2004 Linux Timeline: January
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![[Red Hat]](https://static.lwn.net/images/tl/redhat.jpg){kind=small}
Red Hat issues $500 million in bonds, adding to its already
substantial cash pile (press
release).
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But what does it mean to "use free software"? Does that mean
escaping from proprietary software, or merely installing free
programs alongside it? Are we aiming to lead people to freedom, or
just introduce them to our work? In other words, are we working for
freedom, or have we replaced that goal with the shallow goal of
popularity?
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The GNU Project celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Jon Johansen is acquitted of all charges related to DeCSS, finally, after prosecutors decide not to take the case to Norway's Supreme Court.
Novell completes its acquisition of SUSE (announcement) and offers
indemnification to its Enterprise Linux customers (announcement).
![[OSDL]](https://static.lwn.net/images/tl/osdl.png)
OSDL sets up a $10 million legal defense fund for Linux users (announcement).
Red Hat donates its eCos copyrights to the Free Software Foundation (announcement).
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The fact that I'm fleeing the country should in no way be construed
as anything sinister at all, no siree. Nope. I'm innocent, and nobody saw
me do it.
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Linus releases 2.6.1 (announcement).
The SCO Group files suit against Novell claiming "slander of title."
Red Hat launches its "Open Source Assurance Program," where it promises its customers it will replace any software which runs afoul of somebody's patents or copyrights (announcement).
![[Linus]](https://static.lwn.net/images/ns/lca/lt-grimace.jpg)
Linus gets dunked along with several other community leaders, at
Linux.Conf.Au (coverage).
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 gains EAL3+ certification, with help from IBM (announcement).
Mozilla 1.6 is released (announcement).
Well, you don't get to be a kernel hacker simply by looking good in
Speedos.
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HP claims over $2.5 billion in Linux-based revenue for 2003 (announcement).
OSDL launches a desktop Linux working group (announcement).
The MyDoom worm infects the net and sets up a denial of service attack against SCO's web site.
The GPL (which its authors call "copyleft" to emphasize that it is
the opposite of copyright) should not be allowed to continue to
undermine the foundation of one of our most important industries. I
ask that you consider this very carefully in your role as one of
our nation's leaders.
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Michael K. Johnson leaves Red Hat and the Fedora project; he later turns up at Specifix. Cristian Gafton becomes the new Fedora leader.
KOffice 1.3 is released (announcement).
Mandrakesoft reports a €280,000 profit, its first in years (shareholder newsletter).
Version 2 of the Apache license is approved despite some lingering doubts in some quarters (announcement).
The Bunner DVD case is dropped, effectively killing any chances of establishing the content scrambling system as a trade secret (EFF advisory).
The XFree86 project changes its license; the new one is widely considered to be non-free (announcement).
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