LINUX PIPELINE NEWSLETTER
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/
March 16, 2004

IN THIS ISSUE
1. Editor's Notes
  - SCO-Microsoft Connection: Boy, Did We Look Dumb
  - Does This Mean You Can't Teach A Corn Dog To Catch A
  Frisbee?
2. Only the Best Linux and Open-Source News
3. Trends: The Business Argument For Open Source
4. Trends: Popularity Growing For Open-Source Databases
5. Trends: EU Backs Antitrust Ruling Vs. Microsoft
6. How To: SCO Can't Slow Linux
7. Voting Booth: Is Desktop Linux 5-10 Years Out?
8. Learn About Network Management Products In Product Finder
9. Check Out The Linux Pipeline Topic Centers
  - Core Linux
  - Applications
  - Enterprise Open Source
  - Business
10. Tell A Colleague About Linux Pipeline Newsletter
11. Have You Discovered The Other Pipelines?
12. Subscribe To The Linux Pipeline RSS Feed
13. Change Your Subscription Options


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CA solutions can backup, secure and manage your Linux
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commitment to Linux innovations, visit http://www.ca.com/linux

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

1. Editor's Notes

SCO-MICROSOFT CONNECTION: BOY, DID WE LOOK DUMB

Last week was not my best week for opinion writing. I took the
Linux community to task for jumping to conclusions. Specifically,
I said that many in the Linux community seem to think that SCO's
defeat is a foregone conclusion. It's not, I noted - indeed, SCO
may well have a strong case.

The SCO Lawsuit: More Conspiracy Theories Than The JFK
Assassination
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x113fx&

It's also common wisdom among many on the Linux community that
SCO is merely a puppet of Microsoft. But that, too, is not
proven. We do know (I said last week) that Microsoft has licensed
SCO's technology for $16 million, 21 percent of SCO's 2003
revenue. We know that Microsoft hates Linux and is willing to
play dirty. But we don't know that Microsoft is actually behind
the SCO lawsuit.

Well, three days later, BayStar Capital, which invested $50 million in 
the SCO Group, confirmed that Microsoft introduced it to SCO.

Baystar Confirms Microsoft-SCO Connection
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1140x&

That made my editorial look pretty dumb.

Or, actually, not. Nothing has really changed. We knew that
Microsoft hates Linux, we knew that they supported SCO by
licensing SCO's technology. So now we have learned that they
diverted significantly more money SCO's way.

It's like finding out that a bankrobber didn't steal $1.3
million, he stole $1.4 million. Significant information, in a
way, but not all that interesting.

And we still don't know that Microsoft is actually controlling
the lawsuit, although we do know that Microsoft is supporting it.

Of course, the timing of the disclosure could've been better,
from my perspective. It made me look a little silly. I now have
to write this editorial explaining that no, really, I was right
after all.

But it made SCO look more than just silly. SCO had just finished
denying any connection between Microsoft and BayStar funding.

SCO Denies Report Microsoft Lined Up $82+ Million Funding For
Lawsuit
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1102x&

Lawyers and journalists have a phrase to describe this sort of
statement. We call it "a big fat honking lie."

DOES THIS MEAN YOU CAN'T TEACH A CORN DOG TO CATCH A FRISBEE?

There was one outright error in that editorial.

I described the dangers of jumping to conclusions by saying, "It
ain't the things you don't know that hurt you, it's the things
you know that ain't so." I attributed that expression to being:
"one of those things you imagine being said by cornpone-drinkin'
wise old coots sitting by the woodstove in the general store."

I said this because I know that cornpone is another word for
illegal, homemade whiskey made from corn. A/k/a corn-likker or
moonshine. The centerpiece of numerous Snuffy Smith comics where
Snuffy uses his shootin arn to protect his still from low-down
revenoors.

Several readers wrote in to correct me:

Carolyn Meinel: "You can't drink cornpone. It's fried corn meal
mush."

Rob Edwards: "Cornpone is a food, not a drink - if you're going
to crack on the rural south, please at least be accurate."

The moral of this story is: it ain't the things you don't know
that hurt you, it's the things you know that ain't so.

Also, if you're a Jewish kid from Long Island, don't attempt to
look like a Southerner. You'll just let yourself in for
mishegoss.

--Mitch Wagner, 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://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1ffx&

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

2. ONLY THE BEST LINUX AND OPEN-SOURCE NEWS

MySQL To Introduce Enterprise-Level Clustering Capability
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1141x&
MySQL Cluster, to be unveiled next month, automatically shifts
workloads to among as many as 32 servers or nodes when one fails.
This capability is available in proprietary DB software from IBM,
Oracle and Microsoft.

StarOffice To Get MS Office Macro Conversion 
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1142x&

Microsoft Trademark Tussle Squeezes Lindows Out Of Benelux 
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1143x&

Toyota Demos Humanoid Linux Robot 
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1144x&

Baystar Confirms Microsoft-SCO Connection 
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1140x&

SGI Scales Linux Servers To 256 Processors 
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1145x&

3. TRENDS: The Business Argument For Open Source
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1146x&
Open source is neither anti-American nor-anti-business. It's
about giving users freedom to choose when to upgrade or change
software platforms.

4. TRENDS: Popularity Growing For Open-Source Databases  
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1147x&
But analysts at AMR Research say that open source databases won't
get the same boost from IBM and Oracle that Linux and Apache did.

5. TRENDS: EU Backs Antitrust Ruling Vs. Microsoft 
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1148x&
Microsoft's lawyers are still trying to avoid a decree demanding
massive organizational change and fines.  

6. HOW TO: SCO Can't Slow Linux 
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x1149x&
SCO Group followed through on its threat to sue end users of
Linux, but its various lawsuits have had little effect on the
Linux software juggernaut.

7. VOTING BOOTH: Is Desktop Linux 5-10 Years Out?
http://dclsmtp1.techwire.com/trk/click?ref=zp7waa8wo_0-42x110ex&
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?

8. LEARN ABOUT NETWORK MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS IN PRODUCT FINDER
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Business:
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------- 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 continuing
commitment to Linux innovations, visit http://www.ca.com/linux

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

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The Linux Pipeline Newsletter
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Copyright (c) 2003-2004 CMP Media LLC
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