eWeek.com has another story about HP’s acquisition of Bruce Perens.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. & SANTA CRUZ, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 4,
2000–
Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Lutris Technologies Inc., the
developer of the Open Source Enhydra Internet application server,
today
announced a memorandum of understanding that will allow business
customers
using iDEN® multiple communication handsets to access information on
enterprise systems through the Enhydra server. This agreement has
been
established in anticipation of Motorola’s Java(tm) 2 Platform, Micro
Edition (J2ME(tm)) technology-enabled handsets, which are expected to
be
available in the first half of 2001 through iDEN® network operations
including Nextel Communications and Southern LINC in the United
States and
Clearnet Communications in Canada.

The alliance brings together the best qualities of Open Source and
enterprise application worlds to enable the rapid development and
deployment of commercial grade, high ROI applications for wireless
devices. Motorola’s iDEN® Subscriber Group brings to the alliance the
industry’s first J2ME technology-enabled multiple-communication
handsets,
as well as a comprehensive developer support program
(www.motorola.com/idendev) to facilitate the development of
applications
for iDEN phones. Lutris and the Open Source Enhydra community bring
to the
alliance a dedicated community of independent software vendors
(ISVs),
value added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators (SIs) who are
already
Java programming experts.

“This effort helps bring together three exciting technologies:
wireless,
the Internet and Java,” said Bill Werner, corporate vice president of
Motorola and general manager of the iDEN Subscriber Group. “The
Enhydra
server will greatly enhance the ability of developers to rapidly
create
meaningful client-server applications.”

Further, Motorola and Lutris have completed the integration of the
J2ME
technology-enabled iDEN® handsets and emulator with the Enhydra
application server, and Motorola will distribute the Enhydra
application
server software as part of the iDEN Software Developers’ Kit (SDK).

Lutris
will include the iDEN SDK with Lutris Enhydra 3.5, expected to be
released
this month, and will add enterprise J2ME application development to
its
wireless training course and consulting practice. The companies are
planning a number of joint sales and marketing activities in early
2001,
including cross-promotion of the Websites, sales calls, and seminars
to
instruct developers on the development and deployment of iDEN and
Enhydra
application solutions, as well as training classes for building
distributed J2ME applications.

“Motorola’s relationship with Lutris underscores the importance of
Open
Source for emerging technologies,” said Yancy Lind, president and
CEO,
Lutris Technologies. “With Enhydra and the support of Lutris’s
Internet
consulting and product training groups, the development community
will be
able to quickly deliver powerful applications to wireless devices
like
iDEN multi-service phones.”

About Motorola and iDEN

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated
communications solutions and embedded electronic
solutions. Sales in 1999 were $33.1 billion. For more information,
please
visit www.motorola.com.

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.

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.

MOTOROLA, the Stylized M Logo, iDEN 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. Lutris
and
Enhydra are registered trademarks of Lutris
Technologies, Inc. Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.in
the
United States and other countries. All other product or service names
are
the property of their respective owners.

“There are few names in computing bigger than that of Dennis Ritchie. In this interview, Ritchie talks about the
future of C and the C99 standard, discusses Plan 9, and offers advice to would-be authors of programming
languages.” From the December issue of LinuxWorld.

-by Tina Gasperson –
Hewlett-Packard today becomes the first traditional company to employ a well-known Open Source advocate — on purpose, that is. Bruce Perens, the guy who says he was the first to use the phrase Open Source, the former Debian project leader, and the co-founder of the Open Source initiative, has stepped squarely into the mainstream corporate world by accepting the role of paid advisor for HP’s Linux and Open Source initiatives. And as the saying goes, it’s all good, for everyone.Still, it’s not hard to tell who is getting the best part of the new union of Hewlett-Packard and Open Source founding father Perens. “I really like the pajama commute,” he says of his work-from-home position. “Valerie (Perens’ wife) will still be taking care of the baby, but at least I’ll be there at lunch time in case she needs some relief.”

As the strategic advisor for Hewlett-Packard’s fledgling Linux Systems Operation division, he says he is still Open Source’s number one advocate, “but now HP is footing the bill for that.”

How this deal is good for Hewlett-Packard

Back in October, another big Open Source dude, Eric Raymond, penned a frank missive to HP CEO Carly Fiorina. He spoke for the entire Open
Source community when he wrote, “You’ve talked the talk. Now, can you walk the walk?” referring to statements made by Fiorina in a speech at an October 17, 2000, IT expo in Florida, calling Open Source “natural” and “inevitable” and “part of the next wave of computing.”

He criticized HP for holding on to the source code for its printer drivers, and for not releasing printer interface specifications, thus hindering development of drivers ported to other operating systems, namely Linux and the BSDs.

Not only that, but he asked HP either to kill its HP-UX operating system and replace it with Linux, or just Open Source the Unix splinter. He finished up the letter with this warning: “You’ll also find that we’re rather cynical about ringing endorsements; we’ve heard those before without result, and they won’t earn you a lot of cred by themselves without actions and commitments that back them up.”

Looking at developments within HP shortly after the receipt of that letter, it would be natural to assume that the strengthening of the Linux division, the founding position on the KDE board, and the decision to hire Perens were all responses to ESR’s (and by default, the Open Source community’s) challenges.

But it appears that Perens’ hiring, at least, was not a knee-jerk reaction. He says he was already in negotiations with Hewlett-Packard by the time that letter was published. “I sent an email to Jim Bell, then the manager of HP’s Open Source and Linux Operation (OSLO), asking if they could use the services of a highly visible Open Source advocate. It just happened that it was at the right time. But it was before the letter from Eric.”

HP appears to be serious about getting involved with Linux. But there’s a big difference between involvement and commitment. As someone once said while staring at a breakfast plate piled high with eggs and bacon, the chicken was involved, but the pig was committed. Hewlett-Packard states as part of its published Linux strategy: “One camp insists that Linux is all hype, while the other claims that world domination is inevitable. HP is taking a pragmatic but optimistic view. The question we are asking is not ‘will Linux dominate the world?’ but rather ‘what part of the world will Linux dominate?'”

When asked about that bit of diplomacy, Perens says, “Well, HP-UX is still a vital part of the package for HP, and it should be.” As for Open Sourcing the Unix-based proprietary operating system, “there are parts of it that might be worth opening, but for the most part, I’d rather concentrate on Linux.”

With Perens, HP gets an in with the Open Source community — a go-between, if you will. But interestingly, they also get something much more valuable: a continuous flow of feedback from a vocal representative of the growing Open Source contingency.

And even though he’s an HP representative, and as such will speak for the company, the normally outspoken Perens isn’t turning into a schill any time soon. He’s been given carte blanche to continue expressing his own opinions — both to the public, and to Hewlett-Packard.

“They’ve encouraged me to provide criticism,” and to step in where he feels that the Open Source cause is being under-represented or trampled within the company.

How this deal is good for the Open Source community

It is that criticism, says Perens, which is the biggest benefit for the community. “It’s representation. Really, no one from Open Source has ever been in a company this size.” Perens will serve as the foot in the door for this often under-heard segment of technology.

“I’ll be doing a lot of traveling,” says Perens. He’ll take the HP goodwill message on the road in speaking engagements at Linux shows, conventions and other events all over the world.

And hey, now that we have an in, what about the printer drivers situation? “I’m on top of it,” says Perens. There are several development projects already hosted at SourceForge, he says, including new work on drivers for the all-in-ones. But how long will it take for some real progress now that Perens is on board? “It will take months,” he says, but they’re working on it. Honest.

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

From OSOpinion: “Some of our more advanced users had been asking to use Outlook, but we were not successful
installing both Outlook and Novell GroupWise on the same PC because of conflicts with the MAPI
protocol. It seemed like a good fit with our overall MS Office setup, virus concerns aside. This is
the topic of another paper. I checked out the options in Outlook: no e-mail (not an option),
Internet-only, and Corporate/Workgroup mode. I tried the Corporate/ Workgroup mode, but that
seemed to require an Exchange server. “

LinuxToday has posted Linus’ latest missive to the community.

Brian Proffitt at LinuxPlanet writes: “I have a certain affinity for Apple computers. It was, after all, an Apple IIC that I first cut my computer
teeth on, lo, these many moons ago. How many of us future geeks first played with these screaming
green monochrome screen machines during our high school and elementary days? Quite a few here in
the United States, where Apple got a serious foot in the door of the education market.”

MSNBC tells us: “In WordPerfect 9 for Windows, the error, ‘File
appears to be corrupted’, may be set off when a
file is saved in Microsoft Word 97 or 2000 with
or without a ‘Suppress’ code in the Initial
Document Style.”

A Cambridge, England, startup claims that it can produce Bluetooth chips at one-sixth their
current price — a feat that would make long-awaited Bluetooth devices a reality. From Red Herring.

Berkeley’s Experimental Computing Club has produced some
of the Net’s most cherished software. Salon reports.