Appplixware is arguably the most stable and mature Linux office suite
available, but it will no longer be aggressively marketed as a desktop product,
according to VistaSource Marketing VP R.J. Grandpre.VistaSource is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Applix
(NASDAQ: APLX) that was formed specifically to market
Applixware products.

Despite a recent price cut for the Applixware Office package from $99 per copy to $49, it couldn’t compete in the marketplace with Sun’s
StarOffice,
which costs nothing. And with KOffice — also free — rapidly becoming mature and stable enough to
be useful for everyday work, it was time for Applix to
throw in the desktop towel. “We typically come out on top when compared to StarOffice,” Grandpre says, “but it has been impossible to
differentiate ourselves enough to get people to pay for Appplixware when they can get [other Linux office suites] for free.”

Future Applix products will concentrate on the servserside marketplace. An online demo version of the next generation of “Web-enabled”
Anyware
Office, which works on any operating system, is scheduled to be available through the VistaSource website
“in a couple of weeks,” says Grandpre. A current version is available now; Grandpre says the new one will incorporate a “smaller and more
stable Java applet that will be surprisingly fast to download and run through all but the slowest connections.”)

Adobe has apparently withdrawn its plans to release a
commercial version of Framemaker for Linux, but this may be a result of the beta version’s poor reception by testers rather than lack of
faith in Linux.

Corel’s relationship with Linux is also in doubt; but this may reflect
Corel’s internal problems rather than problems with the Linux.
software marketplace.

Besides, Grandpre speculates, the current lack of a solid market for commercial Linux applications may not last. “It could come
full circle in two or
three
years,” he say, with commercial Linux desktop applications becoming “hot” again as the operating system increases its penetration of the
home and office desktop marketplace, and more end users who are accustomed to buying shrinkwrapped software, rather than downloading free,
GPL-licensed
applications software, start using an increasingly user-friendly Linux as their everyday desktop operating system.

Dr Dobb’s latest weekly edition of Python news and links is now available at LWN.net.

In a press release at PR Newswire, Caldera Systems today announced the appointment of former TurboLinux executive and Samba project co-founder John H. Terpstra to the position of technology vice president and OEM strategist.

– by Tina Gasperson –
Do you remember this old song?: “He’s makin’ a list, and checkin’ it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice, Santa Claus is comin’ to town.” You probably thought that song was just for little kids, but since we’ve already embued Linux with the human quality of “freeness,” shouldn’t Torvald’s little nutcracker — er kernel, be entitled to a few goodies from Santa at Christmastime? As long as Linux has been good, that is.

And while Newsforge wouldn’t presume to know exactly what items are on the top 10 most desirable presents list for Linux, we have acquired the services of a keen little North Pole penguin who’s been helping the old uber-elf keep an eye on Linux this year. We’ve received this exclusive report, direct from Santa’s workshop, about the status of the upstart OS’s behavior.

Before we divulge the contents of the report, let’s get Santa’s Open Source status straight. He’s strictly a user. Sure, a number of the toymaking elves are rumored to moonlight as game developers, but when it comes to doling out holiday happiness, the big fat guy is in charge. So with his checklist in tow, Santa’s looking for features like good GUI and easy hardware installation, quick bootup and a wide range of wallpaper choices — things that a large percentage of the computer-using population consider important when it comes to operating systems.

First of all, how does Linux look? Has it been wearing clean, fashionable clothes, or is it still hanging around in wrinkled tee-shirts and jeans with holes in the crotch? Santa’s little helper says that several Linux distributions are dressing spiffier than ever this year, especially the little rich kid, Red Hat, and his brother Mandrake. Santa gives a nice big checkmark to these two. (Cousin Corel also had potential, but just when things were starting to look up, it seems this distribution is about to have its inheritance yanked out from under it.)

When it comes to moving into a new house (like Santa’s desktop system), does Linux play nicely? Santa’s little helper says yes and no. Great strides have been made, especially on the rich side of the tracks, but sometimes Linux is still finicky about where it wants to live. Everything has to be just so — and when it’s not, Linux may or may not tell you what the problem is; it just sits down and refuses to budge. Santa says, no checkmark — gotta work on this.

Does Linux share its toys? Well, Linux is climbing a learning curve when it comes to hardware support, and if you’re on the down side of that, you probably think Linux needs a spanking. But you’d be in the minority, and Santa agrees that this is one OS that is trying to be generous. In an interesting but odd twist, sometimes the big boys won’t let Linux share, so it’s not necessarily its fault. Checkmark in this category for effort.

Many Linux fans have extolled the virtues of uptime and stability; Santa has heard these kudos, but doesn’t take anyone’s word for it. Unfortunately, Santa hasn’t experienced the same level of un-crashiness that others have; in fact, he’s beginning to think maybe it isn’t the chilly North Pole climate that’s causing all the big freezes on his system lately. Not only that, but Santa’s Linux box has been known to hang on restart, just like the old Windows setup. Nothing like familiarity for breeding contempt. But Santa remains cheerful as he says, “No checkmark for you, little Linux. Try harder next time.”

And in the “hard work” category, Linux also falls short. It will do only a limited number of chores, and while it does those very well, Santa has diverse needs and finds himself yearning for the smorgasbord-like availability of applications that Windows provides. “But there are ways to gain access to those programs with Linux,” some would say. Santa says yes, but it’s a long and winding road, and he wants instant productivity. No checkmark.

But when it comes to cooperation, it’s no surprise that Linux gets the big A+. With Linux’s great attitude toward teamwork, and its willingness to bare its source, Santa is so pleased with this aspect of Linux’s character (even though it’s not immediately apparent to him what the benefit is), that he’s willing to give two checkmarks. Santa also gives checkmarks for the efficient use of resources which make his system run so much faster (most of the time), the low price (read “free” ever since Santa picked up a CD-RW drive), and mostly, just because Santa likes Linux, and we all know Santa is the boss.

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

“The Federal Trade Commission has delayed a meeting set for Thursday, at which it planned to vote to sue America Online Inc. to block its purchase of Time Warner Inc., sources close to the talks said on Tuesday.” Full story at ZDNet News.

ZDNet News reports that former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart has joined Oracle’s senior management team. The company says that Lockhart will focus on “refining and communicating Oracle’s business strategy.”

German prosecutors said Monday they were investigating US
Internet retailer Yahoo! for the suspected online auction of copies
of Hitler’s infamous Mein Kampf, which is banned in the country, according to this report at ZDCOUK.

Linux Today posted this note from Linus about the latest kernel pre-release.

Paris, France – 28th November 2000 –
The objective of DemoLinux is to bring Linux to a broad public and
to
win new users by considerably simplifying installation. The term
“installation” is actually inappropriate in this case, because Linux
is not installed. This avoids the problems that may arise when a new
system is placed on a computer already configured with another OS.
There is no need to create a new disk partition or disrupt the
existing configuration. The user simply switches the computer on and
inserts the CD-ROM.

Jean-Pierre Laisné, CEO of Linbox, stressed this
point: “We were all really impressed, not just by the technology but
also by the ergonomics of DemoLinux. This CD-ROM is a pocket
computer
that turns a conventional client workstation into a thin client
fully
adapted to the user’s requirements. This technology creates an
innovative, easily transportable and unbreakable product that will
revolutionize network computing.”

When the computer boots up with
the
DemoLinux CD-ROM, the system is installed on the RAM only. This is
because the Linux kernel features LFS, or Live File Systems. This
technique, which is seldom applied, uses a compressed file system to
expand the 650 Mb limit of the CD-ROM to more than 1 Gb of useable
data. Based on the Debian Potato distribution (version 2.2),
DemoLinux
2.0 features the office environments Gnome and KDE, StarOffice by
Sun
Microsystems and several hundred applications. As a result DemoLinux
is a high-performance office automation environment.

Adopting the same approach as DemoLinux, Linbox is adapting Network
Computing for the IT industry. To do this, it has developed a
turnkey
LNA solution for business, which is based on a bootable CD-ROM that,
in five minutes, automatically installs a server-centric network
architecture. As Jean-Pierre Laisné explains: “Linbox is pursuing
mass
customization by developing professional models in the form of
self-booting CD-ROMs, adaptable to each user. The CD-ROM is a widely
used, popular medium that makes up for the low bandwidth to which
users are accustomed today, pending future improvements.” He adds:
“We’re just following one of the major trends that has emerged in
industry over the past few decades, aiming to bring down IT
ownership
costs.”

The Linbox network architecture, baptized LNA, adopts an
open
approach to networking, for easy large-scale deployment of
professional solutions. Based on thin technologies with its
NetStations and NetServers, LNA is a standard architecture that
takes
networking into the post-PC era through its ability to adapt to
existing systems without modifications. Users are free to
concentrate
on the specific development of their solutions since Linbox takes
care
of IT complexities by centralizing the application on its local
servers (Linbox Netservers).

A final word goes to Roberto Di Cosmo:
“We share Linbox’s pragmatic vision of the way the industry is
likely
to go in terms of architecture. By working with Linbox engineers, we
will be able to improve and produce a full range of solutions based
on
the DémoLinux project, from client workstations to firewalls.”

About Linbox SA
Linbox is developing and marketing a range of ready-to-install
network
solutions for vertical markets, working closely with SuSE Linux AG
and
MandrakeSoft SA. The Linbox offering is based on solutions that are
easy to install and use, with low maintenance costs. Based on Linbox
Network Architecture (LNA), the systems use thin-client and
thin-server architectures. In April 2000, the company raised E2.5
million from Europatweb (the Arnault Group’s Internet incubator) and
La Financière de Brienne (a venture capital company backed by the
French Ministry of Defense). Linbox has offices and research centres
in France.

Web: www.linbox.com

About DemoLinux
DemoLinux is an organization set up to promote Linux and Free
Software. It produces CD-ROMs that enable users to run Linux without
installing it, thanks to a technology that is independent of Linux
distributions. This technology is also used to create special
versions
of CD-ROMs for operators, organizations and companies. The DemoLinux
project involves three people, all based at Paris VII University:
Vincent Balat, Roberto Di Cosmo and Jean-Vincent Loddo. Version 1.0
of
DemoLinux has received the support of the INRIA, the AFUL
(French-speaking association of Linux and free software users) and
MandrakeSoft. Widely circulated at LinuxDemoDay in September 1999,
used by MandrakeSoft in its Golden Pack for its Linux-Mandrake 6.1
demo CD-ROM, DemoLinux is winning over new users every day to the
cause of Free Software.

Web: www.demolinux.org

Legalese
Linbox is a registered trademark of Linbox Inc.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Linux-Mandrake is a trademark of MandrakeSoft.
All other trademarks and copyrights are owned by their respective
companies.

Linux Today reports: “Members of the Beta Program for Adobe’s port of FrameMaker to Linux were informed today that the
company has concluded its beta testing, the timed betas have a little over a month to run, and that any
documents they created using the software will have to be opened using FrameMaker for Windows, Mac, or
UNIX once the Linux beta versions expire on December 31.”