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erens: Deciphering the war on Open Source

Bruce Perens has commentary on ZDNet: “He’s baaack! At the recently concluded World Congress on Information Technology 2002, Microsoft’s Craig Mundie registered his objection to those awful folks who take the liberty to compete with his company.”

Category:

  • Migration

MontaVista Software among Upside “Hot 100”

Annette Oevermann writes: MontaVista Software, Inc., the company powering the embedded revolution, has been chosen as one of Upside magazine?s “Hot 100” companies for 2002. According to the editors of Upside, this year’s “Hot 100” list focuses on companies with promising technologies and solid business models, which, despite the difficult economy, show substantial growth over the past year and a clear path to profitability.
“All of this year’s Hot 100 companies demonstrated impressive revenue growth and sustained momentum – a monumental achievement in this economic climate,” said Jerry Borrell, editor-in-chief of Upside Magazine. “We also selected MontaVista Software because of the company’s technology achievements, customer acceptance, industry partnerships, financial backing, management savvy and impressive marketing.”

In March, MontaVista Software was also named as one of Electronic Business magazine’s “Thirty Best Small Electronics Companies for 2002.” Electronic Business selected companies based on innovation, leadership and technology, as well as strong revenue growth and future growth potential.

MontaVista Software Inc. is a leading provider of open-source systems software solutions for embedded developers. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system (RTOS) pioneer James Ready, MontaVista Software’s principal products include MontaVista^(TM) Linux® Professional Edition and MontaVista^(TM) Linux® Carrier Grade Edition.

The analyst group Venture Development Corporation (VDC) recently forecasted that worldwide shipments of embedded Linux operating systems, software development tools and related services would increase from $59 million in 2001 to an estimated $346 million in 2006, a compound annual growth rate of 42 percent. In the VDC report, MontaVista Software is recognized as a leader in the embedded Linux arena with more than 20 percent market share.

Earlier this year, MontaVista Software received $28 million in its third round of funding, from top tier venture capital companies US Venture Partners, Alloy Ventures, Intel Capital, RRE Ventures and WR Hambrecht & Co., and from major corporations such as IBM, Intel, Panasonic and Sony.

“MontaVista Software is demonstrating the strong validation and successful acceptance of Linux in the mainstream embedded market,” said Jim Ready, president and CEO, MontaVista Software. “In 2002, we expect that Linux will become the platform of choice for carrier-grade applications in telecommunications and also predict the burgeoning use of Linux in name-brand digital consumer electronics.”

In 2001, MontaVista revenues increased 250 percent over the previous year. The company achieved more than 250 new customer design wins, of which more than 50 percent were with Fortune 100 and Global 500 corporations. Its larger customers renewed their annual product subscriptions at rates exceeding 115 percent of original purchases. In the same time period, MontaVista added several additional Global 500 corporations to its current list of over 425 customers, including Ericsson, Nokia, ITT and Sony.

UPSIDE has published the Hot 100 Award winners in its June 2002 issue and has unveiled the winners online at UPSIDE.com at (www.upside.com/hot100)

About MontaVista Software Inc.

MontaVista Software Inc. powers the embedded revolution by providing open-source systems software solutions for embedded developers. Founded in 1999 by real-time operating system (RTOS) pioneer James Ready, MontaVista Software’s principal products include MontaVista^(TM) Linux® Professional Edition and MontaVista^(TM) Linux® Carrier Grade Edition. The Professional Edition is a Linux-based embedded source and binary distribution, cross development platform and a set of tool kits for x86/IA-32, PowerPC, StrongARM, MIPS, SH, ARM, XScale, Xtensa and other microprocessor architectures. The Carrier Grade Edition is a second-generation high availability product that is an ideal Linux platform for telecommunications and carrier-grade applications. MontaVista Software also provides several complementary technology products addressing specific customer needs such as the Java development environment, high availability technology, powerful graphics toolkits and more. MontaVista offers developers a family of products and services for embedded design and development targeted for applications ranging from communications infrastructure to consumer devices.

Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, in Sunnyvale, Calif., MontaVista Software is a privately held company funded by leading investors such as Alloy Ventures, US Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, WR Hambrecht + Co., IBM, Intel Capital, Panasonic and Sony Corporation. For more information about MontaVista Software, please visit http://www.mvista.com, email to info@mvista.com or call (408) 328-9200.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. MontaVista is a trademark of MontaVista Software Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.

Contacts:

Joe Samagond,
Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications,
MontaVista Software Inc.,
Phone (408) 328-9234,
E-mail: jsamagond@mvista.com

Patricia Colby,
PR Strategy and Business Development,
Pacifico Inc.,
Phone (408) 293-8600 ext. 340,
E-mail: pcolby@pacifico.com

Category:

  • C/C++

Red Hat should just stop whining

ZDNet’s AnchorDesk tells Red Hat to quit complaining about Sun using “Microsoft tactics” for charging for StarOffice. “At the very least, I think Red Hat should follow its own advice: Distribute the open-source version of StarOffice, called OpenOffice, instead of the Sun-branded product. After all, isn’t open source supposed to be better than the branded equivalent? Or did I miss something here?”

Category:

  • Open Source

Caldera downplays mass-firing rumors

Anonymous Reader writes: “A Caldera employee sent out email Monday saying that everyone involved in OpenLinux had been laid off. But a Caldera spokesman has told Linux and Main that it isn’t exactly like that. There have been some layoffs, and there are still some Linux workers at Caldera, and some of Caldera’s developers have been hired by SuSE.”

Category:

  • C/C++

MS-funded think tank propagates Open Source lies

That’s The Register’s take on the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution’s Open Source white paper. “open-source software. Much to our disappointment, the organization’s press release, which last week promised that the study would explain in gory detail how open-source software will foster international terrorism, turns out to have been a tissue of headline-pimping lies. Indeed, the paper never mentions terrorism at all. Instead, it overflows with the usual half-truth drivel about the economic dangers of the GPL which one can find re-hashed daily on the Microsoft ‘Press Pass’ PR site and the editorial pages of ZD-Net News. More than half the paper is an enumeration of the Crimes against Commerce of Richard Stallman.”

Category:

  • Open Source

IBM Strengthens Linux Security with Tivoli Software

IBM is delivering new capabilities across its Tivoli security management software portfolio, including IBM Tivoli Access Manager, IBM Tivoli Risk Manager and IBM Tivoli Identity Manager, that enable organizations to make secure access, threat and identity management more effective in heterogeneous environments.
As part of the expanded portfolio, IBM Tivoli Access Manager for Operating Systems enables access control across the Linux and UNIX operating systems, providing IT administrators a way to secure data and applications based on corporate security policies. The software features delegated administration, policy definition, auditing and access control for AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, Red Hat Linux and SuSE Linux operating systems through a unified Web-based interface. The software is available as a stand-alone product or can be integrated with IBM Tivoli Access Manager for e-business.

IBM Tivoli Access Manager for e-business now also features Linux support for IBM zSeries and a security platform with Web single sign-on and access control for simplified security integration across Internet-facing applications and Web middleware running on the Linux platform.

“Deployment of Linux across major business applications is growing in popularity, but the same strict security policies still apply,” said Frank Schreiber, managing director, GlobalVision IT Consulting GmbH. “IBM’s software already gives companies more control over their security policies across a broad range of platforms, and our clients will benefit from being able to extend those same security policies across their Linux environment.”

In addition, to help companies manage threats across the enterprise, IBM Tivoli Risk Manager features new Web, host and network Intrusion Detection System (IDS) sensors for Linux on the IBM#!/#s xSeries and zSeries. The sensors monitor Web server access logs, system log files and network intrusion traffic, feed that data into Tivoli Risk Manager#!/#s intelligent correlation engine, then present IT administrators with a comprehensive, real-time view of enterprise security on a single console. In addition, signature updates for the Web and Network IDS are provided to customers every 60 days or less.

Tivoli Risk Manager customers can download the new sensors, free of charge, through the Tivoli Developer Domain at http://www.ibm.com/developer/tivoli.

IBM has also expanded IBM Tivoli Identity Manager support for Red Hat Linux and Linux on the zSeries, allowing companies to apply policy-based management and provisioning of user information through the business processes to a wider variety of operating systems and platforms.

“Business-critical applications are moving to Linux more rapidly than ever before and security is a fundamental requirement for our customers,” said Arvind Krishna, vice president of security products, Tivoli Software, IBM. “With these new solutions, IBM equips security administrators and application developers with the right tools to better integrate consistent security policy across more platforms.”

The expanded portfolio builds on IBM’s existing leadership in e-business software shipped for Linux. In 2001, IBM#!/#s independent software vendor (ISV) partners boosted the number of Linux based applications to more than 3,000a 75 percent increase, many of which are “Ready for Tivoli” and able to integrate seamlessly into enterprises managed with Tivoli software.

About Tivoli Software from IBM
Tivoli software from IBM enables an IT organization to reduce the total cost of ownership and improve service levels of the IT infrastructure. Tivoli software helps traditional enterprises and e-businesses worldwide manage security, storage, performance and availability, and configuration and operations. Backed by world-class IBM services, support and research, Tivoli software is one of four key IBM Software Group brands DB2, Lotus, Tivoli and WebSphere. For more information, visit www.tivoli.com.

IBM, DB2, Lotus and Tivoli are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Other company, product, and service names may be the trademarks or service marks of others. Note to Editors: For the latest Tivoli news and event information, visit our online newsroom at http://www.tivoli.com/news.

Complete Linux architecture overview

Mike Hearn writes: “I’ve written a set of articles (at theoretic.com) that attempt to provide a birds-eye view of a typical Linux and how all the pieces fit together. It’s slightly biased towards developers coming from the MS Windows platform, and covers the kernel, graphics, sound, desktop environments, design philosophy and a bit of history. There is also a table of Linux equivalents to Windows technologies/products to help new developers get their bearings.

I wrote it because when I first came to Linux, there didn’t seem to be any one resource where the relationships between all the parts, as well as the issues of the day, were drawn together and discussed. I hope that this will be a helpful resource.”

Category:

  • C/C++

Linux Orbit Review Grab Bag #1: multi-gnome-terminal, Limewire, Metacity and more

GonzoJohn writes: “The first in a new series starting this month, the LO Review Grab bag will highlight applications that are cool and you seldom hear about. This month we take a look a multi-gnome-terminal, the LimeWire gnutella client and the Metacity window manager for GNOME.

‘I’ve been trying out so many new versions of applications lately that it’s been difficult to nail down a single title for an in-depth review. Instead of taking a long look at one program, we’re introducing the “Review Grab Bag”, the first in a series of short takes on new and updated open source software titles. My hope is that the Review Grab Bag will become a monthly series here for Linux Orbit users. In this month’s Grab Bag, there’s a lot to choose from. To begin, let’s take a look at the handy terminal for Gnome users called multi-gnome-terminal.’

Read more at LinuxOrbit.com.”

Category:

  • C/C++

Ten new service providers launch Virtuozzo-based Linux hosting

SWsoft, Inc., a leading advanced server and networking software company, today announced that ten new hosting service provider (HSP) customers will automate their infrastructure with the HSPcomplete solution and offer Virtual Environments (VEs) to customers, an advanced form of the increasingly popular virtual private server (VPS.) AWorldWideMall.com, Rackpowered, Hostica, NewDream Networks, ServerCentral, USonyx and VIPHost are the latest additions to the growing list of companies who have deployed the HSPcomplete solution on Virtuozzo-based Linux servers.
Given that Virtuozzo-based VEs enable HSPs to offer services at 1/3 the cost, with end-user pricing for dedicated-like servers starting at less than $10/month, are more efficient than the Jail-call based partitioning technology and are much more scalable, industry research suggests the VEs may replace previous industry standards like the typical shared Web hosting on Apache and those solutions from NTT/Verio.

New virtualization technologies are providing a low entry-point for Web hosting and have helped create a new industry business model. The companies are smaller, move quicker, have less costly infrastructure, can force competition between multiple suppliers, implement cost-saving technologies and most importantly, are fast becoming profitable.

HSPcomplete uses the Virtuozzo technology to supercharge Intel-based hardware and offer these customers performance and scalability similar to that found only on the mainframe – including support for over a thousand instances of the Linux (or Linux VPSs) on a single computer, advanced fault-tolerance, clustering, fair-sharing of system resources, etc. “The efficiency of Virtuozzo allows much greater scalability than that of Jail()-based systems with the same resources,” said Dr. Alexander Tormasov, SWsoft’s Chief Scientist and authority on dynamic software partitioning. “There are also implementation restrictions, serious support problems, no true isolation and poor sharing of disk and other resources with Jail ()-based systems, making life more difficult for the [HSP’s] customers and significantly increasing TCO.”

Joshua Paul, CEO, Neo Code Software, switched from Jail()-based NTT/Verio technology to a Virtuozzo-based HSPcomplete system to increase profits and flexibility. “We’ve managed to be profitable right now and look to technologies like Virtuozzo to keep us there.” Indeed, increasing positive cash flow is the theme for these young and aggressive Web hosting companies, as they look for ways to cut costs.

Victor Goree, CEO, Rackpowered, confidently says, “I only spend money to make money. Running Virtuozzo on dedicated servers allows me to reduce my administrative costs and overhead – I’ll make sure my staff beats the competition on quality of technical support.”

SWsoft sells HSPcomplete as a flexible software and services solution starting at $2000 (under $20,000 for a cluster of servers.) Single-server appliances with HSPcomplete pre-installed on Dell or IBM Intel-based servers are also available for under $15,000.

Mehran Khayeri, CEO, VIPHost, chose to deploy an appliance-version of HSPcomplete based on a single Dell PowerEdge unit. According to Khayeri, “This is truly a hosting business in a box. Billing, account management, e-commerce transactions all work from a single Dell server.”

“SWsoft offers a well-designed user experience for customers, resellers and premium businesses, automatically handling promotions, billing and installation of my virtual environments and applications,” added Andreas Barth, CEO, AWorldWideMall.com. “Virtuozzo is such a technology and will enable me to maximize the potential of my business and my profits.”

According to IDC, VPSs will play an increasingly bigger role in the future of hosting for the small and medium enterprise (SMEs,) as they allow the SME to run their own e-commerce platforms, obtain secure certificates and utilize shopping cart software. HSPcomplete uniquely integrates with third-party billing, plug-ins or modules through, allowing customers to install everything from the simplest CGI scripts to the most advanced shopping carts via the extensive set of control panels that come pre-integrated.

Craig Oda, VP Business Development for SWsoft believes the future of hosting has arrived. “There is incredible excitement among our hosting companies and sales have never been better. HSPs need to cut cost and HSPcomplete is the most logical answer.”

Pricing of HSPcomplete (www.hspcomplete.com) and Virtuozzo varies, depending on system configuration. For more information on the Virtuozzo^(TM) technology, please see www.virtuozzo.com or contact sales@sw-soft.com.

About SWsoft, Inc. (www.sw-soft.com)

SWsoft is an advanced server and networking software technology company focused on the development of its patent-pending Virtuozzo^(TM) technology with end-to-end solutions and services for hosting service providers such as Internet data centers, application service providers, managed hosting providers and Web hosters. SWsoft’s products deliver powerful, comprehensive solutions that can help data centers automate management, accelerate operations and provide excellent return on investments.

Category:

  • Linux

PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER to be first product design solution to meet growing Linux market

Today, in a first for the product design industry, PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), the product development company(TM), announced its intention to support the Linux operating system for Pro/ENGINEER(R). Pro/ENGINEER, PTC’s flagship mechanical computer aided design (MCAD) application, gives users the power to create advanced, high- quality product models and designs that result in superior products. A new, easy-to-use, Web-connected version of Pro/ENGINEER, called Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire was also announced today at the PTC/USER conference (see related press release at http://www.ptc.com/company/news/press/releases/20020610wildfire.htm). With the release of a Linux supported Pro/ENGINEER, PTC plans to accommodate the growing demand from top design engineers to support the Linux open-source operating system.
PTC also announced its intention to align with the Hewlett-Packard Company as the Linux partner for PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER. Working with HP, PTC intends to support two popular Linux distributions, including Red Hat, on the full range of 32-bit Intel-based architecture workstations available from HP with the release of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire later this year.

“Two of our biggest strengths with Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire are openness and value,” said Brian Shepherd, senior vice president of technical marketing at PTC. “Adding Linux to the long list of certified platforms for Pro/ENGINEER ensures that our customers can take advantage of the innovations and competition taking place in the platform market to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership for their product development environment.”

Supporters of Linux point to a lower total cost of ownership because they can leverage their UNIX expertise on a free and open operating system running on cost-effective Intel architecture workstations. According to market analyst firm IDC; Linux and other open-source operating systems are expected to experience a 67 percent compound annual growth rate between 2001 and 2005. IDC Analyst Gisela Wilson states, “PTC’s support for the Linux operating environment is proof of its stated commitment to openness and platform independence. This announcement reinforces PTC’s reputation as one of the technology leaders in the product lifecycle management market.”

“PTC is moving ahead of the curve by working with HP to bring the power and usability of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire to Linux,” said Martin Fink, general manager, HP Linux Systems Division. “As the leading provider of Linux solutions, HP is ideally positioned to help service the growing demand for a Linux solution within product development and engineering environments.”

Thanks to an innovative software architecture, Pro/ENGINEER can accommodate a wide variety of hardware platforms and operating systems with full interoperability, high performance, and a fully consistent and familiar user interface. PTC has always shown a leading role in bringing innovations and improvements in operating systems and platforms to the engineering community. By partnering on this initiative with HP, the leading Linux solution provider, PTC will be able to expedite the process of bringing this product to market.

“We have been long time users of Pro/ENGINEER on a variety of platforms,” said Dr. Sepehr Kiani, principal engineer at Teradyne Connection Systems, ” Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire on Linux is exciting as it will allow us to take advantage of expertise we already have in UNIX while allowing our top designers to run on whatever system they prefer. We really appreciate the flexibility that PTC’s open approach gives us in designing winning products for high-speed, high-density system interconnect.”

About PTC

PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC) develops, markets, and supports software solutions that help manufacturers win with superior products. PTC is the world’s largest software company with a total commitment to product development. The company services more than 33,000 customers worldwide. Further information on PTC is available at http://www.ptc.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, matters discussed in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include the ability of PTC and Hewlett Packard to conclude a definitive agreement and jointly develop software solutions that support the Linux open source operating system, PTC’s effective coordination and management of joint activities (including sales, marketing, development, implementation and support) with third parties such as value added resellers and systems integrators to deliver those solutions across a diversified and expanded user, PTC’s ability to compete successfully in the MCAD industry with design solutions that are capable of performing on a variety of platforms, as well as such other risks and uncertainties as are detailed from time to time in reports filed by PTC with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including PTC’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10- Q.

PTC and its logo, Products First, The Product Development Company, Product
Development Means Business, Create Collaborate Control, Pro/ENGINEER,
Windchill, Wildfire and all PTC product names and logos are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation or its subsidiaries
in the United States and in other countries. HP is a registered trademark of
the Hewlett-Packard Company.

Category:

  • Linux