Domain: zdnet.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to zdnet.com.
Stories · 2,686
-
AMD's New SledgeHammer: 64 bit chip
ChickenBomb wrote to us with word that perennial battle between Intel and AMD is continuing with AMD unveiling plans for their new 64-bit microprocessor, code-named SledgeHammer. Heck of a lot better name then Itanium, IMHO. -
MacMillan Sells Most Linux, gets No Respect
g8orade wrote to us with a column currently running on ZDNET about Macmillan Linux, aka Linux-Mandrake. The column is regarding the fact that while Macmillan is the best selling, the "geeks" of Linux don't give it any respect - which is an interesting point, although I would like to say that we've done more then one story on it. The column has some thought-provoking comments about useability and the direction of Linux, as well. -
"Sensation" on David Bowie's Website
ZDNet reports that David Bowie is now hosting the controversial art exhibition "Sensation" on his website. If you've been in a cave for the last week, this is the British exhibition that is annoying the hell out of NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani. He has said he will pull funding to the Brooklyn Museum, and even Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) is making political hay in Washington.Some may recall the NEA flap started in 1989 by a Mapplethorpe photo exhibit (for a recap, try the book Culture Wars ). The threat of censorship has loomed over publicly-funded galleries and artists ever since. The news behind the news is that the internet will now allow a curious country to see the artwork that our government is telling us is evil; ten years ago, all the newspapers could print were lurid descriptions by the would-be censors. Will this make a difference?
-
Bernstein Back in Court
William Tanksley send us the story that Bernstein, who's case against the United States resulted in a three judge panel over-turning the US laws regarding exportation of cryptography software. At the request of the DOJ, a full Court of Appeals will rehear the case. Here's to hoping that the full court follows the advice of the panel. -
Sun to release Solaris source code
According to this story on ZDNet, Sun has decided to release the Solaris Source code under their SCSL (Sun Community Source License). It seems Sun wants to copy the success story of Linux. What do you think about it? -
Massive Fiber Cut Slows Net
netpuppy writes "East coast to west coast connectivity (or the other way around) feeling slow today? Here's why. It appears that the attack of the raging backhoes has hit Ohio today, where an unnamed public utility managed to cut through 4 OC-192 circuits while working on gas lines. 4 OC-192s are roughly equivalent to 40 Gbps traffic, and trunks this size usually carry both voice and data on them. AboveNet, GTE, and Metro Fiber (now part of Worldcom) seem to be the worst hit, according to this Inter@ctive Week article. " OK, I'm not just crazy. It has been slower then molasses today. -
Privacy Quickies
Finnish law was amended last Wednesday, adding a two-year sentence for the catch-all crime "Causing danger to data processing systems." Is keeping sample virus code intended for anti-virus authors on your FTP site a violation?A Michigan hospital may be only the first of many: a digital dictation system used by doctors for private medical notes has been cracked. 2600 magazine published a sample audio file, which got people's attention. Yahoo and ZDNet's CyberCrime have good coverage.
And, the Defense Department is very proud of its Defense Computer Forensics Lab. They fit broken disks together, read deleted files, "trace hackers across the internet," and use some doohickey called a "Beowulf cluster" to analyze captured computers. Can someone tell me why the FBI gets a lab in this building which was deliberately located near the National Security Agency? Isn't there some conflict of interest?
-
A million pounds of surveillance
The UK learns about the cost of making sure law enforcement can snoop on internet access, something the U.S. public already learned when Congress spent $500 million dollars on making sure the FBI could snoop on us. In this ZDnet UK article, the cost of police access (in both cash and privacy) is discussed. The police intend to eavesdrop on one in every five hundred internet calls - Demon Internet projects that the cost of hooking up this access to be around a million pounds per year. See also another ZDnet article which summarizes the current state of surveillance in the UK. -- michael -
Jesux is a Bad Pun
Lots and lots of Slashdot readers have either sent in this ZDNet article or a direct link to the Jesux homepage." It's a hoax, folks. Think: if you were a Christian believer, would you name your Linux distribution something so close to "Jesus Sucks?" The concept isn't even original; variations on this theme have been floating around the Net for years because of Unix and its "kills" and "aborts" and "daemons." -
SUN and Star Office's Licence agreement.
DaveHowe writes "Interesting speculative piece in ZDnet about SUN's long term plans for StarOffice and of course it's development into StarPortal; It's a little TOO anti-SUN not to be taken with a pinch of salt, but does raise a couple of interesting points:That the licence for current downloads is non-redistributable, and requires registration, and That there is no guarantee that Sun won't withdraw StarOffice at some point after StarPortal is active, leaving the Linux community high and dry." -
The Continuing Rise of Linux and UNIX
-
Linux Clustering Cabal project
RayChuang turned us on to this ZDnet story about the Linux Clustering Cabal project, which, Ray says, is "...the one that will allow Linux server clustering of many server machines. Sounds like just the thing to finally get eBay working reliabily and also make John C. Dvorak eat his words about the deficiencies of Linux." -
PCWeek "Hack This Page" Cracked
mrflip writes "On September 20th, PCWeek announced a $1000 contest to be the first to hack either the linux or the NT server they set up. Well, four short days later, the linux box seems to have been compromised. The winner states "Hi guys, It's been a nice challenge, now send me the cash :)." He explained that the exploit was not a linux feature but was due to a closed source CGI script with improper security checks. " Going to require Solomonic ruling - the intent was to test the two OSes, and this is obviously not an OS test. -
New Microsoft Strategy
A New York Times story reports that Microsoft has unveiled a big shift in its internet strategy. "Software as a service," no "dogmatic commitment" to the Intel platform, and new hardware (a low-cost NC). Plus a revamped MSN, a portal for businesses, and free ham sandwiches for everyone (well, maybe next year). Other news reports are more skeptical, saying "Strategy-less" and "Nothing new." -
Sun Gives Up on Java Tools
According to a story published yesterday evening on the ZDNet Web site, Sun Microsystems, Inc. is going to drop Java Workshop and Java Studio. Instead, the article says, they are shopping for an outside company that produces and supports Java tools. NetBeans is mentioned as a possible acquisition, but that's only a rumor at this point. -
Sun Gives Up on Java Tools
According to a story published yesterday evening on the ZDNet Web site, Sun Microsystems, Inc. is going to drop Java Workshop and Java Studio. Instead, the article says, they are shopping for an outside company that produces and supports Java tools. NetBeans is mentioned as a possible acquisition, but that's only a rumor at this point. -
AOL Sues Over "You've Got Male"
A reader sent us today's stupid lawsuit. AOL is suing a Denver-area woman to get her to stop using the phrase "You've Got Male" in her book to online dating. *sigh* Put your own pithy comment about stupid lawsuits here. -
Corel Sticking to Closed Source Beta Test?
Tro^ble sent us an article over at ZD Net that talks about the recent Corel Fiasco that was originally covered by us yesterday. The major point is that they seem to be trying to stick to the non GPL license claiming that the release is "Beta" and therefore "Internal" so it doesn't violate anything. Insert irritated remarks here. -
Dvorak On Linux And "The Big Time"
Cyberllama writes "John C. Dvorak's latest commentary is up at ZDnet. " I've been seeing this story came across quite a bit today. Dvorak offers an insightful commentary on Linux and "The Big Time" (He uses IRC servers as an example), although one that I don't necessarily agree with. In a switch from the normal take, he sees strong growth on the desktop, while predicting Linux won't grow in the workhorse server area much. Can anyone confirm or deny the allegation the IRC servers and Linux mentioned in the piece? Update: 09/21 06:29 by H :Click below - proof is below that Linux does at least some of the machines.[root@brain:~]# queso -p 4400 dallas-r.tx.us.undernet.org
204.178.73.175:4400 * Linux 2.1.xx
[root@brain:~]# queso -p 6667 Haarlem.NL.EU.UnderNet.Org
194.178.232.52:6667 * Linux 2.1.xx -
Dvorak On Linux And "The Big Time"
Cyberllama writes "John C. Dvorak's latest commentary is up at ZDnet. " I've been seeing this story came across quite a bit today. Dvorak offers an insightful commentary on Linux and "The Big Time" (He uses IRC servers as an example), although one that I don't necessarily agree with. In a switch from the normal take, he sees strong growth on the desktop, while predicting Linux won't grow in the workhorse server area much. Can anyone confirm or deny the allegation the IRC servers and Linux mentioned in the piece? Update: 09/21 06:29 by H :Click below - proof is below that Linux does at least some of the machines.[root@brain:~]# queso -p 4400 dallas-r.tx.us.undernet.org
204.178.73.175:4400 * Linux 2.1.xx
[root@brain:~]# queso -p 6667 Haarlem.NL.EU.UnderNet.Org
194.178.232.52:6667 * Linux 2.1.xx -
Is Sun Truly A Friend of Linux?
-
Patrick Naughton Arrested
Pomme de Terre! writes "Patrick Naughton - Java-genius, Starwave CTO, & Infoseek VP - has been arrested for chasing 13 year old girls *and* having kiddie porn on his computer... and is probably going to be put away for a very long time. Very sad. " See also the Yahoo story. As executive vice president of products at Infoseek, was Naughton in charge of GoGuardian? -
Motorola G5 - 2Ghz 64bit
Nerdkiller writes " An article appeared on ZDnet with some information on the G5 chip expected in 2 years. It will be competing with the Intel Merced which is expected out around the same time. A full 64 bit 2 Ghz processor. The Intel Merced will be able to support 64 bit processing, however it must be run under emulation for 32bit code. The G5 requires no change in current code with exception to some low level OS stuff. " -
Girls Like Linux Too
BootHead sent us the article at ZD-Net that appears most designed to draw a link from Slashdot in quite some time. Its about Women and Linux. Course they call them "LinuxChix" (cough) but its just sorta the standard tirade on "Girls can be Geeks Too" (which no geek argues with in theory, we just never be able to find girl geeks of our own ;)Update: 09/16 09:29 by H :Check out the additional linkage about the debate of whether "Women need an OS of their own." -
Girls Like Linux Too
BootHead sent us the article at ZD-Net that appears most designed to draw a link from Slashdot in quite some time. Its about Women and Linux. Course they call them "LinuxChix" (cough) but its just sorta the standard tirade on "Girls can be Geeks Too" (which no geek argues with in theory, we just never be able to find girl geeks of our own ;)Update: 09/16 09:29 by H :Check out the additional linkage about the debate of whether "Women need an OS of their own." -
PowerPC Processor Roadmap
ezavada writes "Motorola has posted their PowerPC Processor Roadmap. Looks like they expect the G4 to go to 1 GHz, and the G5 to 2+ GHz. There is also a story about this in MacWeek. " The current road map goes out until 2009, while another interesting tidbit is that Motorola expects to continuing making G4s even with the introduction of the G5 and G6-embedded chips perhaps? -
HERF Gun: Make it in your basement
CuriousGeorge113 was the first one to write us about the homemade HERF gun an engineer unveiled at Infowarcon '99. All stuff that you can buy from a hardware store, and disable computers at varying range, depending on size. The current model does not do permanent damage, unlike EMP. -
Sony Investing in TiVo
ZDNet reports that Sony will be investing in TiVo, who makes what is becoming commonly referred to as a digital VCR. What makes this doubly cool and exciting is the fact that the TiVo runs Linux (embedded PPC chip). Maybe this is the mutation of the "convergence" devices we were supposed to all be using by now, especially if the TiVo becomes extended in to something capable of surfing the web (it has a modem in it...) -
"Visor" from the Creators of the Palm
Bearpaw writes "ZDNet reports that that Handspring -- founded by original Palmers Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky -- will release the first of their PalmOS-based devices on Tuesday. " They have some sketchy details (Same OS, faster hardware, optimized applications, prices) but not much real meat. I'm looking forward to more data. -
Amiga's president unexpectedly resigns
TuxDaddy writes "Jim Collas has resigned as president of Amiga-however no details are available yet. " Well, let the speculation machine run rampant-is Amiga serious? Is there anything happening with them?Update: 09/01 07:42 by H :Well, they've announced their new president as Tim Schmidt. Collas has left to "pursue personal interests". -
Amiga's president unexpectedly resigns
TuxDaddy writes "Jim Collas has resigned as president of Amiga-however no details are available yet. " Well, let the speculation machine run rampant-is Amiga serious? Is there anything happening with them?Update: 09/01 07:42 by H :Well, they've announced their new president as Tim Schmidt. Collas has left to "pursue personal interests". -
GT Interactive Sued for piracy
Ripp writes "Seems that somebody's gotten themselves into a bit of trouble! ZDNet Reports that GT Interactive slapped their label on someone else's product and sold it as such in Europe. " Specifically, a private-computer games company has said, and supported that GT Interactive took their game, and sold it in Germany under their German affiliate's label. -
Chad Davis May Be the Next Kevin Mitnick
19-year-old Chad Davis, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, made the front page of The Washington Post today. The story that features him says, "During [a] June 2 search, Davis admitted that he belonged to a notorious hacking gang that calls itself Global Hell, and the FBI agents let him know they were cracking down on the group. On June 28, Davis allegedly struck back: He replaced the Army's Internet home page with the message: 'Global Hell is alive. Global Hell will not die.'" The article reads like a chapter from The Hacker Crackdown, and it looks like Chad Davis may be used as an example of what the feds can do to crackers who mess with government sites. Mainstream news stories about Global Hell started appearing in May. I expect to see many more in upcoming months. Mitnick redux? Could be. -
Cisco, IBM to ally
Silverpike writes "Cicso and IBM have announced that they will now partner on networking technologies. All existing IBM networking equipment will cease development and maintain support. Cisco gets IBM networking patents and preference on all new silicon devices. IBM Global Services will now also sell Cicso products. " Lotsa money exchanging hands-2 billion. Cisco starts to use more IBM custom chips, while IBM sells Cisco stuff. -
Windows 2000 to provoke domain game
According to this article found on PC Week, Mircosoft Windows 2000 implements DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System) in a way that makes it extremely difficult for administrators to integrate the operating system upgrade with Unix systems, which use the older, static DNS. I would like to ask if someone here could explain what is the difference between Static DNS and Dynamic DNS, and why it's not implement almost at all unices, including Linux. I smell a fight here between Unix Admins and NT/2000 Admins in some corporates. Am I wrong? -
Hope for the Valley's Single Men
Anonymous Coward writes "ZDNN is running an article about how a good geek is hard to find. " The American Singles group is holding its annual convention in the Valley, because of the sheer amount of good men that are availible. Dear Lord. -
Linus Puts Shields Up
wesmills writes "ZDNet, that fine purvayor of well-balanced, highly informative Linux stories (BS mode OFF) has written a piece complaining that Linus isn't as accessible as he used to be. You wouldn't answer the phone, either, if you had 1000s of journalists asking the same question all day, every day, would you? " I'm in an odd position: As a pseudo journalist I sometimes need to get ahold of people in that capacity, but I also have to deal regularly with media types who just want a lame quote for their article. After you answer the same questions time and time again, it gets amazingly tedious (And I've been known to tell reporters to read the FAQ too ;) I'm amazed Linus lasted this long. I hope that the levels of protection he's put in place give him some well deserved privacy. -
Linus Puts Shields Up
wesmills writes "ZDNet, that fine purvayor of well-balanced, highly informative Linux stories (BS mode OFF) has written a piece complaining that Linus isn't as accessible as he used to be. You wouldn't answer the phone, either, if you had 1000s of journalists asking the same question all day, every day, would you? " I'm in an odd position: As a pseudo journalist I sometimes need to get ahold of people in that capacity, but I also have to deal regularly with media types who just want a lame quote for their article. After you answer the same questions time and time again, it gets amazingly tedious (And I've been known to tell reporters to read the FAQ too ;) I'm amazed Linus lasted this long. I hope that the levels of protection he's put in place give him some well deserved privacy. -
New Dual-Celeron PC's Encourage Overclocking
Steve Nakhla writes "The same people responsible for the iMac-looking PC's are now shipping a dual-Celeron PC, that makes overclocking a breeze. " So the question is, Publicity Stunt, or a valuable feature that consumers want? A motherboard that makes 8x overclocking easy is certainly cool, but its definitely gonna void some warranties, and maybe even blow up some chips. -
3rd Party PPC Machines from IBM specs
-
Feature:Open Source as an Ant Farm
Occasionally someone submits a feature that really raises my eyebrow. Jack William Bell did just that by submitting 'Open Source as an Ant Farm'. Its a really interesting piece that talks about code as art, and much more. Its quite funny, and its got a lot to think about. Click now, you won't regret it. Open Source as an Ant Farm by Jack William BellWhere Open Source is concerned, hyperbole from the digerteratti hype meisters proliferates nearly as quickly as the hyperlinks they hype. Let's face it -- Clapton has been deposed; Linus Torvalds is now God. And those pundits shouting his divinity the loudest can^Òt even tell a stack register from a walrus. I wonder if Jesus had the same problem?
This constant lionizing of Linus is getting on my nerves. I mean, he is probably a great guy and all (if you know what I mean), but a great man? Usually you wait until people are safely dead (and unable to further embarrass themselves) before heaping those kinds of laurels on their heads. If I was he I would start worrying about that strange human proclivity for taking our living idols down a notch once in a while. Or even nailing them to a tree. Not to mention burning at the stake, drawing and quartering and satirizin g on TV.
But I knew things were getting ridiculous this last week when I saw three different weblogs pointing to the same dumb article using variations on the same dumb caption: 'Open Source as an Art Form' . I mean come on, just because a bunch of nutzoid art types gives Torvalds an award for Linux doesn't mean that an operating system or a development model is art! Yeesh!
Not that I don't think of programming as art mind you. After all I am a programmer myself and I often like to compare what I do to the creation of art. A kind of raw industrial art perpetuated underneath the digital world by Morlo cks like myself while the Eloi cavort on the surface, unaware of the immense complexity (and fragility) of their world. In other words code is art, but it is exclusionist art. No more approachable to the everyday person than a Jackson Pollock work. And twice as incomprehensible!
After all if everyone could do it, it wouldn't be art, would it? It would be just another craft. And if everyone could appreciate good code the way I appreciate the Impressionists then it would be 'Classical' (read 'Dead') Art. Not something alive and thriving. Bubbling and fermenting and making funny smells the way the process of hacking out good code does.
But, you say, it is being appreciated just as you would like! After all, isn't that what the award was all about?
Well, no frankly. Not even close. In my opinion if you can't write good code you can't appreciate good code. At the most you can only appreciate the end result, the compiled program. And, while some programs are definitely 'art' in their own right, many others cannot be described as such based on their even visible-to-the-user external features. And Linux, while a work of art in my programmer eyes, is really just a kernel. A piece of code that, if everything is working right, the user will never see directly. Some of my peers would agree with this. Some will not. As always opinions are all over the map...
One poster on Slashdot tried to have it both ways when he opined "Which part of the programming is the art? Is it the code, neatly formatted, with creative comments and clever algorithms or is it the finished product? When you look at 'art' in a museum, all you see is the finished product . . . So which is the art? The code or the program? I personally think it's the program, and beautiful programs usually have very nice/efficient/clean code."
While another lamented "When the New Yorker compares Open Source to the Algonquin roundtable, the seventh seal will be complete and Microsoft will be free to release Windows 2000."
And another asks "So how is this art going to be displayed? Will art galleries have framed printouts of C code, or will they just give out Linux CDs?"
How indeed? Well, if you read the dumb article I mentioned above you will find the author's thesis is that neither the source code nor the compiled Linux kernel code is the issue, rather the art in question is the Open Source development model that built it! He bases this proposition the following facts:
- China Youth Daily used the Microsoft consternation over Open Source for propaganda purposes.
- The Open Source development model (as described by Eric Raymond) is about cooperation and participation.
- Indian Potlatches were about cooperation and participation.
- The Surrealists did some stuff that involved cooperation and participation.
- A lot of twentieth century art uses 'quotation' (like painting soup cans or sampling 1970's Rock and Roll for Rap music) and 'quotation' is kind of like Open Source, isn't it?
- John Myatt's art forgery scam was kind of like 'quotation' too! And it was kind of like art as well
- When some people share a pseudonym to do wacky performance art, and then someone else uses the same nom de plume to crack a web site or to write an on-line 'tag-team' novel you have cooperation and participation and quotation and propaganda all rolled into one, with an Internet connection as a sweetener!
My first thought on reading the article was "Huh?" Then I reread and listed the salient points above and reiterated "Huh?"
Clearly Harvey Blume isn't a programmer. If he was I wouldn't trust him to code a 'for' loop based on his demonstrated grasp of simple logic. Nonetheless if he had simply stated that Open Source programming with the Bazaar model is 'Art' because he says it was art I would have much less to quibble with. After all art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Only he didn't. Instead he chose to defend his allegation using arguments that indicate he doesn't understand anything about the subject. In other words, I cannot say Mr. Blume is wrong, but I can state with near certainty that he is the wrong person to make the claim. He might be right, but for the wrong reasons.
So, assuming you can call a development model an art form -- how do you hang it on the wall? I would argue that it is already there. The main point about Open Source is that it is (wait for it) . . . OPEN! Duh^Å Unlike 'Closed' development the source code is available for all to see. And often the discussions between developers are available as well, archived on one list server or another. In the Internet sense you can't get up against the wall any more that that!
But what does the average art lover see hanging there? Open Source as an Art Form? I think not. More like Open Source as an Ant Farm! At most they will get a glimpse of we scurrying workers as we toil underground. But they will never, ever understand. As I said before, I am OK with that.
Non programmer types can present art awards for Linux or even Sendmail if they like, but it doesn't signify to me. In my opinion these awards mean nothing until they are given by someone who understands why the jargon file definition of 'Recursion' is funny. Until then I would rather they just threw money. Wouldn't you?
-
Ixnay WinNT on Alpha
Thanks to Jason Perlow for sending us the story that Compaq has laid off roughly 100 engineers responsible for WinNT on the Alpha platform, and will be not be doing more development on it. It's an interesting development, especially taken in light of Compaq's recent push with Linux, True64, and OpenVMS as the OSes (OSi?) of choice with the Alpha platform. -
Robots Battle to the Death!
spiffy1 writes "BattleBots, a fighting tournament between remote-controlled robots, took place this weekend at Long Beach, California. Contestants built robots which were pit against other robots in the same weight class (Kilobot, Megabot, and Gigabot), and tried to disable their opponent by ramming them, cutting them, or tossing them around in a DEADLY ARENA filled with ROTATING BLADES and NASTY SPIKES! The big winner in both the "Gigabot Duel" and the "Best Engineering" categories was "BioHazard" - a wide flat thing with a massive flipping arm. Check out the zdnet article and some pictures and videos at ZDTV. " -
Robots Battle to the Death!
spiffy1 writes "BattleBots, a fighting tournament between remote-controlled robots, took place this weekend at Long Beach, California. Contestants built robots which were pit against other robots in the same weight class (Kilobot, Megabot, and Gigabot), and tried to disable their opponent by ramming them, cutting them, or tossing them around in a DEADLY ARENA filled with ROTATING BLADES and NASTY SPIKES! The big winner in both the "Gigabot Duel" and the "Best Engineering" categories was "BioHazard" - a wide flat thing with a massive flipping arm. Check out the zdnet article and some pictures and videos at ZDTV. " -
Will PPC Become the Preferred Linux Platform?
grunkhead writes "Stephan Somogyi, aka the Darwinist, at MacWeek has an interesting take on Linux on the PowerPC in the wake of IBM's release of a free motherboard design for the G3/750, suggesting the PPC could be the preferred Linux platform of the future. " -
Will PPC Become the Preferred Linux Platform?
grunkhead writes "Stephan Somogyi, aka the Darwinist, at MacWeek has an interesting take on Linux on the PowerPC in the wake of IBM's release of a free motherboard design for the G3/750, suggesting the PPC could be the preferred Linux platform of the future. " -
AOL Trademarks nixed
Robert Wilde writes "A small dose of sanity in the world of trademarks, according to a ZDNN story; the courts have ruled AOL doesn't own "You've got mail," "IM," or "buddy list." " So, I suppose that means my copyright for "E-Commerce Solution" and "E-mail" is probably out as well. -
Wrap-up of LinuxWorld
Having finally flown back home, recovered from the gain/loss of sleep, time zones, and of course, the obligatory luggage being lost, we're trying to wrap-up the latest installment of LinuxWorld. If you are interested in some commentary and stories coming out of LWCE, click below. The big issue of LWCE was something that didn't occur even in the same state as the show. The Red Hat IPO, complete with lotsa confusion and news went up, and showed that, yes, Wall Street is interested in Linux.One of the more interesting commentaries brought up the newest Linux Spokesperson-Casper Weinberger. Yes, the former Secretary of Defense is an Open Source guy. Strange. It also brings up the living penguins that were on the show floor. I dunno-it still seems to me that live animals on a show floor has to be tantamount of animal abuse, under some sort of law.
A number of good interviews came out of the show - one with RMS where he talks about the whole GNU/Linux thing, Communism. The interview is done in the inimitable Stallman style, so...be warned. *grin* In a parellel vein, ESR talked with ZD, foretelling amongst other things, the downfall of Microsoft and FUD issues. MSNBC did a nice story on Gnome, giving it some of the props needed. The KDE folks were also at the shows, with some nice displays at their screen in the booth.
We spent almost every waking moment in the .Org pavilion, a scary sort of place with furniture with no back support, and lots of people wandering through. Included amongst these people was no less then three documentary film crews. I think two+ is a sign that a movement has reached commericial mainstream. So, uh, congrats to....someone.
Some great picture shots came in - thanks, as always, to Marc Merlins' wrap-up complete with some good shots. Marc's, as always, is incredible comprehensive. Read it. If you want some shots of .Org pavilion, the Slashdot party (Woo-hoo! Good beer! *grin* ), check out Joey Hess' page. HUGE # of pictures, and still more going up.
The show was fun. Lotsa people who we don't get to see, except at the conventions. The commericial element was stronger then at the last show, but I think it was evident that the companies attending understood that they at least needed to give a nod to the feelings of the Community. This being the 2nd round of a show this size, I think the initial glamour of "Woo! Big Show!" is wearing off, and people are getting to work at these. It makes things a little less glamourous, but what the attendees/exhibitors of the show did see is that Linux is something to be taken seriously. Every major media outlet had people there, warndering the floor, and media like CNN ran pieces about it during the show. With the first IPO under its' belt, the establishment of several major shows, and major vendors established on the scene, I think Linux continued success looks good.
-
AOL Jilts Open Source
Cerb writes "AOL seems to have retracted the specs to its TiK protocol." The lead paragraph of the ZDNet story Cerb sent in says, "The controversy surrounding America Online Inc. and instant messaging has spilled over into the realm of open source, raising fundamental questions about open-source licenses and commercial vendors' use of them." Could they do the same to Mozilla? A scary thought. -
IBM opens PowerPC design to LinuxPPC
David Snow writes "IBM is opening the door for Linux distributors to use computers with the PowerPC chip. This means Linux-branded G3 and G4 boxes. " Another in a long series of pretty good Linux related moves on Big Blues part.