comp.os.linux.advocacy

In today's digest, we have:
* Ubuntu Linux Praised, As Easy to Install as Acrobat Reader
* [Rival] Microsoft Takes Away XP Cushion to Reduce Workload (Urging
Defections)
* New Portable Computer Comes with GNU/Linux and Windows
* GNU/Linux Liked More Than Windows on the Eee PC
* Google/Android/Linux Phones to Come Shortly, iPhone at Risk
* National Security Agency Releases Its Linux, TCS Comes to Unbreakable
Linux
* GNU/Linux is Virtually Everywhere
* Michael Arrington's (Microsoft AstroTurf) Network Does Linux Special
* [Rival] OOXML Appears to be Failing, Depsite Microsoft Corruptions
* Business Conference and Development with an Open Source Slant
* Free Software Integration a Key to Success
* TorrentFlux Brings BitTorrents to GNU/Linux Servers
* [Rival] Microsoft: Why Even Patch Before Attacks Hijack Many PCs?
* Children in South Africa Receive Fedora Linux Laptops
* Many Free Operating Systems Receive Funding
* Salasaga Bridges Flash Gap for GNU/Linux Users
* Arrow Electronics Does Linux
* ISO Went Titsup, 'Lost' Cuba's "NO" Vote to OOXML
* [Rival] Closer Look at Microsoft-only Broken 'Formats'
* [Rival] CIO.com: "Microsoft Should Toss Vista in the Trash"
* [Rival] Even 2.5GB of RAM Can be To Much for Windows
* [Rival] Microsoft Spread Its Rubbish in New York City, World Wide Web
* [Rival] Microsoft's Critical Vulnerabilities Multiply
* Free Software Highly Sought After, Downloaded
* Eee PC Made Better with Full-scale KDE, OLPC XO in the USA
* Frustrations with Windows Show Ease of GNU/Linux Installation
* [Rival] Vista Service Pack Even More Scary Than Vista RTM
* GNU/Linux is Truly Mainstream, Not Just on Desktops
* Ringside Networks Chooses the LGPL, GPL's Power Discussed
* Ajax to Be Patented, Other Junk Patents
* Google's Trick with Open Access and Newtworking
* FOSS Facilitates Freedom of Speech, Privacy
* [Rival] ISOSoft (I S Oh Oh!) Moves Goalposts Again
* Low-power, Low-cost GNU/Linux Desktops in Large Numbers
* [Rival] Microsoft Compliments Itself Amidst Big Loss
* New Version of Shift GNU/Linux Released
* Joint Red Hat Survey Studies FOSS, Disruptive Wi-Fi Mesh Runs Linux
* [News] Overview of Pretty Animated Panels for GNU/Linux
* [Rival] Microsoft et al Hide Their 'Dirty Laundry'

This is a digest of the previous 24 hours (GMT day) of [News] postings
in comp.os.linux.advocacy. If you have any comments, suggestions or
remarks, please reply to this message and I will take account of all
that I can. The digest is created from my leafnode news spool, which is
pre-filtered, so some posters' articles might not appear.

Try the faq at: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/
for more information about cola.

Just like other public, unmoderated discussion fora, cola has
its share of disruptive posters. This blog has been created by
a concerned cola netizen to assist newcomers in identifying them:
http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/

In order to find the last week's digests, try:
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&num=10&q=group%3Acomp.os.linux.advocacy+insubject%3Alinux+insubject%3Anews+insubject%3Adigest+author%3Amark.kent%40demon.co.uk&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=w&safe=off&qt_s=Search

Alternatively, you can start at the first one, posted 3/Sep/06, and
work fowards:
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/comp.os.linux.advocacy/browse_thread/thread/204520deb472e5ef/fa8c1f5e12433243?&hl=en#fa8c1f5e12433243

I very much hope that you find this digest useful. I also run a blog in
which I post occasionally, which you can find at http://thereisnomagic.org
It does tend to the philosophical end of free software, engineering and
economics, you have been warned!

You can email me at: echo mark@NOSPAM.ellandroad.demon.co.uk, removing
the obvious bit.

Happy reading, Mark Kent, Digest Editor.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message-ID: <1283544.JNyVJyAQWh@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Ubuntu Linux Praised, As Easy to Install as Acrobat Reader
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:16:26 +0000

Ubuntu 8.04 beta: an agile upgrade

,----[ Quote ]
| The latest build of everyone's favourite open source desktop OS features
| better performance, Active Directory integration, and seamless installation
| from Windows
|
| [...]
|
|
| If this first taste is any indication, however, Ubuntu 8.04 is shaping up to
| be a worthy upgrade for existing users and a good jumping-on point for new
| ones. Wubi, in particular, makes it ideal for anyone who has hesitated to
| give Linux a try before now. Look for the final version to be available in
| April.
`----

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/24/13TC-ubuntu-beta_1.html

This guy isn't a big fan of FOSS, but he shows how easy it has become to
install Linux on a second partition.

Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy Heron” beta - making life easier for Windows users

,----[ Quote ]
| Let’s face it, deciding to nuke your existing operating system installation
| and replace it with a completely different OS isn’t the sort of task that you
| should approach lightly. One of the barriers to Linux adoption is the fact
| that many people find the idea of wiping their Windows installation a
| daunting thing. Sure, the widespread adoption of the Live CD with allows
| users to boot into a working Linux environment has made taking a Linux distro
| for a test drive easier, but a Live CD experience falls far short of what you
| can expect from an installed Linux experience.
`----

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=1570


Related:

Vista Ultimate vs. Ubuntu 7.04 - Which Install Is Easier?

,----[ Quote ]
| So less than 3 hours into this experiment, I have both Vista and Ubuntu
| installed and patched. Both systems are stable, more or less, but both
| systems have quirks. Neither system worked perfectly, but much to my surprise
| the Ubuntu system worked better, (once I got the keyboard working). More
| hardware worked without needing to download additional drivers. More over,
| there is moreover, the desktop that I do have is more functional -
| applications like GIMP, Open Office, and a slew of multi-media apps are far
| more useful than Wordpad, Paint and the slew of crap that Vista comes with.      
`----

http://scitech.teambio.org/2007/08/14/vista-ultimate-vs-ubuntu-704-which-install-is-easier/


Linux is not only better than windows, it is also easier to install and
maintain

,----[ Quote ]
| This post inspired me to write this comparison, side by side, specially
| where it says, that windows users says that "Linux is hard to install", so I
| wanted to test it.
`----

http://www.go2linux.org/why-linux-is-easier-than-windows


Linux is Easier to Install than Windows!

,----[ Quote ]
| A brief, but honest description of why Linux is better than Windows!
`----

http://www.utopiatheory.com/index.php?id=11


[Installing Linux from Windows] Wubi Review

,----[ Quote ]
| In conclusion, this tool is certainly one of the easiest ways of letting
| people try Ubuntu without removing Windows or having to partition their hard
| drive for a dual-boot.  I have enjoyed this tool, and although it is still in
| beta, it works very well and is very stable.  So, if you are running a
| computer with Windows and want to give Ubuntu a try, then this is the
| solution for you.    
`----

http://jon-reagan.blogspot.com/2007/07/wubi-review.html


Installing Ubuntu, a world without Windows

,----[ Quote ]
| The "Welcome" page will start. I chose English and then I clicked the forward
| button. On the Time Zone page, you click a city on the map. I clicked St
| John's, the city listed for the Newfoundland Time Zone. Click forward again.
| I picked US English keyboard and clicked forward for the third time.  
|
| Now, the partition wizard starts up. Choose one of the guided installs. You
| will usually have more than one choice here and they depend on your
| particular machine. You may be able to resise your existing partition to only
| use the available space on it, or you can choose to use the full hard drive
| for Ubuntu.    
`----

http://www.gulfnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=100109&sc=343



Ubuntu 1, Windows 0

,----[ Quote ]
| I installed Ubuntu on the Toshiba laptop. Ubuntu installed in 15 minutes - 49
| for Windows XP and 125 for Windows Vista. Ubuntu's desktop came right up. I
| opened the pre-installed Firefox browser and found I could browse the Web
| immediately. Ubuntu installed a network adaptor for the Toshiba laptop.
|
| I shake my head at this Windows foolishness!
`----

http://linux.sys-con.com/read/458943_p.htm


The day of the Linux desktop

,----[ Quote ]
| The idea here is that this is something almost anyone can do, almost anywhere
| in the world, without any central organisation or, indeed, any organisation
| at all. This is not Linux World or Linux Continent or Linux Country or Linux
| State or even Linux City or Linux Village. And it's not a year, a month, or
| even a week. It's just one day.
`----

http://www.linux.com/feature/120727


Installing A New Printer. Windows vs. Linux

,----[ Quote ]
| Windows - 40 Minutes
|
| [...]
|
| Linux - 2 Minutes
|
| While I was waiting for the first round of software to install on Windows, I
| turned to my laptop running Ubuntu to see if I could get it setup to print as
| well. I launched the printing configuration tool. Clicked on "New Printer".
| Typed in the IP address I had assigned to the printer and selected the model
| number.
`----

http://www.thesourceshow.org/node/69


How To Install Gutsy Gibbon - A 21 Step Guide For Technical Support

,----[ Quote ]
| 1. “First, insert the Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 CD into your cup holder.”
|
| 2. “Press the power button on your computer, and hold it until it shuts off.”
|
| 3. “Good. Now press the power button again.”
|
| 4. “We’re going to see some white on black text fly by, please don’t read it
| to me.”
|
| 5. “Let me know when you’ve got a screen that says Ubuntu in brown and
| orange.”
|
| 6. “Ok, press the ‘Enter’ key.”
`----

http://www.fsckin.com/2007/09/28/how-to-install-gutsy-gibbon-a-21-step-guide-for-technical-support/

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1244473.AoN9d6namg@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] Microsoft Takes Away XP Cushion to Reduce Workload (Urging Defections)
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:20:13 +0000

Windows XP: Going, going ... gone?

,----[ Quote ]
| The approaching death of Windows XP may upset you, but it shouldn't come as a
| surprise. Microsoft Corp.'s product life-cycle guidelines have foretold the
| fate of XP since 2001. In fact, Microsoft has been killing off one version of
| a product as it is replaced with another for years now. But this time around,
| the approaching demise of XP is getting more attention than, say, the final
| passing of Windows 2000.
`----

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9070119&intsrc=hm_ts_head

Mentions Linux also.

They still try to lure people in to Vista, or at least prevent them from
ditching Windows... even offering free support and Windows Vapourware 'leaks'
(7).


Days ago:

Microsoft: Chinese Remain Sanguine About XP Expiry

,----[ Quote ]
| People are somewhat less worried about the availability of Windows XP in
| China because they know that XP will be available here for as long as anyone
| wants, and for a very small price. (Without Microsoft support, certainly, but
| available.)  
|
| Microsoft has made tremendous progress against piracy in China over the past
| several years. The problem is far from beaten, but the company has more than
| doubled the percentage of people paying for their Microsoft software.  
|
| But by taking Windows off the shelves, Microsoft appears to be creating a
| perverse incentive for people who might otherwise buy legitimate software to
| resort to piracy. Indeed, Microsoft appears to be creating the ideal
| conditions for a thriving market in illicit copies of Windows XP after June
| 30, and not just in China.    
`----

http://seekingalpha.com/article/69359-microsoft-chinese-remain-sanguine-about-xp-expiration


Related:

Dell casts doubts on Vista

,----[ Quote ]
| Dell today revealed that it will restore the option to use Windows XP on
| some of its home systems, marking a potentially damaging blow to
| Microsoft's hopes for the newer Windows Vista.
|
| [...]
|
| While a popular request through the company's IdeaStorm website, the
| choice was substantially outnumbered by requests for pre-installed
| Linux, US-based technical support, and other features -- pointing to a
| larger general demand for the change. The turnaround may be a reflection of
| an overall backlash against Vista, observed IDC analyst Richard Shim.
`----

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/04/19/dell.casts.doubts.on.vista/


Acer: PC industry 'disappointed' with Vista

,----[ Quote
| Acer president Gianfranco Lanci became the first major PC manufacturer to
| openly attack Microsoft over the Windows Vista operating system in the
| Financial Times Deutschland on Monday.  
|
| Lanci said the operating system was riddled with problems and gave users and
| businesses no reason to buy a new PC, according to the report. Taiwan-based
| Acer is the world's fourth-largest PC manufacturer, after HP, Dell and
| Lenovo.
|
| "The whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista," Lanci said.
`----

http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=9579


DSG continues retailer woes

,----[ Quote ]
| DSG, the company formerly known as Dixons, became the latest British retailer
| to report a drop in profits for the summer months today. But it wasn’t all
| down to the rotten weather – this time it was also Microsoft’s fault.  
`----

http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/newsalerts/article/748756/dsg-continues-retailer-woes/

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1314196.k2MYNAPidX@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] New Portable Computer Comes with GNU/Linux and Windows
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:22:30 +0000

Miu HDPC Does Linux and Windows in All-in-One Package

,----[ Quote ]
| The Dual bit comes from its dual-boot options of XP plus WinCE 5.0 or linux
| Qplus.
`----

http://gizmodo.com/371244/miu-hdpc-does-linux-and-windows-in-all+in+one-package

So many devices and small PCs come with Linux nowadays. It's a wave.


Related:

Low-Cost Laptop Cheat Sheet

,----[ Quote ]
| Here at LAPTOP we’ve had a hard time keeping the all the potential low-cost
| laptops or Eee PC “killers” straight. It’s kind of like having to learn about
| the presidential candidates—you’re not really sure which one is going to
| actually make it, so why bother learning about them in the first place? Maybe
| a bit farfetched, but we have created a cheat sheet below on all low-cost
| laptops expected to hit the market.
`----

http://blog.laptopmag.com/low-cost-laptop-cheat-sheet


Another cheap, tiny laptop shows for fight with Eee PC

,----[ Quote ]
| In the glorious race to the bottom, another contender has emerged to take on
| the Asus hit that is the Eee PC mininotebook. Taiwanese manufactuerer
| Elitegroup Computer Systems unveiled its G10IL mininotebook, which will
| feature Intel's new Atom processors and either an 8.9- or 10.2-inch screen.  
|
| [...]
|
| Other specs listed on the ECS site include the choice of Windows XP or Linux,
| up to 2GB of RAM in the lone DIMM slot, an integrated Webcam, either an solid
| state drive or spinning hard drive, and a 4- or 6-cell battery.  
`----

http://www.news.com/newsblog/8300-10784_3-7.html?keyword=Eee+PC


Basic and Cheap PCs

,----[ Quote ]
| Several new computers unveiled in recent months have something in common
| besides their budget-minded price tag: All come preloaded with the Linux
| operating system instead of Microsoft's Windows.  
`----

http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/2008/04/cheap_pcs.html


Norhtec to Release Yet Another Sub-$300 Linux UMPC

,----[ Quote ]
| According to Barnes, the Gecko laptop will be announced soon, and will hit
| the market at a sub-$300 price tag, in order to compete with the other
| 7-inchers of its kin.  
`----

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Norhtec-to-Release-Yet-Another-Sub-300-Linux-UMPC-80456.shtml


The £99 laptop: how can it be so cheap?

,----[ Quote ]
| A new laptop computer for just £99 sounds like the kind of offer found in a
| spam e-mail or on a dodgy auction website. But the British company Elonex is
| launching the country’s first sub £100 computer later this month and hopes to
| be making 200,000 of them by the summer. It will be aimed at schoolchildren
| and teenagers, and looks set to throw the market for budget laptops wide
| open.    
|
| Called the One, it can be used as a traditional notebook computer or, with
| the screen detached from the keyboard, as a portable “tablet” – albeit
| without the planned touchscreen that Elonex had to abandon to hit its £99
| price tag. Wi-fi technology lets users access the internet or swap music (and
| homework) files between computers wirelessly.    
|
| [...]
|
| The secret is simple: open-source software. The One runs on Linux, which is a
| rival to Windows but completely free to use. Open-source software can be
| freely swapped or modified by anyone who wants it. In the past such operating
| systems (there are several of them) have been outgunned by the more
| sophisticated Windows programmes. However, an open-source operating system is
| ideal for low-cost devices as it performs well on less powerful, cheaper
| hardware.      
`----

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article3374812.ece


Low-cost laptops make PC makers mull margins

,----[ Quote ]
| “Computers have been an exception. If you look at consumer electronics, a DVD
| player was about $800 10 years ago – now they sell for $20,” she says. “The
| [computer] industry has been able to keep the price flat by focusing on
| gazillion-gigahertz machines running really bloated software and that’s
| worked for years since the IBM PC revolution.”    
|
| [...]
|
| OLPC found a strong uptake for a “give one, get one” campaign it launched in
| North America in November. It discovered consumers were willing to pay $400
| for an XO – the price meant another XO would be given free to a
| developing-world child. It is now launching OLPC America to extend the cheap
| laptop concept for children in the US.    
`----

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cfba14f4-cf64-11dc-854a-0000779fd2ac.html


How will Linux win the OS wars? From the bottom up!

,----[ Quote ]
| So therefore, best way to win the war of the operating systems is not to go
| after the high end market.  
`----

http://www.raiden.net/?cat=2&aid=352


Linux Has Won, Windows is Gone

,----[ Quote ]
| Sorry Windows you have already lost this battle. There is no way to reverse
| this and no amount of incentives that Microsoft can offer to convince people
| and governments that they will be safe if they switch back to Windows. Lets
| be honest here for a moment. Would your trust America's nuclear technologies
| to be run on Windows? What happens when it bluescreens, yeah you get my point
| don't you?    
`----

http://linuxhow2.com/News/Linux_Has_Won_Windows_is_Gone.html


Feeling the heat at Microsoft

,----[ Quote ]
| A couple of years ago you reiterated that IBM was Microsoft's biggest
| competitor and you said not just on the business side, but overall. If I ask
| you who is Microsoft's biggest competitor now, who would it be?  
|
| Ballmer: Open...Linux. I don't want to say open source. Linux, certainly have
| to go with that.
`----

http://www.news.com/Feeling-the-heat-at-Microsoft/2008-1012_3-6232458.html?tag=ne.fd.mnbc

------------------------------

Message-ID: <2281550.FAB8SPHJ6K@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] GNU/Linux Liked More Than Windows on the Eee PC
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:24:23 +0000

ON COMPUTERS : Tiny Asus computer great for travel, delicate hands

,----[ Quote ]
| The oddly named “Asus Eee PC” comes with the Linux operating system. This is
| the best Linux implementation we’ve seen and we like it better than Windows.
`----

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/220773/


Related:

Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs

,----[ Quote ]
| Opinion -- Sometimes, several unrelated changes come to a head at the same
| time, with a result no one could have predicted. The PC market is at such a
| tipping point right now and the result will be millions of Linux-powered PCs
| in users' hands.  
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft will fight this trend tooth and nail. It will cut prices to the
| point where it'll be bleeding ink on some of its product lines. And Windows
| XP is going to stick around much longer than Microsoft ever wanted it to.
| Still, it won't be enough. By attacking from the bottom, where Microsoft can
| no longer successfully compete, Linux will finally cut itself a large slice
| of the desktop market pie.      
`----

http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2414535067.html

------------------------------

Message-ID: <2002042.txEbsNXZ1B@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Google/Android/Linux Phones to Come Shortly, iPhone at Risk
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:27:22 +0000

Android phones as early as this Autumn?

,----[ Quote ]
| A Google executive may have inadvertently tipped the wireless industry's hand
| on the launch time frame for Android phones.
|
| [...]
|
| The report also said that Samsung was racing with HTC to get an Android phone
| out the door, meaning perhaps other handset makers have accelerated their
| plans.
`----

http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9901954-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

iPhone's biggest competition might be the ASUS EeePC
Quote

,----[ Quote ]
| There are a certain percentage of people out there who may be happy using
| Skype on the EeePC's WiFi or 3G and having a Linux/Firefox browsing
| experience on a seven-inch display instead of the iPhone's three inches -
| with a real keyboard and trackpad to boot. You can even turn the EeePC into a
| little mobile 3G-Wifi bridge/router to share the wireless network with
| friends and colleagues with full sized laptops.
`----

http://blogs.computerworld.com/iphones_biggest_competition_eee_pc_asus


Recent:

Google Exec: Android To Beat iPhone

,----[ Quote ]
| Rich Miner even went after Apple's handheld darling.  "Once you have devices
| out there from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and so on, there's a much larger
| potential market on Android than for the iPhone," he said.  "[T]here's a
| single manufacturer, it's targeted at a particular demographic, and it falls
| far short of the 1 billion mobile phones sold every year worldwide."    
`----

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/03/17/google-exec-android-to-beat-iphone


iPhone vs. Android : An Open Source Devs Perspective

,----[ Quote ]
| According to Andrea Gazzaniga, software development manager at mobile open
| source vendor Funambol the answer is not entirely clear. In a rambling
| overflow presentation at AjaxWorld's iPhone Sumitt, Gazzaniga attempted to
| outline the differences and similiaraties between iPhone and Android.
`----

http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2008/03/iphone-vs-android-an-open-sour.html


Feeling the heat at Microsoft

,----[ Quote ]
| A couple of years ago you reiterated that IBM was Microsoft's biggest
| competitor and you said not just on the business side, but overall. If I ask
| you who is Microsoft's biggest competitor now, who would it be?
|
| Ballmer: Open...Linux. I don't want to say open source. Linux, certainly have
| to go with that.
`----

http://www.news.com/Feeling-the-heat-at-Microsoft/2008-1012_3-6232458.html?tag=ne.fd.mnbc


Is Google Android the Next Windows?

,----[ Quote ]
| On the flip side, Good Android (here’s a video demo) is a cross-platform
| software environment that multiple hardware vendors and service providers are
| expected to embrace. Although Android isn’t fully baked, Google is
| aggressively promoting the operating environment to third party developers.
| The idea is to get developers on board early, so that tons of Android
| applications are ready when Android-compatible devices finally debut.    
|
| [...]
|
| Eventually, The VAR Guy suspects, Android devices will easily leapfrog
| iPhone’s market share. But that’s not a terrible thing for Apple. Although
| Apple nearly died on the desktop, Apple’s more recent innovations prove that
| you can thrive even when you hold less than 10 percent of a technology
| market.    
`----

http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/03/20/is-google-android-the-next-windows/


HTC tight-lipped about Google phone

,----[ Quote ]
| MOBILE PHONE MAKER High Tech Computer (HTC) is developing a handset which
| will run Android software developed by Google and a consortium of other tech
| companies.  
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/20/paranoid-andriod


A third of all phones "smart" in five years

,----[ Quote
| ABI Research vice president Stuart Carlaw said, "The market is currently
| dominated by Nokia (52 percent) and Symbian (65 percent). However, the
| coalescence of the framework wars in the Linux environment and the growing
| stature of Windows Mobile will enable new competitors to put pressure on this
| established axis."    
`----

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8051784786.html


Research and Markets: Symbian and Linux Enjoy the Highest Penetration in the
Japanese Smartphone Market

,----[ Quote ]
| Symbian and Linux enjoy the highest penetration in the Japanese smartphone
| market and appear to be the beneficiaries in any expansion of smartphone use
| there.
`----

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080102005331&newsLang=en
http://tinyurl.com/34ns9q

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1954883.X15ADR62ZZ@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] National Security Agency Releases Its Linux, TCS Comes to Unbreakable Linux
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:29:52 +0000

NSA releases new version of Linux software

,----[ Quote ]
| The U.S. National Security Agency has released its own version of the
| open-source computer operating system Linux, which offers enhanced security
| for users.
`----

http://www.metimes.com/Security/2008/03/24/nsa_releases_new_version_of_linux_software/67f0/

TCS Provides Automated System Lock Down Tool for Oracle Enterprise Linux

http://linux.sys-con.com/read/525389_p.htm

Trusted Computer Solutions Provides Automated System Lock Down Tool for Oracle
Enterprise Linux

,----[ Quote ]
| Security Blanket is a menu-driven solution with an easy-to-use user interface
| that enables administrators to run predefined profiles that automate
| industry-standard best practices for hardening Linux.
`----

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080324005214&newsLang=en


Recent:

Navy to focus only on open systems

,----[ Quote ]
| "The days of proprietary technology must come to an end," [Vice Admiral Mark
| Edwards, deputy chief of naval operations for communications] said. "We will
| no longer accept systems that couple hardware, software and data."  
`----

http://www.fcw.com/online/news/151858-1.html


Feeling the heat at Microsoft

,----[ Quote ]
| A couple of years ago you reiterated that IBM was Microsoft's biggest
| competitor and you said not just on the business side, but overall. If I ask
| you who is Microsoft's biggest competitor now, who would it be?
|
| Ballmer: Open...Linux. I don't want to say open source. Linux, certainly have
| to go with that.
`----

http://www.news.com/Feeling-the-heat-at-Microsoft/2008-1012_3-6232458.html?tag=ne.fd.mnbc


Related:

Lockheed Martin Purchased Over $1 Million of Concurrent's RedHawk Real-Time
Linux for U.S. Navy Next Generation Aegis Weapon System

,----[ Quote ]
| Concurrent's NightStar for RedHawk Linux is a powerful, integrated tool set
| for developing time-critical applications. NightStar tools run with minimal
| intrusion,
`----

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070926005090&newsLang=en


Concurrent to Supply Real-Time Linux Solution to the U.S. Navy for Missile
Simulator Development

,----[ Quote ]
| The simulator will be used to determine the effectiveness of Navy and Marine
| Corps aircraft countermeasure systems that protect the aircraft from hostile
| missiles.
`----

http://www.linuxpr.com/releases/9914.html


Navy CIO 'recognises the importance of OSS to the warfighter'

,----[ Quote ]
| John Weathersby, executive director of the Open Source Software
| Institute, told Linux.com today that, effective immediately, the
| Department of the Navy has adopted a new policy which requires that
| open source software must be considered in every software
| acquisition the Navy makes.
`----

http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/06/06/0135204


Raytheon Sails Into Battle With Linux

,----[ Quote ]
| Among its major capabilities, TSCEI 4.0 supports IBM blade server
| processors running the Red Hat Linux operating system. It is the first of
| four planned increments supporting DDG 1000 Release 4 software.
`----

http://www.linuxelectrons.com/News/Linux/Raytheon_Sails_Into_Battle_With_Linux


Linux helps Navy keep high-tech weapon system updated

,----[ Quote ]
| General-purpose computing systems (in other words: personal computers
| and workstations) could be useful within a variety of control systems
| as human machine interface (HMI) platforms, network interface systems
| and even host computers, but many engineers hesitate to incorporate
| them because of the many stability and security issues surrounding the
| dominant PC operating system, Microsoft Windows XP. Linux provides an
| open-source alternative that avoids these Microsoft-related issues. As
| more engineers become acquainted with Linux, and Linux vendors make
| their implementations easier to use, PCs running Linux OS have begun
| to appear in many mission-critical applications.
|
| For example, Real-Time Innovations (RTI) and Concurrent Computer Corp.
| have partnered to provide RTI's standards-based real-time data
| distribution middleware with Concurrent's RedHawk Linux in support of
| the U.S. Navy's Aegis Open Architecture programme.
|
| [...]
|
| Concurrent's RedHawk Linux provides fast response to external events,
| optimised interprocess communication, and high I/O throughput needed for
| time-critical applications. The operating system has gained acceptance as
| a leading real-time Linux platform for high-performance applications,
| guaranteeing response on a dedicated processor to an external event in
| less than 30 microseconds.
`----

http://www.manufacturing.net/ctl/article/CA6368771.html


US Navy approves eZ Publish for DASN

,----[ Quote ]
| The ATI team and the DASN (ACQ) Web Site Director Page Glennie decided that,
| given the funding constraints, an Open Source solution should be
| investigated. Open Source software is increasingly becoming a more popular
| alternative within industry, commercial, and educational sectors. However,
| within the Navy, security vulnerabilities are always a concern. Since the
| information on the web site is unclassified and available to the general
| public, the ATI team considered the associated security risks minimal. They
| determined that with selection of the right Open Source product and with
| proper security and information assurance protections in place it could be a
| successful implementation for DASN (ACQ). In the Open Source evaluation, ATI
| developed a list of twenty-eight Open Source CMS products.
`----

http://www.pr-inside.com/us-navy-approves-ez-publish-for-r438000.htm


Open-Source Security: Trust, But Verify

,----[ Quote ]
| What do those customers have to say about Coverity's findings? As a rule,
| about as much as Coverity has to say about them. With very few exceptions,
| you'll have to trust them when they tell you their proprietary software is
| really, really secure -- and that if any bugs somehow show up in their code,
| they get squashed quicker than you can say "regression error."
|
| Or, if you're Microsoft, they get squashed every Tuesday. Maybe.
|
| All kidding aside, it's cynical -- and almost certainly wrong -- to claim
| that most vendors see the "black box" approach to software security as just
| another product-marketing tactic. Alerting every black-hat on the planet to
| an unpatched security flaw poses serious risks both to the vendor and
| especially to its customers. On the other hand, it is also true that some
| flaws are paper tigers that have zero chance of spawning real-world exploits.
| In such cases, a company may have better things to do with its
| software-development resources -- unless, of course, a competitor gets wind
| of the bug and turns it into a handy PR bludgeon.
`----

http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2008/02/opensource_secu.html


US Navy acquisitions site uses open source CMS

,----[ Quote ]
| Minor hadn't used open source software extensively, so she commissioned a
| research project. "We did a full-fledged market research study on open source
| CMS products. We called out a list of 28, and did a complete analysis based
| on our requirements and the Navy's needs.
`----

http://www.linux.com/feature/120870

------------------------------

Message-ID: <2117999.UrRupvlzqo@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] GNU/Linux is Virtually Everywhere
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:32:23 +0000

What CAN’T Linux do?

,----[ Quote ]
| 1. The story mentioned above. A man installs Linux on sixteen Playstation 3s
| (with zero hardware modifications), clusters them together, and creates a
| system to simulate black holes.
| 2. Installing Linux on a Mac. I was just reading the most recent Wired
| magazine that has a good story on how Apple has created a very closed system
| where only Apple software plays on Apple hardware. Hello Yellow Dog Linux! I
| have run Linux on an iBook - it was sweet.
| 3. Routers. We all know that Linux works well on routers. OpenWRT installs
| well on many Linksys routers.
|
| [...]
|
| 11. Airplane black boxes. Montavista uses a Carrier Grade Linux to power
| in-flight recorders.
| 12. Brain surgery. Yep. This Linux-powered robot helps in brain surgery.
`----

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/opensource/?p=186


Related:

Four billion embedded systems shipped in '06

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS3686249103.html


,----[ Quote ]
| Around 98% of the world's CPUs manufactured are used in embedded systems.
`----

http://www.digitaltippingpoint.com/?q=node/132


PCs being pushed aside in Japan

,----[ Quote ]
| The PC's role in Japanese homes is diminishing, as its once-awesome monopoly
| on processing power is encroached by gadgets such as smart phones that act
| like pocket-sise computers, advanced Internet-connected game consoles,
| digital video recorders with terabytes of memory.
`----

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071104/ap_on_hi_te/bye_bye_pcs


Linux loyalty runs high among embedded software developers, says VDC

,----[ Quote ]
| Looking ahead, 87% percent of Linux users plan to use Linux in their next
| project. In both cases, use of free distributions outnumbered use of paid
| distributions by a sizable margin.
`----

http://software.tekrati.com/research/9436/


Linux to grow 278% in embedded/mobile/real-time apps

,----[ Quote ]
| Linux use in "next" embedded, mobile, and real-time projects will grow 278
| percent over that in "previous" projects, suggests a recent survey by Venture
| Development Corp. (VDC).
`----

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7115758310.html


Microsoft cans key conference

,----[ Quote ]
| SOFTWARE giant Microsoft has decided that it does not love its popular Mobile
| and Embedded DevCon any more and has pulled the plug.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/16/microsoft-cans-key-conference

------------------------------

Message-ID: <2405609.O4YB1YDDfz@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Michael Arrington's (Microsoft AstroTurf) Network Does Linux Special
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:36:22 +0000

Lots of new articles about Linux in CrunchGear, including:

All About Linux 2008: Why use Linux?

,----[ Quote ]
| As a former consultant, learning LAMP was the best thing I could have ever
| done. The software is free, you can amaze your clients with cool programmes,
| and you don’t have to convince them to buy a huge server or invest in an OS
| just to run a stupid little web site. Sure, you can get virtual hosting
| somewhere on an NT box, but you can get a LAMP box cheaper and more readily
| and, thanks to command line tools, you can tweak the setup in seconds rather
| than digging through menus.
`----

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/03/24/all-about-linux-2008-why-use-linux-2/

Also of interest:

GNU/Linux for professionals

,----[ Quote ]
| What a professional may look in one operating system?
|
| * No viruses, no trojans, no spyware.
| * Improved hardware efficiency.
| * Easy install and manage of software applications.
| * One-click install and uninstall.
| * Large amount of quality applications.
|
| Hmmm. It is not so easy to achieve this goals. Everybody is aware of the
| danger of the viruses and all the malicious software that wants to hurt your
| computer and everybody is aware how hard is to do it.
`----

http://mhydra.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/gnulinux-for-professionals/


Context:

Malik, Arrington and Battelle: X-22, come in [to Microsoft]
^^^^^^^^^
,----[ Quote ]
| What would possess a collection of online publishers and venture capitalists
| to pimp a Microsoft advertising slogan?
|
| Valleywag today reported about a site tied to a Microsoft ad campaign
| where the likes of Michael Arrington, Om Malik and others seemingly
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| lend their support to the "people-ready" catchphrase.
|
| I sent e-mails both to Arrington and Malik and--surprise,
| surprise--heard nothing back. (Obviously, they are not yet
| sufficiently "Coop-ready.") Microsoft was still checking for me into  
| whether money exchanged hands. But even if not a single shekel exchanged
| hands, I must wonder about the absence of common sense. Why would
| ostensibly independent voices come across as Microsoft shills? If
| they were hoping for a free dinner with Bill Gates, there are
| smarter ways to go about it.
`----

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9733995-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20


,----[ Quote ]
| "The main thing I'm pissed off about right now is that they pulled all the
| ads, which mean we're taking a revenue hit. We're running a business here,
| and have payroll to make. We run ads to make that payroll. Those ads have now
| been pulled."
|
| Microsoft once again corrupts confidence in the blogsphere. They
| turn 'citizen journalists' to marketing people in disguise.
`----

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9734034-7.html?tag=head

Arrington was very rude afterwards, calling accusers names.

------------------------------

Message-ID: <5830847.vSNX5WKb3L@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] OOXML Appears to be Failing, Depsite Microsoft Corruptions
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:01:59 +0000

The Last Lap

,----[ Quote ]
| Here are the results, as live as they get, of the countries voting for DIS
| 29500 (more popularly known as Microsoft OOXML). This is the last lap of DIS
| 29500 (Microsoft OOXML) and we can expect things to get heated. This list is
| based on verifiable information and I am taking necessary precautions to not
| include speculative votes. iso-vote.com has a pretty pictorial view of the
| votes and you even toggle the countries to see the overall outcome.
|
| [...]
|
| Voting In Progress:
|
| * Criteria 1: 17/32 = 53.13% (FAIL)
| * Criteria 2: 18/87 = 20.69% (PASS)
| * Overall Result: FAIL
`----

http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2008/03/the-last-lap.html

"If you flee the rules, you will be caught. And it will cost you dearly,"

                        -- Neelie Kroes (about Microsoft), February 27th, 2008

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9881411-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20


Yesterday:

How to Royally Annoy National Bodies

,----[ Quote ]
| Guide to future monopolists on how to alienate yourself from National Bodies:
|
|    1. Waste NBs time in reviewing monstrous draft specifications
|    2. Claim that these specs can do everything for anyone by standardising
|    marketing material
|    3. If you don't get your way at a certain level, lobby the superior above.
|    Dont stop! Go all the way to the head of the nation if you think you can!
|    4. Leak press stories to journalists to pressure Ministries to make a
|    decision. Quick!
|    5. Try to shut down TCs if actual technical work is done revealing issues
|    with your plan
|    6. Question Question Question everything (process, fairness, the system,
|    members) when things dont go your way
|    7. Otherwise create another TC with friendly experts
|    8. If the NB allows new members just by paying membership fees, encourage
|    your business partners to join with marketing funds. Stack-stack-stack it
|    high!  
|    9. Stalk decision makers, even if it means traveling around the globe with
|    them
|   10. Refuse changes in the spec especially if it breaks your product which
|   you released prior
|   11. Have private interviews with TC members in the guise of funding for
|   their new projects/research grants/interoperability initiatives and
|   conveniently talk about their position on your spec.  
|   12. Get your Business Partners to write in form letters. Some don't even
|   bother to change the templates
|   13. Attend TC meetings uninvited by fabricating business cards
|   14. Send Lawyers in to Technical Committee meetings who prefer not to
|   engage in "high-school" debates
|   15. Make rude and inaccurate statements against TC members in public
`----

http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2008/03/how-to-royally.html


Related:


Appeals Court Rules that Deceptive Conduct in Standard Setting can Violate
Antitrust Laws

,----[ Quote ]
| While many of us have been preoccupied with the OOXML vote, the rest of the
| world has naturally been continuing to go about its business. One piece of
| business that took an interesting turn in the last few days is a ruling by a
| Federal Appellate Court in the United States that breaks new ground in
| protecting the integrity of the standard setting system. The ruling may also
| have relevance to the regrettable conduct witnessed in the recent OOXML vote.      
`----

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=2007090607324049


Danish Unix User Group Files Complaint With EU Commission Against Denmark For
Mandating MSOOXML

,----[ Quote ]
| The Danish Unix User Group, DKUUG, has filed a formal complaint with the EU
| Commission regarding Denmark's mandating ECMA 376, better known by us as
| MSOOXML, for certain procurements.  
|
| The complaint [PDF] is grounded in breach of the EC Treaty article 81 on
| unfair competition. The press release says that the regulation "can be seen
| as an attempt to continue the de facto monopoly of Microsoft in the Danish
| state on office software, as the various public agencies and institutions
| need to buy the products of Microsoft to comply to the regulation."    
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080226164131724


,----[ Quote ]
| Pieter Hintjens, president of the Foundation for a Free Information
| Infrastructure, a non-profit organisation that is campaigning against the
| Microsoft proposal, said: "We've recorded fairly systematic manipulation of
| the voting process. We've seen what amounts to vote-buying in Italy,
| Portugal, Colombia, Spain. In Sweden and Denmark, much the same happened –
| Microsoft paying their business partners to join the vote."    
`----

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=FT&Date=20070830&ID=7401878


Corrupt countries were more likely to support the OOXML document format

,----[ Quote ]
| Is this just a random coincidence? The median of the CPI index of the above
| mentioned 70 countries is 3.95. Of the most corrupted half (CPI index less
| than 3.95) 23 or 77% voted for approval (approval or approval with comments)
| and 7 or 23% for disapproval; 5 abstained. Of the least corrupted half (CPI
| index more than 3.95) 13 or 54% voted for approval and 11 or 46% voted for
| disapproval; 11 abstained - see the table below.      
`----

http://www.effi.org/blog/kai-2007-09-05.en.html


Microsoft accused of more OOXML standards fiddling

,----[ Quote ]
| However the 11 new countries are refusing to say how they will vote. These
| include Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Ecuador, Jamaica, Lebanon, Malta, Pakistan,
| Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela. Most people seem to think
| that these have been put there by Vole to make sure the standard gets pushed
| through.    
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=42106


Bam! Comical Creese debunks OpenDocumentFormat Alliance

,----[ Quote ]
| You are free to inspect the irregularities website that documents few cases
| reported by the online press and blogs. We got much more reports on an
| informal base per email. The Swedish single employee story is not credible,
| actually committee stuffing took place in Sweden.  
|
|     On loopholes, that’s another subjective call, but since Microsoft
|     competitors managed to establish control over a standards initiative with
|     potentially dire consequences for one of Microsoft’s most important
|     business domains, we are not surprised that Microsoft (legitimately,
|     albeit with what some consider to be poor standards etiquette) exploited
|     the loopholes. As we noted, we assume ISO will update its procedures to
|     eliminate the loopholes in the future.      
|
| What?
|
|     Microsoft competitors managed to establish control over a standards
|     initiative…
|
| What?
|
|     Microsoft competitors managed to establish control over a standards
|     initiative with potentially dire consequences for one of Microsoft’s most
|     important business domains, we are not surprised that Microsoft …
|     exploited the loopholes.  
|
| ???
|
|     but since Microsoft competitors managed to establish control over a
|     standards initiative with potentially dire consequences for one of
|     Microsoft’s most important business domains, we are not surprised that
|     Microsoft (legitimately, albeit with what some consider to be poor
|     standards etiquette) exploited the loopholes.    
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-41447/bam-comical-creese-debunks-opendocumentformat-alliance


Final vote at the brm - catastropic failure at BRM

,----[ Quote ]
| Unrecoverable Application Error or UAE or BSOD to the nonsense ooxml stuff.
| So, some of the stuff was hand-waved through. But the end is here. We have to
| expose all the underhanded, manipulations that MS has done everywhere to buy
| votes. I am glad that the EU is investigating.
`----

http://harishpillay.livejournal.com/


Microsoft’s secretive standards orgs in Former Yugoslavia

,----[ Quote ]
| Croatian laws keep its national body’s votes secret, so the only way for the
| Croatian public to find out how the process went would be if a board member
| illegally leaked information out of CSI. This is, of course, unlikely to
| happen. And the Serbian national standardisation body is not officially
| formed, so those two votes were easy for Microsoft, and probably not only
| ones around the globe.
`----

http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2007/092407-ooxml.html?page=1


Microsoft Tech Ed 2007: OpenXML

,----[ Quote ]
| He was asked "Why did Microsoft push OOXML through the "Fast Track" process
| instead of the standard ISO process? Wouldn't they get less resistance than
| faced now?"
|
| His response was very frank: "Office is a USD$10 billion revenue generator
| for the company. When ODF was made an ISO standard, Microsoft had to react
| quickly as certain governments have procurement policies which prefer ISO
| standards. Ecma and OASIS are 'international standards', but ISO is the
| international 'Gold Standard'. Microsoft therefore had to rush this standard
| through. Its a simple matter of commercial interests!"
`---- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2007/09/microsoft-tech-.html


Probe into votes on Microsoft standard

,----[ Quote ]
| The European Commission is investigating the process under which a key
| Microsoft document format could be adopted as an industry standard - a move
| that would carry significant commercial benefits for the software company.
|
| Officials at the European Commission's competition directorate have written
| to members of the International Organisation for Standardisation, asking how
| they prepared for votes in September and later this month on acceptance of
| Microsoft's OOXML document format as a worldwide standard. Without ISO
| acceptance, Microsoft could stand to lose business, particularly with
| government clients, some of which are becoming increasingly keen to use only
| ISO-certified software.
|
| The ISO process has been widely criticised, however, with some members of
| national standards' bodies accusing Microsoft and its rivals of attempting to
| influence the vote.
|
| Tim Bray, a member of the Canadian national standards body, called the
| procedure "complete, utter, unadulterated bullshit" in a recent blog posting.
|
| [...]
|
| In addition, in several countries, a large number of Microsoft partners
| joined the national standards organisations just ahead of a vote on the issue
| in September.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft said it openly encouraged its partners to participate in the ISO
| process, but was not funding any third parties doing so. The company said it
| would cooperate with the European Commission's inquiry.
`----

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/88e570a2-ea56-11dc-b3c9-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1


The Art of Being Mugged

,----[ Quote ]
| The four options presented were:
|
| * Option 1: Submitter's responses (Ecma's) are all automatically
| approved.
| * Option 2: Anything not discussed is not approved.
| * Option 3: Neutral third-party (ITTF) decides which Ecma responses are
| accepted
| * Option 4: Voting (approve + disapprove) must be at least 9 votes.
| Abstentions not counted.
|
| We were told that these options are not in the Directives and that were are
| given these choices because ITTF "needs to act in the best interests of the
| IEC". I don't quite get it, but there appears to be some concern over what
| the press would think if the BRM did not handle all of the comments. One NB
| requested to speak and asked, "I wonder what the press would think about
| arbitrarily changed procedures?". No response. I thought to myself, why
| wasn't ITTF thinking about the 'best interests" of JTC1 when they allowed a
| 6,045 page Fast Track submission, or ignored all those contradiction
| submissions, or decided to schedule a 5-day BRM to handle 3,522 NB comments.
| Isn't it a bit late to start worrying about what the press will think?
|
| We break for lunch.
|
| After lunch and after more discussion, the meeting adopted a variation of
| option 4, by removing the vote minimum. I believe in this vote the BRM and
| ITTF exceeded its authority and violated the consensus principles described
| in JTC1 Directives.
`----

http://www.robweir.com/blog/2008/03/art-of-being-mugged.html

------------------------------

Message-ID: <3309077.azEIG6cJii@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Business Conference and Development with an Open Source Slant
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:07:29 +0000

Roundtable: The state of open source

,----[ Quote ]
| Since its emergence, open source has embodied this spirit. Part defiant, part
| self-reliant, and often outspoken and opinionated, those immersed in the
| community have worked both in tandem and at odds, all with the intention of
| pushing the movement in as many worthwhile directions at once.
`----

http://www.infoworld.com/infoworld/article/08/03/24/13FE-open-source-roundtable-intro_1.html

This isn't a Free software conference. Lots of 'fluff' there (including
badgeware). Along the lines of:

Open Source Dev on OS X - Why?

,----[ Quote ]
| But why? Surely developers using open source tools would be better served by
| running on open source from the ground up, rather than paying for a
| proprietary operating system.
`----

http://ostatic.com/158685-blog/open-source-dev-on-os-x-whyss

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1523864.MetTqcbKhv@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Free Software Integration a Key to Success
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:09:09 +0000

Consultant hopes open source apps will "snap together" someday

,----[ Quote ]
| Bachana recommends starting your company's open source journey at the Web
| level. "There's plenty of resources out there where you can get information
| on the different platforms available. Implement Web servers first. Hire a
| couple of really great developers that know the LAMP environment and task
| them with getting a roadmap for the back office using open source. If you
| start that way, you could map all your needs to readily available open source
| solutions out there. But it starts with getting at least one person who is a
| technologist that could support them in the back office."
`----

http://www.linux.com/feature/129881

Things like BitRock (link below) are available especially for this.


Related:

Scary news for Microsoft in HP's earnings call

,----[ Quote ]
| HP never saw a "Vista moment at any time over the past year" declared HP CEO
| Mark Hurd in yesterday's earnings call.
|
| [...]
|
| Think about that. These are markets that don't need Vista, that have no
| institutional memory of Windows (over the Mac or Linux). These are markets
| that are wide open for real competition (and real innovation).
|
| Again, this is great news for every person on the planet...except Microsoft
| shareholders.
`----

http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9821120-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad


BitRock: Application Installation in a Networked World

,----[ Quote ]
| As an aside, when I say cross-platform, I don’t mean Adobe AIR-style “sure
| we’re cross-platform - you know, Mac and Windows,” but rather truly
| cross-platform. Both dominant commercial distributions, Solaris and Linux.
| Even better, the Linux support is not limited to the dominant commercial
| distributions, in Red Hat and SuSE, but is inclusive of Debian, Ubuntu and
| other commercial and non-commercial variants.    
`----

http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2008/02/12/bitrock-application-installation-in-a-networked-world/

------------------------------

Message-ID: <86203255.UDvAQDLNQu@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] TorrentFlux Brings BitTorrents to GNU/Linux Servers
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:11:32 +0000

TorrentFlux.com - PHP BitTorrent Client for Linux

,----[ Quote ]
| Open source torrent client TorrentFlux is made ready to be installed on Linux
| run servers.
`----

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/TorrentFluxcom---PHP-BitTorrent-Client-for-Linux/


Related:

EU Invests $22 Million in Next-Generation BitTorrent Client

,----[ Quote ]
| A few weeks ago we reported that the EU Greens launched a pro-filesharing
| campaign named “I Wouldn’t Steal”. In a continued effort to support the
| development of P2P technology, the European Union has now invested $22
| million in the development of an open-source BitTorrent client.
`----

http://torrentfreak.com/eu-invests-22-million-in-next-generation-bittorrent-client/


Mark Cuban to ISPs: block all P2P traffic; Ars to Cuban: um, no

,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, there are many legitimate uses for P2P that Google Video can't
| replace, like distributing Linux ISOs. Furthermore, the notion that the only
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| people who benefit from P2P technology are the distributors is wrong. If I
| have the option of grabbing a download from a distant single server or from a
| torrent with hundreds of users, I'm going to opt for the torrent. Why? It's
| almost guaranteed to be faster, and let's face it: most BitTorrent software
| is quite adept at managing large downloads. Perhaps I want to throttle it
| while playing a game; perhaps I want to encrypt my transfers. If I'm
| distributing video or audio, perhaps I don't wish to be bound by the terms of
| Google Video.
`----

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071122-mark-cuban-to-isps-block-all-p2p-traffic.html

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1284846.0dMv9oT5bm@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] Microsoft: Why Even Patch Before Attacks Hijack Many PCs?
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:39:26 +0000

Months-Old Excel Exploit Goes Public

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft labeled CVE-2008-0081 "critical" on Excel 2000, and "important" on
| Excel 2002 and 2003.
|
| Microsoft first acknowledged the Excel bug more than two months ago, when it
| confirmed that hackers were attacking Windows machines via Excel. At the
| time, the company's security team characterised the attacks as "targeted and
| not widespread."
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143786-pg,1/article.html

Later they wonder why 4 out of 10 Windows PCs is controlled by a criminal.
That's roughly 320,000,000 zombie PCs on the Net, at any given time.


Recent:

Microsoft fixes a dozen Office flaws in four patches; all are critical

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft today released its March 2008 security bulletin, which includes
| four bulletins, all deemed critical by Microsoft.
`----

http://www.news.com/8301-10789_3-9891047-57.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20


Bots rule in cyberspace

,----[ Quote ]
| USA TODAY REPORTS that on an average day, 40 per cent of the 800 million
| computers connected to the Internet are bots used to send out spam, viruses
| and to mine for sensitive personal data.  
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/17/bots-rule-cyberspace
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/2008-03-16-computer-botnets_N.htm

------------------------------

Message-ID: <5465077.gEicnug9MB@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Children in South Africa Receive Fedora Linux Laptops
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:42:17 +0000

Teens Bring Laptops to South African Children

,----[ Quote ]
| Two teenage sisters from Boston, along with their family and school, have
| joined forces with an American non-profit organisation to provide laptop
| computers to underprivileged children in South Africa.
|
| [...]
|
| The XO has no hard drive or fan, so should not suck up dust and dirt,
| according to Weber. It runs on the Linux operating system and stretches
| wireless networks using Mesh technology.
`----

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88922574

Exploring Etoys on the OLPC XO

,----[ Quote ]
| Etoys is one of the most interesting activities included on the OLPC XO
| laptops distributed during the Give One Get One programme late last year, which
| gave North Americans a first look at the controversial laptop. The XO's
| unique vocabulary -- Etoys as an activity instead of application --
| underscores the fact that the XO is designed as an educational tool for the
| classroom.
`----

http://www.linux.com/feature/130014


Old:

One Laptop Per Child to begin SA pilot

,----[ Quote ]
| Although the roll-out date for One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC)
| low-cost machine has been put back until October 2007, OLPC is
| using a limited number of trial machines to run pilots to gain
| experience of how it will work in the local context.
`----

http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=1593


One Laptop sighted in Cape Town

,----[ Quote ]
| The laptop, a beta version of the final product, sports a green
| casing, a liquid-proof keyboard, a couple of dust covers for the
| ports and the Sugar operating system which is based on Fedora Core 6.
`----

http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=1466


Debate widens over over deploying computers in the developing world

,----[ Quote ]
| The controversy boiled over on Saturday at a meeting where Craig
| Barrett, chairman of Intel, squared off with Nicholas Negroponte,
| the former director of the MIT Media Laboratory and head of the
| nonprofit organisation One Laptop Per Child, which is focusing
| on the 1.2 billion children in the developing world.
`----    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/28/business/cheap.php


SA Government's OSS plans revealed

,----[ Quote ]
| Migration of current systems is also planned. This will be done in a phased
| approach, beginning with applications such as replacing MS Office with Open
| Office or KOffice and replacing Internet Explorer with Firefox. This will in
| time lead up to the operating system, replacing Windows with a Linux
|                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| distribution. Migration to Apache for the running of government websites has
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^
| already occurred within a number of departments.    
`----

http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=1684


Related:

Laptop-Project Founder Faults Intel

,----[ Quote ]
| Oscar Becerra Tresierra, general director for educational technology at
| Peru's Ministry of Education, says that after the country recently agreed to
| buy 272,500 OLPC laptops for primary-school students, an Intel sales
|                                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^
| representative tried "to scare us" by claiming the machines and their power
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| adapters didn't work. "I don't feel very happy about it," he said. "We  
| wouldn't like the project to fail because somebody is spreading gossip about
|                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| the machines that doesn't turn out to be true."    
`----

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119948070480568405.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


Laptop Project Blames Intel for Breakup

,----[ Quote ]
| Negroponte said Intel even tried to undo a deal One Laptop had already sealed
| in Peru by citing flaws in the One Laptop "XO" machine and telling government
| ministers "we ought to know, because we are on the board." Such hostile
| comments were prohibited, Negroponte claimed, under the July peace treaty
| that brought Intel into the One Laptop Per Child camp.    
|
| "I want to say we tried, but it was never a partnership," Negroponte
| said. "There's not one single thing in their contract or agreement that they
| lived up to."  
`----

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hXa0O9XLMsWfaqt-sI9FqFy2IewgD8TVAD7OA


Intel: doing the dirty on OLPC

,----[ Quote ]
| Intel’s agreement with the OLPC Foundation included a ‘non disparagement’
| clause, under which Intel and One Laptop promised not to criticise each
| other, according to Nicholas Negroponte in the latest article in the Wall
| Street Journal.  
|
| Still Intel tactics have violated that repeatedly to kill OLPC efforts in
| Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan, India, China and Intel is also still trying to pull
| those tactics in Mexico, Brazil.  
| This is simply disgracefull of Intel, scandalous.
|
| But Negroponte has signed an agreement saying that he is not allowed to
| criticise Intel, so he is not allowed to talk about these shameless tactics
| even though Intel is the one violating the agreement.  
|
| So only independant voices on the Internet can get those messages of truth
| out about Intels tactics.
|
| In Nigeria, Intel came and donated 3000 laptops to counter OLPC efforts, then
| sells 17 thousand Classmates to Nigeria at a loss.
|
| Then Microsoft corrupted Nigerian officials with 400 thousand dollars to
| install Windows XP on those instead of Mandriva Linux.
`----

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14124


Negroponte says Intel should be "ashamed of itself"

,----[ Quote ]
| He is furious that Intel's CEO Craig Barrett called the One Laptop a
| gadget. The Negroponte initiative is caught in the middle of a vicious
| fight between AMD and Intel, he said.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39733

------------------------------

Message-ID: <2177422.bcMhAXFR9U@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Many Free Operating Systems Receive Funding
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:46:18 +0000

Google's Summer of Code 2008

,----[ Quote ]
| "Google Summer of Code 2008 is on! Over the past three years, the programme has
| brought together over 1500 students and 2000 mentors from 90 countries
| worldwide, all for the love of code. We look forward to welcoming more new
| contributors and projects this year," begins a page listing all the projects
| planning to participate in this year's GSoC. Among the numerous planned
| participtants there are many kernel projects, including DragonFly BSD,
| FreeBSD, Git, GNU/Hurd, Linux, Minix, and NetBSD.
`----

http://kerneltrap.org/Google's_Summer_of_Code_2008

New Review:

PC-BSD 1.5 - Becoming More Usable!

,----[ Quote ]
| There is no doubt that PC-BSD is has the aesthetics even without Compiz
| Fusion. It is also very easy to use. However, the small of number of the
| available PBIs has remained the Archilles' heel of PC-BSD. The number has to
| be increased exponentially and this will need more efforts from the
| developers and more commitments from the iXsystem. If I may sidetrack a
| little, I would write that I had great pleasure using Zenwalk Linux 5.0 and
| PC-BSD 1.5 for running Logmein Java applet.
`----

http://linuxseekers.com/index.php/component/content/article/43-unix-like-reviews/44-pcbsd-15-review


Related and recent:

First look at PC-BSD 1.5

,----[ Quote ]
| Compiz Fusion is included in this release and worked really well. There's a
| menu entry which, when clicked, asks if you'd like to enable it at boot. When
| clicked, Compiz Fusion is immediately enabled and special effects are
| available. I didn't suffer any instability or performance issues when using
| this application, but it did seem to require the restart of X to disable the
| feature.    
`----

http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20080317#feature


iXsystems Announces Release of PC-BSD Version 1.5, Edison Edition

,----[ Quote ]
| iXsystems announced today the release of PC-BSD Edison Edition. PC-BSD is a
| fully functional open source desktop operating system based on FreeBSD
| 6.3-STABLE. FreeBSD is one of the most used UNIX-like operating systems in
| the world and is widely renowned as the most stable and secure server
| operating system. PC-BSD has a Push-Button Installer (PBI) wizard developed
| exclusively for PC-BSD that lets users download and install a wide range of
| available applications in a self-extracting and self-installing format.      
`----

http://www.pcbsd.org/content/view/56/26/


My Vietnamese Students used PC-BSD

,----[ Quote ]
| Most of them were successful though all preferred doing their projects in
| Linux, that is what they told me. The bash shell in PCLinuxOS, according to
| them, was easier since it told them which directory they were in. In short,
| they got used to seeing $ /usr/home/guest/Desktop in PCLinuxOS while in
| PC-BSD, they only saw $. pwd I kept telling them :)    
`----

http://www.saigonnezumi.com/?p=539

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1957957.Oyc9zYsVzo@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Salasaga Bridges Flash Gap for GNU/Linux Users
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:48:48 +0000

Salasaga burns brightly at its start

,----[ Quote ]
| Salasaga is a cross-platform effort available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris
| Nevada, and Windows. You can install it on GNU/Linux from source code, or by
| downloading packages for Gentoo, Fedora, or Ubuntu. Its dependencies include
| at least version 2.10 of Glib and GTK+, version 1.16 of Pango, version 2.6.30
| of libxml2, and version 0.4.0.beta5 of Ming, which provides the Flash
| capacity. Installation by any means adds a menu item to the Graphics menu on
| the GNOME desktop.
`----

http://www.linux.com/feature/129887

Still waiting for Flash

,----[ Quote ]
| Adobe has the ability to make this job a lot easier. Your editor has heard,
| informally, that the company has taken a less hostile position toward the
| Gnash developers than it had in the past, but it certainly is still not
| helping them. The Flash specifications are not available to anybody trying to
| create a Flash player, and, unsurprisingly, the Flash EULA forbids any sort
| of reverse engineering. That EULA, incidentally, also forbids running Adobe's
| player on any "non-PC device," including tablets and phones. That restriction
| suggests that Adobe sees business opportunities in the lack of a free Flash
| player for such systems and intends to ensure that this scarcity continues.
| So, despite the occasionally friendly noises Adobe has been making toward the
| Linux community, we should not expect a great deal of help from that
| direction.
|
| Someday, people will figure out that closed standards (like Flash) are best
| avoided. Meanwhile, Flash is a fact of life that we will need to deal with.
| It appears that we are getting closer to being able to deal with it - but we
| are not there yet.
`----

http://lwn.net/Articles/272615/

There are also some former Microsoft employees and associates to shoot down Ogg
Vorbis when it's proposed for inclusion in HTML.


Related and recent:

Adobe releases DRM tool for Flash video

,----[ Quote ]
| With a price tag of $40,000 per CPU, the tool is aimed at broadcasters and
| site operators that use Flash to serve streaming video.
`----

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2212474/adobe-releases-drm-tool-flash


Adobe Pushes DRM for Flash

,----[ Quote ]
| Now Adobe, which controls Flash and Flash Video, is trying to change that
| with the introduction of DRM restrictions in version 9 of its Flash Player
| and version 3 of its Flash Media Server software. Instead of an ordinary web
| download, these programmes can use a proprietary, secret Adobe protocol to talk
| to each other, encrypting the communication and locking out non-Adobe
| software players and video tools. We imagine that Adobe has no illusions that
| this will stop copyright infringement -- any more than dozens of other DRM
| systems have done so -- but the introduction of encryption does give Adobe
| and its customers a powerful new legal weapon against competitors and
| ordinary users through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
`----

http://www.gnashdev.org/?q=node/51

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1536912.XOCsArc9M6@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Arrow Electronics Does Linux
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:51:21 +0000

DIY embedded Linux service gains major distributor

,----[ Quote ]
| A major global electronics distributor has announced that its U.S.-based
| operation has started reselling a software subscription service for embedded
| Linux developers.
`----

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4663612798.html

Arrow Electronics Announces the Availability of Embedded Linux Software
Solutions from Timesys

,----[ Quote ]
| The North American Components business of Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW)
| today announced the availability of embedded Linux software solutions from
| Timesys Corporation.
`----

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080324005548&newsLang=en


Related:

Linux loyalty runs high among embedded software developers, says VDC

,----[ Quote ]
| Looking ahead, 87% percent of Linux users plan to use Linux in their next
| project. In both cases, use of free distributions outnumbered use of paid
| distributions by a sizable margin.  
`----

http://software.tekrati.com/research/9436/


Linux the fastest-growing smartphone OS

,----[ Quote ]
| Meanwhile, in the world's largest mobile phone market (China), Linux already
| has a 30 percent share, CCID Consulting Company said in March.
`----

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9422438794.html

------------------------------

Message-ID: <3765807.OCt9aS8lMD@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] ISO Went Titsup, 'Lost' Cuba's "NO" Vote to OOXML
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:54:15 +0000

ISO approval: A good process gone bad

,----[ Quote ]
| Allegations have been made that Microsoft encouraged new countries to join
| the JTC-1, or to upgrade their status (from O-status to P-status) to
| influence the vote. Contrary to what has been demonstrated, the JTC-1
| directives say that the “objective in the development of International
| Standards should be the achievement of consensus between those concerned
| rather than a decision based on counting votes.”4
|
| Before an individual country votes in the ISO process, it holds a vote within
| its own national body. An employee of Microsoft Sweden admitted to offering
| incentives to business partners to encourage them to vote for OOXML5, leading
| the Swedish Standards Institute (SIS) to declare its vote in favour of OOXML
| invalid. Critics have speculated that similar practices occurred in Italy,
| Switzerland, Spain, and other countries. Such allegations have prompted the
| EU to launch an investigation into Microsoft’s practices during the ISO vote.
`----

http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2008/03/24/iso-approval-a-good-process-gone-bad/

[ To those who have been doing the wrong thing - let your conscience take the
lead, and start putting it right. Ed. ]

Cuba Votes No to OOXML - Says It Did So in September, Too - Updated

,----[ Quote ]
| More OOXML news. The Cuban National Bureau of Standards has reportedly sent
| an email to the three names NBs are supposed to notify at ISO, Toshiko
| Kimura, Keith Brannon, and Martine Gaillen, reporting that Cuba votes to
| disapprove OOXML.
|
| But the startling news is that the email claims that Cuba voted no in
| September but that its vote was miscounted.
|
| [...]
|
| If you recall, the public announcement by ISO in September said that Cuba had
| voted to approve, which led to puzzlement. Not so, says the email, which was
| sent on Friday evening and broadly cc'd, including to all the NBs, perhaps to
| ensure there was no confusion this time. Cuba was deeply injured by the false
| report, the email says. Cuba voted no with comments in September. It never
| approved OOXML.
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080324121844682

Cuba was also forced to send its comments as *gasp* Microsoft Word files (yes,
to ISO!), so it needed to mail it.


Related:

The Gradual Introduction of Free Software in Cuba Becomes Significant to Go
Ahead in the Crucial Strategy.

,----[ Quote ]
| Without “pushing the boat out”, the gradual introduction of free software in
| Cuba becomes significant to go ahead in the process of incorporating  
| informatics into society.
`----

http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2008/02/16/9177/the_gradual_introduction_of_free_software_in_cuba_becomes_significant_to_go_ahead_in_the_crucial_strategy.html


Cuba embraces migration to free and open source software

,----[ Quote ]
| Cuba's Cabinet also has urged a shift from proprietary software. The customs
| service has gone to Linux and the ministries of culture, higher education and  
| communications are planning to do so, Rodriguez said.
|
| And students in his own department are cooking up a version of Linux called
| Nova, based on Gentoo distribution of the operating system. The ministry of
| higher education is developing its own.  
`----

http://www.cubaheadlines.com/2007/08/02/4878/cuba_embraces_open_source_software.html


Cuba Embraces Open-Source Software

,----[ Quote ]
| Both governments say they are trying to wean state agencies from
| Microsoft's proprietary Windows to the open-source Linux operating
| system, which is developed by a global community of programmers
| who freely share their code.
|
| [...]
|
| Other countries have tried similar moves. China, Brazil and
| Norway have encouraged the development of Linux for a variety
| of reasons: Microsoft's near-monopoly over operating systems,
| the high cost of proprietary software and security problems.
`----

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CUBA_SOFTWARE?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://tinyurl.com/29dejf

------------------------------

Message-ID: <9839026.WevruFd6aW@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] Closer Look at Microsoft-only Broken 'Formats'
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:58:21 +0000

OOXML's (Out of) Control Characters

,----[ Quote ]
| In summary, we are concerned that the ST_Xstring type in OOXML opens us up to
| problems such as:
|
| 1. Introducing accessibility problems
| 2. Breaking unaware C/C++ XML parsers
| 3. Breaking XML databases
| 4. Breaking interoperability with other XML languages
| 5. Breaking application logic related to string searching, sorting,
| comparisons, etc.
| 6. Introducing errors that will be hard to detect and resolve
`----

http://www.robweir.com/blog/2008/03/ooxmls-out-of-control-characters.html

Another intresting remark:

Patrick Durusau fails to make the case -- again

,----[ Quote ]
| "… name the last time Microsoft was listening to everyone in a public and
| international forum? At a table where a standard for a future product was
| being debated by non-Microsoft groups?"
|
| I love this subtle trick which Mr Durusau managed to get ALL the Microsofties
| to openly admit that Microsoft has the bad reputation of NEVER listening to
| the public in the development of their products. I mean All of them, in their
| zeal to reprint the Durusau letter, had to include this paragraph in their
| blogs and Press Releases, and it just made them admit that they have been all
| the time customer insensitive.
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-48787/patrick-durusau-fails-to-make-the-case-again


Yesterday:

Fear! That should work!

,----[ Quote
| I thanked Mr Cheong, for bringing up this important letter from Mr Patrick
| Durusau. His case just highlights the strange situation we are in today. If
| you know the background history of Mr Durusau, you will understand why he may
| have to write a letter like this.  
|
| You see, Mr Durusau is the Editor of ODF, but more importantly he is also the
| Chair of the US Technical Committee V1, which is equivalent to Malaysia's TC4
| here. What is interesting, is that because of this OOXML issue, his committee
| has been stacked. Now it's OK for them in the US to stack their committees
| because that's how their system works, so they grew from a committee of 7
| members before OOXML to 26 members after it started. Fortunately, in
| Malaysia, ISC-G prevented this from happening at TC4.      
|
| [...]
|
| So in essence, V1 has been taken over by Microsofties, and Mr Durusau is in a
| tight situation. If he were to be negative towards OOXML, his stacked V1 will
| retaliate and bar the progress of his normal work: work on ODF 1.2.  
|
| The best and most logical option for Mr Durusau is of course to "agree" with
| his captors 'demands, and hopefuly they would be merciful later on. So its a
| strange political play which he has to act out.  
`----

http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2008/03/fear-that-shoul.html


Recent:

,----[ Quote ]
| From the start Patrick has remained publicly silent on the topic of
| OOXML. No blog posts, no press, nothing. If you asked, he would say
| that this was his policy. Privately, you would get an earful (all
| negative), but as befits the unbiased chair of the committee
| which is responsible for the technical recommendation for the US NB,
| he kept his personal opinions out of the public arena.
|
| This public orientation changed recently. As best I can figure it, on
| returning from a conference in Seattle in late January, Patrick was a
| changed man. Patrick is now an enthusiastic OOXML supporter and is
| eager to inform the world of his delight in OOXML at every
| opportunity. He posts his "open letters" on his web site, which are
| linked to, often within minutes, by the various Microsoft bloggers,
| and then sent around by Microsoft employees to the press and the
| various JTC1 NB's.
|
| [...]
|
| Of course, Microsoft will not be so careful to distinguish Patrick's
| personal opinions from his professional affiliations. So a post from
| Patrick's personal web site is retold on a Microsoft blog as "The ODF
| Editor says....", and then the next day is sent in an email to NB's
| with a larger set of "endorsements":...
`----

http://www.robweir.com/blog/2008/03/contra-durusau-part-1.html

------------------------------

Message-ID: <44686248.jpSde0VCWL@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] CIO.com: "Microsoft Should Toss Vista in the Trash"
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:21:49 +0000

Blog: Should Microsoft Throw Away Vista?

,----[ Quote ]
| Throw Vista away. That's what many have now argued that Microsoft should do.
| Give it a dignified resting place, as a stepping-stone OS, and come up with a
| replacement that's more sensible for enterprise IT. There is historical
| precedent in the consumer OS space for such a move; look at Windows ME and
| how it became a footnote in Microsoft history.
|
| "Microsoft should toss Vista in the trash, as the company did with Windows
| Millennium eight years ago, then issue a Windows XP Second Edition (as it did
| with Windows 98 eight years ago) that capitalises on some of Vista's key
| benefits.
`----

http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;1952707477

[ Last time, Microsoft had a second code-base available. This time, they've
broken that one, too. Perhaps they could license OSX from Apple? Ed. ]

Related:

E-mail: Microsoft 'botched' dealings with Intel, HP

,----[ Quote ]
| Internal Microsoft e-mails revealed through a federal class-action lawsuit
| arising from the troubled launch last year of the Windows Vista operating
| system have provided a provocative inside look at the software giant's
| machinations with Intel, HP and Dell.
|
| The e-mails include an exchange in which one senior Microsoft executive
| described dealings with computer makers as "really botched." Another manager
| complained Microsoft was "caving to Intel" and "really burning HP."
|
| The e-mails are included in 145 pages of documents unsealed by U.S. District
| Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle late Wednesday. They include internal
| reports and some handwritten notes that offer a rare look inside at the
| famed "Wintel" partnership, and touch upon the alliance's dealings with
| Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other computer makers.
`----

http://origin.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_8417811?nclick_check=1


Microsoft knew of Vista shortcoming prior to release

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-vista-shortcoming-prior/story.aspx?guid=%7B75BE59C7%2DEFA1%2D48B5%2DB4A4%2D90F5E01A52A0%7D&siteid=yhoof


Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/


Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel

http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix


Has Vista lost all credibility?

http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility


Will Windows Vista Succeed In 2008? Don't Count On It

,----[ Quote ]
| Vista has certainly been slow out of the gate. Sure, Microsoft is putting the
| operating system on newly shipped systems, but Vista sales didn’t benefit
| from the upgrade surge that previous OSes got upon release. A year after it
| began shipping, less than one percent of corporate desktops are running
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| Vista.
| ^^^^^
`----

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/01/will_windows_vi.html


Windows Vista kicked out of Olympics PCs

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's latest version of Windows is too risky to implement for the
| important computers managing the 2008 Olympic summer games in Beijing, said
| the event's computer supplier and sponsor Lenovo.
`----

http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/08/08/no.vista.on.olympic.pcs/


Acer: PC industry 'disappointed' with Vista

,----[ Quote
| Acer president Gianfranco Lanci became the first major PC manufacturer to
| openly attack Microsoft over the Windows Vista operating system in the
| Financial Times Deutschland on Monday.
|
| Lanci said the operating system was riddled with problems and gave users and
| businesses no reason to buy a new PC, according to the report. Taiwan-based
| Acer is the world's fourth-largest PC manufacturer, after HP, Dell and
| Lenovo.
|
| "The whole industry is disappointed with Windows Vista," Lanci said.
`----

http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=9579


Interesting comment from CompUSA

,----[ Quote ]
| Every single one of them he said was returned from consumers... and that they
| (CompUSA) couldn't ship them back. As he heard, Microsoft wasn't giving
| credit back for unsold or returned copies... and didn't want the returned
| figures made public... He wouldn't say that every single one of them
| exchanged for a copy of Xp, he didn't know if that was true. So, I asked how
| many boxes did they have. Same glare, followed with a "You do not want to
| know" type statement.
`----

http://zerias.blogspot.com/2007/12/interesting-comment-from-compusa.html


Windows Vista: Sold but not deployed

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft says it remains happy with enterprise sales of Vista -- however,
| the software behemoth acknowledges that many businesses which have bought
| Vista licences are yet to deploy the software.
`----

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Windows-Vista-Sold-but-not-deployed/0,130061733,339284495,00.htm

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1223982.NBdNxPKiAE@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] Even 2.5GB of RAM Can be To Much for Windows
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:23:41 +0000

When too much memory is a problem, debug it

,----[ Quote ]
| My Dell has 2.5 gigabytes of memory, but when I try to put the machine into
| hibernation, I often get a message that there are "insufficient system
| resources to complete the API."
|
| According to a tech-support article at Microsoft's site (sup
| port.microsoft.com/kb/909095), your problem can be blamed in part on your
| computer having so much memory.
|
| But the bulk of the blame goes to a bug in Windows XP that can be zapped with
| a small "hot fix" download from that page.
`----

http://www.newsday.com/business/yourmoney/ny-a5622293mar23,0,7097465.story


Recent:

Kernel space: How to use a terabyte of RAM

,----[ Quote
| An experimental new design for Linux's virtual memory system would turn a
| large amount of system RAM into a fast RAM disk with automatic sync to
| magnetic media.
|
| We have not yet reached a point where systems - even high-end boxes - come
| with a terabyte of installed memory. But products like those from Violin
| Memory make it clear that the day is coming; one can buy a Violin box with
| 500GB in it now.
`----

http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2008/031808-kernel.html?fsrc=rss-linux-news


What to do with a Terabyte of RAM

,----[ Quote ]
| Come the day we get a terabyte of RAM in our systems, we'll find a need for
| it. After all, recall that great prophet Bill Gates who swore 640K of memory
| would be all we'd need. Real-time high-definition video editing anyone?  
|
| [...]
|
| But while I can dream up applications that could use a terabyte of RAM, that
| leaves aside the wee technical problem of how you access that much memory.
| Daniel Phillips, a Linux developer, has an idea: the ramback virtual device.  
`----

http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS9012826400.html


Hip-hip-Hadoop!

,----[ Quote ]
| Just one more reason why the Microsoft-Yahoo merger, if it happens, will be
| hell:
|
| [...]
|
| Go[t] that? 10,000 core processors running GNU/Linux at the heart of Yahoo.
| Microsoft is damned if they do (rip and replace) and damned if they don't. Go
| on, make our day, Steve....  
`----

http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/02/hip-hip-hadoop.html


Related:

Vista SP1 to lie about RAM usage. Deliberately!

,----[ Quote ]
| If you right click on "My Computer" and go to properties, it will show the
| amount of RAM that your computer can see. This is perfectly fine, but
| sometimes the ignorant consumer buys 4GB of RAM, and thinks there is a
| problem when their OS only reports 3GB.  
| So, what does the richest company in the world do about it?
| Fix the problem at the core?
| Enforce manufacturers to use 64bit?
| nope. They just have their OS lie about it.
`----

http://www.antonywilliams.com/2007/12/vista-sp1-to-lie-about-ram-usage.html

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1389603.bIdzbI7ACe@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] Microsoft Spread Its Rubbish in New York City, World Wide Web
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:28:13 +0000

Scolded, Microsoft Takes Blame For Swarms of Butterfly Decals

,----[ Quote ]
| The corporation accepted the blame yesterday for hundreds of plastic
| butterfly decals that were affixed across the face of Midtown Manhattan as
| part of a $300 million promotional campaign for its new MSN 8 Internet
| service.
`----

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E6DD1E3CF935A15753C1A9649C8B63&scp=2&sq=dunlap+microsoft&st=nyt

Microsoft did the same on the Web. It did what Jeff Zeldman equated to drivers
throwing bottles out of the car window while driving (before they found out
this leads to chaos). And it goes on:

Facing the acid test

,----[ Quote ]
| "Why do we care about ECMAScript 4.0?" asks Mozilla's vice-president of
| engineering, Mike Schroepfer. The answer is that JavaScript is the language
| of the net. We want to keep pushing that technology forward to make it easier
| for people to build bigger, faster, more secure websites."
|
| Asked if Microsoft will implement ECMAScript 4.0, Mr Hachamovitch
| prevaricates and talks about competing demands on the IE development team.
|
| "Right now there isn't really an ECMAScript 4 offering to implement, there is
| an ECMAscript for discussion." he says.
`----

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/facing-the-acid-test/2008/03/24/1206207011943.html

[ I'm sure that if OOXML had been successful, the same story would've been heard
about it, too. Ed. ]

Related:

Gates Deposition Audio and Video

,----[ Quote ]
| Here is our local copy of the depositions of Bill Gates in the
| Microsoft anti-trust suit. We did our best to convert the
| original Windows Media files into an Open format, ogg. Your
| webmaster is responsible for the video transcoding, the
| audio-only files are contributed by a Groklaw member that
| requested to stay anonymous.
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/staticpages/index.php?page=GatesDepo


Microsoft's Marketing Scheme: Software Credits for Enterprise Commitment

,----[ Quote ]
| Hmmm. Wasn't there a similar programme designed to get companies to
| use Internet Explorer when Netscape was gaining market share? Next
| thing you'll know, we'll hear assertions that Microsoft Live Search
| is built into Windows and despite the efforts of thousands of
| Microsoft programmers, can't be removed.
|
| Our take: We have to agree with Batelle's assertion that this could
| work in organisations that are already all Microsoft; it's straight
| out of the same playbook Microsoft uses with hardware OEMs. All we
| can say is that if Microsoft spent nearly as much attention and money
| on marketing programmes to develop customer value as it did on killing
| competing companies, it would be making a lot more money.
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070319/29863_id.html?.v=1


,----[ Quote ]
| "3. INTERNET EXPLORER: Unless specifically requested to the contrary
| by the end user of the Customer System and provided proper
| translation is available, COMPANY will ship MS Internet Explorer
| 2.0, and the most current subsequent higher version Product
| Releases and Version Releases thereof, preinstalled on all
| new Customer Systems..."
`----

http://edge-op.org/iowa/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/2000/PX02346.pdf


Is Windows Live dying?

,----[ Quote ]
| Over the last year, Microsoft's Windows Live service lineup has
| grown exponentially. At one point months ago, it seemed clear
| that every service Microsoft brought online would fall under the
| Live brand, but lately the trend seems to be moving slowly in
| the opposite direction. What's happening to Windows Live?
`----

http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2007/2/20/7154


ECIS Accuses Microsoft of Plotting HTML Hijack

,----[ Quote ]
| An industry coalition that has represented competitors of Microsoft
| in European markets before the European Commission stepped up its
| public relations offensive this morning, this time accusing
| Microsoft of scheming to upset HTML's place in the fabric of
| the Internet with XAML, an XML-based layout lexicon for
| network applications.
`----

http://www.betanews.com/article/ECIS_Accuses_Microsoft_of_Plotting_HTML_Hijack/1169824569


Software rivals say Microsoft's Vista illegal in Europe (at CNNMoney.com)

,----[ Excerpt ]
| Software manufacturers, citing 2004 European Commission finding,
| contend the operating system violates server laws in Europe.
|
| [...]
|
| "Vista is the first step of Microsoft's strategy to extend its market
| dominance to the Internet," the ECIS statement said.
|
| It said Microsoft's XAML markup language was "positioned to replace HTML,"
| the industry standard for publishing documents on the Internet.
|
| Microsoft's own language would be dependent on Windows, and discriminatory
| against rival systems such as Linux, the group says.
|
| They said a so-called "open XML" platform file format, known as OOXML, is
| designed to run seamlessly only on the Microsoft Office platform.
`----

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/26/news/international/bc.vista.microsoft.eu.reut/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote


Gates deposition videos

,----[ Quote ]
| Boies: Do you remember that in January, 1996, a lot of OEMs were
| bundling non-Microsoft browsers?
|
| Gates: I'm not sure.
|
| Boies: What were the non-Microsoft browsers that you were
| concerned about in January of 1996?
|
| Gates: What's the question? You're trying to get me to recall
| what other browsers I was thinking about when I wrote that sentence?
|
| Boies: No, because you've told me that you don't know what you
| were thinking about when you wrote that sentence.
|
| Gates: Right.
|
| Boies: What I'm trying to do is get you to tell me what
| non-Microsoft browsers you were concerned about in January of
| 1996. If it had been only one, I probably would have used the
| name of it. Instead I seem to be using the term non-Microsoft
| browsers. My question is what non-Microsoft browsers were you
| concerned about in January of 1996?
|
| Gates: I'm sure -- what's the question? Is it -- are you asking
| me about when I wrote this e-mail or what are you asking me about?
|
| Boies: I'm asking you about January of 1996.
|
| Gates: That month?
|
| Boies: Yes, sir.
|
| Gates: And what about it?
|
| Boies: What non-Microsoft browsers were you concerned about in
| January of 1996?
|
| Gates: I don't know what you mean "concerned."
|
| Boies: What is it about the word "concerned" that you don't
| understand?
|
| Gates: I'm not sure what you mean by it.
`----

http://wincent.com/a/about/wincent/weblog/archives/2007/02/gates_depositio.php


,----[ Quote ]
| From: Bill Gates
| Sent: Saturday, December 05, 1989 9:44 AM
| To: Bob Muglia (Exchange); Jon DeVaan; Steven Sinofsky
| Cc: Paul Mariz
| Subject: Office rendering
|
| One thing we have got to change is our strategy -- allowing Office
| documents to be rendered very well by OTHER PEOPLES BROWSERS is one of the
| most destructive things we could do to the company.
|
| We have to stop putting any effort into this and make sure that Office
| documents very well depends on PROPRIETARY IE capabilities.
|
| Anything else is suicide for our platform. This is a case where Office has
| to to destroy Windows.
`----

http://www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/2000/PX02991.pdf


Microsoft ties Windows Live services to OS in updates

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is tying its Windows Live services directly to its Windows OS.
`----

http://www.itworld.com/Comp/2218/070905mslivesvcs/index.html


A Software Maker [VMWare] Goes Up Against Microsoft

,----[ Quote ]
| When quizzed on Microsoft's plans, Mr. Ballmer replied, "Our view is
| that virtualisation is something that should be built into the
| operating system."
`----

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/technology/24soft.html?ex=1172898000&en=bbca645a927ef7f8&ei=5099&partner=TOPIXNEWS
http://tinyurl.com/35jkur

------------------------------

Message-ID: <241293077.oizL7GyfeZ@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] [Rival] Microsoft's Critical Vulnerabilities Multiply
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:35:19 +0000

Microsoft Word Bug Leaves Users Open To Attack

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft researchers are currently investigating reports of targeted attacks
| that can be exploited through Microsoft Word, including Word 2007, using a
| buffer overflow error in the Jet Database Engine.
`----

http://www.crn.com/security/206905442

,----[ Quote ]
| As part of its monthly "Patch Tuesday" schedule Microsoft has issued a number
| of bulletins about 12 security vulnerabilities in its software. Seven of the
| vulnerabilities affect Microsoft Excel, and could allow a hacker to gain
| remote control over a user's computer by a maliciously crafted spreadsheet.
`----

http://www.securitypark.co.uk/security_article261162.html

Some known ones have not been patched. As usual, Office is always open for
hijackers and since it's proprietary, there's nothing the user can do about
it.


Yesterday

Windows Vista immune to remote code execution flaw in Microsoft Jet Database

,----[ Quote ]
| Windows Vista users, count your blessings.  Though the operating system may
| be flawed, sluggish in some areas and have issues with installing the new
| service pack; it is not vulnerable to a new flaw exposed in the Microsoft Jet
| Database Engine which could allow remote code execution.  
`----

http://vista.blorge.com/2008/03/22/windows-vista-immune-to-remote-code-execution-flaw-in-microsoft-jet-database/


Last week:

Buggy Microsoft Excel Patch Causes Bad Maths

,----[ Quote ]
| A bug in this week's MS08-014 patch causes Excel to return zeroes instead of
| the correct number when certain types of macros are run within the programme.
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143467-pg,1/article.html


Related:

Microsoft preps 133 patches for Windows DNS hole

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is working on 133 separate updates for the problem, Budd wrote.
`----

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9710490-7.html


Microsoft DNS Server Attacks Continue

,----[ Quote ]
| The concept enables malicious users to run code remotely under the
| system privileges generally granted to the DNS service itself.
`----

http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_DNS_Server_Attacks_Continue/1176828918


Microsoft: Patch for critical DNS flaw may be ready by 8 May

,----[ Quote ]
| The cmopany has been under pressure to address the flaw, reported
| last week, since software that exploits it has now been widely
| disseminated, and criminals are beginning to use it in attacks.
`----

http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/servers-data-centre/infrastructure-management/news/index.cfm?newsid=2650
http://tinyurl.com/27wje2


Attack code raises Windows DNS zero-day risk

,----[ Quote ]
| At least four exploits for the vulnerability in the Windows domain
| name system, or DNS, service were published on the Internet over the
| weekend, Symantec said in an alert Monday.
`----

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6176429.html


Cybercrooks exploiting new Windows DNS flaw

,----[ Quote ]
| Cybercrooks are using a yet-to-be-patched security flaw in certain
| Windows versions to attack computers running the operating systems,
| Microsoft warned late Thursday.
`----

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6175743.html


Microsoft's advisories giving clues to hackers

,----[ Quote ]
| How's this for a new twist on the old responsible disclosure debate:
| Hackers are taking advantage of information released in Microsoft's
| pre-patch security advisories to create exploits for zero-day
| vulnerabilities.
`----

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=167


DNS security improves as firms tool up to tackle spam

,----[ Quote ]
| Infoblox's survey found that the number of internet-facing DNS servers
| increased from 9m in 2006 to 11.5m in 2007, indicative of the overall growth
| of the internet. Percentage usage of the most recent and secure version of
| open-source domain name server software - BIND 9 - increased from 61 per cent
| to 65 per cent over the last year. Use of BIND 8, by contrast, dropped from
| 14 per cent in 2006 to 5.6 per cent this year. Usage of the Microsoft DNS
| Server on web-facing systems also fell, decreasing to to 2.7 per cent in 2007
| from five per cent last year.      
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/20/dns_security_survey/


Use of rogue DNS servers on rise

,----[ Quote ]
| The paper estimates roughly 68,000 servers on the Internet are returning
| malicious Domain Name System results, which means people with compromised
| computers are sometimes being directed to the wrong Web sites — and often
| have no idea.  
`----

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080213/ap_on_hi_te/techbit_servers_that_lie

------------------------------

Message-ID: <1293199.P9XBWun7lJ@schestowitz.com>
From: Roy Schestowitz
Subject: [News] Free Software Highly Sought After, Downloaded
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:31:31 +0000

MySql, Sun database head talks open source

,----[ Quote ]
| MySql has about 67,000 people who download the software every day and
| volunteer to help improve it.
|
| "This is why free software is so powerful and why Microsoft has such a big
| problem keeping up with Linux. The people in open source aren't smarter than
| those in closed source, there are just more of them."
`----

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9902499-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

If MySQL is downloaded 2 million times per month (from one place), just imagine
how popular desktop Linux can be.

Open-source software as guerrilla marketing strategy

,----[ Quote ]
| Marten Mickos, head of Sun's database business, said at the conference that
| MySql's community of users are its best marketers, even if they're critical.
| When one person says they hate MySql, he said, 10 others say "I love it."
`----

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9902519-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20


Recent:

Mera SQL, dil mangey more!

,----[ Quote ]
| Then in 1996 a Swedish startup came up with the idea of creating a data base
| — or Structured Query Language (SQL), you ask questions of your data, any way
| you want — entirely in the Open Source arena.  
|
| What’s more, it was meant for people to use with Web applications — and it
| would be free.
|
| MySQL was born and after 100 million downloads, it is one of the most popular
| Web-centric data base tools in use today.
`----

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/16/stories/2008031655781100.htm


The Open-Source Database Gets Its Due

,----[ Quote ]
| In the past there has been no real alternative to proprietary databases. That
| has changed, at least for new applications that have no legacy database
| dependencies. The relative proportion of hardware and software purchase
| prices has been changing, too, and for some years software has gradually been
| consuming ever-larger slices of the pie. In recent times the pace has
| accelerated, though, as commodity-priced hardware has become much more
| powerful and database prices have increased.      
|
| For the most part, customers still have not entirely woken up to these
| trends. But if they ever do, we may see a significant shift in the database
| market. Is it possible that the perfect storm for proprietary databases is
| brewing?  
`----

http://www.bmighty.com/blog/main/archives/2008/03/the_opensource.html


Related:

The end of the proprietary database?

,----[ Quote ]
| While Packer does not believe that proprietary databases are doomed, he does
| see the writing on the wall in emerging markets and that the increased use of
| open source will eventually surround proprietary databases in established
| markets. Unless the proprietary suppliers respond they risk losing business
| in the long-term.    
`----

http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2007/12/17/the-end-of-the-proprietary-database/


Are Open-Source Databases Ready for Production Applications?

,----[ Quote ]
| Yes, more and more, depending on the application.
|
| Oracle became the leading database in the 1990s because it ran better on
| high-end SMP Unix servers. But in those days most applications were still
| just dumb terminals talking to the big Unix box. So the database software had
| to be very sophisticated to perform well.    
`----

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2171185,00.asp


PostgreSQL publishes first real benchmark

,----[ Quote ]
| This publication shows that a properly tuned PostgreSQL is not only as
| fast or faster than MySQL, but almost as fast as Oracle (since the
| hardware platforms are different, it's hard to compare directly).
| This is something we've been saying for the last 2 years, and now we
| can prove it.
|
| [...]
|
| I'll continue this later this week with a discussion of what SpecJAppserver
| is, what it measures, and how the Spec organisation is warming up to open
| source.  
|
| Regardless, this is a good day for PostgreSQL and open source.
`----

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/database/soup/archives/postgresql-publishes-first-real-benchmark-17470


Old:

The Grill: MySQL's Marten Mickos on the Hot Seat

,----[ Quote ]
| And despite openly admitting that it gets paid by only one of every
| thousand users, MySQL is thriving, to the point that the company is
| planning an initial public offering.  
`----

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=294422


Next Gen, Mission-Critical Apps To Be Deployed on Linux Says Report

,----[ Quote ]
| By now it should be obvious to even the most casual industry observers
| that Linux operating systems - and open source-based software in general -
| have reached critical marketplace mass. Recent Linux deals and
| an