See also: last week's Commerce page.

Linux and Business

World domination in 2001?. Probably not. But in 2000, we've seen that Linux is taking over the server market becoming increasingly entrenched in the embedded market and in the high-end, high-availability, super-computing arena. So what's left? The desktop, of course.

Now the desktop for a personal computer is more than just a nice GUI interface, a good browser, office suites and other applications. It's all that and much more. In particular, it is an interface to good games. Many people who buy PCs do so just as much for the games as for the more practical applications. So, as we head into 2001, we'd like to take a look at the state of games for Linux.

Every good desktop needs a good solitaire package. The games included with KDE and GNOME provide that but, if that is not quite enough for you, check out the Open Source (GNU GPL) package PySol which should fill the gaps. Check out this GeekComics strip as well.

For those that want to purchase Linux games, we suggest checking out Tux Games. In early January 2000, they announced their decision to dedicate themselves to selling Linux games on-line and they are still out there with the same purpose. There are other outlets for Linux games, but few are as focused.

What games are available to purchase for Linux? Loki Software has ported or is working on porting several popular games to Linux, including "Heavy Gear II", "MindRover: The Europa Project", "Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns", "Myth II: Soulblighter", "Quake III Arena", "Sim City 3000 Unlimited" and many more. Of course, Loki is not the only developer of Linux games. It is becoming more common for game developers to make a Linux version of their new games available.

So far though, the number of titles available for Windows still dwarfs the titles available for Linux. Games may seem unimportant to some, but Linux will never achieve world domination until we are a true competitor in the gaming arena as well.

Hungry Minds, Red Hat Create Red Hat Press. Red Hat and Hungry Minds, the company formerly known as IDG Books Worldwide, have announced a joint title publishing agreement to produce books for Red Hat products.

Red Hat One of the Fastest-Growing Technology Companies. Red Hat announced that the company ranked Number 193 on the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on five-year percentage revenue growth from 1995-1999.

Perl WebStats from Gallant Technologies. Version 3.0 of Perl WebStats was released on New Year's day by Gallant Technologies. This is a major release and includes various object oriented feature enhancements, support for both GIF and PNG, a reduction in dependencies on external programs and a new template engine. Perl WebStats is licensed under the GPL.

Press Releases:

Proprietary Products for Linux

• OTG Software (BETHESDA, Md.) announced DiskXtender for Linux, new storage software that supports the Red Hat Linux platform.

Products and Services Using Linux

• eSniff, Inc. (DENVER) announced the availability of the eSniff 1100 Linux-based appliance, a plug-and-play hardware device designed to end the problem of computer network abuse.

Products with Linux Versions

• Central Command Inc. (MEDINA, Ohio) announced that within the last 45 days more than 475,000 people have downloaded AVX virus protection software. The press release doesn't say how many are Linux versions.

• Dirig Software (NASHUA, N.H.) announced that it has released a new Specific Application Manager (SAM) for proactively managing ColdFusion, the Web application server solution from Allaire Corporation.

• Merlin Software Technologies (BURNABY, B.C.) announced the public release of Communicado FAX 4.0. This is a beta version, available for download.

• The SCO Server Software Division (SANTA CRUZ, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif.) and Allegrix, Inc., the ASP (Application Service Provider) infrastructure provider for the channel, announced the availability of the Allegrix ASP-in-a-Box Program for the SCO SSD reseller channel.

Java Products

• Inprise Corporation (SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.) announced that the most recent version of its cross-platform development environment written in entirely in Java, JBuilder 4, was selected as a finalist in the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) Codie Awards in the Best Application Development Product category.

Personnel

• LynuxWorks, Inc. (SAN JOSE, Calif.) announced Albert McCabe has been promoted to vice president of worldwide sales.

• NetSilicon, Inc. (WALTHAM, Mass.) announced that Richard C. (Dick) Andersen has been appointed Vice President of Engineering & Product Marketing. In this role, Andersen will direct strategy and product development efforts for NetSilicon's NET+Works solutions. Andersen, 51, will be responsible for expanding NetSilicon's product leadership in embedded systems, as well as developing and implementing NetSilicon's open source initiatives.

Linux/Open Source At Work

• Jabber.com, Inc. (DENVER) announced that open source Jabber has been selected as the instant messaging service for the iWon portal.

Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol.

Next: Linux in the news