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Linux in the newsRecommended Reading Politics is Local, so Get Political Locally (Linux Journal)Linux Journal gets politically active with the NYLXS, the New York Linux Scene. "People come to the Free Software movement for a variety of reasons. Except for the most politically active members among us, the main reason is an attraction to the soundness of the technology and the freedom to access the computer systems we use. Another compelling reason is the economic incentives it can provide disenfranchised individuals as well as large businesses. It's a testimony to our current freedoms that we come to free software without a second thought to the underlining principles that allow for the existence of such systems. In our work promoting free software, we've been surprised how often, even in our own circles, there exists huge resistance to anything political or the least bit distasteful. As a population, we have learned to be skeptical of politicians and stubbornly apolitical."
When Dreamcasts attack (Register)The Register writes about the use of nearly disposable Dreamcast boxes loaded with Linux as hacking tools. "They chose the Dreamcast for its small size, availability of an Ethernet adapter, and affordability -- the console was discontinued last year, and now sells used for under $100 on eBay. Loaded with custom Linux-based software and covertly plugged into a spare network port under a desk or above a ceiling, the harmless-looking toy becomes the enemy within, probing the company firewall for a way out to Internet. The box cycles through the ports used for common services like SSH, Web surfing, and e-mail, which tend to be permitted by firewall configurations. Failing that, it tries getting "ping" packets out to the Internet, and finally looks for proxy servers bridging the network to the outside world."
DMCA defenders in enemy territory (News.com)News.com reports that the DMCA seems to be falling out of favor with some of its former backers. "Lofgren, who introduced the panel, said the DMCA has had unintended consequences. She said she signed off on the law because she was convinced it would be applied narrowly to prevent piracy, but instead it has been used to thwart technological development. "I think we have had a very wide set of anti-technology rules emerging from the courts," she said."
Girding Against the Copyright Mob (Wired)Wired News reports from a recent conference to discuss technology laws like DMCA. "When DigitalConsumer.org advocates say the personal computer revolution wouldn't have happened under today's copyright laws, it's easy to write their comments off as a paranoid. But it might not be far from the mark. From the labs at MIT in the late '50s to the free software and open-source programmers in the '90s, hacking has historically relied on an open and available flow of information. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has curtailed that flow of information."
Going hybrid (The Economist)The Economist says, Rumours of open-source software's demise are exaggerated. "Having shown that there is, in many cases, a better way to develop code is undoubtedly the open-source movement's biggest achievement so far. And if Linux does one day become the standard for operating systems, as some enthusiasts predict, it will have taught the computer industry that it is more efficient to maintain its software infrastructure collectively. This would be bad news for Microsoft and Sun, but it would benefit customers--through greater competition, lower prices and, not least, better software." (Thanks to David A. Wheeler)
Companies HP backs down on DMCA warning (News.com)News.com reports that HP has abandoned legal threats it made against security analysts who publicized flaws in the company's software. HP now states, "We can say emphatically that HP will not use the DMCA to stifle research or impede the flow of information that would benefit our customers and improve their system security..."
IBM Adds Support For VMware Server Software (TechWeb)TechWeb reports that IBM is now reselling and supporting VMware's ESX Server virtual partitioning software.
Competitors Mostly Silent As Microsoft Releases Code (The Seattle Times)The Seattle Times is not impressed with Microsoft's shared source offerings. "Tim Lee, president of Pogo Linux, a Redmond vendor of server products, said Microsoft isn't disclosing enough about Windows to make a difference."
Can software pull Sun out of its funk? (News.com)News.com interviews Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's executive vice president of software. "StarOffice is available free from OpenOffice or at a nominal price if you want to deploy that in an enterprise. Are we going to [be] building that? Yes. Do we believe there's a healthy market opportunity to deliver a Linux client and do call centers, payment processing centers, reservation systems and factory floor plants? Absolutely. You've already seen us tip our hand. We've delivered the office suite that's necessary. The Gnome community has delivered the user environment. All we need is a browser to make sure we round out the trio."
Sun puts Linux to work (ZDNet)ZDNet takes a look at Sun's latest Linux/Intel products. "Sun Chief Executive Scott McNealy is scheduled to announce the new servers Aug. 12 and its Linux plans Aug. 13 in the opening keynote of the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, according to an advisory and a Sun representative."
Business The Embedded Linux revolution and the innovator's advantage (LinuxDevices)LinuxDevices.com has a guest editorial from Kevin Morgan (MontaVista Software's VP of Engineering). Kevin offers his perspective on why and how Embedded Linux is revolutionizing the embedded systems software market. "The competitive advantages of embedded Linux are so significant that even companies satisfied with their proprietary solutions will be required to make this shift to remain competitive. The result will be the end of the traditional fragmentation of the embedded operating system (OS) industry. Embedded Linux will grow to be the dominant embedded OS solution with a majority market share."
Linux waddles from obscurity to the big time (USA Today)Yahoo!News has picked up this USA Today article which looks at how Linux is being used at banks, in goverments, and elsewhere. "Then Dresdner discovered a bonus: Linux, the upstart open-source operating system, was not only cheaper -- but also faster. The Unix servers took 17 hours to calculate how much cash the bank needed in reserve to offset its investment risk. The Linux servers made the same calculation in 11 minutes." (Thanks to Richard Storey)
Linux on the move (ZDNet)ZDNet paints a fairly glowing picture for the future of Linux in business. "Over the last year, many CIOs have moved from the sidelines to the playing field in the search for a successor to IBM MVS, AS/400 O/S, Sun Solaris, HP/UX, and Microsoft Windows NT/2000 in the data center. Based on recent announcements and rollouts, that successor might just turn out to be Linux--the one OS that will run on all today's hardware."
Linux sales fell in 2001, on rebound (Register)The Register reports that revenues from the Linux operating system dipped in 2001, according to the latest research from IDC. "According to the Framingham, Massachusetts-based market research company, worldwide revenue from Linux was down 5% in 2001 compared to the previous year. Despite that, revenue for the open source operating system is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 28% for the next five years, from $80m in 2001 to $280 in 2006."
Study: Linux sales down, but not out (News.com)News.com reports on the latest IDC study on Linux server sales. "'The Linux operating system market, from a revenue perspective, accounts for one half of 1 percent of the total operating system revenue each year, or roughly two days' worth of Microsoft's operating system revenue,' [IDC analyst Al] Gillen said. 'On the second day of January, Microsoft had generated more operating system revenue than the Linux community (will for the entire year).'"
Interviews The High-Volume Model (TechWeb)Tech Web talks to Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Computer. "Customers are looking for new approaches. "It's not going to be, 'Well, we're just going to do what we did two years ago and just pile more bricks on the wheelbarrow, doing the old stuff,'" Dell says. He cites a chief technology officer from a large investment bank who's spending just 3% of what the bank spent last year for another vendor's proprietary server hardware; the rest of the budget is going for hundreds of Dell servers running Linux."
Interview with Michael Bego, Xandros President (LinuxOrbit)LinuxOrbit interviews Michael Bego, president of Xandros. "Even today, with our substantial successes, many skeptics eyes begin to glaze over when you start to talk about Linux, let alone the desktop. I'm sure there were many obituaries written about Columbus as he set sail. The more people that you have saying the Earth is not flat, the more you will be able convince to travel to a New Land. The more that make the change, the better off they all are. We hope that millions will soon set sail for Xandros."
Resources OpenLDAP with Linux and Windows (Linux Journal)Linux Journal looks at the use of OpenLDAP for cross-platform authentication at the University of Verona. "The "Students" Project at the University of Verona is based on OpenLDAP (it's an open-source implementation of LDAP) for managing the centralized authentication of both Windows and Linux laboratories, as well as mail accounts for professors and students from all departments (use of Qmail, Courier and Imp)."
Embedded Linux Newsletter for August 1, 2002The LinuxDevices Embedded Linux Newsletter for August 1, 2002 is out, with coverage of the latest Embedded Linux developments.
Reviews Simputer, Hovering between Hope and Impatience (Linux Journal)LinuxJournal looks at the Simputer project. "A low-cost GNU/Linux device is in its final stages in India. Sitting in the palm of my hand, the Simputer, emerging from the tech city of Bangalore, India, has generated a mix of hope and pessimism that few hardware products from India ever have. But will the Simputer work as promised?"
'Low cost' Linux-based PDA unveiled at Taipei Linux Expo (LinuxDevices)LinuxDevices.com takes a look at a new low-cost Chinese Linux-based PDA from Taipei-based Esfia. "The Esfia PDA runs a customized version of uClinux, a variation of Linux for MMU-less processors such as the device's ARM7TDMA-based Samsung SC44BOX. In addition to Linux, the PDA's software stack includes a PIM app suite, office-type apps with Word and Excel file compatibility, and a range of useful utilities..."
Miscellaneous Software licensing act amended (News.com)News.com looks into proposed amendments to UCITA. "The Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA), introduced three years ago, is meant to protect software developers from intellectual property theft by resolving conflicting software licensing laws that vary from state to state. But critics complained that the proposed laws favored corporate interests over consumers by granting software makers too much freedom in restricting the use of their software and dictating settlement terms for conflicts."
Hollywood Steps Up Its Assault on the Net While Webcasting Death March Claims KPIG (Linux Journal)Linux Journal covers the closing of KPIG's (105 Oink 7 on the FM dial) Linux powered internet feed. "KPIG was the first commercial radio station to broadcast on the Web. After more than seven years on the air, it had become one of the most popular webcasts in the world (and one that was almost entirely Linux-based). Suddenly it was gone. From there the news got worse. All over the country, webcasts were dropping like bad packets. The casualty list went bubonic, becoming too long and growing too fast to count. "
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
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