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Editor's Note: Sizing Up The Competition
For more than a year now, I watched with a great deal of interest
as many East Asian nations steadily deepened their relationships
with open-source software. Private businesses, academic and
research organizations, and governments across the region have
waded into the open-source waters, either on their own or with
some encouragement from above. As so many others have discovered,
open-source software is at its most effective when it finds its
way to people and organizations who can't afford proprietary
software and the latest hardware and who enjoy opportunities they
wouldn't have otherwise.
This has been an evolutionary shift for the most part, but that
may have changed this week. For the first time, I saw what might,
when I look back someday with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, be
a major shift in the balance of technological potential in the
world.
To cite an easy example, it long seemed likely that Microsoft would
have a hard time penetrating the two biggest markets with the greatest
long-term potential: China and India. Now, after seeing these two
nations moving towards common, or at least cooperative, IT policies, a
Western software company with a proprietary product seems even more
out of place. After all, no matter how much Microsoft discounts
WindowsXP or works to improve its public image, it is still a foreign
corporation with foreign shareholders to satisfy. It simply can't turn
over its intellectual property in order to spawn a generation of
future competitors, even if for some reason the notion ever crossed
its mind.
Happily enough, that job falls by default to Mozilla, and Apache,
and any one of a dozen localized Linux distros fueling what will
be an explosion of technology innovation within the next five to
ten years. The people who use these products--and hack these
products--used to think of software as something that came
shrink-wrapped from the United States, either absurdly priced or
blatantly pirated. Today, they have a chance to see software, and
technology in general, as something for them to make, to own, and
to control for their own benefit. I think it's hard for us to
wrap our minds around the difference between those two positions,
but it's important to try.
At the same time, the Chinese government is now making crystal
clear what I saw coming a year ago: Microsoft will never have
access to the Chinese market on anything like workable terms, if
they have access to it at all. I think it's clear that Microsoft
also won't profit much from the future growth of India's IT
sector, its government and academic computing initiatives, or
(someday, and then on a vast scale) its consumer mass-markets.
These are the two most populous nations on earth, both with
largely poor but relatively well-educated populations, and it now
seems likely that they will enrich not Microsoft or any other
foreign company, but rather a generation of home-grown software
entrepreneurs. Considering that these people have a lot more at
stake than whether the shareholders get a dividend this quarter,
it's hard not to find yourself pulling for them--even if someday
we're likely to find ourselves scrapping with the best of them
for every dollar of overseas business that we once took so
blithely for granted.
Matthew McKenzie
Editor, Linux Pipeline
mattcmp@sonic.net
www.LinuxPipeline.com
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Top Linux News
Adobe Acrobat Rediscovers Linux Desktop
Two years after dropping its desktop Linux support, Adobe returns
with an updated Linux release of its industry-standard, and often
essential, Acrobat Reader software--and promises that it's here
to stay for good.
Firefox 1.1 Slated For Late May Beta Release
Mozilla developers prepare to roll out the open-source browser's
first major upgrade, which is scheduled to enter general beta
release in about seven weeks; a very rough early preview,
intended mostly for developers, could be ready within the week.
Intel's $10K Question For Pack-Rat Geeks: Where's Gordon?
Intel wants a copy of the 1965 magazine in which co-founder
Gordon Moore first laid out his famous "Moore's Law." We're
confident the company's offer will be of interest to you, since
it involved $10,000 in cash.
Apple Will Spring 'Tiger' OS X Release In Late April
The computer maker confirms its long-awaited new version of OS X,
over which Apple sued several people for releasing confidential
product details, will be on sale at retailers by the end of the
month.
China's Prime Minister Proposes Sino-Indian IT Alliance
Asia's two most powerful nations should pursue cooperation,
rather than competition, to initiate an "Asian century" in
technology, suggests Wen Jiabao, during a tour of Bangalore
software firms.
Mozilla Readies Firefox Security Update
Mozilla Foundation developers say the organization is close to
issuing a final version of a new security update to its popular
Firefox Web browser.
Open-Source CRM A Sweet Deal For Budget-Minded Firms
With the launch of a major update this week, SugarCRM closes in
on proprietary competitors with new features such as campaign
management, E-mail marketing, sales forecasting, and wireless
support.
VMware Delivers Virtual Desktop Update
With its Workstation 5.0 release, VMWare retools its flagship
product for the first time in two years and turns up the heat yet
again in a red-hot Linux virtualization market.
Open-Source Startup's Grid Vision: Keep It Simple
A startup adopts the 'commercial open-source' standard, releasing
an application server and developer tools to build grid-ready
software and to serve as a foundation for a line of complementary
commercial products.
IT Employment: Prosperity Without Promises
Tech-industry jobless numbers are at their lowest level in years,
but many IT professionals haven't changed to reasoning behind
their outlooks: share the same career outlook: a pessimist is
never disappointed.
Yahoo Releases Anti-Spyware App For Its Firefox Toolbar
Yahoo's update passes a key milestone: Firefox users now have
access to all of the Toolbar features, including many that were
previously available only to Internet Explorer users.
Report: Linux A Loser In Midsize Business Market
Few midsize companies will deploy Linux over the next three
years, instead staying with Microsoft Windows to avoid potential
problems, including the high cost of maintaining more than one
type of server OS.
Analyst Report: Thunderbird Is No Firefox
The Mozilla Foundation's E-mail client can't duplicate Firefox's
runaway success, says a report, mostly due to its lack of an
integrated calendar.
Google Searches For Success With Small-Biz Customers
Google cuts prices and boosts capacity on its search appliances,
which are designed to help smaller firms add enterprise-class
search capabilities to their Web sites and internal networks.
Sun Mistake Reveals New Entry-Level, High-End Linux And Solaris
Servers For 2005
Sun Microsystems document, briefly posted to the company's Web
site, outlines two pairs of entry-level and high-end servers
running on AMD Opterons.
Mac Mini Makes BestBuy Debut
Apple's Mac mini goes on sale at BestBuy stores, marking the
product's first retail appearance at a appearance anywhere other
than the Apple Store and proof it has overcome initial production
capacity problems.
Editor's Picks
Sino-Indian Tech Pact Likely To Have Long Reach
Asia could become a hotbed for technological innovation, and a
major obstacle to U.S. hegemony, if China and India cooperate in
developing their computer industries, say international
technology and business experts.
Applications: The Next Open-Source Opportunity
Instead of reinventing the wheel, open-source developers are
likely to seek out find new challenges creating core business
applications--and smaller firms stand to reap the benefits, says
one open-source pioneer and software executive.
The $40 Million Question For SCO
I heard last night from Steve Puluka, the guy who authored the
SCO cash flow analysis I mentioned in a prior column. "The real
shame," he said, "is [SCO] built up a huge cash reserve in 2003
that is being blown on these lawsuits. What might have happened
if that $40 million was invested in the Unix and Linux business
instead?"
JBoss Turns Open-Source Risks Into Business Opportunities
Faced with growing concerns over the legal risks of open-source
software, enterprise middleware vendor JBoss decided the best
offense was a good defense--for its customers, that is.
Stanford Professor Slams Software Patents
Lawrence Lessig says the current body of U.S. patent law poses a
grave threat to innovation and competition in the software
industry--but the companies that benefit from the status quo are
unlikely to give them up without a fight.
Review: Pervasive Postgres 8
Free of charge and enterprise-ready, this open-source database
holds its own quite effectively against Microsoft SQL Server and
Oracle, while delivering the database goods at a fraction of the
cost.
Sun's Schwartz Equates GPL With 'Colonialism'
The Sun Microsystems president says the open-source General
Public License restrains innovation and slows economic activity
in developing nations. A leading open-source legal expert,
however, says he has not seen any evidence that the leaders of
developing countries consider the GPL a problem.
Wagner Opines: No, Thunderbird Just Stinks
Security Pipeline Editor Mitch Wagner thinks the Radicati Group
is way off base about Mozilla's Thunderbird: It will take more
than just a calendar, he says, to freshen up this open-source
stinker.
Microsoft's Mantra: Variety Is The Spice Of Licensing
The head of Redmond's "Shared-Source" program said the company is
likely to expand customer access to the program, as well as
increasing the number of products involved. In addition, he said,
open-source licensing may be a practical solution for aging
products not under active development but still potentially
useful to the community.
Voting Booth: Does OpenOffice Have The Right Stuff?
Cast Your Vote Now!
A few weeks ago, I wrote about some of the concerns I had about
the direction OpenOffice.org is taking with some of its key
marketing and development efforts. This week, it's your turn: Is
OpenOffice.org a real alternative to Microsoft Office, or is it a
poor imitation of the real thing?
We'll tally up the votes for next week's newsletter. Now quit
wasting your time doing real work, get over to Linux Pipeline,
and vote!
Poll Results
As for the previous poll, asking where you like to get your IT
news: We're waiting to hear from a few more Pipeline sites to
total the votes. You're dying of suspense, aren't you?
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