Mandriva Accelerates Linux Desktop Push with Lycoris Buy
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Commercial Linux distributor Mandriva knows, just as its Linux rivals do and some in the IT industry did not believe for years, that Linux is not only viable on the desktop, but a necessary alternative to the ubiquitous Windows platform if for no other reason than to keep Microsoft on its toes. Getting Linux into the data center was relatively easy compared to getting it on the desktop, and that is probably why aspiring Linux desktop vendor Lycoris decided last week to be acquired by Mandriva. READ MORE >

IBM Finally Launches Opteron Blade Servers
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

After being badgered about its lack of support for the Opteron processor in its BladeCenter blade server product line for the past two years, IBM has finally relented and admitted that maybe there is a place for the Opteron in its blade servers after all. IBM already sells blades based on the Intel Xeon processors for Linux and Windows and, and blades based on its own PowerPC 970 for AIX and Linux, but the Opteron is something that can deliver significant price-performance and flops-watt advantages for many workloads compared to these two processors. READ MORE >

Level 5 Boosts Ethernet Bandwidth, Lowers Latency
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Nature loves evolution, not revolution, and it is not by coincidence that so do the customers who end up buying (or not buying) the myriad hard and soft wares put together by the vendors in the computer and networking industries. That is why Level 5 Networks, which launched its first product yesterday, is so interesting. Level 5 has taken the ubiquitous Ethernet protocol and created a network fabric that has many of the good attributes of more sophisticated networking while maintaining compatibility with plain, old Ethernet. READ MORE >

As I See It: First Timers
by Victor Rozek

Do good work, be cooperative, and one day you may find yourself promoted to management. Although such a promotion is often viewed as a destination, it is actually a point of divergence; a fork in the road less clearly marked than the old familiar path. Moving from a cubicle to an office requires answering the inevitable question: What now? The presumption is that because a person could do his former job capably, he can also excel at management. But the old job came with a clear definition of what now, and the new job doesn't. READ MORE >

   But Wait, There's More

Red Hat Releases Fedora Core 4 Linux . . . Terra Soft Reaffirms Its Commitment to PowerPC for Linux . . . Server Maker Rackable Rakes in Nearly $70 Million in IPO . . . Gentoo Linux Founder Hired By Microsoft . . . Virtualization Software Maker SWsoft Gets Finding from VCs . . . HP Virtualizes mySAP Suite to Make It Malleable . . . Wyse Brings Thin Computing to Developing Nations . . . READ MORE >

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