Linux.com interviews Aduva’s Izar Tarandach and Ury Segal.

– by Tina Gasperson –

Graham Hine, president and CEO of Tuxtops, today confirmed that the company will no longer sell laptops pre-loaded with Linux. Hine said that Tuxtops is changing its focus to software development, but wouldn’t say exactly what the company’s plans are.A statement on the tuxtops.com Web site reads:

Dear customers and friends,

In the past year, working on our critically acclaimed line of Linux
laptops, we’ve recognized a great opportunity for Tuxtops to develop
an exciting software product. We’ll announce the product in due
course, and we’re sure you’ll like it. This new direction will require all
our resources, and we are consequently retiring our laptop computer
sales.

Tuxtops has ceased selling laptops from our web site. We may still be
able to handle special orders, and are working on referral
arrangements to help our customers find what they’re looking for.
Contact sales@tuxtops.com if you’ve specific needs.

Our toll free support line (877-735-0638) remains open for our
customers, and the ‘chump’ will still be there for you to stump with
your crazy ‘how do I do blah on my laptop’ questions. Our hardware
warranty is, as always, backed by ARM Computer. They’re 10 years
old and counting, and can handle any of your hardware support
needs.

Yours truly,

Graham Hine
CEO

In a telephone conversation on Monday (January 15) Hine said that the company plans to develop software. “I can’t disclose too much about the new project,” said Hine. “We’re talking to investors and so on. I can tell you that it’s in the software management arena; it came out of some technology we developed in the course of selling the laptops, particularly the OneStep Linux.”

Selling Linux on laptops isn’t the innovation that it used to be, and that could be part of the reason Tuxtops is changing its focus. From his home in Sunnyvale, Hine shared some of the reasoning behind the decision to suspend sales of laptops. “[It] was a difficult business to maintain. The competition was growing, including big companies — when we started there were very few competitors.”

Nowadays, the big guys like IBM and HP are offering buyers the option to have their notebook systems shipped with Linux, so it’s hard for “little” guys like Tuxtops, and other small companies like Linuxlaptops.com to keep up. “A lot of companies want to buy [all their hardware] from one place,” Hine said. “We have better products than those big guys, but it’s really hard to convince somebody who’s not on top of the situation that we really are better. We were critically acclaimed but unfortunately, that doesn’t make up for lack of volume.”

Former Tuxtops customers need not fear loss of ongoing support from the California company, said Hine. The company is maintaining its offices and a special toll-free support number. “We wouldn’t let our customers down,” he said.

NewsForge editors read and respond to comments posted on our discussion page.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. and BRISBANE, Calif., January 15, 2001- Motorola (NYSE: MOT) today announced an alliance with CollabNet(tm) to provide free web-based project hosting, a collaboration environment, and code storage as part of the Motorola iDEN Subscriber Group’s comprehensive developers’ support program (www.motorola.com/idendev). CollabNet is a leading provider of collaborative software development solutions based on Open Source concepts.CollabNet will provide a comprehensive development environment that enables geographically dispersed groups of developers to collaborate on software projects at no cost. It is based on CollabNet’s SourceCastSM platform, which provides the infrastructure for the site and includes tools for issue tracking, mailing list management, revision control, discussion forums, surveys, and news and information. In addition, SourceCast provides the flexibility and security needed to support both proprietary and Open Source software development projects.

The iDEN developer support program has been established to facilitate the development of applications for Motorola’s Java(tm) 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) technology-enabled multiple communications and computing handsets, which are expected to be available in the first half of this year through iDEN network operators including Nextel Communications and Southern LINC in the United States and TELUS Mobility/Clearnet Communications in Canada. The program provides virtually everything developers need to build applications and get them to market, including tools, technical support, marketing, distribution, e-commerce backend processing and end user support.

“Motorola and CollabNet are facilitating the application development process by offering a complete platform for global, collaborative development,” said Bill Werner, corporate vice president of Motorola and general manager of the company’s iDEN Subscriber Group. “By supporting Open Source principles, this program encourages developers to work together on projects and leverage one another’s creativity, regardless of their location.”

Motorola and CollabNet are working together to establish a community of developers around the collaborative environment. CollabNet is hosting and managing the environment, which serves as the coordination point for the creation and testing of J2ME technology-based applications. Developers can create web-based projects by first registering at www.motorola.com/idendev at no cost. Thereafter, they simply login to “My Service Center” and click on “My WebSpace”.

“Motorola turned to CollabNet for its expertise in building collaborative environments for developer communities based on Open Source principles,” said Bill Portelli, president and CEO of CollabNet. “This is a key example of how developers can benefit from using the concepts of Open Source development.”

About Motorola and iDEN

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2000 were $37.6 billion.

iDEN handsets allow users to place telephone calls, connect to the Internet, send text messages, send and receive e-mail, and share information instantly with one or hundreds of individuals with the push of a button. For further information on iDEN handsets, visit www.motorola.com/iden.

Motorola’s iDEN developer support program provides developers with virtually everything they need to develop applications for Motorola’s J2ME technology-enabled iDEN handsets, including tools, technical support, marketing, and distribution. For more information or to obtain a free developers’ toolkit on CD-ROM, visit www.motorola.com/idendev.*

About Motorola’s MAGNET Program

The Motorola Applications Global NETwork (MAGNET) program supports the development and commercialization of wireless applications by providing software application developers with the necessary tools, training, resources and services to bring solutions to a market-ready status. For information on free MAGNET membership, please visit our web site at www.motorola.com/developers/wireless.

About CollabNet

CollabNet provides companies with tools and services for collaborative software development by combining Open Source community expertise with business excellence. CollabNet’s offerings include a developer marketplace, a collaborative development platform with lifecycle management capabilities, and consulting services to facilitate software development across a worldwide community. CollabNet is currently working with customers ranging from Application Service Providers (ASPs) to Internet firms, hardware and software providers to companies from industries such as finance and healthcare. Brian Behlendorf, co-founder of the Apache Software Foundation, founded CollabNet in July 1999. For more information, visit www.collab.net.

* Due to legal restrictions on exporting software, the CD-ROM may only be shipped to U.S. addresses. However, the majority of the materials on the CD-ROM are available for downloading from the web site.

# # #

MOTOROLA, the Stylized M Logo, and iDEN are registered trademarks, and all other trademarks indicated as such herein are trademarks of Motorola, Inc. Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. 2000 Motorola, Inc. All rights reserved. CollabNet is a trademark and SourceCast is a service mark of CollabNet, Inc. Java and J2ME are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Lea Faso, Motorola
(954) 723-6333
lea.faso@motorola.com

LinuxToday has ferreted out more information about the growing body of lawsuits related to the VA Linux IPO. ed.note: VA Linux owns Newsforge.

Reviews of MGM’s new Open Source-centric film are rolling in. Penguinista calls it “too predictable, and just a bit too unbelievable,” and MaximumLinux says “I should have listened to my friends who were telling me that this movie was going to be a real wanker. They were right.”

Bradley M. Kuhn writes “Richard M. Stallman will deliver a speech entitled, The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System, on Friday 19 January 2001 from 18:30 until 21:00 at UANL (Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon) in Monterrey, Mexico. This speech will be delivered in English. The speech will be held at UANL (Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon) in the FIME (Facultad de Ingenieria Mecanica) Department. The speech will be hosted in the conference room located in the second floor.”

From CNET News.com: “America Online is looking into a problem with its Web e-mail service that is giving new life to retired passwords, the company said Friday. AOL said that a sporadic technical glitch was affecting an “extremely small” number of people using its Web-based e-mail program, part of its “AOL Anywhere” plan for accessing AOL services from various outlets.”

“Educators fear that a proposal to help accommodate spiffy new
Web-surfing cell phones and other hand-held devices could
end up displacing instructional-television operations at more
than a thousand colleges, schools, and other educational
institutions.” Story at the Chronicle of Higher Education.

USA Today profiles incoming ICANN chairman and “father of the Internet” Vint Cerf.

CNET News.com reports: “Sony said it will double production of its PlayStation 2 in the next three months after parts shortages left many would-be buyers
empty-handed after the video game console was introduced in Europe and the U.S.”