In fact, LinuxPPC will become the first major Linux distribution to bundle Open Motif with their standard distribution. It says so at this press release posted to LinuxPR: “With this announcement, LinuxPPC becomes the first major Linux publisher to include Open Motif with it standard distribution.” Also noteworthy: “The port of this
toolkit to LinuxPPC was the result of a joint development effort by LinuxPPC and ICS.”

Linux Knowledge Portal interviews Linus Torvalds. Linus shares his predictions for 2001 in the world of Open Source software using his plastic ball (the crystal one broke).

Linux PR press release: “Continuing its commitment to Linux and the development of
Linux based applications, Linux Canada Inc. today announced the beta release of its
new accounting application for business – Quasar.”

From Slashdot: “Nevrax is quietly building a 100% GPL’ed game client and server that contains a framework, a 3D engine, an AI engine and a Network engine aimed at running massively multi-user entertainment in a 3D environment over the Internet.” Look out, Everquest?

ZDNet reports that Microsoft has released actual sales figures for its Windows 2000 Server products. — over one million sold since introudction. The Redmond software giant doesn’t usually disclose such information, but made an exception for its recent media campaign which just happened to debut with the start of last week’s LinuxWorld Expo.

In a ZDNet interview, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reveals his thoughts and the company’s plans for its embededded operating systems, the future of possible Linux efforts, and of course, the latest .NET strategy. Says Ballmer: “We are trying to do the right thing for the customer in each product category.”

Slashdot posts David Korn’s answers to questions asked by readers a few weeks ago. Korn answers “queries about the eponymous shell, the famous Microsoft/Korn story (in short — yep, it’s like you heard), and proper UNIX behavior.”

ODS Linux is a company that wishes to service the Linux operating system. It plans to begin with the preconfiguration of Debian Linux (others will be added soon). ODS intends to not only do this in an efficient and visually pleasing fashion, but also with a conscience. The company plans to contribute a portion of every sale to 2 separate funds. The first will go to the development of open source software. The second will go to various charitable organizations. All decisions regarding how and to who these funds will be allocated, will be made through a diplomatic voting process, decided by the people who have contributed by purchasing the ODS Linux service.

ABOUT THE SERVICE
—————–

ODS Linux takes some of the fear and repetition out of installing Linux. The service of preconfiguration makes the Linux installation process easier. It saves time and informs as you are guided through the necessary steps to successfully configure Linux.

Through the use of our unique and familiar web GUI (modeled after a Gnome environment), users can preconfigure a Debian Linux distribution for their pre-existing systems. Users specify what hardware they have, and what software they want. These selections a stored permanently in our database and can be manipulated and changed at the clients discretion (24-7). The client matches the hardware and software configuration they wish to purchase. A package consisting of a custom boot floppy, manuals, and software CDs is then shipped.
When the package is received, the user first powers up the PC, simply inserts the custom floppy and source CD, and installation begins.

The only input required by the end user during installation is partition information, passwords and network settings.

ABOUT THE SITE
————–

A user interface, built primarily with flash, features may tools to aid the preconfiguration of Debian Linux.

Why did we use flash? Simply because the technology opened up possibilities and behaviors that could not be achieved or would require excessive amounts of coding with standard html and dhtml pages. This also made it possible to mimic a graphic user interface.

The step by step process is catered to both newbie and power users.

Newbies will appreciate the hand holding throughout the typically intimidating process of setting up Linux for their needs. Decisions are easily made from the website’s extensive resources, that include searchable man files, how-to’s and external links. Our mascot (Leaphy) even doubles as an interactive Q&A search engine.

Power users have commented that they find the site efficient, and the “hand-holding” not too intrusive during their sessions.

WHERE TO VIEW THE SITE
———————-

To view more about the company and to take the flash WebGUI for a spin, please visit……

odslinux.com
contact rfc@opendoorsoftware.com

Oreillynet.com has an article on something called “LADSPA,” and it really explains what it is. “We all want more cool and useful features in our software, giving rise to a dilemma: How do
we balance the number and complexity of features against the complexity and manageability of the
larger-scale program design?”

TechWeb has a story saying that IBM Corp. won’t be
the exclusive foundry supplier to Transmeta anymore.

“Transmeta (stock: TMTA) has signed Taiwan
Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) as a second
source for foundry wafers, according to Transmeta CEO
David Ditzel. He declined to say whether IBM would
remain its primary foundry.”