Linux in the news

Android and Open Source (ABN)

Here is a serious criticism of the Android project posted to the Android Blogging Network. "In a successful hybrid open/closed project, the open source releases drive the closed source forks. Witness Apache httpd (open) and IBM httpd (closed). They have the same codebase, and - shockingly - its not the one in IBM’s secret dungeons that generates new releases. IBM does do their own set of releases, but they work just like everyone else - by taking changes from the open tree and integrating their closed code. Google works with Android in exactly the opposite way - development is done mainly in secret, and occasionally someone takes the time to audit it and dump a huge, unmanageable set of changes into the open source tree."

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HIMSS Day 1: Medsphere

Fred Totter presents a report on HIMSS day1. "This is the first article I am writing from HIMSS09. I am here on a press pass provided by LinuxMedNews. I am focusing on FOSS here at HIMSS. I am, by tribal law, required to make a certain amount of Star Wars analogies when blogging and I recently categorized HIMSS as “the empire” with regards to health it. Of course the FOSS movement in health IT would be the rebel alliance in my analogy."

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PIM Hackers Boost Akonadi Into The Future (KDEDot)

KDE.News covers a recent Akonadi developer meeting. "This weekend the A-Team (Akonadi, not Amarok) gathered in KDAB's office in the heart of Berlin to push the Akonadi PIM storage database to the next level. On Friday afternoon, after everybody arrived, the meeting started with a series of presentations to get everybody on the same page with respect to progress in various parts of Akonadi."

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HP Interviews Android for Netbook Position (TechNewsWorld)

TechNewsWorld reports that HP is considering the use of the Android platform for its Netbooks. "HP has confirmed it is considering Google's Android operating system for use in upcoming netbook computers. However, the company has not set a time line for deciding whether to offer Android exclusively or as one of several OS options for its products, if at all, according to Marlene Somsak, an HP spokesperson. "We are studying Android. We want to assess its capabilities," she told LinuxInsider. If HP decides in favor of using Android, it could well become the first major PC vendor to use Google's OS, currently deployed in smartphones."

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IBM Lets Sun Set (Linux Journal)

Linux Journal's Justin Ryan looks into the latest news involving IBM's plans to acquire Sun Microsystems. "Reports surfaced late this evening that computing giant IBM — which has been in talks for some time to buy Sun Microsystems — has pulled its $7 billion offer to buy the struggling company. According to reports, IBM withdrew the offer after Sun's Board of Directors made "onerous" requests following IBM's decision to lower its offer for the firm. IBM initially offered $9.55 per share, but dropped that offer to $9.40 — less than a $1.00 premium on Sun's current stock price — due in part, it says, to the discovery that far more senior employees than originally expected are covered by "change of control" contracts."

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Red Hat Opts for Pragmatism Over Glitz (NY Times)

Ashlee Vance takes a look at Red Hat and the "consumer rat race". "Behold Jim Whitehurst's iron-willed pragmatism. Mr. Whitehurst, the chief executive at Red Hat, sees the Linux revolution taking place with mobile devices. In 2009, Linux will land on more cellphones and mainstream computers than ever before — thanks to the efforts of companies like Google with Android, Canonical with Ubuntu and Intel with Moblin. As this onslaught of devices threatens to make Linux a household name, Red Hat, the most prominent Linux brand on the planet, will keep its iconic logo locked away in the data center, running on servers."

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Samsung's Android Phone Plans (Forbes)

Forbes reports that Samsung has plans to release several Android devices this year. "Despite a fanatical amount of interest from the tech media and early adopters, Samsung has mostly kept quiet about its plans to develop phones using Google's mobile platform, Android. But at the CTIA Wireless trade show, an executive shared with Forbes some details about the company's Android strategy."

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Morgan Stanley Growing Its Use of Linux (Wall Street and Technology)

Wall Street & Technology looks at the use of Linux by the financial firm Morgan Stanley. "Anthony Golia, executive director of enterprise computing at Morgan Stanley, told attendees at the High Performance Linux on Wall Street show this morning that his firm has been using Linux in a big way since 2001. "We use it because it performs well on inexpensive, commodity hardware," Golia said. "That continues to be true and that continues to be a reason we use it." Golia said Morgan Stanley likes the open source Linux operating system, for one thing, because whenever a bug emerges, "there's a large and diverse group of minds looking at how to fix it.""

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Light and Cheap, Netbooks Are Poised to Reshape PC Industry (New York Times)

The New York Times takes a look at the netbook revolution. "Netbook makers have turned to Linux, an open-source operating system that costs $3 instead of the $25 that Microsoft typically charges for Windows XP. They are also exploring the possibility of using the Android operating system from Google, originally designed for cellphones. (Companies like Acer, Dell and Hewlett-Packard already sell some Atom-based netbooks with Linux.)" (Thanks to Mark Tall)

Comments (39 posted)

TomTom Settlement Aftermath: Get the FAT Out (Groklaw)

Groklaw recommends a FAT-free diet to avoid Microsoft patent liability issues. "The Linux Foundation's Jim Zemlin got the same message from the TomTom story that I did: just get rid of Microsoft's FAT filesystem: "The technology at the heart of this settlement is the FAT filesystem. As acknowledged by Microsoft in the press release, this file system is easily replaced with multiple technology alternatives. The Linux Foundation is here to assist interested parties in the technical coordination of removing the FAT filesystem from products that make use of it today." OK. Sounds like a plan. There clearly is no "new" Microsoft, and they have evidenced now a lack of interest in any real interoperability with FOSS."

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Hard Times May Boost Linux in Financial Services (HPCwire)

HPCwire talks with Inna Kuznetsova, director of IBM's Linux Strategy at the High Performance Linux on Wall Street conference in New York. "Kuznetsova: Linux has unique attributes that help to improve savings. You cannot only reduce the costs with often lower rates but also eliminate CALs to avoid upgrade penalties. Paying for a subscription instead of a license provides for a higher degree of flexibility should the customer decide to reduce resources, as often happens during an economic downturn. Standardizing on Linux reduces the number of skilled resources needed to manage multiple environments -- and at the same time, a customer can select the best hardware platform for a particular workload. Also, during mergers, Linux, because it runs on the broadest set of hardware platforms, often becomes the "common denominator," providing for a streamlined integration."

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Shuttleworth: Windows 7 an Opportunity for Linux (internetnews.com)

internetnews.com interviews Ubuntu's Mark Shuttleworth. "Microsoft might be betting big on Windows 7, the next version of its flagship operating system, but to Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth, the upcoming release is really an opportunity for Linux to shine. Granted, Linux on the desktop has not made as much of a dent against Windows as it has in the datacenter. But Shuttleworth, who is also CEO of Ubuntu's commercial backer Canonical, figures the desktop itself and the applications that people are using are changing in ways that make the coming desktop battle different than it has ever been before."

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20 of the Best Free Linux Books (LiNUXLiNKS.com)

LiNUXLiNKS.com has posted a list of their favorite free Linux books. "Individuals wanting to learn about the Linux operating system have a large selection of books to choose from. There are many thousands of informative Linux books which are in-print and available to download or buy at reasonable cost. However, as many users are attracted to Linux for the very reason that it is available under a freely distributable license, some will also want this to extend to the documentation they read. The focus of this article is to select some of the finest Linux books which are available to download for free."

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Provide Robust Clustered Storage with Linux and GFS (EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet)

Charlie Schluting explains GFS configuration in an EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet article. "Load balancing is difficult; often we need to share file systems via NFS or other mechanisms to provide a central location for the data. While you may be protected against a Web server node failure, you are still sharing fate with the central storage node. Using GFS, the free clustered file system in Linux, you can create a truly robust cluster that does not depend on other servers. In this article, we show you how to properly configure GFS."

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