From Info World’s coverage of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: Sony unveils a “network entertainment center” called eVilla, a device that brings Bluetooth capabilities to any hardware that supports the company’s memory stick technology, and a broadband wireless Web tablet.

ZDNet News reports that hosting giant Verio will appeal a court ruling that prohibits the company from using Register.com’s whois database information for its marketing efforts. Verio has also asked ICANN to terminate Register.com’s accreditation for placing “onerous conditions” on access to whois data.

The Securities and Exchange Commission,
intensifying its investigation into questionable IPO
practices, is examining the activities of two
little-known investment funds that obtained
relatively large chunks of VA Linux Systems’ initial
public stock offering, reports ZDNET. (ed: VA Linux owns Newsforge.)

– By Dan Berkes –

They’re the greatest thing since sliced bread or the biggest waste of hard drive space imaginable. Some users wouldn’t have gone near a computer without at least one; others believe they’re only good for those rare times when a graphical Web browser is needed. With recent developments between the GNOME and KDE camps, 2001 could shape up to be an entertaining year for the world of window managers and desktop environments.Window managers on UNIX systems are hardly anything new; the beginnings of the modern graphical user interface date back to the mid-1980s, when MIT first released the networked bitmap services that are now known as X11. Before X came W, along with a stream of lesser-known window managers, some Open Source and some not, with names like SunView, NeWS, and GEM that sound exotic to newcomers and invoke nostalgia in the minds of programming veterans.

Today, there’s no shortage of window managers making use of X, with form and function to suit almost any individual user’s specific needs. If anything, the major obstacle to installing and using these extra services is more about publicity than technology. With recent developments hinting at a battle for the Linux desktop in 2001, it’s possible that smaller window managers may suffer as a result.

There are two giants in the Linux desktop world: GNOME and KDE. Virtually all new Linux computers and most distributions ship with one, the other or, more frequently, both of these desktop environments. Both environments share services and features that make it easier for users to administer their systems, but with the inclusion of tools that don’t always function reliably with alternative solutions, also make users reluctant to test the alternatives.

The August 15 announcement of the GNOME Foundation’s formation caused no small amount of concern in the Open Source community. Chock-full of announcements that major companies including IBM, Sun, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and (NewsForge owner) VA Linux would support the program, there was concern that less organized projects might fall by the wayside. The bulk of that concern went to the K Desktop Environment (KDE), which was perceived as being less than ready to handle the challenge proposed by this formation.

Brushing aside such concerns, KDE published an official position on the GNOME Foundation, saying that its presence affected KDE development “as much as the birth of the last baby polar bear at the Quebec City Zoo (i.e., not at all).” KDE went on to insist, “none of this really has anything to do at all with KDE,” and that the GNOME folks were “simply changing the way that their own project is governed and controlled.”

In response to the announcement that GNOME will become the default desktop for all new Linux computers made by Foundation members Sun and Hewlett Packard, KDE sniffed, “Sun hasn’t impressed us much,” and “We will still put out an excellent product that is among the best in the world.”

KDE asked itself if it would ever form a KDE Foundation in the same sense as the GNOME Foundation, then answered itself by saying “…no, absolutely not.” But on November 15, a press release trumpeted the formation of the KDE League, sporting many of the same industry heavyweights behind the GNOME Foundation, with a healthier dose of Open Source companies like SuSE, Trolltech, and TurboLinux thrown in for good measure.

Despite KDE president Andreas Pour’s efforts to keep the KDE League from looking like a reaction to the GNOME Foundation, the comparisons were inevitable. “If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” wrote Upside Today’s Sam Williams, “GNOME developers must be feeling pretty flattered right now.”

Unlike the GNOME Foundation, which seems to have been formed as a steering program that decides what is and isn’t GNOME, and coordinates releases, KDE’s effort is one of coordinating publicity efforts to raise outside awareness of its activities.

If the opening shot has been fired in the Linux desktop war, its noise has been lost amongst the sounds of mutual politeness issuing from each organization. Big business, mindful of losses in past technology-backing efforts, is hedging its bets this time around. Some companies are involved with both efforts, and most are waiting to see which one comes out ahead.

With Linux becoming less of a hobby venture every day, what’s going to happen to other window managers as GNOME and KDE continue to increase their desktop dominance? Will independent window manager development fall by the wayside or become stronger? With the inclusion of tools and features that work best inside their respective desktop environments, is the Linux community encouraging the same sort of “take it or leave it” attitude that many claim Microsoft has?

It’s always possible that these questions could become obsolete.

As a KDE supporter once mentioned, when that group first formed in 1996 they were told to give it up “because GNUStep would be released before we could do anything meaningful.”

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

From Slashdot.org: “Billing software and a lot of other infrastructural nitty-gritty is probably keeping a lot of businesses from switching to
the joys of Open Source software for their backend. And if it requires 21 3rd-party modules to make Freeside work
well, wouldn’t some bright soul like to sell the work of neatly packaging those modules back to Freeside, so all will
benefit from them? It would certainly make a nice diagram in the to-be-written textbook The Economics of Open
Source Software.”

“VA Linux (ed: VA owns Newsforge) has done little with its pricey acquisition of Andover.Net and its popular geek sites other than to lump all of
Andover’s holdings together VA’s net properties together in a division called the Open Source Development
Network, or OSDN. To exploit OSDN’s alleged potential, VA
has just hired Oracle’s old Unix veep Richard French to run the operation.” From LinuxGram.

ZDNET.co.uk reports that the chip, launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas, was first available over US cable television channel Home
Shopping Network (HSN) beginning Saturday. The chip is now
available from more than 100 PC manufacturers worldwide,
including Compaq and Hewlett-Packard.

Max Kincora writes: ”

Stepping up from desktop- to server-level memory capabilities is a big challenge for Linux in the enterprise marketplace. This SearchEnterpriseLinux.com exclusive explores the steps the Linux community is taking to meet that challenge.”

A “proof of concept” virus, dubbed PHP.NewWorld, written in
Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) scripting language, was found by
Central Command last week. PHP is a popular free server
scripting language and, although NewWorld is not especially
harmful, Central Command believes it could spawn a hoard of
copycat viruses written in PHP. ZDNET.co.uk reports.

Renee Daniels writes “Lutris Technologies Inc., a leading open source enterprise software and services company, today announced a licensing agreement with Nokia, the world’s leader in mobile communications, to simplify and accelerate the creation and deployment of applications for Nokia’s mobile handsets. This agreement marks the first time that the application server and development tools for Nokia’s platform are available in one complete package.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lutris Enhydra 3.5, the company’s Java/XML open source application server will ship with Nokia’s suite of mobile development tools, including the Nokia WAP phone emulator, Nokia Activ Server as the WAP server, and the WAP toolkit. The Nokia Activ Server, the world’s most recognized WAP server for the corporate market, allows mission-critical information from a website to be available on mobile devices. The WAP phone emulator runs in connection with a single user Nokia Activ Server, thus providing a real-life simulation environment for Enhydra developers. Developers will have complete access to Nokia Activ Server functionality, which allows them to check compiled size of decks and debug WML source by means of a complete WML 1.1 parser with visual error feedback. The combined solution will significantly reduce the development and deployment cycle of enterprise WAP applications.

“New online access methods for the enterprise have gone far beyond traditional PCs and now include various portable and handheld devices, including WAP-enabled-handsets,†said Yancy Lind, president and CEO, Lutris Technologies. “Our agreement with Nokia makes possible a combined technology offering that creates a state-of-the-art multi-channel delivery platform to enable mobile transactions. The result is direct access from WAP handsets, via the Lutris Enhydra 3.5 application server, to back-end systems.â€

In addition, Lutris has developed a two-day Wireless Training program focused on accelerating wireless development on the Nokia WAP platform. Lutris Wireless Training courses provide developers interested in the creation and delivery of wireless applications with the tools and experience necessary to serve content to wireless phones and other mobile devices. Further, Lutris has joined Nokia’s WAP developer partner program, entitling Lutris to participate in developer education seminars and remain at the forefront of WAP developments.

“The Nokia Activ Server is the world’s most mature WAP software product for enterprises and managed service providers,†said Gerhard Romen, Vice President of Strategic Software, Nokia Internet Communications. “Nokia welcomes the addition of the Lutris Enhydra open-source community, along with the training and expertise Lutris brings to wireless application development. The powerful combination of Lutris Enhydra 3.5 and the Nokia Toolkit allows developers to quickly and easily implement professional WAP services, which result in enhanced productivity, increased customer satisfaction, and rapid payback.â€

About Lutris Technologies
Lutris Technologies, a leading open source enterprise software and services company, is the original developer and primary sponsor of Enhydra, a leading open-source Internet application server supporting Java, XML, and wireless technologies. Lutris offers a full range of support services and technical training to Lutris Enhydra customers and provides complete Internet consulting services, including strategy and development services, to the Enhydra community and to Internet-savvy businesses. Clients range from entrepreneurs and companies launching new Web ventures to Fortune 500 IT organizations growing their business with an online presence. Additional information about Lutris products and services is available at www.lutris.com.”