ZDNet UK reports on the creation of the European Free Software Foundation: ” After receiving a blessing from the founder of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman, the assembled programmers released a declaration of intent posted at the Foundation’s new European Web site, www.fsfeurope.org and also launched its official mailing list.”

Open Country.Net of Santa Clara recently announced that their web site www.opencountry.net is active, in beta stage, and they are eagerly seeking members of the open source community to test it out and give their feedback.Open Country is a community publisher, looking for home/small office users of Linux that have written programs that they might want to share with fellow users, while receiving rewards for their creation.

They also plan to include those who might be interested in writing, promoting or testing open source software. All efforts will be rewarded, and include free, un-biased software review by Open Country’s top “Geeks” (Linux Gurus).

Open Country was founded in 1998 by Paul Cubbage of Los Gatos. (Two new executives have been added to the team, with an announcment to come later this week.)

Long considered a “Unix Guru” in Silicon Valley, he has enlisted a talented team of “true believers” as he calls them. (Most work for deferred salaries, stock options or small stipends while awaiting funding.) Ever optimistic, Cubbage says, “We’ve several contingent funding offers, though, so all this sacrifice should be rewarded soon.” He was once the head of APX, the Atari Program Exchange which used a similar model, finding end users of Atari software that wanted to share their stuff with the world. A lot of former Atari programmers are now Linux “hackers”.

“Being rewarded with royalties, prizes and other incentives gives everyone a chance to be involved in the Open Source Movement,” said Cubbage, who is a big proponent of spreading the corporate wealth. “We also plan to give back to the community in a big way, once profitable (expected by 2002).”

For more information, or to submit a program or idea, please visit their site at Opencountry.Net or phone their headquarters in Silicon Valley at(408)248-8530. –Justine tenZeldam

– by Robin Miller –
Applixware 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 vice president R.J. Grandpre. [Updated] 1725 US EST — letter from VistaSource PR person appended… 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 serverside 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 Web site
“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.

But, 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 says, with commercial Linux desktop applications becoming “hot” again as the operating system increases its penetration of the
home and office desktop marketplace. The market could also turn upward as 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.

the following is a reponse to the above story from Allison Antalek of VistaSource, Inc.

It is the belief of VistaSource, Inc. that some of the statements made
in this article are incorrect, and some of the quotations made by RJ
Grandpre were taken out of context. To correct some of the statements
made in this article, please note the following:

* VistaSource is not “throwing in the desktop towel.” VistaSource will
still produce and sell its desktop product through traditional and
online retailers and through its own online store. VistaSource has also
committed to future releases of Anyware Desktop (formerly Applixware)
and will continue to provide the same quality product and level of
service to its existing customers.

* The real news is the change of focus from a company that focuses on
desktop applications to one that is forging the way server-centric and
web-based applications. This shift in focus was announced on August
15th, 2000 at Linux World in San Jose. For the complete release which
further describes this strategic shift, please visit:
http://www.vistasource.com//news/press/pr_966348464

* Active development continues for BOTH Anyware Desktop (Applixware) and
the server version, Anyware Application Server. Both products are
recognized as integral components of the VistaSource product mix.

Thank you for your attention and promptness in correcting this matter.

Regards,
Allison Antalek
Marketing Communications
VistaSource, Inc.

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

EE Times reports that Intercept Technology will produce a gridless autorouter for the CAD market, available in the first quarter of 2001. Tentatively named Connex, the product is designed to make Intercept’s Pantheon design software less dependent on third party routers. Connex will be bundled with new versions of Pantheon for Linux, UNIX, and Windows platforms.

“If a U.S. online buyer runs into a problem with an order during next month’s holiday rush, chances are that instant online help will come from a customer services representative halfway around the world in India.” Wired News reports on India’s booming Customer Relationship Management industry.

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.