MSNBC: “The jerseys, which cover the 15-inch tall penguins
from neck to ankle, stop oil-coated penguins from preening
themselves and swallowing toxic oil.
And for the fashion-conscious penguin, there is a wide
choice of colors and designs, even a black and white tuxedo
number – complete with bow tie.”

CNET: “In each of the past five years, hard drive capacities have doubled, keeping storage costs low
and allowing technophiles and PC users to sock away more data. However, storage buffs
believed the rate of growth could continue for only so long, and many asserted that the
storage industry was about to hit the physical limit for higher capacities. But according to IBM,
a new innovation will push back that limit.”

BBC: “A trapped climber has been saved after receiving a text message on
his mobile phone from RAF rescuers asking him to let them know his
location.”

LinuxSecurity: “This week, perhaps the most interesting articles include, “Setting up a proxy server on Linux,” “Bandwidth Limiting HOWTO,”
“Leading security expert on the end of DDoS attacks,” and the second part of “How to Set Up a Linux-Based Firewall for a
SOHO.”

Reuters reports (via The Globe and Mail) that Vivendi Universal will buy MP3.com for an estimated $372 million, saying the acquisition gives them a total of 40,000,000 registered users.

– By Grant Gross
–

The bad news this week: Eazel, the company that was supposed to make the Linux desktop as easy to use as a Macintosh, shut down operations. The good news: Nokia, the giant communications company, launched an Open Source project to create open standards for home entertainment software.

Eazel’s Apple and America Online veterans couldn’t save the company in these tough times for tech startups. Rumors had been circulating that the company was shutting down, and news reports this week confirmed it. Eazel posted the announcement, but went out with heads held high about the company’s achievements. But some news reports quoted people who weren’t even that shaken up by Eazel’s financial difficulties.

Nokia jumps in

On the other hand, Nokia launched OSTdev.net with CollabNet in an effort to promote the Open Standards Terminal software platform, based on Linux, XFree86, and Mozilla, for home entertainment devices such as the multipurpose Nokia Media Terminal the company plans to start selling in Europe this summer. That news generated a lot of media attention; later in the week, Nokia announced a deal Loki Software to distribute games on the Media Terminal.

Microsoft vs. Open Source, Round VXIV?

Nearly two weeks after Microsoft v.p. Craig Mundie slagged the GPL and Open Source business plans in a speech, 10 Open Source and Free Software leaders responded by saying, “Free Software is a great way to build a common foundation of software that encourages innovation and fair
competition. Microsoft, it’s time for you to join us.” Mundie responded to the response by saying this was the kind of, dare we say it, open dialog he was hoping for when he announced Microsoft’s so-called “shared source” initiative.

When the Open Source community and Microsoft aren’t competing in a war of words, their products are competing in database benchmark tests. It was widely reported that IBM’s upcoming DB2 7.2 release running on Linux 2.4.3 outperforms SQL Server 2000 running on Windows 2000. The humor site, Segfault noted that IBM’s hardware costs may have been a bit higher.

A worm that fixes things?

A computer worm aimed at Linux computers apparently sought to fix damage that the earlier Lion worm did. Security experts weren’t so impressed with the Good Samaritan, however.

New in NewsForge

Stories unique to NewsForge this week:

Editor in chief Robin Miller says a good public relations effort is all that’s needed for Linux to gain ground in the desktop. That’s where the Open Source community comes in.

News editor Tina Gasperson continues her review of Open Source Web sites with a look at MandrakeForum. She says the discussions there are worth the price of admission.

Business columnist Jack Bryar finds what’s missing at the Wireless Agenda 2001 conference, namely most Open Source companies.

LinuxPR: “SuSE Linux, the international technology leader and solutions provider in Open Source operating system, announced that SuSE Linux 7.1 for Compaq’s AlphaServer systems will be available by the end of May. By porting the latest SuSE distribution to Compaq’s 64-bit technology, SuSE proves itself again as a leading provider of Linux server solutions. Apart from the Alpha platform, SuSE Linux also supports Intel and PowerPC CPUs as well as the SPARC and S/390 architectures.
“

LinukPR: “Stuttgart, Germany – – SuSE Linux AG announced that they are the first provider supporting IBM’s eServer iSeries, which is available on May 25, on a Linux operating system. Combined with SuSE Linux, the new iSeries line of e-business servers provide complete foundations for the integration of Internet and critical applications from supply chain to fulfillment operations of any business.”

The new iSeries family is the successor of the AS/400 series, which has been installed in over 700,000 businesses worldwide. iSeries enlarges the offer IBM provides in the field of integrated business computers. At the same time IBM introduces version 5 and thus launches a new release of its OS/400 operating system, OS/400 V5R1. This release particularly excels through improved resource management and for the first time, allows multiple operating systems to run on an iSeries computer. In combination with patches that can be downloaded for free from the SuSE ftp server (ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/boot/iSeries/), SuSE Linux 7.1 for PowerPC is the first Linux operating system available for the IBM iSeries. Using SuSE on the iSeries allows easy evaluation of Linux and is the perfect environment for development of Linux based applications.

With logical partitioning (LPAR), the iSeries can run multiple operating systems concurrently, such as OS/400 V5R1 and Linux. OS/400 V5R1 supports Linux in a secondary partition and dynamically assigns resources like processor performance and main memory. Communication between partitions takes place via virtual TCP/IP connections without additional communication hardware.

Businesses can use these features to operate services such as Webserving for internet or intranet, firewalls, mail serving, or applications like databases and ERP systems. Thus, companies can profit from proven Linux applications without having to give up the reliability, scalability, security and availability of iSeries they are already familiar with.

Furthermore, SuSE Linux on iSeries is ideal for consolidating heterogeneous server farms. A uniform IT infrastructure within companies does not only reduce immediate administration efforts but also expenses derived from development or purchasing of strategic software products. Thus, Linux can dramatically contribute to lower the running costs produced by large server farms.

“IBM appreciates SuSE Linux because of its availability beyond any hardware restraints”, says Dirk Ott, Linux Marketing Manager EMEA Central Region of IBM. “The fact that SuSE supports the new iSeries with Linux already at this stage of its introduction into the market proves again the technical competence of our partner and the lively cooperation the two companies enjoy. Whether the use of ThinkPad or the mainframe computers of the zSeries are concerned, SuSE Linux can support our most demanding customers.”

The PowerPC edition of SuSE Linux 7.1 (6 CDs, a 500 page manual, 60 days installation support) has been available since the beginning of April, directly from SuSE, from Business Partners, and in book and computer stores.

About SuSE

SuSE Linux is the international technology leader and solutions provider in Open Source operating system software. SuSE’s unique expertise in Linux and its largest development team worldwide dedicated to Open Source software has contributed to the recognition of SuSE as the most complete Linux solution available today.

SuSE Linux AG, headquartered in Germany, and SuSE Inc., based in Oakland, CA, are privately held companies focused entirely on supporting the Linux community and Open Source development. With a workforce of more than 500 people worldwide, SuSE has offices throughout Europe, Latin America and in the US.

LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Following the recent story about Palm, Inc. scaling back close expectations, The Globe and Mail discusses how it affects others — specifically competitor Research In Motion.

CNet reports on the opening of the first Apple Store – Macintosh’s new retail strategy – in McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. The second store opened a few hours later in Glenndale, California, near Los Angeles. The openings have drawn rave reviews.