–
By John Leyden –
– The Register –

Development charity ActionAid is developing plans to switch all its desktop
computers to Linux, as a way of avoiding the viruses that continuously assault its
Windows PCs.

The poverty relief organisation, which operates in 30 countries, is on the brink of
the move after becoming increasing fed up with the effort needed to deal with
recent virus outbreaks, and suffering infection from the Emmanuel bug.

Kerry Scott, IT director at Action Aid, said the effect of viruses on the charity had
pushed him to consider using Linux far more seriously after initial reservations
about the availability of suitable applications, particularly word processing
packages.

“We’re seeing an increasingly large number of viruses from a number of sources
which are causing a great deal of problems and inconvenience. Linux might be a
way around that and also of reducing the cost of operating a desktop,” said Scott.

Dealing with viruses has hit the charity in the operation of its email system, which is
its most important communications method, and left it unable to contact some remote
offices over the Internet. Staff resources have also been wasted mopping up from
the effects of virus outbreaks.

As well as promising “virus free” computing, adopting the open source operating
system might also save the charity much needed funds particularly with the
increasing cost of Microsoft’s software.

“Is paying software licensing fees the best use of supporters funds? If we run our IT
more efficiently, and pay less on software licenses, we’ll have more money to give
the poor,” said Scott. “Dealing with viruses is very much a hidden cost and if it gets
worse we’ll push harder on the Linux side.”

ActionAid has 1,000 desktops scattered around the world and many of them are in
locations with poor Internet connectivity, which makes it difficult for the charity to
update the antivirus software it uses with the latest virus definition files.

Desktop software licenses cost the charity £60,000 a year but this might be offset
by the costs of making the move to Linux, and Scott wants to establish by the end
of the year if there’s a business case for embracing the open source operating
system.

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From BusinessWire: Applix, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLX), a global provider of customer analytics
and business planning software, announced today that Parallax Capital Partners, LLC (Parallax), of Irvine, California, has agreed to purchase
substantially all of the assets of VistaSource, Inc., Applix’s wholly-owned subsidiary, for an undisclosed amount of cash. Parallax Capital
Partners intends to retain all of the VistaSource employees and will continue the VistaSource business. The transaction is expected to close by
March 31, 2001. Upon completion of the transaction, Applix will retain a minority equity position in Parallax’s new subsidiary.

It’s at LinuxDoc.org. Among the new and updated documents: The Bugzilla Guide at http://www.linuxdoc.org/LDP/bugzilla/Bugzilla-Guide/;
Version 2.11.1, Matthew P. Barnson, barnboy@trilobyte.net.

This document is intended to be the comprehensive guide to the installation, administration, maintenance, and use of the Bugzilla
bug-tracking system.

From BusinessWire: New reports from technology analysts Hurwitz Group and Matterhorn Group
recommend the IBM eServer z900, the reinvented mainframe, running Linux, as an effective energy saving alternative to server farms.
The need to conserve energy and space in computer data centers has taken on new urgency with recent power shortages in California and
pending plans for energy deregulation across the nation. The analysts, looking for alternatives to energy-guzzling server farms, found that one
z900 could do the job of hundreds of other servers combined.

Jan Stafford tells us that SearchEnterpriseLinux has a story about Finnish data security solutions provider F-Secure developing an
anti-virus firewall solution for Linux. “The company was responding to a flood of requests from customers who are beginning to feel more
comfortable running Linux on their systems but are worried about
security. The product is geared to small to large businesses.”

ZDNET.co.uk: “The fourth Linux Networx supercomputer sold is also the first
with AMD chips. The 96-processor system’s first task: Help
design the new Delta IV space rocket.”

Anandtech: “With the GeForce2 Go here, the Radeon Mobility on the way, it’s time to see S3’s next-generation mobile graphics platform. Enter the SuperSavage and all of its low-power consumption glory.”

BusinessWeek.com: “On Mar. 8, the
National Infrastructure Protection Commission (NIPC) — a federal watchdog
that works with the FBI to protect the U.S. national infrastructure — took the
unusual step of holding a press conference to warn businesses and the public about
an ongoing investigation into what may be the largest case of organized crime
online to date.”

ZDNET.co.uk: “Many suggest the UK should take the US example and introduce
entrapment to catch Net paedophiles in chatrooms, but
vehement opponent and civil liberties advocate Avedon Carol
says entrapment has a major flaw. WARNING: this article
contains strong and sexually explicit language.”

BusinessWeek: “Heaven forbid. Guy Kawasaki, Apple Computer’s
former chief evangelist, was recently sighted giving a
presentation in London to a bunch of IBM loyalists
using — gasp! — a ThinkPad. Such a blasphemy
could not go unpunished. The self-appointed
Ayatollahs of the Mac world set out to clip Kawasaki
wings, flaming him on bulletin boards and chat rooms
across the Internet. You would have thought
46-year-old Kawasaki had sacrificed one of his own children in public rather than
giving a presentation on the dot-com bust.”