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Linux Pipeline Newsletter www.LinuxPipeline.com WEDNESDAY, APRIL 05, 2006 In This Issue: - Beta Version Of GNOME-KDE Linux Interop Software Due In May - Microsoft Shows Linux VM Support, Open Source Wares At LinuxWorld - Negroponte Knocks Bill Gates For Low-Cost Laptop Remarks - More News... - Firefox Essentials: Fixing The Fox - A Linux Alternative To Windows Media Center PCs - Virtualization Vendors Jockey For Advantage - More Picks... Join InformationWeek for a FREE, live TechWebCast on IT Asset Management: The Foundation for Value Join Forrester and HP for this informational TechWebcast that will define IT asset management and highlight how HP delivers this critical discipline as the foundation for creating value through services. Register and view today! "http://www.techweb.com/webcasts/HP021506" ----------------------------------------- Editor's Note: Nice Shot, Bill A while back, I decided that Bill Gates would almost certainly place Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child project above Microsoft's usual rivalries and cutthroat competitive tactics. Negroponte had already shown Gates a prototype of the laptop computer; even though it will run Linux, at least initially, I figured Gates own, highly impressive philanthropic tendencies would matter more than whether a laptop design that simply can't afford Windows runs a competing operating system. I was wrong: Gates' own hyper-competitive nature, combined with what appear to be permanently retarded social skills, still reign supreme. That was the only reasonable conclusion I could draw, when I read last month that Gates had subjected Negroponte's laptop design to an extended, undeniably mocking critique in front of a conference keynote address audience. This week, Negroponte asked Gates, if only rhetorically, the same thing a lot of us would like to ask him: Why knock the thing in public? What possible competitive advantage -- what advantage, period -- could Gates hope to gain from a laptop built, from the ground up, to bring opportunity to kids who might otherwise never get it. Even if Gates really considered the design fatally flawed, that's an issue he could address by picking up the phone and calling Negroponte -- not by making a flat-out ass of himself in front of the world. Perhaps it's the money rotting Gates' brain -- or, more to the point, his humanity -- even more quickly than he can give the stuff away. I'm waiting to see if he begins referring to himself by the "Royal 'We'" (a privilege historically reserved for European monarchs, star NFL wide receivers, and terminally wealthy whack jobs) before I make the final call on that one. In the meantime, whoever handles Gates' spin control at Wagg-Ed these days should fire themselves, because they blew this one on an epic scale. In the meantime: Down in the trenches in Redmond, they're doing more than just calling for Steve Ballmer's and Jim Allchin's heads on sticks at the Redmond city limits .(If you're reading this over lunch -- sorry about that.) They're also doing things with open-source virtualization software developers and enterprise Linux distributors that Steve Ballmer and Jim Allchin would never think to do. Call it "coopetition," call it crazy, call it downright odd to read about Microsoft throwing down on the LinuxWorld expo floor, call it whatever you want. I'm calling it a whip-smart move from a company that hasn't looked either very quick or very smart lately. Now, let's see whether Microsoft can parlay this opening gambit into some new, and potentially interesting, business relationships; or whether Redmond's Old Guard decides that it's time to send in the tanks and crush the company's Linux Spring, before it starts giving people too many crazy ideas. Enjoy the rest of your week, and stay in touch.
Matt McKenzie
Don't let future editions of Linux Pipeline Newsletter go missing. Take a moment to add the newsletter's address to your anti-spam whitelist: linuxed@techwire.com If you're not sure how to do that, ask your administrator or ISP. Or check your anti-spam utility's documentation. Thanks. Top Linux News Beta Version Of GNOME-KDE Linux Interop Software Due In May Vendors involved with the "Portland" Linux-interop project say it will eliminate one of the biggest and most visible challenges to Linux desktop deployment--by closing the compatibility gap between GNOME and KDE desktop distros.
Microsoft Shows Linux VM Support, Open Source Wares At LinuxWorld
Negroponte Knocks Bill Gates For Low-Cost Laptop Remarks
XenSource Licenses Microsoft Virtualization Format
Embedded Linux Still Hard Sell -- Survey
IBM Teams With Novell On Linux-Based Middleware
JPEG Patent Claimant Drops Suit Against Xerox
Intel, Red Hat Hook Up For Virtualization, Grid Computing Efforts Editor's Picks Firefox Essentials: Fixing The Fox Trouble with Firefox? Never fear: We'll show you how to keep Firefox running its best -- and how to isolate, identify, and fix problems when they do crop up.
A Linux Alternative To Windows Media Center PCs
Virtualization Vendors Jockey For Advantage
EU-Microsoft: The Wrong Fight, For The Wrong Reasons?
FeedDemon 2.0: Nourishment For News Junkies
Free DBs Put SQL '05 in 'Check'
IT Gets Creative At DreamWorks Cast Your Vote Now! This week's poll question: What will happen to Firefox when Internet Explorer 7 is released later this year? Will Microsoft finally squash Mozilla with a quality Web browser, or does Firefox still have plenty of tricks to keep Redmond second-guessing? Let us know, cast your vote!
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Join InformationWeek for a FREE, live TechWebCast on IT Asset Management: The Foundation for Value Join Forrester and HP for this informational TechWebcast that will define IT asset management and highlight how HP delivers this critical discipline as the foundation for creating value through services. Register and view today! "http://www.techweb.com/webcasts/HP021506" ----------------------------------------- We take your privacy very seriously. Please review our Privacy Policy.
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