Special Report: LinuxWorld San Francisco 2006

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Aug. 16, 2006

[Updated Aug. 17, 2006] -- This special report examines the state of the Linux market as evidenced by what's happening at LinuxWorld, San Francisco. At this year's West Coast mega-event, it's clear that Linux and open-source software have progressed beyond their initial server successes -- onto the desktop, and into devices.

Here are some selected items of interest:

The state of the 2006 Linux desktop -- Analysis: Were you to walk around LinuxWorld in San Francisco this week, for almost every person you'd see sitting, you'd see a laptop in front of them. And, if you're a snoopy person, like me, you'd also see that about half of those laptops were running Linux.
SUSE Linux wins LinuxWorld "Best of Show" -- Novell had a memorable day Aug. 17 at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco. Its SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 was a double award winner, being named both "Best of Show" and "Best Desktop Solution."
Novell accuses Red Hat of flip-flopping on Xen -- A virtual war is brewing up between Red Hat and Novell on how ready Xen is for business use. In the latest development, Novel CTO Jeff Jaffe has accused Red Hat of flip-flopping in its support for the popular Linux virtualization software.
Why Red Hat wasn't at LinuxWorld -- People were continuing to ask where Red Hat was at San Francisco's LinuxWorld on Thursday morning. Now, we know.
Collax targets Microsoft Small Business Server -- One hole in Linux's business offerings has been a drop-in, simple-to-use Linux back-end services server for SMBs (Small to Medium Businesses). Collax Inc. is trying to fill that hole. The Bedford Mass.-based company is doing this with the U.S. launch of its Collax Business Server.
Where the heck is Red Hat? -- The question I've been hearing the most at San Francisco's LinuxWorld is: "Where's Red Hat?" That's a darn good question. I don't have a darned good answer.
Linux powers infrastructure management gateways -- The out-of-band access equipment company founded by uClinux pioneer Bob Waldie is shipping a new line of infrastructure management gateways. Opengear says its Linux-powered IM4200-series management gateways can provide a single point of access to hundreds of network- and serially-attached devices.
Start-up touts "chip-on-film" mobile Linux core -- A Silicon Valley startup is preparing to ship a mobile Linux wireless development kit that utilizes new "chip-on-film" technology. Unicon Systems expects the MKit to help designers create Linux-powered handheld gadgets such as PMPs (portable media players), UMPCs (ultra mobile PCs), and wireless-enabled PDAs.
Microsoft's Mike Hall survives another LinuxWorld -- Windows Embedded product manager and blogger Mike Hall appears to have survived another close encounter with LinuxWorld.
Red Hat Accuses Novell of Being 'Irresponsible' About Xen -- Company says baking Xen into SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 could potentially damage enterprises' first experiences with Xen and put a cloud around it.
Linux Virtualization Lacks Tools -- While virtualization is a new technology for the Linux vendors, more work is needed on management tools to catch up with VMware.
Oracle Pulls More Partners into Linux Configurations Effort -- Brocade, Cisco Systems and Pillar Data Systems have joined Oracle in its validated Linux configurations program, which was set up to cover the entire stack of components its customers might encounter when installing the operating system.
Linux Runs on All Platforms at Show -- Slide Show: Exhibitors at LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco are showing Linux running on every conceivable platform—from mobile phones and PDAs to desktops, servers and laptops.
RealNetworks brings Windows Media to Linux -- In the past, if you wanted to play WMF (Windows Media format) files on Linux (with the recent exception of Freespire), you usually had to find, download, and install Microsoft's WMF codecs. Now, RealNetworks and Novell are teaming up to deliver Windows Media support to the Linux desktop.
LinuxWorld Awash With Linux Phone Buzz -- The barrage of phone-related announcements and demonstrations at LinuxWorld underscores the growing stature of Linux as a mobile phone operating system.
Where the heck is Red Hat? -- The question I've been hearing the most at San Francisco's LinuxWorld is, "Where's Red Hat?" That's a darn good question. "I don't have a darned good answer," writes columnist Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols.
Collax targets Microsoft Small Business Server -- One hole in Linux's business offerings has been a drop-in, simple to use Linux back-end services server for SMBs (Small to Medium Businesses). Collax Inc. is trying to fill that hole.
HP offers Debian support for its servers -- HP and Debian Linux may not sound like an obvious pairing. Nevertheless, HP has announced that it has increased its Linux distribution support options for customers and will now support Debian Linux.
Lenovo to Install Linux on ThinkPads -- The Chinese PC maker will install SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 on two of its ThinkPad T60p models for larger customers.
Virtualization, Road Maps Lead the Way at LinuxWorld -- Dell demonstrates systems management software, IBM makes big claims for its open-source development future and cell phone operating systems are on the move.
Trolltech woos developers with "open" Linux phone -- Trolltech, well known as the developer of the Qt graphical framework that provides the underpinnings of KDE, unveiled an "open" Linux-based phone that's intended to jump-start a third-party application ecosystem for Linux-based mobile phones.
LinuxWorld: Less Fun, More Business -- The upcoming trade show will focus more on virtualization and verticals than philosophy..
Enterprise email and IM, the Linux way -- Even before this week's LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco officially kicked off, there was already Linux business email and IM news.
Community Preview of Scalix 11 Makes Its Debut -- The next version of the Linux e-mail, calendaring and messaging platform will allow deep integration with legacy environments.
NEC Marries Fault Tolerance with Standard Linux -- The server maker will offer support for Red Hat Linux in its Express5800/320Ma systems.
LinuxWorld to Focus on Virtualization, Strong Enterprise Adoption -- Many CIOs are now implementing Linux and open-source software as policy within their organizations, a sign of how deeply those technologies have penetrated the enterprise, analysts say.
Freespire 1.0 arrives early -- Linspire Inc. rolled out Freespire 1.0 -- its free, Debian-based desktop Linux operating system that combines open-source software with legally-licensed proprietary drivers, codecs, and applications -- at LinuxWorld.

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