NewsFactor Network writes, “Comparisons of OSes and their corresponding hardware usually only include some form of Unix, Windows, Macintosh and the occasional BeOS or OS/2. That narrow perspective unjustifiably leaves out mainframe OSes that continue to play a major role in computing these days. If you ask me, there’s one OS that is especially suited to borrow ideas from the mainframe world. That OS is Linux. Why? Because it and other mainframe OSes have so much in common already.” osOpinion has more.

Posted at LinuxPR:
The FOSDEM orgnization is pleased to announce that the Gnustep, Mozilla,
KDE, PHP and Gnome will have developers meetins in Brussels during the
FOSDEM meeting that will take place 16 and 17 February 2002.

Redmond Linux announced today that it will be doing business as Linux Softworks. The name change is part of an ongoing effort to gain visability in the Linux software market. In addition, Linux Softworks’ desktop operating system, formally known as Redmond Linux Personal, is becoming DesktopLinux. The company is setting the stage for a wider rage of products and services that center around it’s flagship product.

“The Linux community, and desktop users in general, should have packaged software choices that integrate into their work environment. We are going to offer more than just a desktop operating system. We needed a company name that reflects that. Users are going to be able to buy packaged, easy to install applications made by us specifically for the DesktopLinux platform,” said Jason Spisak, who is on the Board of Advisors for Linux Softworks.

This announcement follows on the heels of the release of Redmond Linux Personal, Amethyst Edition, build 44, which will henceforth be called DesktopLinux. The latest build includes updates of most major components in the operating system to include the current versions. Many users have already used the ‘Redmond Linux Update’ feature to upgrade to this latest build at the click of a button. Linux Softworks is currently selling this new release as a box set with 60 days of e-mail support for $29.95 plus shipping. Within the product itself, the name DesktopLinux will emerge as the brand name of the operating system. ‘Redmond Linux Update’ will become ‘DesktopLinux Update’, as will be the case with the all of the custom extensions Linux Softworks has built into it’s easy to use desktop.

By changing the name of it’s flagship product to DesktopLinux, Linux Softworks hopes to magnfiy the growing curiousity surrounding a Linux desktop. Search engine queries and media articles related to ‘Linux on the desktop’ will immediately bring DesktopLinux to the forefront of this emerging product sector. De-localizing the name was also a concern as Linux Sofotworks prepares to partner with resellers around the world.

“DesktopLinux is more internationally understandable. It made more global sense than naming the software for a place most people in the world have never been. Our focus is to bring Linux to the desktop so that everyone in the world can easily take advantage of its stregnths,” said CTO and Founder Joeseph Cheek.

About Linux Softworks
Linux Softworks is located in Redmond, Washington. The company was started in the year 2000 with a vision of making Linux easy enough for anyone to use. The company makes open source applications easy to use and integrates them into the linux desktop.

About Joseph Cheek (CTO and founder)
Joseph Cheek’s highly technical background has allowed him to work for companies such as Linuxcare (as a Senior Linux Consultant) and Microsoft (as a network and systems tester). He co-authored the Integrating Your Network with Caldera OpenLinux 2.3 book, was a Technical Contributor to Microsoft’s Windows 98 Resource Kit, and writes a monthly Linux column for Computer Source Magazine. As an entrepreneur Joseph has worked as a freelance computer network consultant in both the Novell NetWare and Linux spaces.

About Jason Spisak (Board member)
Jason Spisak has a background in the entertainment industry, and uses his knowledge of marketing and aesthetic design to help Linux Softworks create and sell attractive, buyer-friendly products. His skills aid in positioning Linux Softworks as a player in the desktop software marketplace and bringing Open Source, profitability, and usability together under one roof.

For Additional Information
Web: http://www.redmondlinux.org
Info: info@redmondlinux.org
Sales: sales@redmondlinux.org

Linux Softworks
PO Box 2313
Redmond WA 98073-2313
[425] 869-2313
[425] 671-0504 facsimile

Bloomberg.com reports that IBM’s ourth-quarter profit fell 13 percent on
lower revenue from personal computers and custom chips. Its shares fell on the news. Net income was $2.33 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, or
$1.33 a share, down from $2.67 billion, or $1.48 a share, a year earlier.

The first of a series is at LinuxDevices.com. “Linux is well tuned for throughput-limited applications, but it is not well designed for
deterministic response, though enhancements to the kernel are available to help or
guarantee determinism. So-called real-time applications require, among other things,
deterministic response.”

Slashdot readers dive into this question: “In the past couple of months I have
become increasingly interested in kernel programming and
have finally decided to take the leap and ‘get my hands dirty.’
I have searched around the web and read a few docs and FAQs
on getting started with the kernel but I was wondering what
kind of personal experiences those in the Slashdot crowd have had that are so
bold as to start goofing with the kernel code. For those that have become
competent kernel programmers, how did you ‘break in’ and what advice would
you give beginners?”

From Linuxsecurity.com: “All versions of stunnel from 3.15 to 3.21c are vulnerable to format
string bugs in the functions which implement smtp, pop, and nntp client
negotiations. Using stunnel with the “-n service” option and the “-c”
client mode option, a malicious server could use the format sting
vulnerability to run arbitrary code as the owner of the current stunnel
process. Version 3.22 is not vulnerable to this bug.”

Fosem.org has an interview. “I am the only person working on the code directly. However, people send me patches and additional modules from time
to time, and I examine these and merge them into the main code tree if they seem reasonable. Sometimes they are pretty
complete; sometimes they are just ideas that have to be fleshed out in the context of Exim as a whole.”

Anonymous Reader writes, “Has anyone else noticed a lack of communication between the user community and Mandrake? I find some frustration surrounding that, and have noticed a few friends feeling the same way.
Let me just say I am a big advocate for Mandrake. They make a pretty decent desktop OS. Not bad for being a server OS, either… Afterall, that’s what we run here to support GUI-Lords as well as my pet project, Eastwind.net (home of the Tex Files).
Get the rest at GUI-Lords.org.”

The Register quotes SUN CEO Scott McNealy speaking at a conference. On Linux: “Linux is the next step beyond open interfaces. There’s interfaces and then there’s
implementations to that interface. Now the problem with ‘FREE’ is that it’s really hard to give out stock options. It’s
hard to pay salaries on free, and really hard to get them to wear a bleeper on a
Saturday night. Nobody should own the interfaces — like the alphabet or the word ‘Windows’. But
you should be able to create proprietary implementations of open interfaces.

But I like the fact that people are willing to donate to the public domain. We love
Linux, and the most wonderful thing about Linux is that it’s a problem for
Microsoft.”