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Linux and business


Linux Today has been acquired by internet.com. The associated press release talks about what Internet.com is up to ("internet.com operates a network of 77 Web sites, 65 E-mail newsletters, 99 online discussion forums and 71 moderated E-mail discussion lists with over 1.8 million unique visitors that generate more than 75 million page views monthly.") but says very little about what will happen with Linux Today. Linux Today itself has been almost entirely silent on the matter.

Internet.com's strategy, clearly, is to compete with Andover.net in the "large collection of Internet and Linux sites" category. Linux is seen as a growing area, and these big network companies smell money. They may well be right. It is certainly true that few of the "old time" Linux sites remain independent.

LWN has learned that LinuxToday founder Dave Whitinger is leaving as a part of this acquisition; LinuxToday will henceforth be in the hands of co-founder Dwight Johnson and managing editor Martin Pitts. Dave wasn't talking much about where he is going, other than to say that he sees no end of opportunities in the Linux space. He will not be competing with LinuxToday. Dave gave us a parting statement:

"Linux Today has grown into an enormously successful Linux news site over the past 13 months, and I wouldn't have turned it over to Dwight and internet.com if I wasn't confident in Dwight's commitment to Linux and Free Software, as well as internet.com's new commitment to their new customers (the Linux community).

"The Linux space is just starting to open up. Some people are saying, 'Linux has finally made it.' While it's true that Linux is finally starting to be accepted in the corporate world, we've still only started to scratch the surface. There is still a lot of work to do before we reach our goal for Total World Domination by the year 2003 (tip of the hat to Dr. Greg Wettstein). On the brink of World Domination, there are more opportunities than there are people to take them. I'm not leaving the community - not by a long shot! I'll now be available to push forward for the community like never before.

"I wish Dwight, Marty, and the Linux community's new friends at internet.com the best of luck in their venture. Auf Wiedersehen, amigos."

LWN wishes luck to both Linux Today and Dave in their new initiatives.

ATI supports Linux ATI, a manufacturer of video cards, announced support for Linux and the opening up of programming information for its products. In particular, ATI will be releasing 3D programming information that was not available before, and will be contracting out the development of drivers to be donated to the XFree86 project.

This is, of course, exactly the pattern that rational hardware vendors should be following. ATI makes hardware, and wants people to buy that hardware. By making information about the hardware available, and by supporting the development of drivers for that hardware, ATI is making its hardware more attractive to Linux users. It is most nice to see hardware vendors waking up to free software in this manner.

Active Server Pages for Linux. Halcyon announces that its Active Server Pages "servlet" can be found on the Red Hat 6.1 applications CD. Linux users may not thrill at the thought of adding ".asp" pages to their web sites, but this capability could prove to be a crucial migration path for people currently running web sites on less reliable systems. Linux has always been good at building bridges to other systems, and an ASP implementation should only help in that regard.

Corel puts up advocacy material. Corel has put up a set of articles on its web site promoting Linux. Linux outside the Fortune 500 looks at the use of Linux in small businesses. "The sheer number of companies, large and small, that are delivering, supporting and using Linux should increase your confidence in the future of Linux, as well as your ability to get some help should you need it."

Making the grade with Linux talks about why students might want to use Linux. "The thought of installing a UNIX®-like OS on a personal computer seems ridiculous if not intimidating, especially if you're new to Linux. But there are several important factors that make Linux the ideal operating system for any student wanting a stable, viable alternative to 'that other OS'" (Thanks to Michael Katz-Hyman).

Corel has also straightened out its beta test license. Bruce Perens reports on Technocrat that the new license from Corel for the beta version of its Linux distribution no longer contains obnoxious redistribution restrictions. The license is now compliant with the GPL - and other open source licenses - that cover the software Corel is distributing.

SuSE supports Linux internationalization effort. SuSE announces its charter role in the Li18nux project. The goal of this project is to come up with standards for internationalized Linux that will eventually become part of the Linux Standard Base.

LinuxTShirts.com launched. In a different sort of Linux public offering, LinuxTShirts.com has gone live. Their offerings are not readily downloadable, but they do take patches well...

Press Releases:

    Products for Linux:

  • Breakthrough Software, Inc. announced the availability of its e-commerce solution for Cobalt Networks Linux-based server appliances.

  • Citrix Systems, Inc. announced that Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) will be included with Red Hat Linux 6.1.

  • Clickshare Service Corp. announced a new platform for Internet purchase of text, sound, music and other digital objects. Clickshare 2.0, has been optimized to work on websites running Red Hat Linux 6.1 and the Apache web server.

  • Cobalt Networks, Inc. ntroduced the Cobalt Management Appliance. This system is specifically designed to allow system administrators to monitor and perform management tasks on large installations of Cobalt RaQ server appliances from a single management console.

  • Computone announced that it has contributed drivers for its "IntelliPort" products into the kernel source tree.

  • e-Parcel announced that its e-Parcel data delivery system is available for Linux.

  • There is now an Italian version of the Linux Journal available, both in the newsstands and on the net.

  • OnStream announced an open-source beta driver for the OnStream Echo 30 gigabyte* IDE digital storage drive.

  • OpenShop Internet Software announced QCommerce, a new software package designed for shopping solutions for Cobalt Networks Linux server applications.

  • Pervasive Software Inc. announced Pervasive.SQL 2000 Server, now available for Red Hat Linux, Caldera OpenLinux, and SuSE Linux.

  • Ziatech has several Linux related announcements in this press release.

    Products with Linux support or Linux versions:

  • Artificial Life, Inc. a developer of "smart-bots", announced the release of ALife-PortfolioManager Version 1.0.

  • AXENT Technologies, Inc. declares their Raptor Firewall product is inaccessible to almost every hack.

  • Compaq Computer Corporation announced the Compaq Enterprise Toolkit V2.0 for 64-bit applications.

  • Ecrix Corporation announced new pricing for the VXA-1 tape drive.

  • Hummingbird Communications Ltd. announced Hummingbird's SearchServer 4.0.

  • KL Group Inc. released of JClass 4.0.1, Java components and development tools.

  • Lineo announced that Embrowser, Lineo's embedded micro Web browser, and DR DOS, one of Lineo's embedded operating system platforms, have been selected for Multicode's iMigo, a Latin American-bound Internet set-top device. Linux versions are in development.

  • Luminex announced the Power-Press product line of network ready, multi-user CD duplication and printing solutions. The Power-Press product line directly connects to a UNIX or Linux server and supports Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX clients.

  • Mainsoft Corporation announced it is developing a version of MainWin for the Linux environment. MainWin will allow software developers to re-host Windows NT applications on Linux.

  • Mapletree Networks, Inc. announced the initial rollout of its MTN2100, UniPorte Architecture-based PCI card in Ariel Corporation's PCI plug-in RS4200 remote access solution.
    See also -
    Ariel Corp. announced the RS4200, a new high-density 56K/ISDN remote access solution for Linux and Windows NT.

  • PowerQuest Corporation announced the release of PartitionMagic 5.0.

  • RocketTalk, Inc. announced a new Java platform-based version that will include video messaging option/feature for RocketTalk. RocketTalk 2.1.00 is scheduled for full release in early 2000.

  • RTIME, Inc. announced the availability of its networking engine for Macromedia's Shockwave.

  • Sybergen Networks announced SyAccess 3.1, a software solution that offers integrated management tools to maximize Internet access performance in small- to medium-sized networking environments.

  • VERITAS announced a new release of VERITAS Backup Exec. The Multi Server Edition has been enhanced to support Linux.

  • WebCT announced WebCT 2.0, a teaching and learning platform.

    Partnerships, Investments and Acquisitions:

  • Compaq and Red Hat announced a joint support arrangement. The core of the deal seems to be that Compaq's support organization can fall back on Red Hat for the most difficult problems.

  • ORBiT Software, vendors of backup software, has announced a developer partnership with Red Hat. Also, their "UNiBACK" software is on the 6.1 applications CD.

  • Cygnus Solutions announced that CompUSA will sell Cygnus' Linux and UNIX software.

  • eSoft Inc. announced a distribution agreement and initial order with IT Resources Pte Ltd, to sell eSoft's Linux-based products throughout Singapore and India.

  • Here's the Linux Mall's press release regarding the investment they have received from SCO. (See The October 14 LWN for coverage of this investment).

  • Sun Microsystems announced the acquisition of NetBeans, "a Leading Supplier of Java-Based IDE for Linux."

  • SuSE GmbH appointed LinuxIT as their first Business Partner for marketing cooperation and technical support for SuSE Linux in the UK.

  • WebManage Technologies announced it will acquire Commonwealth Network Technologies, of Cambridge, Mass. Their new products will be compatible with both Windows NT and LINUX platforms, and are expected to be commercially available during the fourth quarter of 1999.

    Several companies announce their 3rd quarter results.
    Linux seems to be profitable for them.

  • Ancor Communications, Inc.

  • Applix, Inc.

  • Bell Microproducts Inc.

  • Computer Associates International

  • Concentric Network Corporation

  • internet.com Corporation

  • Magic Software Enterprises

  • Navarre Corporation

  • WebTrends Corporation

    Other:

  • Cobalt Networks Inc., manufacturer of Linux-based server appliances, disclosed more information on their upcoming IPO.

  • EBIZ Enterprises, Inc. a developer and distributor of Linux computer systems, announced that the Company has completed and filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to qualify as a reporting company under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.

  • internet.com announced that it has appointed Kevin Reichard as managing editor of LinuxPlanet.com.

    Linuxcare proclaimed it's role in the NetAid event. "Linuxcare, Inc.... played an important role in assisting the NetAid Development Team with building, testing, and launching the Linux-based NetAid Web site."

  • Metro Link announced that it will donate a piece from each Metro-X and Motif sale to X.Org and Linux International.

  • Visit the Rave Computer Association booth at ISPCON Fall and you could win a Rave Systems RackMount-2UAXi. You can choose to have Red Hat Linux 6.1 pre-loaded.

Section Editor: Jon Corbet.


October 21, 1999

 

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