LINUX PIPELINE NEWSLETTER
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/
Tuesday, March 30, 2004

IN THIS ISSUE
1. Editor's Note:
  - A Joke Which May Actually Have Very Little To Do With Linux
  - What's In Linux Pipeline This Week
2. Only the Best Linux and Open-Source News
3. Review: Mandrake 10 Looks To Be On Track For A Great Release 
4. Trends: Torvalds: Open Source Keeps People Honest
5. Trends: Open Source Databases, App Servers Gain Corporate
Converts
6. Voting Booth: Cast Your Vote On The European Microsoft
Decision
7. Learn About Open Source Database Products In Product Finder
8. Check Out The Linux Pipeline Topic Centers
     - Core Linux
     - Applications
     - Enterprise Open Source
     - Business
9. Tell A Colleague About Linux Pipeline Newsletter
10. Have You Discovered The Other Pipelines?
11. Subscribe To The Linux Pipeline RSS Feed
12. Change Your Subscription Options

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

This issue sponsored by HP. HP technology,
services and solutions help the world's great
companies face, manage and love change.
http://www.techweb.com/pipeline/HPEnterpriseBranding

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


1. EDITOR'S NOTE: Linux's Good News

A JOKE WHICH MAY ACTUALLY HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH LINUX

A vendor is trying to sell an IT manager on buying new software.
"The upgrade will be PERFECTLY TRANSPARENT to your users!" says
the vendor. 

"Yeah," says the IT manager, "just like helicopter blades before
you walk into them."

Ow. 

What's the open source connection? One of the most significant
benefits of open source is that you, the user, decide on an
upgrade schedule. You upgrade when it's best for
your business, not when it's best for the vendor's business. 

Okay, I admit it - the open source connection was a reach. I
really just posted the joke because it's funny, and I came up
with the open source connection after. 

Next week: Linux Knock-Knock Jokes. 

WHAT'S IN LINUX PIPELINE THIS WEEK

In an interview with InformationWeek, Linus Torvalds predicts
that databases, like MySQL, and desktop software, will be part of
the next wave of success for open source software, building on
the success of Linux and Apache. Linus also discusses the
potential for problems that can arise when commercial companies
are responsible for an open source package:

     InformationWeek: JBoss and MySQL are the names of open-
     source platforms and of companies that help develop and
     then, for a fee, support those platforms. So you see any
     potential problems with this model? For example, how open is
     a team of developers whose leadership and key contributors
     are all inside one for-profit company? Don't open source
     projects that go this route begin to look less open and more
     like commercial software companies?

     Torvalds: I have to admit that that is one particular set of
     problems I personally have always tried very hard to avoid,
     but on the other hand, I also suspect that, especially in
     markets that are pretty focused on commercial needs anyway
     (and things like databases certainly would fit that), it may
     just be inevitable and possibly the best model to keep in
     touch with the needs of your customers.

     And the open-source aspect is still rather important in one
     major way: It keeps people honest. With an open-source
     license, if you start doing the nasty things that commercial
     software companies are so well-known for (looking out for
     No. 1 rather than trying to really help the customer),
     somebody else just comes along and captures the market.

     And that is one really important part of open source: no
     technical barriers to market entry, and the fact that you
     can trust the process, even if you might not implicitly
     trust the developer. So, while I personally have always
     opted for trying to be in a position where people really
     have no reason to distrust my motivation and actions, in the
     end I actually think that the real trust comes from the fact
     that it doesn't matter if people trust me (or any other open
     source developer) or not.

     Because if we are shown to not be trustworthy, somebody else
     can always replace us--so you don't have to be able to
     trust.

Torvalds: Open Source Keeps People Honest 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18600136

In other words: No helicopter blades. 

Contributor Ross Greenberg returns with a review of a pre-release
version of Mandrakelinux 10. Short version: He likes it. In
particular, the performance screams. But he says it's not quite
ready for production deployments. 

Review: Mandrake 10 Looks To Be On Track For A Great Release
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18600156

Ross is the author of one of the most popular articles we've run
in our short history on Linux Pipeline:

Review: SUSE 9.0: A Distro Worth Paying For (Jan. 9, 2004)
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/howto/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=17300224

We have several stories about the European Union's decision to
fine Microsoft $613 million, and force Microsoft to change its
business model. With a $50 billion cash reserve, Microsoft isn't
likely to find the fine too painful, but Harmut Sell, who runs a
small computer store in downtown Berlin, is happy anyway, "It's
about time that Microsoft got their bell rung," Sell told the
Associated Press, as reported in this week's Linux Pipeline. 

Tech Veterans Speculate Outcome Of EU Decision 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/18402635

Hewlett-Packard and IBM both expanded their Linux distribution.
HP said it will expand its relationship with Novell SUSE and put
Linux on corporate desktops, driven by demand from Global 50
companies. Previously, HP was seeing Linux desktop demand from
Asia and Eastern Europe; if demand is, indeed, building among big
business users in North America, that's a significant step in the
drive to make Linux a mainstream desktop operating system. 

HP Move Could Change Microsoft Strategy 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/18402629

IBM, meanwhile, offered Linux pre-loaded on its servers.
"Previously, both Red Hat's and SUSE's arrangements with IBM
meant that, while customers could custom order Linux with new
servers, the operating-system software was actually shipped
separately by the Linux distributors for customers to install
themselves," according to the article by TechWeb News.

IBM Offers Pre-loaded SuSE Linux On All Servers 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/18401624

Hasty bananas, folks. See you next week. 

--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://wagblog.internetweek.com

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

2. ONLY THE BEST LINUX AND OPEN-SOURCE NEWS

OpenOffice Updates Free Suite
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18600359
The newest release of OpenOffice.org's business application suite
includes bug fixes, improvements in the PDF files export
function, and a tool to download spelling and thesaurus
dictionaries.

ISP Credits Linux-Based Appliance For Drastically Slowing Down Spam
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18600173

Novell And Red Hat On Track For Growth
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18600140

EU Decision May Bolster Further Antitrust Litigation   
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18402844

HP Move Could Change Microsoft Strategy
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18402629

Enterprise Linux Sales Boost Red Hat Profit
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18401513

3. REVIEW: Mandrake 10 Looks To Be On Track For A Great Release 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18600156
We looked at early code for desktop Mandrakelinux 10.0, and found
that it's close to prime time, but not quite ready to bet the
enterprise. Oh, and the performance? It screams.

4. TRENDS: Torvalds: Open Source Keeps People Honest
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18600136
The "father" of Linux talks with InformationWeek about data-
center Linux, trust, and SCO Group's lawsuits. 

5. TRENDS: Open Source Databases, App Servers Gain Corporate Converts
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18600091
The JBoss application server, Tomcat Java Servlet Engine, and
MySQL, PostgreSQL and Berkeley DB databases are following Linux
and Apache into the corporate data center. But can they prosper
without the backing of big vendors?

6. VOTING BOOTH: Cast Your Vote On The European Microsoft Decision
http://linuxpipeline.com/vote/ms_decision.jhtml
The European Union slapped Microsoft with a $613 million fine for
abuse of its market dominance, and ordered the company to change
its business practice. Will the decision drive further Linux
popularity?

Our previous poll asked whether Linus Torvalds was right in a
statement earlier this year that Linux on the desktop was five to
10 years away from becoming mainstream. Slightly more than half
of you, or 53 percent, agreed with Linus's assessment, while 37
percent disagreed. Nine percent said they are not sure. We
received 3,233 responses. 

7. LEARN ABOUT OPEN SOURCE DATABASE PRODUCTS IN PRODUCT FINDER
http://productfinder.linuxpipeline.com/index.cgi?search=Search&final_cat1=6&category=16&sub_cat=55

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

8. CHECK OUT THE LINUX PIPELINE TOPIC CENTERS

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

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

Enterprise Open Source:
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/enterprise/

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

9. TELL A COLLEAGUE
If you know a colleague or co-worker who might be interested in
signing up for this newsletter, please forward it to him or her
and point out the subscription page:
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/newsletter.jhtml

10. HAVE YOU DISCOVERED THE OTHER PIPELINES?
Linux Pipeline is one is a series of specialized IT sites you
might like. Here are the others, and you can expect more in the
future:

Biz Intelligence Pipeline:
http://www.bizintelligencepipeline.com/
Compliance Pipeline: http://www.compliancepipeline.com/
Desktop Pipeline: http://www.desktoppipeline.com/
Developer Pipeline: http://www.developerpipeline.com/
IT Utility Pipeline: http://www.itutilitypipeline.com/
Mobile Pipeline: http://www.mobilepipeline.com
Networking Pipeline: http://www.networkingpipeline.com
Security Pipeline: http://www.securitypipeline.com
Server Pipeline: http://www.serverpipeline.com
Small Business Pipeline: http://www.smallbizpipeline.com
Storage Pipeline: http://www.storagepipeline.com
Web Services Pipeline: http://www.webservicespipeline.com

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

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

This issue sponsored by HP. HP technology,
services and solutions help the world's great
companies face, manage and love change.
http://www.techweb.com/pipeline/HPEnterpriseBranding

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

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