From ComputerWorld: Jabber, “a small instant messaging software company has gained a commercial foothold after signing a deal to provide the backbone of instant messaging for one of the Web’s top 10 sites.”

From PR Newswire: Oracle today announced that more
than 1.3 million members of Oracle’s developer program, Oracle Technology
Network (OTN), can register to receive a free CD of Oracle9i Application
Server on Linux.

At LWN.net: Conversay, a global leader in speech
technology solutions for both mobile and traditional Internet access
devices, announced it will provide the speech interface for the Linux-based
YOPY PDA system, making it the first Linux PDA to employ a speech
interface. G.Mate, from Seoul, South Korea, and CenterComm of San Diego,
Calif., developed the YOPY system.

From PR Newswire: Lineo, Inc., a leading innovator
in embedded Linux systems, real-time and high availability solutions, today
announced a partnership with the Tao Group, a leading multimedia software,
open platform provider for networked digital appliances. The partnership will
enable Lineo to include high-performance, compact embedded Java solutions
for multimedia platforms with Lineo Embedix SDK developer tools.

Funky-penguin.co.uk reviews the game. “Terminus …
includes an engaging non-linear story and RPG elements, has realistic physics with a
Newtonian flight model, allows the player to customize her ship from the ground up, and
can be played in various DM and campaign modes.”

From ZDNet UK: “This going-on-a-year-late
operating system is the one that should fulfill every Linux enthusiast’s — not to mention IBM’s — dream of Linux being a
fully-fledged enterprise operating system.”

At OpenOffice.org: “In many discussions about the future of OpenOffice, I heavily argued for an integration of OpenOffice components into the
GNOME component system Bonobo.”

Computer World has a story, published a couple of weeks ago, about EMusic.com using Linux for a 10TB storage system. That’s right, 10TB, and it seems to be working just fine.

tjhanson writes, “There’s a disturbing story over at Linux Planet about Linux’s lack of coverage at CES this year:
The real story would have been to interview some of those PR people from companies who have products utilizing Linux who didn’t mention it. I’ll bet you would come up with not-very-plausible excuses and sudden generalities. I’m not a reporter, so I don’t have the contacts or the writing style, but I would be willing to bet that some of those
exhibitors were instructed not to upstage Gates with his XBox by
mentioning Linux.

I think the freeze is on. It probably has something to do with the
sudden gas pains at Corel when mentioning their ‘Linux strategy,’ at
Transmeta for muzzling Linus’ distaste for Windows, at Adobe for pulling Framemaker, at Inprise/Borland for suddenly deemphasizing Kylix, and many others. This is Microsoft’s classic behavior, to isolate and exterminate. Did we make the ‘hit list?’

It is a situation which cries out for some vocal advocacy. Please don’t let this go.

Earthweb reviews Stephen Asbury’s book Practical Linux for the Enterprise.