NWfusion.com reports on many large corporate IT departments now using Linux as the cornerstone operating system for core business applications. “This role-change for Linux was spurred partly by large server vendors such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, IBM and NEC, which have become Linux’s biggest cheerleaders. While the goal of these companies ultimately is to sell a lot of Linux, the vendors also are involved in the development and strengthening of Linux for use with large-scale enterprise applications.”

NeTraverse Inc., a leading provider of Windows-on-Linux software solutions for software developers and the enterprise, declares support for the UnitedLinux initiative announced
May 29th.
Linux Industry leaders Caldera International, Inc., Conectiva S.A., SuSE Linux AG, and Turbolinux, Inc., announced the organization of UnitedLinux, a new initiative that will streamline Linux development and certification around a global, uniform distribution of Linux designed for business. UnitedLinux addresses enterprise customers’ need for a standard, business-focused Linux distribution that is certified to work across hardware and software platforms, accelerating the adoption of Linux in the enterprise. Under terms of the agreement, the four companies will collaborate on the development of one common core Linux operating environment, called UnitedLinux software. The four partners will each bundle value added products and services with the UnitedLinux operating system and the resulting offering will be marketed and sold by each of the four partners under their own brands.

?We firmly believe that UnitedLinux, a common Linux distribution, will be a terrific benefit to customers around the world working through their transition to Linux,?
said James P. Curtin, President and CEO of NeTraverse. ?It?s very much in sync with NeTraverse?s own commitment to its customers to make transition to Linux as seamless as possible.?

About NeTraverse

NeTraverse Inc., is the market leader in bridging Windows® to Linux® with over 800,000 users worldwide. Providing thin-client software solutions on the Linux and UNIX platform, NeTraverse offers innovative products and services to facilitate the seamless migration from Windows to Linux and lower the cost of enterprise IT infrastructure. NeTraverse products include Win4Lin Workstation, Win4Lin Terminal Server and Merge. Headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit
www.netraverse.com. 

For Further Information, Contact:

Dan Perlman
VP of Marketing
408-836-0383
dperlman@netraverse.com

Win4Lin is a registered trademark of NeTraverse Inc. Windows and the Windows operating system are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other products, services, companies, events and publications are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective owners in the U.S. and /or other countries.

NZheretic writes, “ On the BBC news: IBM signs Linux deal with Germany.” From the story” Germany has signed up IBM for a major public sector computer contract — and dealing a blow to software giant Microsoft in the process. IBM announced it will offer German Government offices deep discounts on computer systems based on Linux, rather than Microsoft’s near-ubiquitous Windows operating system.”

Electronic waste is one of the most rapidly growing refuse problems in the world, according to this article at Wired.com.

Anonymous Reader writes: “As a loyal follower over the years I must say that RedHat 7.3 is the best offering so far. I’m not saying this because it is the latest incarnation. A lot of this distribution’s enhancements make it so. For example, being able to use the keyboard numberpad during the GUI installation was great. I know, it is a little thing, but the last few distributions didn’t have that feature (to my knowledge) and my fingers really….” Read the full review at Linuxlookup.com“

Insiders,

Thanks for all the support you have provided since Lindows.com was
started. Your testing, suggestions and guidance have really helped us
grow. Keep the dialog flowing on the Insider’s Forum> because we follow the discussions and
take
them to heart.
From Michael Robertson Sun Jun 2 21:51:28 2002
From: “Michael Robertson”
To: “Lindows.com Insiders” Subject: Lindows.com: LindowsOS SPX is now available to Insiders!
Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2002 21:51:28 -0700

If this message is not displaying properly, click here
to launch it in
your
browser.

Insiders,

Thanks for all the support you have provided since Lindows.com was
started. Your testing, suggestions and guidance have really helped us
grow. Keep the dialog flowing on the Insider’s Forum
because we follow the discussions and
take
them to heart.

This coming week, we’ll be announcing LindowsOS SPX to the world.
However, we wanted to make sure you knew about this next Sneak
Preview
first and had a chance to download it before the rest of the world
even
knows about it. Also, if you have some time to help out, we want to
ask
for your assistance in an important area which I’ll bring up later,
but
first, let’s talk about SPX.

SPX – Moving computing to a new era!

SPX is significant because it moves us closer to our goal of
elegantly
and seamlessly combining the operating system with software
applications. I think we’ve all been frustrated with the disconnect
between the operating system and programs which leads to countless
dollars spent on software and days spent installing, configuring, and
registering the software you need to put your computer to work. It
shouldn’t be that hard or expensive! We want to move computing to an
era
where instead of buying an operating system and individual programs
separately, everything you’ll need comes as one elegant package which
you can quickly tailor and customize to your own tastes and needs.

Along with SPX, we’re also unveiling the Click-N-Run Warehouse
Membership program. As an Insider, you have automatically been
granted
our highest membership level. This membership and LindowsOS’ modular
design means you can quickly and affordably add products from our
rich
on-line catalog of software to your computer. All Click-N-Run
Warehouse
programs are available at no cost to members. We’re in the process of
further stocking our Warehouse with hundreds of neatly
categorized, quality programs.

Next to each product, you’ll find the Click-N-Run icon
which means a
single
mouse click will download, install and configure the product for use
on
your own computer. Complete digital delivery makes the process fast.
Automatic configuration and installation will prove to be a huge time
saver over the traditional software installation process. Also,
because
all the software is available as part of our membership, it’s
affordable
for any budget. We’re making every effort to include a wide range of
titles in the Warehouse including many of the well known products
like
Evolution

, The Gimp

, and hundreds more.

As I mentioned earlier, we could use your help to put the finishing
touches on the Warehouse. Because there are hundreds of titles, we
have
yet to fully test the majority of them. We could use some volunteers
to
Click-N-Run products and give us their input on the success and
quality
of each product. We’ll use those rankings to help guide LindowsOS
users
to the highest quality programs in the future.

If you’re interested in assisting us on verifying the Warehouse
inventory, here’s what you do.

1) Download and install LindowsOS SPX from your my.lindows.com
account.

2) Using the Web Browser in LindowOS, browse the
Warehouse and Click-N-Run any
products
that interest you. (You can also browse and install applications via
the Click-N-Run application on your LindowsOS desktop, but the Hot
Spot
link, mentioned below, will only work from Warehouse when using the
Browser.)

3) After you’ve installed and run the program in Step 2, click on the
hidden verify link located just to the right of the product name.
(See
diagram below.) Clicking this hidden “hot spot” on the product page
will open a window where you can provide input on your success (or
lack
thereof) and overall impressions of the product.

We’ll be adding thousands of products to the Warehouse over the next
several days, so there should be plenty of interesting products which
we
need verified. (NOTE: Once we have a sufficient number of
verifications
for a given product, the hidden verify link will stop working.)

Whether you are able to help us verify Warehouse products or not, we
do
hope you try SPX and use Click-N-Run. We hope you’ll be as confident
as
we are that this is how computing will get done in the future because
of
the ease of use, low cost and diversity.

There are many, many other improvements in SPX besides the
Click-N-Run
membership. Many things that didn’t work in older versions, now do,
like
CDR and Printing. Plus there are a huge number of overall
improvements
in many of the basic functions like web browsing and email. We’ll
talk
about more of these in the future, but right now we hope you’ll give
SPX
a try and share your feedback with us. Please keep in mind that SPX
is
still a “Sneak Preview” and the same precautions still apply, such as
only using it on a spare machine, not using it with critical data
that
has not been backed up, and so on.

Thanks for your continued support!

Michael Robertson
CEO, Lindows.com

This Week’s Summary: Special Offers at MandrakeStore; Upcoming LinuxTag
2002; Business Case of the Week; PPC News; MandrakeClub Activities;
Training Promotion for Linux-Campus; Mandrake in the News;
MandrakeSoft.com Redesign; Security-related Software Updates; Headlines
from MandrakeForum.Special Offers at MandrakeStore
—————————————-
Thanks to a special agreement with Netraverse, MandrakeClub members
can purchase Win4Lin 4.0 for as low as $71.99. This special offer is
for a limited time only — until June 27th 2002.

For more information, please see:
– Ordering information, and Win4Lin offer details
http://www.mandrakeclub.com/article.php?sid=32

– Windows emulators comparison on MandrakeForum
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2163

– Win4Lin 4.0 details
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/licenses/82?id=532

—

8.2 3-CD Set Now Available.
The Mandrake Linux 8.2 Download Edition (3-CD Set) is now available for
only $25 US/29 Euros at MandrakeStore. These “Cheap CDs” contain the
complete distribution on the first two disks, plus a bonus CD of
“contributed” Free Software applications. Place your order today at
MandrakeStore:
http://mandrakestore.com/

Upcoming Event
—————————————-
MandrakeSoft will be present at upcoming LinuxTag.
LinuxTag is the largest exhibition of Free Software and GNU/Linux in
Europe. LinuxTag 2002 has a new date and place: The largest Linux and
OpenSource fair and conference in Europe will take place from June 6-9
2002 in Karlsruhe Germany.

For more information about LinuxTag 2002, please see:
http://www.linuxtag.org/2002/deutsch/showitem.php3?item=0030?=en

Business Case of the Week
—————————————-
Tourism/Hospitality: Isole Borromeo uses Linux for all activities.
Borromeo Turismo is an Italian tourist company that manages a castle
and two islands with museums and botanical gardens. They have three
workstations plus a server which runs apache, postfix, mysql and other
services required by a business to be productive and well integrated.

Alessandro Pasotti adds: “I’m a linux user since 94, I have tested
almost all distributions and I’ve found MDK one of the best.”
http://www.mandrakebizcases.com/article.php?sid=294

For many more examples of Mandrake in the workplace, please see:
http://www.MandrakeBizcases.com

PPC News
—————————————-
8.2 PPC Errata:
Error scenario: The 8.2 PPC Software Manager doesn’t successfully
retrieve software updates.
Solution: Manually download and install ‘grpmi-8.2-3.1mdk.ppc.rpm’ from
any of the FTP locations (such as
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/Linux/distributions/mandrake/updates/ppc/8.2/RPMS/).
The next time the Software Manager is run, the ability to download and
install updates is restored.

—

PPC Application of the Week.
Long-time Cooker participant Ben Reser has built 8.2 PPC packages for
‘pbbuttonsd’ and associated programs (gtkpbbuttons and
powerprefs). These very handy utilities enable the function keys on
PowerBook laptops to control screen brightness and volume levels;
control trackpad settings; eject a CD; and handle basic power
management. Get them from:
http://ben.reser.org/mandrake/ppc/pbbuttonsd-0.4.9-1mdk/

MandrakeClub
—————————————-
RPM packages with Lexmark drivers for MandrakeLinux 8.2 are now
available at MandrakeClub. For more details, please see:
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2145
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2149

—

MandrakeClub Newsletter (#7)
Learn about the latest Club activities, including:

* MandrakeExpert support at discount price
* Inkjet Color and Photo printers under Mandrake Linux 8.2
* Better handling of user accounts
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2166

Not yet a Mandrake Club member? To learn more, please visit:
http://mandrakelinux.com/en/club/

Training Promotion
—————————————-
Get 10% off the cost of your next Linux-Campus training.
When you purchase a copy of Mandrake Linux 8.2, you will find an
exclusive flyer offering a 10% discount towards any Linux-Campus
training. This promotion is valid until September 29th 2002 in
participating training centers only.

To find a training center near you, or for more details on the
Linux-Campus training program, please consult our website:
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/training/offline/centers

The Linux-Campus training program is compatible with the reputable Linux
Professional Institute (LPI) certification program:
http://www.lpi.org

Mandrake in the News
—————————————-
PCPlus.co.uk hosts an interesting review of the Mandrake Linux 8.1
Gaming Edition. The first gaming Linux distribution is rated as follows:

* Specifications: 8
* Quality 9
* Performance: 8
* Value for money: 8
* Overall: 8

“Despite the enormous strides Linux has made into the traditionally
Windows-dominated home PC marketplace over the past two years, one
niche remains the sole property of Microsoft’s OS: gaming. […]
Mandrake Linux 8.1 Gaming Edition is an attempt to shrink the huge gulf
between Linux and Windows, by providing the opportunity to play the
Windows code of many top games directly from within Linux itself.”,
explains the reviewer.
http://www.pcplus.co.uk/article.asp?id=32311

The Mandrake Gaming Edition was released on October, 22, 2001 and is
available for $69 at Mandrakestore.
http://mandrakestore.com/

MandrakeSoft.com Redesign
—————————————-
If you’ve recently visited the MandrakeSoft website, you probably
noticed that we’ve redesigned it. Our goals with this redesign were:

* Quicker page loading (less graphics).
* A simpler unified user interface and navigation system.
* Implementation of a design that ensures full cross-browser
compatibility, regardless of platform or browser type.
* Elimination of website errors.

MandrakeSoft.com is MandrakeSoft’s corporate website. Here you can
learn about our complete range of Products, Consulting services,
Professional Support & Training, Labs, Company Info (including a
Corporate profile and Investors information). Stop by and visit today:
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/

Software Updates
————————–
————–
Security-related software updates have been released for:

fetchmail — fixes array bounds checking
perl-Digest-MD5 — fixes improper MD5 digest generation
imap — fixes buffer overflow vulnerability
webmin — fixes remote login vulnerability
grpmi — fixes segfault in MandrakeUpdate

View the complete list at:
http://www.mandrakesecure.net

Headlines from MandrakeForum
—————————————-
Accessing Shared Directories On MS Windows From Linux.
“If one would compile a Top Ten list of questions asked by users new to
(Mandrake) Linux, the question ‘How do I access locally shared
directories on MS Windows machines from my Linux system?’ would appear
on it, no doubt.” So, Tom takes a standard Mandrake Linux 8.2 system
and a system which runs MS Windows, and describes how to get this
working.
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2169

Running Windows programs under Linux?
Deno describes several options available to Linux users that enable
MS-Windows applications to run in Linux, including:

* Wine
* VMware
* Win4Lin
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2163

Does Mandrake need a new design?
‘Pim_Snel’ kicks off an interesting discussion by asking if the
Mandrake Linux distribution would benefit from a new look. Many readers
offer their opinions and suggestions:
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2161

Mandrake Tools In Text Mode?
Tom describes the commands for running the various Mandrake
configuration utilities without a graphical environment.
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2158

Read these and other stories at MandrakeForum
http://www.MandrakeForum.com/

Linux kernel version 2.5.20 has been released. It is available from:

Patch: ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.5/patch-2.5.20.gz

Full source:
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.5/linux-2.5.20.tar.gz

Anonymous Reader writes: “Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s office says CC:Mail is to blame for the spamming of reporters with copies of a news release announcing the senator’s new digital broadband initiative, according to this report in Linux and Main. But not to worry: the Senate is switching over to Microsoft Outlook.”

Anonymous Reader writes: “It seems that real-time developers finally found a way to get rid of the infamous FSMLabs software patent. The announcement of their solution (ADEOS) is supported by a eight of non-profit organizations and relayed by EuroLinux. I wonder if that will be enough to resist the usual FUD that FSMLabs uses to bring everything that carries the words “real-time” and Free Software under the influence of their software patents.”