has greater potential to make life easier for network managers. Client licenses for both operating systems continue to be free." (Thanks to Cesar A. K. Grossmann).

• Techweb talks about the two companies (KeyLabs and LinuxCare) which are competing to do Linux compatibility certification for hardware. "KeyLabs already offers certification and benchmarking for other operating systems, including Windows NT, Unix and NetWare. KeyLabs also is responsible for Sun's 100 percent Pure Java Certification program. But Art Tyde, executive vice president at Linuxcare, which provides Linux support to vendors and IT organizations, said it has more expertise in the open-source platform than KeyLabs."

• Here's a News.com article about Dell's latest moves. "Also today, Dell lopped off the $20 difference that used to make its Linux systems somewhat more expensive than its computers running Microsoft Windows, a spokesman said."

• ZDNet marvels at the lack of a Linux backlash. The article is mostly about recent commercial events. "The amoeboid spread of Linux continues, as vendors scramble to line up partners, certify hardware and integrate applications with the open-source software system, which they believe offers a stable, modifiable platform at low cost to the enterprise." (Thanks to Cesar A. K. Grossmann).

• E-Commerce Times reports on IBM's Linux moves. "IBM (NYSE: IBM) this week disclosed, in a barrage of announcements, collaboration with several key players in the increasingly popular Linux market, taking the open-source operating system (OS) another step towards broader acceptance."

• The Atlanta Business Chronicle looks at Realm Information Technologies and its thin server products. "Founded in 1996, Realm initially was selling into a basically unknown market. This forced it to look for a less expensive but highly functional and stable operating system on which to base its software. Realm turned to Linux early and is now a member of the board of Linux International."

• Here's a ZDNet article about e-smith and their new distribution. "The company's E-smith server and gateway converts PCI-based PCs into Linux communication servers. The product is based on Red Hat Software Inc.'s Red Hat 5.2. E-smith is pursuing the small and medium business market, and is cultivating relationships with resellers."

• Lotus will release a Linux version of Domino by the end of the year, but nothing for Netware according to this TechWeb story. "The simple answer is that, under the circumstances of relative market share and projections we see for enterprise deployments of NetWare, we're not planning to resurrect Domino for NetWare."

• The Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes about Microsoft's new anti-Linux team. "In the past, Microsoft has publicly scoffed at the notion that Linux, the upstart operating system that has attracted huge media coverage and technological acclaim, poses any threat to its Windows-based hegemony. Not anymore."

• Here's a whole set of articles by Charles Babcock in Inter@ctive Week:
  • IBM Turns True Blue For Linux is, not surprisingly, about the IBM/TurboLinux deal. "Executives at alphaWorks, IBM's Silicon Valley center for emerging technologies, declined to comment on what IBM might do next to buttress Linux. But John Wolpert, a director of emerging technology development, said 'huge' announcements regarding Linux are still to come."

  • Linux App Vendors Challenged talks about the potential difficulties of selling applications in this market. "...as Linux application vendors allocate resources to beef up their products, they face the possibility that open source code developers may bring out free software packages, and that Microsoft may enter the Linux applications market."

  • And this one talks about competing office suite projects. "KOffice and the Gnome Workshop are not necessarily producing large, distinct applications per the example of Microsoft Office so much as components that will be able to work when summoned or be embedded in a variety of applications, according to developer statements on the two respective Web sites."

• CPU Review looks at Caldera OpenLinux 2.2. The review is quite positive, with a few caveats. "I would caution corporate users to familiarize themselves with the OpenLinux license agreement; due to Lisa and some other proprietary tools you are not allowed to install OpenLinux on more than one PC (unless you ftp and install the 'lite' version from Caldera's site)"

• Here's another article on 'is Linux ready for business?'. In a poll conducted by silicon.com the answer was 71% yes.

and finally:

• Here's an introductory article in the Washington Post. "Linux is ... another way to drive your computer -- an operating system like Windows 98 or the Mac OS, but cheaper, faster, harder to use and a little bit cooler. Think of it as the stick shift of computing platforms."

• Here's a New York Times article about Linux winning the Prix Ars Electronica. "In a statement on the contest's Web site, jurors explained that their decision was meant to show that 'the .net category is not a prize for the most beautiful or most interesting home page on the World Wide Web... It is also intended to spark a discussion about whether a source code itself can be an artwork." (Thanks to Peter Link and Conrad Sanderson).

• Fast Company has published the diaries kept by the participants in Red Hat's "GeekWorld" publicity thing. "Ummm...9 a.m.???? Dudes, most of us were up half the night coding, putting out fires and bug fixing for stuff back home. The rest were intently watching 'Austin Powers,' making the RealVideo encoder work or conquering FreeCiv."

• An LA Weekly writer gets slashdotted, and does not appreciate the experience. "...mostly, the thread of discussion on Slashdot could be best described as Orwellian. I was shocked. Could these Linux fascists be related to the freethinking, friendly Linux community I met years ago on the Internet Relay Chat, where once a helpful soul stayed up half the night walking me through the setup for Slackware?" The article comes with a bizarre illustration of a crucified penguin.

Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol

Next: Security