LINUX PIPELINE NEWSLETTER
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/
March 2, 2004

IN THIS ISSUE

1. Editor's Notes
  - Administrivia
  - SCO Jumps The Shark 
2. Only the Best Linux and Open-Source News
3. Trends: Sun Holds The Java Jewels
4. How-To: Configure The Jabber Instant Messaging Server
5. Voting Booth: Is Desktop Linux 5-10 Years Out?
6. Learn About Application Servers In Product Finder
7. Check Out The Linux Pipeline Topic Centers
   - Core Linux
   - Applications
   - Enterprise Open Source
   - Business
8. Tell A Colleague About Linux Pipeline Newsletter
9. Have You Discovered The Other Pipelines?
10. Subscribe To The Linux Pipeline RSS Feed
11. Change Your Subscription Options

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Maximize the potential of Linux with CA Management Software.
CA solutions can backup, secure and manage your Linux implementation,
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Linux innovations, visit http://www.ca.com/linux

-----------------------------------------

1. Editor's Notes

ADMINISTRIVIA

You may receive two e-mails from us today. The document you're
reading is the regular, weekly edition of the Linux Pipeline
Newsletter, with the usual selection of blurbs and links, along with
the usual prattling from the blithering idiot at the top (that would
be me).

Also we may send out an e-mail bulletin on some breaking news as
soon as it's posted. SCO says it plans later today to file a lawsuit
against a major Linux user.   

Also, RSS users should note that we've been fiddling around with the
feed and we think we've fixed a bug that made the feed appear odd in
some news aggregators, including NewsGator. Let us know if there's
still a problem. The feed is still at the same URL

http://www.linuxpipeline.com/rss/all.jhtml

And I want to draw your attention to a meaty how-to by new
contributor Jeremy Baumgartner on setting up and configuring the
Jabber instant messaging server. It's a heck of a lot more technical
than the stuff we're used to running; Jeremy even provides code
examples. Let us know if you find it useful. 

SCO JUMPS THE SHARK

I'm pleased to see that a turn of phrase by my colleague Robert
Preston is being picked up by the Linux user community. The SCO
lawsuit has, Rob said, officially jumped the shark. 

"Jumping the shark" is a phrase coined on a Web site about TV shows,
it's a moment when a good TV show goes bad. It takes its name from
an episode of "Happy Days" where Fonzie jumped over a pool of sharks
on water-skis, wearing swim trunks and his trademark motorcycle
jacket, 

(Um, just to clarify, it was the Fonz who was on water-skis, and
wearing the trunks and leathers. Not the sharks.)

I was pleased to see the phrase used in the comments section of the
Weblog Groklaw.net, as the Groklaw community discussed SCO's
statement that it will, today, sue a major Linux customer on charges
that the customer violated SCO's Unix intellectual property. SCO
already has lawsuits pending with IBM, Red Hat and Novell. 

It's been a year since SCO filed the first of those lawsuits,
against IBM on March 6, 2003. By one measure, SCO's legal action has
been a ripping success, driving the company stock price from $2.26
per share on March 5, 2003 to close at $12.27 per share yesterday,
March 1, 2004. 

Early on, SCO won support from Microsoft and from Sun Microsystems;
both companies agreed to license Unix source code from SCO. (At the
time, Linux was a major threat to Sun's own Solaris operating system
- indeed, Linux was more of a threat to Sun than it was to
Microsoft, as Linux was robbing market share, not from Windows but
from low-end Unix sales. But the past year has made a big
difference, and Sun is now itself a major Linux vendor.)

That's the good news for SCO. But the rest of the news, for SCO, is
all bad. 

SCO has by no means demonstrated that it does, in fact, own
significant intellectual property in Linux. Linux advocates have
cast significant doubts on SCO's claims that Linux code comes from
SCO-owned Unix; each time SCO cites an example, Linux advocates make
credible arguments that the code comes from other software that SCO
does not own. 

SCO has yet to win a single significant court victory - indeed, it's
suffered a couple of setbacks, most notably in Germany, where the
company has been forbidden from seeking to collect payments from
users, or advertising ownership of Linux intellectual property,
until it first proves its ownership in court. 

Here in America, SCO has been attempting to cash in on its lawsuit
before winning, by selling licenses to users permitting those users
to use Linux. But SCO hasn't had much luck with those sales; SCO on
Monday announced the name of one company, EV1Servers.com, that
picked up a license; the company is pretty much unknown and not
likely to drum up much support among other users. 

And that points to SCO's biggest immediate problem; the company has,
quite simply, failed to convince users that it has a case. Users are
shrugging off the threat of a lawsuit; in a study released Friday,
IDC found revenue from Linux servers increased 63.1 percent year-
over-year, with unit shipments increasing 52.5 percent. 

SCO now says it plans to step up its legal action, filing a lawsuit
later today against a well-known Linux user. Yet I can't see any way
that action will make users take SCO seriously. At this point, SCO
needs a significant win in court, and it needs that win soon, or
it'll see itself dismissed as a significant threat. 

So what should you, as an IT user, do? My best advice on that is the
same as it was a year ago: Talk to your lawyer. My second-best
advice is that you should keep a close eye on what SCO is doing, but
don't change your Linux deployment plans on account of what have
been, so far, empty threats. But I'm no legal expert. Talk to your
lawyer.

LINKS:

Linux Is No Threat to the Economic Recovery
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17701130
Rob's editorial.

Jump The Shark
http://www.jumptheshark.com/

SCO Names Linux Licensee 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18201371

Server Market, Linux Use Show Continued Growth 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18201229

What If SCO Is Right? (Wagner's Weblog), May 15, 2004
http://www.internetweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=10000066

Microsoft Licenses Unix IP From SCO 
http://www.internetweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=10000291

SCO Chief Says There's No Plan To Sue Linux Users
http://www.internetweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=10000145
I just think this article is interesting historically; here's SCO
saying in May 2003 that it has no plans to do what it now says it's
going to do. 

--Mitch Wagner, Co-Editor, Linux Pipeline
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/
mailto:mwagner@cmp.com?Subject=LPNfeedback

For more commentary and links from Mitch Wagner, see Wagner's Weblog
http://WagBlog.InternetWeek.com

2. ONLY THE BEST LINUX AND OPEN-SOURCE NEWS

SCO Plans Linux User Lawsuit Tuesday
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18201405
SCO plans to file the lawsuit against a company with a recognizable
name and Unix license. The lawsuit will likely be filed mid-day
Pacific time on Tuesday. 
	
Ingram Micro Supports Linux
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18201525

SCO Names Linux Licensee
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18201371

SCO Insists Action Against Linux Customer Is Imminent
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18201298

Server Market, Linux Use Show Continued Growth
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18201229

Opera Announces Details of IPO
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18200937

Japan Trade Commission Raids Microsoft's Tokyo Office
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18200895

Sun Remains Quiet on IBM Pitch for Open-Source Java 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18200881

3. TRENDS: Sun Holds The Java Jewels
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18201534
IBM recently called on Sun to make Java open source. But would
opening the source code of Java help Sun beat back Microsoft's .Net
efforts, or speed its own demise?

4. HOW-TO: Configure The Jabber Instant Messaging Server
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/howto/18200634
Jabber is an open source alternative to instant messaging
technologies from vendors including AOL, Microsoft and IBM Lotus.
Here's a guide for network administrators on setting it up.

5. VOTING BOOTH: Is Desktop Linux 5-10 Years Out?
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/vote/desktop_1-27.jhtml
Is Linus Torvalds right that "it's going to take literally five to
10 years before 'normal users' start seeing" Linux emerge as a
serious contender on the desktop?

Read more Linux insight on the Linux Pipeline blog
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/

6. LEARN ABOUT APPLICATION SERVERS IN PRODUCT FINDER
http://productfinder.linuxpipeline.com/index.cgi?search=Search&final_cat1=6&category=17&sub_cat=57

For other Product Finder product categories, browse or search the
database from its home page:
http://productfinder.linuxpipeline.com/

7. CHECK OUT THE LINUX PIPELINE TOPIC CENTERS

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http://www.linuxpipeline.com/corelinux/

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http://www.linuxpipeline.com/applications/

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http://www.linuxpipeline.com/enterprise/

Business:
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/business/

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Linux Pipeline is one is a series of specialized IT sites you
might like. Here are nine others, and you can expect more in the
future:

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http://www.bizintelligencepipeline.com/
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Storage Pipeline: http://www.storagepipeline.com/
Networking Pipeline: http://www.networkingpipeline.com/
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Small Business Pipeline: http://www.smallbizpipeline.com/
IT Utility Pipeline: http://www.itutilitypipeline.com/

Every Pipeline site has its own newsletter and RSS feed. Give them a
try.


------- Advertisement -------------------

Maximize the potential of Linux with CA Management Software.
CA solutions can backup, secure and manage your Linux implementation,
while also allowing seamless integration into your existing
infrastructure. As a result, Linux can be easily adopted into
your enterprise. To find out more about our ongoing commitment to
Linux innovations, visit http://www.ca.com/linux

-----------------------------------------

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