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Linux in the news
Recommended Reading
Reconsidering Linux (News.com)
Ian Murdock says "Linux is not a product. It is a process.", in this article on News.com. "Let's step back a bit and look at why people are flocking to Linux. It's an open platform that is not owned or controlled by any single company. It comes with unmatched customization, optimization and integration possibilities. It is the ideal "invisible engine" for driving the next generation of applications and services. And it gives its users greater control over the evolution of the underlying platform, putting the user firmly in control of product release timelines and rollout schedules. In short, with Linux, the balance of power has finally shifted back from company to user."
SCO License Fees Would Hurt Linux Market (ZDNet)
Here is the latest Gartner pronouncement on SCO, via ZDNet. "Don't ignore the problem by hoping IBM will win or settle its lawsuit (that could take a year or more). An IBM win would not prevent SCO from pursuing individual claims, which, if successful, could cost far more in penalties than buying a SCO license would." The article as a whole is somewhat FUDdish, but it may well be true that the community is putting too much of its faith in IBM's lawyers.
Big Blue assuages customers about SCO (News.com)
News.com reports that IBM is sending memos to its customers. "SCO's latest actions broadened its case against Linux beyond the $3 billion lawsuit it has filed against IBM. Likewise, IBM's new message to its sales force--the chief way it communicates with customers--is a significant expansion of its defense over the narrower memos it sent earlier. Those memos said that IBM will stand by its customers and defend itself vigorously."
SCO's claims have absolutely no credibility (ZDNet)
Here's a ZDNet opinion column about SCO which pulls no punches. There's not much new there for LWN readers, but it's nice to see it all together in that forum. "SCO's System V copyrights do not include rights to any of the code they are discussing: RCU, NUMA, JFS, SMP. RCU is patented by IBM. NUMA is not present in System V, and was independently developed by Sequent, SGI, and IBM (not SCO). SMP in Linux was originally assisted by SCO Caldera, and newer work includes functionality that no SCO product has ever included. IBM authored JFS originally for OS/2, not System V."
Companies
Novell sets date for move towards Linux (vnunet)
Novell will support Linux with its next release of the NetWare platform. "The firm described the offering as "a key stepping stone as customers prepare for future NetWare versions when all NetWare features will also run on Linux". Novell recently detailed plans for the launch later this year of Novell Nterprise Linux Services, which extends many of the network services in NetWare 6.5 to Linux servers."
SCO Group Gains Psychological Edge (ZDNet)
Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio was one of the people who signed the SCO NDA and came away talking about what a great case SCO had. If there was any question of where she is coming from, this Yankee pronouncement (on ZDNet) should make things clear. "SCO has wisely elected to adopt a flexible and reasonable position on the licensing fees it seeks from IBM corporate customers... SCO is well advised to pursue its current course and not seek retroactive fees dating back two years ago when IBM first shipped Linux 2.4."
Legal commentators weigh SCO's chances (Inquirer)
Here's an article in the Inquirer on SCO's real mistake: upsetting the free software community. "Judging from its statements, SCO did not anticipate that Linux developers and users would oppose its schemes so passionately and publicly. But it should have known that it couldn't attempt to steal the work of thousands of people with impunity. SCO has miscalculated -- attacking Open Source will prove its undoing in the final reckoning."
Trade Practices Act Is Basis for Australian Complaint Against SCO (Linux Journal)
Con Zymaris explains how the Australian Trade Practices Act is being used against SCO in this Linux Journal article, and encourages similar action worldwide. "You should alert your consumer watchdog that you believe that SCO is entering into conduct both misleading and deceptive to all Linux users in your country. SCO has no verified claims whatsoever on Linux, and the company is using the press to scare Linux users into forking over money for protection."
SCO execs cash in on suit spotlight (ZDNet)
Bear with us as we put up one more SCO story. ZDNet has finally gotten around to looking at insider trading in SCO stock. "Considering the company has only 13.5 million shares floating around, it is conceivable that the issuance of 45 million shares at a tenth of a cent each may dilute the list price somewhat."
Sun Sees Road To Prosperity Paved With Its Own Products (TechWeb)
TechWeb looks at Sun's plans. "Although Sun no longer makes its own Linux distribution on the server side, it plans to release by October its open-source Mad Hatter desktop operating system. Sun claims to have 60 PC makers, including Dell and Sony, lined up for Mad Hatter."
Unilever Joins OSDL
The consumer products company Unilever has joined the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL). ""Unilever is a significant addition to OSDL's membership and is the first of many Global 2000 corporations that we expect will be joining us to contribute in improving Linux," said Stuart Cohen, CEO of OSDL. "We have expanded our charter to increase our participation in the Linux development community and with IT vendors, and with Unilever to begin investing in more programs for corporations to help ensure that Linux meets their requirements and solves their real-world business problems."" Thanks to Craig Oda.
SuSE, SAP team on customer support (News.com)
News.com reports on a partnership between SuSE and the database company SAP. "The new support deal between the two companies is aimed at streamlining the process for customers who run SAP business software on the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server. SuSE said those customers can now receive centralized support from engineers specifically trained in the combination of SuSE and SAP software. The engineers will provide assistance ranging from help with SAP applications to assistance with issues surrounding the Linux source code."
Linux Adoption
Web sites unfazed by SCO threats (News.com)
News.com reports that web sites continue to shift toward Linux, despite threats from SCO. "In May, SCO Group sent about 1,500 large companies letters alleging that Linux illegally includes Unix intellectual property SCO owns. SCO went a step further Monday, saying companies could avoid potential legal action by paying a licensing fee. But a survey shows that large companies are increasingly using Linux for their Web sites."
Why governments should be allowed to specify Open Source software (NewsForge)
Robin 'Roblimo' Miller takes a look at some government and military specifications to show that open source specifications are not so outlandish. "If the federal government suddenly decided to acquire and use nothing but Open Source software, this would not stop Microsoft, Adobe, and other big proprietary software vendors from bidding on government contracts. It would simply mean they'd need to open some of their source code if they wanted to do business with the government."
Open Asia: Under the radar, FLOSS thrives (NewsForge)
NewsForge looks at GNU/Linux in Asia. "GNU/Linux is already reporting some interesting deployments in the populous cash-strapped countries of the region. In India, it is no coincidence that a number of low-cost PCs hitting the market are now opting for Free Software-based solutions. China has already worked out national distros of GNU/Linux that are in the local language and also meet national concerns in terms of security. Pakistan has seen government initiatives to boost the role of FLOSS, so as to become less dependent on proprietary software, with it accompanying allegations of piracy against countries with low incomes and poor conversion rates against the dollar. Thailand is finding GNU/Linux a useful solution in its Schoolnet program."
Interviews
Galeon Developers Interview (Galeon)
Here's an interview with some of the Galeon developers on the Galeon website. This MozillaZine article has a pointer to the article and to discussions on the article. When asked about the health of the project Yanko Kaneti wrote: "Pretty healthy all things considered. Not being "the official GNOME browser". Excluded from Red Hat rawhide. Dissed for all the wrong reasons by uninformed people. - Yet people still seem to be interested and most importantly "external" patches seem to have picked up recently, which is just great. Many thanks."
Interview with Brian Kernighan (Linux Journal)
Linux Journal has an interview with Brian Kernighan, one of the creators of AWK and AMPL. "LJ: You have worked in Bell Labs, alongside Bjarne Stroustrup, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. What kind of relations do you have with them? Were you like a big, wise family? BK: We were all friends and close colleagues for many years, all in the same small group at Bell Labs. Ken, Dennis and I are all about the same age, and we all came to the Labs about the same time; Bjarne came 10 years later. I wouldn't call it family, but it was definitely good friends, and I miss seeing them all every day, which is the way it was for many years."
Interview with Bruce Eckel
The Borland developer network features an interview of Bruce Eckel. "OOP guru Bruce Eckel talks about his initial skepticism about C# (but now calls it "a better Java"), wishes Borland would create a Python IDE, explains why he's suspicious of Mono, and asks us to click the wombat."
Resources
Making Mac and Linux play nicely together (NewsForge)
Joe Barr writes about his experiences networking an eMac to a Linux box. "I recently decided to start making more use of a neglected computer of mine. It's an eMac that has been sitting quietly on my kitchen table the past two years. I decided to explore how best to share files, printers, and applications between a Macintosh and my desktop Linux box."
Building a wireless access point on Linux (IBM developerWorks)
Peter Seebach shows how to set up a Linux-based wireless access point on IBM's developerWorks. "n this article, I'll take you through the process of building a wireless access point running Linux. I won't cover every last line of code, every intermediate step, or every detail of hardware; that would take a book and would be obsolete by the time you read it. The goal is to show you what kinds of concerns and pitfalls you'll face should you want to do this. For this piece, we build the access point to operate as a bridge; simply forwarding packets between the wireless network and a local ethernet. This allows wireless devices to simply be turned on and attached using your existing network -- no new configuration, no special routing."
Reviews
Scribus excels at DTP (NewsForge)
NewsForge reviews Scribus 1.0. "It still has bugs to be found and fixed, features to be added, distribution-specific installation and quirks to be resolved, and documentation to be written. But even with that to-do list, it's starting in much better shape than Seabiscuit did. Scribus is destined to join the GIMP as one of the crown jewels of the free software world."
Zinf: The Linux Answer to iTunes
A review of Zinf, with comparisons to other Linux music players, as been published. "Zinf is a fairly new arrival on the scene of Linux music players. Yet, it already has the grace and feature set of a mature application. This is due to the fact that is a descendent of the defunct freea*p project. Zinf smoothly handles playing sound files, CD tracks and streams from the Internet."
Miscellaneous
WorldWatch Week in Review (Linux Journal)
This week's WorldWatch Week in Review from Linux Journal covers FUD-slinging from SCO, Linux in Afganistan and a guest editorial reprint from LinuxFrench.net on the EU patent vote, and other news from around the world.
Page editor: Forrest Cook
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