Australian IT: “An open hardware movement led by computer engineers
may lead to cheaper computer chips and other hardware.

The popularity of open source software, which is challenging
the dominance of the major computer companies, has inspired
a push to free up computer hardware designs.

Moves are now under way to popularise open hardware, along
the lines of the revolution created by Linux.”

“The US economic downturn, precipitated by the bursting of the
dot-com bubble, will improve within a year, according to
research firm IDC.

IDC expects US IT spending growth to slow to seven percent
in 2001, down from 11 percent last year. If the economy
continues to deteriorate this could fall as low as five percent,
with hardware bearing the brunt of the downfall.” More from ZDNet.

“Internet activists have spoken out today against
misinformation they claim is being spread by IT security
consultants about possible cyberthreats stemming from
Tuesday’s May Day protests.” Story at ZDNet UK.

ZDNet reports “A computer hacking group best known for creating tools for
hijacking computer systems is turning its hand to civil
disobedience and plans to release an application that could
scupper government and corporate censorship around the
world.”

Enterprise Linux Today: “IBM has announced that it now supports Linux on its eServer iSeries models 270, 830, and 840. According to the company,
Linux now runs on all IBM platforms. The iSeries machines are designed for mid-size businesses.”

In Zack Brown’s latest summary of traffic and threads on the linux-kernel mailing list, hot topics include: “Multi-function PCI devices” … “Status of ACPI” … “CML2 looking good.”

32BitsOnline.com: “Let’s face it, Linux will never replace Windows. There was a lot of hope that Linux would even make a mark in the enterprise. Unfortunately, I don’t see it happening. Large companies like the fact that Windows comes with Bill Gates. If I were the CIO of a large firm, I would sleep better knowing that I could shift blame to Bill Gates. Wouldn’t you? It’s nice to know that I can have access to Linux’s source code, but without someone to whom I can shift blame, I would not want my organization to have to suffer through the task of testing a, well, untested operating system.” Update: Tech author Tom Adelstein has written an open letter to the author of this piece – check it out, at Linux Today.

The Salt Lake Tribune offers an introduction to Linux, that operating system the author says “your computer person” knows all about. Naturally, the first example used to define a proprietary operating system was NetWare, from Utah-based Novell (Windows came in second).

“Ximian’s distribution of GNOME is built around the proposition that in addition to the building blocks of the basic desktop
environment, some added polish in the form of easier installation and more user-friendly tools are required to truly complete
the end-user experience. To that end, Ximian provides not only an easy-to-use installer that’s simple to launch, but a few
other add-ons and enhancements designed to ease use and maintenance of a Linux (or Unix) workstation.” From LinuxPlanet.

The latest Linux in education report is now available from Simple End User Linux.