The company is relocating its West Coast office, adding a new western
regional manager and is spinning off its computer hardware sales operations, according to LinuxPR.

From Infoworld: “IBM delivered the first in what is expected to be a
series of products that makes it easier for developers and corporate
users to tie its AIX and Linux operating environments together.

The AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications is designed to build Linux
applications that can take advantage of AIX’s full range of
capabilities. It also gives users more flexibility in deploying a mix of
AIX and Linux applications for e-business solutions running natively
under either AIX or Linux.”

ZDNet reports on IBM’s latest ThinkPad, which uses neither keyboard nor mouse. It uses pen and paper for input.

Red Herring ponders Microsoft’s conspicuous lack of presence in the portable gaming market in spice of its effort to break in to the game-console market.

– by Tina Gasperson –
On Sunday, Fujitsu will announce the March 2001 release of Liberator, its Red Hat Linux-based point-of-sale (POS) software for retailers. The system, which emulates older proprietary DOS-based set ups, was created to run on Fujitsu’s TeamPOS 2000 terminal.
Don Paschal, the director of retail marketing for Fujitsu, says, “Liberator is a Linux operating system with the appropriate services that make it emulate the 4690 OS. You can take your IBM POS application and put it on the Liberator and it will run. So your host interfaces don’t have to change.”

This should make it easy for retailers to make the switch, he says. Of the millions of POS retailers out there, many are finding that their systems are increasingly behind-the-times, with the standard non-graphical user interfaces and fairly steep learning curves for new employees. With Liberator, companies can train new hires quickly because of the easy-to-use GUI and updated capabilities that include multimedia and touch-screen functionality.

Fujitsu had several reasons for going with Linux when they needed a base OS for the new terminal, says Paschal. “The licensing prices were attractive. And we wanted something you could do a remote program load with so you don’t have to have a hard drive in the cash register. Plus, Linux is getting a lot of favorable publicity and buzz in the industry,” causing retailers to perk up their ears and take notice of a new product based on the free operating system.

Liberator isn’t the first POS software that runs on Linux, but it is the first time a major company has taken the initiative in designing an entire hardware and software solution based on Linus Torvalds’ operating system. “We [want] to allow retailers who have IBM POS applications running today on 4690 OS an alternative in both hardware and operating systems,” says Vic Scott, Fujitsu’s director of platform support. “Liberator achieves this goal by enabling retailers to run their 4690 POS application on Fujitsu’s POS hardware.” Additionally, says Scott, the retailer benefits from the additional capabilities of a standard Red Hat Linux distribution.

When asked about the release of source code for modifications to the kernel, Scott said, “These changes will, of course, be made available under the GPL,” but, he adds, Liberator was created specifically to run on Fujitsu’s POS hardware. The bulk of the system is actually proprietary, much like TiVO’s practically proprietary “replay TV” application, whose secrets are closely guarded.

Fujitsu’s new system also makes use of the Java POS standard, developed by Sun and employed by major retailers like Home Depot and Sears. The Java POS, incidentally, runs on newer releases of the 4690 OS, providing a graphical user interface for non-Linux converts as well.

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

O’Reilly seeks Open Source and Perl experts to present at the O’Reilly Open Source Convention and Perl Conference 5.0 July 23-27, 2001 in San Diego, CA.

“Developer & Programmer Convention focuses on emerging techniques for Open Source and Perl communities.

O’Reilly & Associates has posted a Call for Participation soliciting masters of Open Source and Perl technologies, who are interested in leading tutorial and conference sessions at the 2001 O’Reilly Open Source Convention and Perl Conference 5. Session speakers are sought for three classes of talks: tutorial programs, convention presentations, and refereed papers.

The submission deadline for all proposals is February 1, 2001. Presenters will be notified of selection results by March 1, 2001.

For complete information about our submission and acceptance process for the O’Reilly Open Source Convention, go to http://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon2001/call.html.

The program committee invites submissions of tutorials or convention presentations on topics of interest to programmers. The tracks at the Open Source Convention will be:

XML
MySQL
Apache
PHP
Python
Mozilla
Linux
Tcl
Zope

For complete information about our submission and acceptance process for the O’Reilly Perl Conference 5, go to, http://conferences.oreilly.com/perl5/.

Here are some suggested topics for Perl proposals:

Perl 6
Perl 5
Internals
Threads
The Web
I18N/L10N XML
SOAP/XML-RPC/CORBA
LDAP
Linking Perl and C/C++/Java
The Compiler
Databases
GUIs and Graphics
P2P
.NET

ABOUT O’REILLY & ASSOCIATES:
O’Reilly & Associates is the premier information source for leading-edge computer technologies. We communicate the knowledge of experts through our books, conferences, and web sites. Our books, known for their animals on the covers, occupy a treasured place on the shelves of the developers building the next generation of software. Our conferences and summits bring innovators together to shape the revolutionary ideas that spark new industries. From the Internet to the web, Linux, Open Source, and now peer-to-peer networking, we put technologies on the map.”

NW Fusion reports that Extreme is working to improve ethernet’s wide-area network (WAN) performance, to allow new and old WAN technologies to work together.

ZDNet reports on an internal debate at Microsoft over the future of their primary browser, Internet Explorer. They aren’t likely to get rid of the browser but it may find a new vocation.

Info World reports that Nortel is cutting 4000 jobs in ‘low-growth areas’. The company denies that it is due to slackening sales.

Fujitsu-ICL Systems Inc. announced today the Liberator, a new Linux-based point-of-sale software that runs existing 4690 point-of-sale (POS) applications. The combination of Liberator and the Fujitsu TeamPoS 2000 POS terminal gives retailers using IBM 4690 systems a low-risk POS hardware alternative that reduces costs, adds power and graphics, and moves them to an open systems environment. Liberator, available in March, is the first Linux offering from Fujitsu-ICL Systems. “The Liberator frees retailers from being locked into a single vendor’s proprietary point-of-sale (POS) hardware or operating system,” said Don Paschal, director of retail marketing at Fujitsu-ICL Systems. “Liberator uses Linux, adds a graphical user interface, JPOS drivers and remote program-load capabilities so retailers can reduce their total cost of ownership, migrate to an open platform, have an option for their POS hardware provider and improve store associate productivity. Liberator does all of this minus the risks and costs of changing existing host interfaces and/or 4690 POS applications.”

Liberator is ideally suited for retailers using the IBM 4690 POS system that want an open platform and Fujitsu POS hardware option. The March release of Liberator will support “fat” or “thin” POS clients.

“With Liberator, 4690 users can move to open systems in two ways,” said Paschal. “They can migrate just the POS or they can migrate both the POS and backroom.”

This Linux-based offering is a first for Fujitsu-ICL Systems, said Ron Omohundro, executive vice president and general manager of Fujitsu-ICL’s products division. “Retailers, large and small, like what they see in Linux – a powerful, reliable, low-cost operating system that helps them break out of the 4690 silo of hardware and software. Linux is the up-and-coming OS of today. That’s why we’re making this commitment.”

According to IHL Consulting Group and other industry analysts, Linux is making great strides. About 15 of the nation’s 20 largest retailers are considering Linux. Additionally, the market is ripe for a switch because retailers want more POS functionality as they face growing limitations of DOS and the 4690 OS.

“Retailers want an integrated bricks-and-clicks strategy that ties all their systems together,” said Omohundro. “Fujitsu provides the retail and open-systems expertise in hardware, software and services. We see a POS market of one million POS terminals that need to be replaced within the next few years.”

Instrumental to the Liberator is the TeamPoS 2000, a versatile, in-store point-of-sale terminal that offers unrivaled adaptability for POS, customer kiosks, multimedia displays or management terminals. It also offers full industry-standard remote management capability, to reduce overall helpdesk and support costs; a single platform across the store, which eliminates unnecessary system replacements and overlapping hardware purchases that can leave retailers with incompatibilities and increased maintenance costs; an open architecture that supports off-the-shelf components and industry standards; easy-to-maintain hardware, designed so that major component replacements can be completed in minutes by in-store personnel; and a system designed for efficient migration from other systems and peripherals.

About Fujitsu-ICL Systems Inc.

Fujitsu-ICL Systems Inc. is a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, a $50 billion provider of information technology solutions for the global marketplace. The company targets retail, financial and e-Business services markets. Its Fujitsu Products division has almost 30 years experience in providing hardware/software solutions and services for retail point-of-sale (POS), specialized handheld computing and ATM applications. Its Retail Software and Services division provides development and customization services and support for retail POS software applications. Its e-Business Services division provides consultancy-led e-services and customer relationship management (CRM) that enable its clients to build high-value, personalized relationships with their customers.

Web site: www.fjicl.com

About Fujitsu Limited

Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) is a leading provider of Internet-based information technology solutions for the global marketplace. Comprising over 500 group companies and affiliates worldwide — including ICL, Amdahl and DMR Consulting — it had consolidated revenues of 5.26 trillion yen ($49.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. Fujitsu’s pace-setting technologies, world-class computing and telecommunications platforms and global corps of over 60,000 systems and services experts make it uniquely positioned to harness the power of the Internet to help its customers succeed. Altogether, the Fujitsu Group has 188,000 employees and operations in over 100 countries.

Fujitsu’s website: www.fujitsu.com