Author Archive

Get stuff done, run Win apps, and write more code with this edition of Product Picks.

As the year draws to a close, it’s time to look back and reflect on… IT security. Was 2007 a banner year for secure systems, or rampant attacks? Did your shop sail through the year with no problems, or did you spend late nights recovering systems?

We pick the companies that are defining the future of Information Technology and will have the most impact on the Open Enterprises of 2007. It’s the inaugural edition of our 20 Companies to Watch list and we guarantee that every company here will challenge how you think about Linux and Open Source before the year is out.

PARIS, December 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Bull today announced having signed and executed an agreement with Eunics SpA, the Italian IT service provider and subsidiary of Eutelia SpA, for the sale of 100% of Bull Italia SpA, the Italian subsidiary of Group Bull. The companies have entered into a 5-year exclusive distribution agreement covering all Bull's products lines in Italy. Financial terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ — CodeWeavers, Inc., the leading developer of software products that turn Mac OS X and Linux into Windows-compatible operating systems, today announced a partnership with The Douglas Stewart Company aimed at bringing CodeWeavers' upcoming CrossOver Mac to colleges and universities across North America. The new relationship is expected to generate thousands of new unit sales of CrossOver Mac, a product which enables users to run popular Windows applications natively on the Mac OS X operating system.

One thing is clear: Nortel Networks’ Internet Telephony is the wave of the future, and its proven Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology can boost your business performance and accelerate your business success today.

OIN gets more patents, the Netherlands builds an enormous and enormously-fast grid, and Google’s Picasa for Linux goes alpha

MySQL AB rakes in the cash, The Apache Foundation updates its namesake server, and Fedora Core 5 makes its debut.

While a Linux cluster offers a cost-effective alternative for numerous enterprise and technical computing applications, its price/performance for high-performance computing (HPC) applications can be substantially worse. Why?

openSUSE launches; OSDL premieres its patent commons; and Japan pursues petaflops

Monarch ships dual-core Opteron machines; the Cell processor goes open source; and XAMPP makes a better LAMP.

Last week, CodeWeavers issued a “Installer Challenge” to improve Wine “until it can run nearly every Windows program.”

This sounded promising, so we asked CodeWeavers Founder and CEO Jeremy White to talk to us about the challenge, as well as the state of Wine and CodeWeavers. White had a lot to say about Wine, the state of the Linux desktop and more.

LM: So, first of all, give us a little background on the Installer Challenge.

Yeah, and basically the challenge is that we’re trying to take Wine to that next level, we have for the last several years, really focused on a fairly small footprint of applications, making those work well and being glad and hoping that other things would work as well, collateral damage, as I like to call it.

Linux on the Nintendo DS, Linux in Good Hands, and A Very Large Small Drive

Munich choose free software; MySQL encourages” free data”; and Opteron gets openMosix.

A Linux to crunch planetary orbits, a mini-PC, and more.

==

Linux Solutions Government Conference
& Pavilion/Theater at FOSE, April 5 -7, 2005

Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C.
Register online to attend FOSE: www.FOSE.com

Linux Magazine, in conjunction with FOSE, the most comprehensive
technology exposition serving the government market, has created the Linux
Solutions Government program that consists of the following:

Linux Solutions Government Conference
(April 5 & 6, 2005) is a unique, two-day event that places
Linux Solutions in context with end-user case studies, providing executives
with practical information regarding Linux Solutions for the Government
sector.

The Linux Pavilion & Theater
is a new exhibition at FOSE providing the IT executives with a look at
forward-thinking companies who provide Linux Solutions specifically for
the government sector.

Linux Solutions Government Guide
will be included in the APRIL issue of Linux Magazine
and will take a look at a broad overview of the state of Linux-based systems
and software in the industry plus case studies exploring all consideration
when implementing a Linux Solutions.

Linux Solutions Government Conference

Using Linux to Lower Total Cost of Ownership

April 5, 2005 & April 6, 2005

Register for the Linux Solutions Government Conference:
www.FOSE.com

Agenda

TUESDAY, April 5, 2005 @ FOSE

10:00am – 10:45am

Government Case Study 1

11:00am – 11:45am

Government Case Study 2

12:00 – 1:00pm

The State of the Penguin

A broad overview of the state of Linux-based systems
and software in the government sector.

2:15pm – 3:15pm

Government Case Study 3

Three major government agencies will discuss technology
solutions to specific government business problems based on Linux. They
will detail out the costs and benefits of implementing this emerging technology.
They will demonstrate how they achieved ROI for both their IT departments
and the organization as a whole. They’ll explain why they decided to implement
a solution based on Linux, which providers they analyzed and selected,
what their biggest implementation and migration challenges were, and the
business case for implementing these solutions. There will be a financial
analysis, including costs to acquire and deploy new systems (Total Cost
of Ownership) and the costs to keeping new equipment and software operational
(Total Cost of Maintenance).

3:30pm – 4:30pm

Panel Discussion – The Business Case for
Linux - Real Solutions for Real Business Problems, Q&A

Most CIO’s, IS/IT directors and financial executives
in the government sector are focused on gaining competitive advantage
and improving total cost of ownership (TCO). However, in today’s
economy, they are forced to create a business case justification to support
IT investments. This session will be presented in the context of an end-user
case study and will provide an overview of what it takes to build a solid
business case and quantify many of the possible cost reductions that can
result from adopting Linux.

3:30pm – 4:30pm

Panel Discussion – Real Solutions for Real
Business Problems, Q&A

By way of real world example, a variety of successful
Linux implementations will be presented with a focus on specific government
business problems solved. Attendees will be able to ask questions of the
panelists.

WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2005

10:00am – 10:45am

Government Case Study 1

11:00am – 11:45am

Government Case Study 2

2:15pm – 3:15pm

Government Case Study 3

Three major government agencies will discuss technology
solutions to specific government business problems based on Linux. They
will detail out the costs and benefits of implementing this emerging technology.
They will demonstrate how they achieved ROI for both their IT departments
and the organization as a whole. They’ll explain why they decided to implement
a solution based on Linux, which providers they analyzed and selected,
what their biggest implementation and migration challenges were, and the
business case for implementing these solutions. There will be a financial
analysis, including costs to acquire and deploy new systems (Total Cost
of Ownership) and the costs to keeping new equipment and software operational
(Total Cost of Maintenance).

==

==

Over the past few years,
commodity computing solutions — the Linux operating system, Intel
x86 and compatible processors, and open and de facto standards-based networking,
storage, and peripheral hardware — have become capable enough that
they now rival or surpass the equivalent proprietary products.

Today, businesses can mix and match components from
different vendors, can adopt and extend infrastructure using free and
open source software, and, in general, can exert much greater control
over complex and costly issues like upgrades and customization. As a result,
enterprise computing centers in all industries continue to aggressively
replace and expand aging systems with commodity technology.

Of course, technology of any kind is only valuable
if it’s reliable, responsive, suitable, and effective in generating results.
As with all significant purchases, making informed decisions is key. Yet,
if
there’s one issue impeding even more rapid adoption of Linux and commodity
information technology, it’s the dearth of practical and pragmatic information
about how to apply Linux to business problems. Indeed, vertical industries,
such as Government, Retail & Telecom, have no source of information
focused solely on deploying and tuning Linux to meet their unique requirements.

UNTIL NOW.

Linux Magazine is pleased to announce Linux Solutions.
Linux Solutions is an integrated educational & marketing program delivering
critical Linux information to IT executives in the Government, Retail
& Telecom industries.

In conjunction with FOSE, Retail Systems and SuperComm,
Linux Solutions will provide best practice recommendations and comparative
analyses from industry experts, plus end-user case studies, through the
following media properties:

• Linux Solutions Conferences
  at each industry tradeshow
• Linux Pavilions at each industry
  tradeshow
• Linux Solutions Guides in
  the April (Government), May (Retail) & June (Telecom) issues of
  Linux Magazine

==

If you have significant expertise as a developer, system administrator, IT manager, system integrator, or open source project leader, consider sharing your knowledge, skills, and experience with the readers of Linux Magazine.

Or, if you’re a journalist or analyst with a unique perspective on how Linux and open source are affecting information technology and the software industry at-large, consider sharing your opinion and insights through the pages of Linux Magazine.

Linux Magazine is published twelve times per year, providing ample opportunities for you to inform and influence the Linux community. Curious about what we have planned so far? See the 2007 Editorial Calendar.

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