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Linux and Business


ArsDigita Community System 4.0 Java release. This ZDNet article titled "ArsDigita gives Open Source a Try" makes it sound like the ArsDigita Community System (ACS) is just now being released as open source. In fact what's new is the Java-based version, ACS 4.0 Java that has just been released. The original ACS is a Tcl-based product. Both the Tcl-based product and the Java-based product are released under the GNU GPL and always have been according to Jim McManus, Director of Corporate Marketing at ArsDigita.

This press release contains more information about the ArsDigita Community System (ACS) 4.0 Java, which they believe is currently the only Open Source Java-based e-commerce system.

OEone to build appliance environment with Mozilla. The OEone Corporation has announced that it will be building its Operating Environment platform using Linux, Mozilla and a variety of components including productivity, entertainment, communications, and personal portal applications. This Operating Environment can be used in a host of Internet devices ranging from All-In-Ones, WebPads, SetTop Boxes, and Screen Phones. OEone-enabled devices are designed for accessibility to first-time computer users and mozilla.org hopes to gain widespread recognition as well.

Privacy Foundation report on TiVo. The Privacy Foundation has posted a report on TiVo's privacy practices, showing that the (Linux-based) device records a great deal of information on its users' habits. "The diagnostic log contains an enormous amount of information about the TiVo's device's internal processes. On one day, for instance, we observed almost 100 pages of information being deposited in the diagnostic log. We are not aware of any other consumer device that routinely transmits so much operational information to corporate headquarters."

TiVo, of course, claims that it carefully safeguards the information it collects on its users, and it may even be sincere. There is an important lesson to be learned from this report, though: just because a device is built with Linux does not mean that its designers are more concerned with customer privacy than designers of proprietary systems.

France Against Software Patents. The EuroLinux Alliance announced that State Secretary of Industry Christian Pierret, who is directly in charge of the French Patent Policy, stated in an interview, "I am against software patents in Europe. It would kill innovation and promote juridical terrorism because multinational software publishers would multiply legal disputes against start-ups".

Linux Steps Up: 23% Expected To Switch Over. SuSE has issued a press release with statistics from a TNS EMNID survey done in Germany. The results, however, are quite fun to hear. "According to a recent TNS EMNID survey, 56 percent of the interviewed PC users have heard of Linux and ten percent already use the alternative operating system at home or at work. ... Furthermore, 23 percent of the computer users consider switching to Linux when upgrading their equipment".

Carter Kohlmeyer also pointed out that some survey details were provided in the press release: "On behalf of SuSE Linux AG, telecommunication and IT market researchers of TNS EMNID interviewed 5,000 individuals, ages 14 and up, regarding the level of awareness and interest in the Linux operating system compared to Windows. The survey was realized from February 23 to March 9, 2001".

Red Hat breaks even. Red Hat has announced its 4th quarter results. The company brought in $27 million in the quarter, more than double last year's earnings. The total loss was $600,000, which is being presented as a break-even result, given that the loss is less than one cent per share.

Open source innovators join ActiveState. ActiveState has announced a reasonably impressive set of appointments to its technical advisory board: Larry Wall, Brendan Eich, Guido van Rossum, Rasmus Lerdorf, and Jon Udell.

Great Bridge and Zend announce partnership. Great Bridge and Zend Technologies have announced a partnership to tighten the integration between the PostgreSQL database the PHP scripting language.

Great Bridge also announced that PHP core developers Rasmus Lerdorf, Thies Arntzen and Sascha Schumann have joined the Great Bridge advisory committee.

Tucows, Infonautics announce merger. Tucows and Infonautics have announced a merger, with the resulting company to be called "Tucows." Tucows, of course, is the owner of LWN.net, so we, at least, are interested in this news...:) We don't expect that it will bring about changes in how LWN is operated.

SGI and Platform Computing Collaborate to Offer an EDA-Ready Linux Technical Compute Farm. SGI and Platform Computing Inc. announced the SGI Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Technical Compute Farm for Linux. The compute farm is based on the SGI 1100 server, featuring 32 1 GHz Pentium III processors. Platform's LSF (Load Sharing Facility) software is also a key component of the system.

Avaya Releases Linux Security Software. Avaya Labs announced it is releasing Libsafe 2.0, a version of its free security software for Linux. Libsafe version 2.0 adds the ability to protect against security attacks that exploit "format string" vulnerabilities in software.

Alias/Wavefront Ships Maya 3 For Linux. Alias|Wavefront, an SGI company, announced that it has ported its entire suite of Maya 3D software products to the Red Hat Linux operating system. The products - Maya Builder, Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited for Red Hat Linux 6.2 and higher - will all begin shipping this week.

Linux Stock Index for March 22 to March 28, 2001.

LSI at closing on March 22, 2001 ... 29.34
LSI at closing on March 28, 2001 ... 29.59
The high for the week was 31.37
The low for the week was 29.34

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Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol.


March 29, 2001

 

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