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

Linux in the news


This week's recommended reading:
  • Here's an article in the National Post about a new attempt to encourage competition in the operating system market. "The Canada Europe Round Table, launched yesterday, wants governments to take the lead in using operating systems such as Linux instead of Microsoft's proprietary Windows. The group of 28 companies -- which includes Bombardier Inc., Nortel Networks Corp., Corel Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG and Ericsson AG of Sweden -- suggests 'competitive systems' such as Linux should be endorsed at the next round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks." (Thanks to Richard Lamothe).

  • The Economist covers Linux IPOs in one of the best articles on the subject (even if it is titled "Venture Communism"). "Hackers are naturally suspicious of business. Accusing Red Hat of trying to make its version of the program a standard, some Linux buffs are already scolding the firm for behaving 'like Microsoft'-a hackers' curse. To discourage such attacks, VA Linux Systems' board includes Eric Raymond, who is the unofficial spokesman of the open-source movement. He saved the company some embarrassment by vetoing the name 'Linux.com'..."

  • According to Information Week, Tivoli Systems is not only considering supporting Linux, they are thinking about making it the only platform for part of their "Enterprise" product line. "Enterprise consists of three tiers: endpoints, gateways, and management servers. Tivoli is considering packaging the gateways, which do the job of collating data from agents at the endpoints, as Linux-based systems management appliances."

  • Jesse Berst declares Windows 2000 to be a failure. "Those environments that demand high reliability and high availability -- financial applications, big Web sites and so on -- must still turn to Sun, Linux and other Unix variants, or even to mainframes." (Thanks to Marc Davis).

  • Bob Metcalfe predicts the death of Linux in this insultingly disdainful InfoWorld column. "The Open Sores Movement asks us to ignore three decades of innovation. It's just a notch above Luddism. At least they're not bombing Redmond. Not yet anyway."

Linus in the News:

  • PC World interviews Linus Torvalds. "There's never really been a road map. In the sense that the Linux user base has been changing fairly rapidly, making a five-year plan just would not work."

  • Linux Expected To Steal Show At Lotus DevCon '99 says Computer Reseller News. "A special guest appearance by Linus Torvalds at Lotus Development Corp.'s Developer's Conference'99 in San Francisco next week marks an about face in the vendor's platform support strategy."

  • TechWeb has yet another article about Linus's BALUG talk. "Torvalds said that he will continue to be heavily involved in Linux for at least eight and a half more years, making reference to the fact that he created Linux eight and a half years ago."

Microsoft:

  • News.com reports on Eric Raymond's upcoming talk at Microsoft. "Windows NT, the industrial-strength operating system for corporate networks, can't handle heavy, constant computing loads without crashing because of poor design, Raymond said. A fundamental flaw is that Microsoft keeps its computer source code closed to outside developers, unlike Linux, which is openly available."

  • Dave Winer has some advice for Microsoft. "Find out what developers want to do with Linux, then provide tools that make that easy. Create bridges from Microsoft desktop apps to servers running on Linux. Invest in WINE so Windows developers have a clear path to Linux without creating new source code bases. I can hear Bill Gates now saying 'Never!' But until he embraces the Internet, in its latest incarnation (Linux), without trying to own it, he'll keep losing."

  • Wired News discusses the new version of Kaffe. "Microsoft is now indirectly supporting open-source software, and for a very interesting reason: Java. Redmond has taken the unusual step of funding an open-source software company that is writing Java code similar to that which landed the company in court with Sun."

  • Here's an introductory piece in SunWorld. "As for Microsoft ... It appears that you're just going to have to coexist with Linux and the open source developers. Forecasts show that even though it has been making inroads, Linux is still not anywhere near ready to put you out of business." (Thanks to Cesar A. K. Grossmann).

Business news:

  • Onsale will start offering Linux-installed computers on their site, according to this press release. The systems, which come from Ebiz, will be targetting the low end.

  • EE Times reports on HP's new Linux systems. "Capitalizing on the cult following of Linux, Hewlett-Packard Co. is rolling out a line of workstations this week that are configured with the popular open operating system and targeted at design engineers."

  • Here's a News.com article about MontaVista Software, which is putting together a version of Linux for handheld systems. "Part of the appeal of Linux in this space is that it's a good way to avoid paying royalties to a company that developed an operating system, an important consideration in the device market where systems can sell for just a few hundred dollars." (Thanks to Mike Gerdts and Damon Poole).

  • Next Generation interviews Scott Draeker of Loki Entertainment Software. "I believe Linux is the wave of the future. 2 years ago I came across the KDE and GNOME projects and RedHat Linux for sale on retail shelves. Together, these observations convinced me that Linux would be a viable consumer desktop OS in the near future. But no one was doing games." (Thanks to Damon Poole).

  • Here is a story in InfoWorld about Groupe Bull's Linux announcements. "The Paris-based IT company is setting up new units designed to meet the specific needs of Linux users. These units will offer services such as consulting, applications support, and technology integration for hardware and software, as well as a Linux hotline, Bull said in a statement."

  • Here's an article about Lotus in News.com. "Among the big players in the enterprise groupware market, Lotus is the only one making noise so far about porting their products to Linux. Microsoft, which sells Windows, has no plans to support the open source operating system."

  • SGI is getting increasingly serious about Linux, according to this News.com article. "Beau Vrolyk, senior vice president for SGI's computer systems business unit, believes that in 10 years there will be only three operating systems in servers: Linux, Microsoft's Windows NT, and Monterey, a joint Unix project of IBM, Sequent, and Santa Cruz Operation." (Thanks to Anand Rangarajan).

  • News.com has a report on $25 million in investments going into VA Linux Systems from SGI, Intel, Sumitomo, Lehman Brothers, and "others." "VA isn't the only company in the Linux hardware business, but it does boast a more serious software and hardware research lab than most other Linux computer manufacturers--not to mention the notable investments."

    See also: VA's press release on the financing.

  • Cygnus will be shipping Code Fusion for Linux, according to VAR Business. "Cygnus' Code Fusion integrates the C, C++ and Java programming languages and is optimized for Intel Corp.'s Pentium II and Xeon processors, the company says. It will ship in mid-July and sell for $299 a seat, says the company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif."

  • Inter@ctive Week ran this article about the release of Cygnus's "Code Fusion" for Linux. "Analysts said the new integrated development environments will help put Linux on a par with the more mature operating systems."

  • VAR Business reports on the increasing acceptance of Linux. "Linux is no longer a hacker's OS. Most of today's Linux users are meeting real needs in their enterprises, rather than experimenting with a free OS."

  • Here's a Forbes article on Corel's strategy. "Chief Executive Officer Michael Cowpland thinks he's finally found a way to turn Corel into a software power capable of making Bill Gates sit up and take notice. In fact, he thinks he's found two ways--by getting his company's software bundled with cheap PCs and by developing products for Linux."

  • Dell is considering pushing Unix and Linux more strongly when 64-bit systems (presumably Merced-based) come out, according to this News.com article. "Speaking in an interview yesterday, [Michael] Dell praised Linux and said the newly popular operating system matches the PC maker's high-volume sales model." (Thanks to Mike Gerdts and Damon Poole).

  • Home Depot (a large US hardware/building materials chain) is considering putting Linux into its stores, according to this ComputerWorld story. "[Vice President] Anderson said Linux, or possibly Microsoft Corp.'s Windows CE, would allow the company to run a leaner, more manageable operating system on the clients. But an argument for choosing Linux over Windows CE is that the company's store client applications are written in Java, he said." (Thanks to Jerel Crosland).

  • Corporate users consider Linux says TechWeb. "It may be just a question of advertising said Joseph Sterner, a consultant with XI Consultants. 'Do you see Linux ads on TV? No,' he said. 'When you ask somebody how they like Linux, they say: 'They make good air conditioners.'"

  • Can Linux pass the CIO test? asks Intraware. The answer seems to be "yes." "As each day goes by, Linux is becoming more and more acceptable as an alternative network and desktop computer operating system." (Thanks to Benji Selano).

  • Computer Reseller News ran a poll to find out if resellers thought Linux was going anywhere. The results were positive but mixed. "Nearly half of the respondents cited office productivity applications, while 28 percent said Web applications were crucial to Linux's acceptance in the business workplace, and 26 percent cited antivirus applications."

  • Computer Currents reports on recent Linux developments. "...distributors are making Linux easier to install, bundling more application software, and slapping graphical interfaces atop the roiling, churning Unix code. They're even providing some semblance of technical support. Could this really be the dawning of a new age?"

  • Is Red Hat's stock worth buying? asks the Triangle Business Journal. "...Linux has failed to make serious inroads into the corporate market. Moreover, the system lacks the applications - graphics, word processing capabilities, databases - to compete with Microsoft's personal computer business."

and finally:

  • Salon Magazine has put up a page with all of their Linux-related stories. It's a good overview of what their coverage has been over the last year or so.

  • PC Week has an article about the Mindcraft benchmark rematch, which is being held in the PC Week labs. The article gives the impression that the tests are being substantially changed to address some of the complaints from the Linux side. "One of the modifications was to reduce the number of processors used in the test server from four to one, which will show how these operating systems operate on lower-end hardware. For this test, we also reduced the server's memory from 1GB to 256MB."

  • Passer a Linux is a lengthy series of articles (in French) in Vnu|Net France that starts with the advantages of Linux, passes through choosing distributions and installation, and even gets into a bit of system management. English text is available via Babelfish. (Found in NNL).

  • Here's a set of letters to the editor in the San Francisco Chronicle; they are in response to an "installation difficulties" story that they ran. "...I will admit that Linux is still not really ready for the beginner to install. But then, if you look at any other OS (even Windows), there's nothing on a PC platform that is." (Thanks to Michael Wittman).

  • The Fort Worth Star Telegram asks: is Linux right for you? The result is an introductory article of sorts. "Yet OS/2 is all but gone from general consumer computing, proof that something better doesn't necessarily mean marketing success. So why should Linux fare any better than an OS/2? It's not even owned by a big-name company . . . And that may prove to be its salvation."

  • PC World has run a long, detailed article on the Red Hat installation process. "...if you arrive at a question you can't answer, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to reboot, load Windows, hunt for the information you need in Device Manager or on the Web, and then start the installation process all over again."

  • This article in the (Louisville, KY) Courier-Journal is a combination introductory and "installation nightmare" piece. "Taking my business card and handing me a CD-ROM of his company's -- Caldera -- Linux package, the fellow smiled and said, 'I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.' He was half-right. I was indeed surprised . . . that I didn't take a sledgehammer to my computer after squandering two days trying to get the point-and-click Windows-like desktop to show up on my monitor." (Thanks to Chris Short).

  • Here's a confusing article about open source politics in Internet Week. "The most recent suggestion is to create something like a 'GNU Inside' logo to be issued with every Linux (or other Unix variant operating system) that makes use of GNU software. I don't mean to belittle the issue, but I can't imagine it could seriously undermine Linux's momentum if the GNU name was left out (sorry, Richard)."

Section Editor: Jon Corbet


June 24, 1999

 

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