Slashdot Mirror

Neil Corlett wrote in to give us "This PCWeek Article on implications of Intel ruling on Microsoft's DoJ problems... Interesting. "According to a white paper drafted by the American Committee for Interoperable Systems, the essential facilities doctrine applies as much to intellectual property as to physical property. Hardware and software must interoperate with products from other vendors in order to be "merchantable," so a dominant player that withholds vital information about buses, protocols or interfaces is in violation of antitrust law.""

Elmaster writes "The FCC is looking at a proposal that would exempt software companies from damages when they write shoddy software. See this link for more details."

Ben Kosse writes "In this week's PC Week magazine, Peter Coffee let's us know what we already knew: Linux is considered a proven choice in some enterprise-class sites. This tidbit is at the very end of an article which basically points out even more stuff we already knew: Microsoft doesn't have a Mission Critical Operating System."

I have made some predictions about future of the x86 market. Some interesting possibilities, many of them involving IBM. Read on... Thanks go to Phillip R. Janeke for his gracious contribution to this article.

Recent developments in the x86 market may lead to the decline of Intel's monopoly power in the market. The increasing success of its competitors, as well as financial turmoil at the company may lead to increased competition, heaper prices, a more segmented market, and the rise of IBM as a powerhouse in the fabrication industry.

Yesterday, Cyrix introduced the MII chip. I expect the chip, along with the AMD K6 will dominate the low and mid-end markets. With the introduction of the MII, Cyrix has finally introduced a chip that will hopefully exceed Intel's chips in both integer and floating point performance, and exceed the price/performance of any chip on the market.

The rise of the K6 has lead to the resurgence of AMD in the x86 market. With the K6 3D, hopefully to be introduced next month, AMD will introduce a set of MMX-like instructions that will NOT be supported by Intel. IDT will also support the extentions. These two chips may take away a sizeable portion of the mid-end market from Intel.

IDT is a vendor with an as-yet unforseeable future. The vendor has been relativley successful, signing a foundry agreement with IBM, as well as exceeding sales expectations. Will the unsophisticated C6+ chip be enough to let the chip designer retain control of the little market share they have in the low-end? Maybe.

But there is something all three vendors have in common: all have signed foundry agreements with IBM. By the end of the year, IBM will be able to manufacture any non-Intel x86 chip, and that will certainly help them gain a noticeable portion of the desktop computer market. What does this mean for Intel? Will it be simply relegated to the high-end? If so, how will it compete with non-x86 offerings from Digital, MIPS, and other vendors? The company will introduce Celeron today, a cache-less version of the Pentium II. The chip has already met with many industry critics, and walked away in shame. Performance of the 266MHz model is expected to be on par with a 233MHz version, and many OEMs have snubbed the chip for an AMD or Cyrix chip. Is Celeron too little too late?

Intel has also announced plans to lay off 3000 employees. This, combined with the Asian financial crisis has lead to long-term growth questions about the company. Will it be able to successfully dominate the low end, or will IBM and its partners sweep the company out of the market from under itself?

Frank Earl writes "According to ZD's Anchordesk, GTE is planning to roll out ADSL services in 30 some metro areas throughout the rest of this year. Cost is supposed to be something on the order of $30 per month, not including install charges and rental of the equipment (since the equipment is standard and not *THAT* expensive, expect the stuff popping up for sale in the areas that GTE offers it- just like the ISDN hardware did when the local Telcos wised up some on that.) For some, at least, the pipe's about to get better and faster. "

Michael Knepher writes "There's a short, unsigned editorial at PCWeek, talking about Mozilla and how it's a good thing to support free software."

Matthew Burry wrote in with ZD Net Link where you can read the opinion of the columnist that everyone loves to hate. Yes it's Dvorak's take on the recent microsoft PR blitz. As you may imagine, John isn't to keen on the situation.

David Cloud writes "ZDnet has a quick poll on the use of "hackers" vs. "crackers" to describe those who break into computer systems. A short while ago it was hackers=0, cracker=178. Vote here " Judging by the results when I saw them, people know the difference between hackers and crackers- it's just the media that screws it up all the time.

From Os News, HP is reconsidering its decision to gather a set of partners and set up its own standards process. Instead it will work with Sun to make a common Embedded Java standard. Then again, as a reader pointed out maybe not.

Jeremy Collins sent us this article and sent us this one. Both deal with the quite hot topic of college dropouts and the computer industry. I know this personally to be a very hard subject- it's difficult to stumble through biology when I know I'll never need to know about meiosis again, when I could be a number of other places that pay better that sitting in Stats. I'm sure we have a lot of people on both sides of the debate- let's hear about it.

Microsoft has to stop using the term PalmPC to describe the newest PalmPilot-like Handheld PCs. 3Com had filed suit in France, Germany, and Italy, but the case will never go to court. Also painfully obvious in the report is the fact that third party software is needed to some things with Pilots that can be done with Windows CE. They also didn't mention the software is free. More ZDNet FUD?

Bill Jones wrote in to let us know that Jesse Berst's latest AnchorDesk column is on Andreessen's visit to the SVLUG last week, and the fact that all software prices fall except, well, Windows. Not surprising that Berst is a bit Cynical about it- Microsoft and Dell advertising built ZD *grin*. Read his comments here

ZDNet is running an interesting editorial titled "The next battleground: Linux vs. Windows". The article discusses the possibility of Linux being the operating system to possibly dethrone Windows. I personally feel we've got a lot of work to do, but it's not too outrageous a possibility!

John Bell wrote in this link where Peter Coffee talks about Unix in Mission Critical rolls. The other article is by Mark Gibbs and is titled "Lookin' into Linux" This link requires registration to read though. John noted several technical problems, but it is still a nice newbie article.

David Ulevitch wrote in with this link where you can read about Kevin Mitnick's current punishment:No access to computers. Court case scheduled for the 14th was postponed.

Simon Janes wrote in to tell us about this link where you can read about transistors that can basically be printed (supposedly) as easy as screen printing a t-shirt. Applications include name tags, bar codes, or anything disposable. Interesting applications for the Open Hardware movement as well.

Christopher Blizzard wrote in with this link where you can read that PGP is now planning to export encryption products. They're playing with fire, but we all benefit if it works. It's time Uncle Sam realizes that a program that wiggles bits around has subtle differences from say an uzi or guided missle.

The most disturbing news in a while can be read here. Basically it says that Merced, along with I2O (hiss) will have specs released only under NDA. How does this affect Free Software? Your Milleage May Vary has a quote from FreeBSD developer Sean Eric Fagan who doubts Linux and FreeBSD will be ported. If this happens, a lot of people will jump to Alpha or maybe start buying G3's and putting Linux on them. Hope Intel changes their mind.

They've tried it before, but now they're trying to control P2 competition. My take is that rather then controlling the P2, they should concentrate on a P3. The high end is very profitable for Intel, and the sooner they up the stakes, the more they make. Read more At zd netJim Crigler for sending this link in.

The word is on the street- don't look for Windows 98 to be released until June 25, at a minimum. This latest date is a cotinued rollback of the release date from Microsoft, and may be pushed back even further if the DOJ's investigation continues.

Itamar S.-T. let us know that PalmPC.com has been registered by 3com and is up and running. Next is this articleabout the new P3's sent in by David Cloud. Last Drew Daniels sent in this hotwired article and This ZDNet article.

ZDNet is reporting that 27 states are filing against MS. This is nothing short of amazing, thanks Dave Finton for running this our way. This is even more impressive when you read this This Washington Post Story. Basically Bill says that MS is struggling to hold market share, and that this government interference is really not helping matters. Thanks to Mike Martin for sending this one to me.

ZDNet is running an article where you can read about the PalmPilot 3. It features a slimmer design, rounder corners, a new version of the OS, and infra red capability. Other than that, its the same pilot that a million or so people have already come to know and love. Thanks to Brad Wanner for letting us know.

Zooko writes " Eiffel, an object oriented programming language, has been getting some good press as an alternative to Java. Today, Interactive Software Engineering, a maker of Eiffel development tools, announced the availability of the latest version of their software for Windows and Linux.

It is nice to see serious support of Linux by a commercial software company. Bertrand Meyer of ISE (and also noted object oriented guru) says: "Linux has been very good to us, and I hope we have been good to Linux too. It's one of our most important commercial platforms. And it's our #1 or #2 development platforms (#2 by a short distance from Windows if you count the number of machines, #1 if you ask developers what they want to develop on...)". See also the GNU Eiffel compiler, SmallEiffel"

This Story was sent to us by a lot of people including Mishari "CyKiX" Muqbil and Damian Counsell. There was another earlier one, but I can't find it, so to whoever you are, sorry! Basically the article is almost pro linux, and then at the end it says you could get fired if it fails! Personally I've had better luck with setting stuff up on Linux boxes than NT boxes, but what do I know?

An anonymous tipster sent this link our way where you can read a ZDNet story about Linux, and basically how wonderful and peachy it is. Nothing new, but once again we see the mainstream press praising it.

Microsoft seems to have realized the danger of Open Source Software, and is promoting the idea that anything in Microsoft Office can be fixed with Visual Basic for Applications. Interestingly the arguments are rather familiar: "You don't have to take it on faith that a third-party patch for Word, for example, is safe to use (or competently written). You can read the code and see exactly what it does and how."

Doug Loss sent us This Link and writes "This is a short profile of Joachim Kempin, the MS guy in charge of setting up OEM deals with hardware manufacturers. He's evidently why so few hardware companies are willing to speak on the record about their fear and loathing of Microsoft." Doug also sent us a link to an event he organizes annually:The Asimov Seminar so I thought I'd plug it for him. Definately Nerdy.

Well Gates has pulled a Turner and is going to give 1 billion dollars to the UN. James Riordan sent us this link where you can read about it. Great publicity for someone who has been getting so much bad press tonight. I wonder if they will mention this on 20/20 tonight.

KPBong wrote in to give us this article over at ZDNet. You can read John Dvorak (definately one of the cooler columnists- his columns are always chock full of juicy stuff) spouts off his opinions on the Netscape Source Code Hoopla. He doesn't really give it a fair shake though.

Joshua R. Poulson writes in to say " The domain gore2000.org was set up by a government employee at the whitehouse, who is listed in the Internic's contact information. Campaign finance rules require that no government employee may work on partisan activity while on duty or at work, so there could be a problem for Gore. ZDnet covers it in this article. Whether or not the staffer was at work or on duty, it should be noted that the email address given is on a government computer."

This is the first of hopefully many Slashdot.org Editorials. In addition to just reporting the news, the Slashdot Team really wishes to try to put out new ideas, or share other information that our readers may find helpful, interesting, or entertaining.

We're standing at an amazing crossroad here. The Free Software Foundation, and especially the Linux OS have gained amazing ground. The mainstream press (eg the ZiffDavis marketing monopoly) actually now regularly acknowledge Linux along side MacOS and Windows as being a "Real" Operating system.

And then there is the browser world, where the race was once one horse, then hundreds, and now 2. Microsoft and Netscape have been battling it out for some time now, and Netscape's once unstoppable 70% market share has begun crumbling.

Meanwhile the Free Software world is facing a battle of its own. The Commercial browser world has been reduced to the big ones, but the free world is producing Mneumonic, Gzilla, and various other smaller projects. Many talented programmers slave away on these products, but each day, Microsoft gains ground.

Add the final piece of data to the mix:Netscape is losing money as well as browser market share. What's a company to do? Maybe the solution is simple:GPL Netscape's Source Code.

So now that you've stopped laughing, let's talk about this seriously for a moment. Let's look at why Netscape should seriously consider this:

Talented programmers from around the world would actively improve Netscape's browser. The Free Software Movement has proven that if some control is enforced at the center (eg Linus) programs can develop communally. Netscape would not have to pay most of the development cost of their software. Coordination, and key programmers would be essential, but minor once coders around the world join in.

Netscape needs browser dominance to fuel its server market, and to remain synonymous with the Internet. If current trends continue, MS will = the Internet in another year.

Netscape is losing money on the browser market. They need to release their browser for free to compete with Microsoft anyway.

Source code would allow compilation on other systems- say a Pentium optimized version, or whatever other optimizations become available for platform X.

Excellent Publicity generated by such an original move would earn Netscape respect from the Free Software junkies who often have somewhat negative feelings towards Netscape. These Free Software Junkies are gaining control of much of the world's IS departments, and Netscape's good name will get them places in these corporate worlds.

So that's all well and good for Netscape, but what about the rest of us. Netscape has taken a lot of heat for its gapping shortcomings. In particular its bloated size and slow performance. Why would the Free Software World want to take on this project?

GPL means we would have a state of the art free browser.

Netscape could be ported to GTK or Qt for faster performance and lower memory requirements than Motif.

Various web browser efforts could focus on a single project (which could have many faces) which already has so many of the features they need. Instead of these projects dividing the effort, they could unify.

The superior programming talents of the world's programmers would make Netscape the superior browser, which would win over converts back from Microsoft even on Wintel boxes where MS is gaining support.

New browsers derived from Netscape for more specific tasks could share things like an HTML rendering engine for commonality.

Now I realize that there are problems. Large parts of Netscape's code aren't really Netscape's to give away. The "about:" screen of Netscape Communicator lists 12 companies besides Netscape including Apple, Macromedia, Symantec and many others. Perhaps these modules are removed. Perhaps these modules could also GPLd. Netscape does need to maintain the primary code base, and finding someone with the charisma of Linus to steerhead the development of code from hundreds of people will me a challange. Then there are problems with large portions of the Free Software world disliking Netscape. I really hope this could change, especially if they were given the opportunity to maintain it.

I really think this could be the answer to a lot of problems. With the power of an Internet full of programmers, even Microsoft's Billions of R&D dollars would be threatened. And we would be guaranteed a real choice even if IE4 becomes the standard on Windows boxes.

What do you think?

by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda
malda@slashdot.org

Diederik Meijer wrote in to let me know about this zdnet article where you can read about Digital's plan to make a new Unix to run specifically on Intel's new Merced architecture. It will incorporate new code, as well as parts of Digital Unix. The new 64bit unix will be available somewhere around 1999 if Intel manages to keep Merced on schedule.

It just keeps getting better. The one and only Sengan Baring-Gould sent us this link at ZD-Net with yet another amazingly positive review of RedHat from the mainstream industry press. Things have never looked so good for the Linux world. Everyone seems to be jumping on the Linux is Good bandwagon. Now if we can just get them to jump off the MS Uber Alles bandwagon and we may actually have a 2 horse race in the industry.

ZD-Net News is reporting that Micrsoft is about to announce a $1 Billion investment in Tele-Communications Inc. Looks like they might have control over the whole set-top box industry after all.. What do you think?

B1oodAnge1 writes "Proof of concept code was released last week that exploits a vulnerability in both the 64 and 32 bit versions of the 2.6.30 and 2.6.18 Linux kernel to gain root access. Apparently this affects Red Hat Enterprise Edition 5, which uses the 2.6.18 kernel. From the source code: A vulnerability which, when viewed at the source level, is unexploitable! But which, thanks to gcc optimizations, becomes exploitable :) Also, bypass of mmap_min_addr via SELinux vulnerability! (where having SELinux enabled actually increases your risk against a large class of kernel vulnerabilities)'"