Linux in the news
Recommended Reading
Andrew Morton's Speech at OLS - Transcript (Groklaw)
Groklaw has put together a transcript of Andrew Morton's OLS keynote. Worth a look if you weren't able to be there in person.O'Reilly Radar: OSCON 2004 (O'ReillyNet)
O'Reilly covers the OSCON 2004 keynote by Tim O'Reilly. "Tim's remarks focused on what is currently on his radar. He discussed Internet applications and social software, and ended with the announcement that O'Reilly will be producing the third annual MySQL Conference this year in Santa Clara, California."
Some photos from the first day of the event have been published.
Trade Shows and Conferences
Red Hat chief calls for idealism, reform, sharing (News.com)
News.com covers the keynote by Matthew Szulik, Red Hat CEO. "In a one-hour meeting, Szulik said, Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam told the Red Hat chief of his enthusiasm for boosting education in India with open-source software. But Szulik told attendees that he continues to struggle to get his own local schools even to learn how to pronounce Linux."
Two Degrees of Freedom (O'ReillyNet)
Here is some O'ReillyNet coverage of OSCON. "The second morning keynote at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Oregon began with a clip from Star Trek: The Next Generation. George Dyson had brought the segment to introduce his father Freeman Dyson. The audience watched both the screen and the reaction of the elder Dyson to the Star Trek plot, which centered on the discovery of a Dyson Sphere..."
O'ReillyNet also has the inevitable OSCON photos available.
OSCON highlights new kind of community, componentized Linux, and GNOME desktop (NewsForge)
Here's some OSCON coverage from NewsForge. "Talk of a new type of software development community that spills into more traditional communities such as towns, churches and country clubs was matched with a new kind of pick-and-choose, componentized Linux distribution, and renewed efforts to push Gnome to desktop success at OSCON's second to last day."
Sun To Demo SunRay Linux at LinuxWorld (eWeek)
eWeek takes a look at Sun's LinuxWorld offerings. "Sun Microsystems Inc. will demonstrate a new version of its SunRay thin-client computing technology for Linux at this week's LinuxWorld conference here. The company is also announcing the release of its C, C++ and Fortran development tools for Linux."
KDE at USENIX 2004 Annual Technical Conference (KDE.News)
KDE.News covers the recent USENIX Annual Technical Conference in Boston. "The conference also featured a lot of other interesting talks. To name only a few: Matthias Ettrich presented the technical changes in Qt 4, in the plenary session Bruce Schneier held a thought-inspiring talk about how security-tradeoffs influence our lives and how we might be able to handle this in a sensible way and Rob Pike gave some insight in the amazing technology Google uses to power their search engine."
The SCO Problem
New date for SCO v IBM hearing (Register)
The SCO vs IBM motion hearing has been delayed until September 15, according to the Register. "A new court date has been set for the SCO v IBM motion hearing. Originally scheduled for 4 August, the hearing has been moved to 2pm on 15 September. Coming after eighteen months of legal wrangling, the September hearing will be a defining moment in the dispute, with SCO having by far the most to lose."
SCO tries to revive Unix System Labs name (LinuxWorld)
LinuxWorld reports on SCO's attempt to register the "Unix System Laboratories" trademark. "The Open Group, a San Francisco consortium that owns the trademark to the term Unix, claims that registering the name Unix System Laboratories would not only conflict with the Open Group's Unix trademark but would also violate a license between SCO and the Open Group, which allows SCO to use the term Unix. 'We'll be taking the issue up with the Patent and Trademark Office and objecting strenuously, and we'll be taking the issue up with SCO because it's a breach of the license they already hold with us,' said Graham Bird, vice president of marketing with the Open Group."
SCOForum 2004 - Day 2 (Groklaw)
For all of you who wish you could be at SCOForum, Groklaw has a lengthy summary of reports from the second day there. "What I gather from reading between the lines of reports in the media and general feedback is that they seem to have gotten a clue they are unlikely to win in the courts, and so they are trying to get the world to forget the litigation and see them as a Unix company with a future instead. They don't 'need' to sue any more customers at this time, they are saying. I guess that means, if you buy their new products, they won't sue you like they sued IBM, AutoZone and DaimlerChrysler. Not at this time." Our buddy Rob Enderle apparently spoke on "free software and the fools who use it."
Fun with SCO headlines
Here's a small set of SCO articles, mostly reporting from SCOForum. There's little there which isn't better expressed in Groklaw's summary, but the headlines tell a lot about how the company is perceived at this point.
- SiliconValley.com: SCO chief winning his battle with reality.
- The Register: Neutered
SCO no longer on the offensive. ("
Somebody get Mr. Clean a Viagra. This is a clear case of depression caused by premature indemnification.
") - TechWorld: Linux is mine, all mine, cackles distracted SCO head.
Companies
Dell Releases New Linux Workstations (Internetnews.com)
Internetnews.com reports that Dell is selling two new 64 bit machines with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 installed. "Dell is jumping on Intel's Extended Memory 64-bit Technology (EM64T) bandwagon pretty hard these days, but it is really moving product with the help of Linux. The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker listed two new workstations at its online store Wednesday. The Dell Precision 470n and 670n workstations run on Intel's latest Xeon Nocona processors with its coordinating Tumwater chipset."
HP beefs up Linux portfolio (vnunet)
Vnunet covers HP's LinuxWorld announcements. "The vendor will expand its thin client t5000 desktop workstation range into Linux territory for the first time, and will extend support for Linux on Integrity servers configured beyond four-way and open out its reference architecture to include open source software."
IBM to make Java database open source (News.com)
News.com covers IBM's plans to create an open source project around Cloudscape, a specialized Java database. "Cloudscape is a niche product in IBM's overall data information line and has tiny market share compared with its multibillion-dollar DB2 franchise. IBM has used Cloudscape as an embedded data store as part of its Workplace desktop application line."
IBM pledges no patent attacks against Linux (News.com)
News.com reports from a LinuxWorld speech by an IBM executive. "'IBM has no intention of asserting its patent portfolio against the Linux kernel, unless of course we are forced to defend ourselves,' said Nick Donofrio, senior vice president for technology and manufacturing, drawing applause in a speech at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo." It's not the strongest statement one could hope for, but it is a step in the right direction.
Novell to debut server Linux update (News.com)
News.com takes a look at Novell's plans to release SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9. "The server Linux update will incorporate the new 2.6 kernel at its heart, sources said. Although Novell has already launched a version of Linux that uses the kernel, SLES is a flagship edition that comes with extensive support and partnerships with software and hardware companies."
Sun mulls buying Novell (News.com)
News.com has picked up a rumor that Sun Microsystems is toying with the idea of buying Novell. ""With our balance sheet, we're considering all our options," Sun Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Schwartz said in an interview Sunday regarding the possibility of acquiring Novell. "What would owning the operating system on which IBM is dependent be worth? History would suggest we look to Microsoft for comparisons.""
Linux Adoption
Bread, milk and a Linux PC (ZDNet)
ZDNet France finds Mandrakelinux at the grocery store. "Called "Compubox" by the supermarket, the PC is available from Carrefour's Internet site to shoppers from France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Monaco, with the machines rumored to be sold in one or two Carrefour stores beginning in August."
Linux at Work
Open Source and NASA's Mars Rover (O'Reilly)
Ann Barcomb examines the use of open-source software in NASA's Mars Rover program. "In addition to this cornucopia of Java, applications such as MySQL, Linux, CVS, and Emacs reduced the workload of the team. Open source software (OSS) was vital to the success of the project because it conserved team resources. In combination with commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, open source software reduced costs, simplified the overall system design, and allowed access to outside experts."
Interviews
OSDL woos end users and ISVs (vnunet)
Vnunet interviews OSDL's William Weinberg. "What are we likely to see coming out of OSDL in the near future?"
More aggressive recruiting, and increasing the number of end-user companies that are members. A number of financial institutions and other vertically focused companies have announced their membership. Lots of companies want to come to the table but some of them are reluctant to publicise their membership or otherwise publicise their Linux adoption.
Resources
Connect KDE apps using D-BUS (IBM developerWorks)
IBM developerWorks connects applications with D-BUS. "The typical desktop has multiple applications running, and they often need to talk to each other. DCOP is a solution for KDE, but it is tied to Qt, and so is not used in other desktop environments. Similarly, Bonobo is a solution for GNOME, but it is quite heavy, being based on CORBA. It is also tied to GObject, so it is not used outside of GNOME. D-BUS aims to replace DCOP and Bonobo for simple IPC and to integrate these two desktop environments. Because the dependencies for D-BUS are kept as small as possible, other applications that would like to use D-BUS don't have to worry about bloating dependencies."
Plug OpenOffice.org into PostgreSQL (NewsForge)
NewsForge makes a connection between a PostgreSQL database and OOo. "Setting up the connection is pretty easy: just download the driver and configure a few things. You'll be able to connect with both Writer and Calc. I'll cover connecting with the word processor, using a PostgreSQL database that I had on my laptop. You can apply the same procedure for Calc."
Windows, Linux grapple in Great Gadget Smack-Down! (LinuxDevices)
LinuxDevices is running a comparison of embedded Linux and Windows on real-world devices. "We therefore have decided to hold the first-ever "Great Gadget Smack-Down," pitting OS vs. OS. Not on paper, according to oft-conflicting market share estimates, feature and architecture claims, or purported time-to-market benefits -- but instead, where it really counts: based on which OS powers the coolest and best gadgets."
Reviews
Four alternative Linux window managers (NewsForge)
NewsForge looks at AfterStep, Enlightenment, IceWM, and FVWM. "KDE and GNOME combine window managers with suites of applications to create comprehensive work environments. As complete as they are, it's easy to forget that there are other graphical ways to work on a Linux desktop. Sometimes a lighter-weight window manager is in order, such as for laptop usage, children's use, or quick startup applications. Here are four "alternative" window managers that are mature, fast, and functional."
Miscellaneous
Linux Scare Tactics (Forbes)
Here's a Daniel Lyons piece in Forbes with a rather cynical view of the OSRM's report on possible patent issues in the Linux kernel. "Linux advocates howl that SCO is running a shakedown racket. They point out that SCO still won't say which parts of Linux contain stolen SCO code, nor will SCO name Linux users it claims are paying license fees to SCO. Similarly, OSRM says there are 283 patents that Linux may violate, but won't say what those patents are. (OSRM says it will tell customers who insist, but warns this could make customers vulnerable to claims of 'willful infringement,' which could lead to triple damages.)"
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