Linux Spreads its Wings 234
securitas writes "Businessweek's 'Linux Spreads its Wings' Special Report discusses the growing use of Linux in a wide range of products that include mobile phones, cars, telecom gear and consumer electronics; Linux in China; an analysis of the SCO litigation; a look at how Novell's Linux strategy may bring the struggling, former technology high-flyer back from the dead, as well as other articles and interviews related to the growth and spread of Linux as a viable platform for both enterprise and consumer technology."
For women? (Score:5, Funny)
It sounds too much like a maxi pad commercial. "New OS, with wings. For those heavier data flow days..."
Linux: Strong enough for a man (Score:3, Funny)
Re:For women? (Score:2)
Grrr (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Grrr (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Grrr (Score:2)
Re:Grrr (Score:3, Interesting)
Indeed. So I guess the title of the story should be: Linux Spreads its... Fins? Hmmm....
Re:Grrr (Score:5, Funny)
No you're confused, Linux was spread by a Finn
Re:Grrr (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Grrr (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Grrr (Score:2)
That is such a bad headline... (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyway, penguins DO have wings (not fins) and they fly through water (not air). We call it swimming since it takes place in the water, but from a physical viewpoint, the bird is flying.
Re:Grrr (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Grrr (Score:2)
TuxRacer [tuxracer.com]
Penguins DO Fly. I've Seen 'em (Score:3, Funny)
A few years back, I witnessed an amazing sight. That's right, I saw penguins fly.
After attending a conference in San Diego, I snagged a Southwest Airlines flight home to Sacramento. The flight attendants, as usual, were perky and excited; but they also let me know as I boarded the plane that a surprise was in store.
(get your mind out of the gutter!)
After takeoff, the announcement came over the loudspeaker:
"We are very pleased to have some special passengers with us on Southwest today! Two penguins on
Re:Grrr (Score:2)
This is extremely bad news (Score:4, Funny)
Re:This is extremely bad news (Score:3, Funny)
Re:This is extremely bad news (Score:2)
Provided with enough thrust, just about anything can fly. I'm thinking of building a large potato gun that can be loaded with penguins or pigs.
Insensitive (Score:2)
SCO taking a beating? (Score:3, Offtopic)
Re:SCO taking a beating? (Score:5, Informative)
Speculation considers that most of SCO's assets could be frozen pending settlement with Baystar/RBC assuming SCO fights the redemption claim.
But I wouldn't be surprised to see SCO spin an up story for a week or two and have the stock jump again before everything crumbles in two weeks to a few months.
Re:SCO taking a beating? (Score:2)
Heh (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Heh (Score:2)
Re:Heh (Score:2)
And then you'll have to recompile the kernel whenever you want a poptart rather then toast.
Re:Heh (Score:2)
Why Linux will beat MS (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Why Linux will beat MS (Score:5, Insightful)
Think of it like a country with a 1 party political system. Then another one grows up from the grass roots. THe ordigional will never go away because there will always be die hards for it. M$ won't get squashed they will just have to compete in a market where they had no competition before.
Re:Why Linux will beat MS (Score:4, Insightful)
When a market becomes commoditized, that means that services tend to become more valuable than the item being traded. Translation - industries that rely on copyrights to restrict distribution and drive up profits are dead.
uhh...what? (Score:2)
I'm guessing it's modded insightful just because it says copyrights are bad.
Re:uhh...what? (Score:2)
Forking Linux ... (Score:2)
I was lost after the first clause ("FreeBSD allows forking pretty easially, Linux doesn't" - huh?), but was thinking maybe I missed something vital so I kept my mouth shut.
There is a certain truth to this. I can take a FreeBSD release, alter it and relicense it so that it can't be merged back into FreeBSD, allowing a permanent fork to occur. The GPL doesn't allow you to relicense the Linux codebase with the same freedom, so even when Linux kernel development forks, the forks can always be merged back int
Re:Forking Linux ... (Score:2)
Nah. Anyone can fork, any time, practically anything if you have the source code; sometimes it will be legal too. That's not interesting. What's interesting is whether the fork survives. Why would anyone else contribute to your branch when there's a main branch that *you've* left?
All I can say is that had better be one MOFA branch.
Re:Forking Linux ... (Score:3, Insightful)
You're missing the point (or I'm not making myself clear enough, which is always possible).
Forking is only a problem IF you can't take the code in the new fork and put it back into the original project. I can give you two reall
Re:Why Linux will beat MS (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why Linux will beat MS (Score:2)
basically when they were pushing ps/2 they were pushing all the other x86's forward as well.
my computer still has ps/2 style ports for keyboard and mouse.
Re:Why Linux will beat MS (Score:2, Interesting)
IBM just assumed that they could restr
Re:Why Linux will beat MS (Score:2)
The migration from big iron and Unix to Linux and commodity x86 servers may count as a paradigm shift but it is not at all clear how much that really threatens Microsoft.
This quote from the founder of Netscape caught my attention:
Then you have this whole universe of people in smaller businesses who are used to Microsoft. ... I would say Microsoft has a really big advantage in small and medium-size business. They hav
Hello, 1998 (Score:2)
Meanwhile, what's ignored is that paying for software gives financial incentive for programmers to spend all day ironing out that interface, making that sound card work, etc. and generally working on the non-fun areas in which Linux is sorely behind. It also lets them quit their dayjobs so they can focus all their time and energy on finishing the pro
Re:Hello, 1998 (Score:2)
You sound like the SCO folks did back in 98
Linux has nothing to do with hobbiests, it has to do with free markets and Microsoft has nothing to do with free markets - they half to do with a special government granted monopoly called copyrights. Like any monopoly that gets truely challenged, the consequences are similar and predictable.
Re:Hello, 1998 (Score:2)
This is the flipside of what he is saying. He said that linux uses a different paradigm from microsoft. You have just described what the Microsoft paradigm is, how it differs from the linux paradigm and what its advantages are. Thank you, this is a much better j
Re:Why Linux will beat MS (Score:2, Insightful)
There is often this myth, that if something is real big - it will be arround forever
An MS crash will not result in financial unstability, but will be a result of financial gains elsewhere. If MS looses 10 billion and everyone else in the US
Linux is a business plan for sucess... (Score:2, Troll)
Just like it did for SCO and Corel!
Re:Linux is a business plan for sucess... (Score:2)
ARGH (Score:3, Insightful)
I now LOATHE Slashdot everytime I see an article about Linux either 'spreading it wings' or an article with the gist 'linux is dying'.
These STATUS articles are unbearable.
If I want to know the Linux, Windows or OS X market share I will look it up!
This is a random rant so feel free to mod mod mod.
Re:ARGH (Score:2)
I would, but I couldn't find "Bitchy". (Would that be a +1 or -1?)
Re:ARGH (Score:2)
Re:ARGH (Score:5, Insightful)
It's articles like this that prod CEOs and CIOs to ask their staffs, "Why aren't we using Linux more?" Or they at least make executives more receptive to staff proposals that incorporate OSS.
If we're ever going to get to a tipping point where OSS is the first choice and MS "standards" are a second choice, more articles like this are needed in BW, Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Forbes.
Re:ARGH (Score:2)
No. And if I am alone in this, so be it.
Re:ARGH (Score:2)
But isn't that the problem with these sweeping generalizations? You never get to see the numbers which support them.
Re:ARGH (Score:2)
Concrete and/or even properly researched numbers and facts are indeed rare.
Re:ARGH (Score:4, Funny)
Today Linux is alive and well and thriving.
You mean to tell me that this kind of dramatic turnaround is not news? Linux came back from the brink of death to picture of health in ONE DAY.
Now that's news!
Re:ARGH (Score:2)
Coders? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Coders? (Score:4, Insightful)
I would have to say there are several reasons. Some people work for a foundation like Linus. Others work for companies like IBM and get paid. Others may write it because it makes thier job easier. I worked with someone who contributed but the only things he wrote were things that made his job easier. Those who make little to no money for it though and do it on the side I will just never understand.
Re:Coders? (Score:2)
There is a differenece in building your own car/bike/house than coding for something where a company will make a profit. If I build my own car it might get me a little profit but not a company. Same thing with a bike or house. If you build them for the masses then you are making money off of them. It's not like you build a car and give it away. Or a house and give it away. Not unless you are filthy rich which I
Re:Coders? (Score:2)
What is the difference exactly? There is nothing wrong with doing things without being motivated by profit, even if it involves other people making a profit. If you use the GPL, then other people don't really have an ability to profit of your work without offering some kind of service anyway. Money isn't everything.
Re:Coders? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Coders? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Coders? (Score:3, Interesting)
In most cases, they're getting a lot for their contributions,
Re:Coders? (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's see, they are independent coders who know the ins and outs of popular business software that's making money. If you're a company making money off of Linux/OSS and you need help debugging or customizing your implementation, who are you gonna hire?
For starters... (Score:2)
In fact, most GPL coders see some payback because companies have to contribute their code back, if they distribut
Re:Coders? (Score:5, Insightful)
I've [openoffice.org] already [debian.org] been [mozilla.org] thanked [freebsd.org].
Now [honeypot.net] I'm [honeypot.net] saying [honeypot.net] "you're [honeypot.net] welcome." [honeypot.net]
There are other currency systems than "money", you know.
Re:Coders? (Score:4, Insightful)
Just think of all the schmoes who got paid cut-rate wages to produce software for companies who then turn around and make fortunes off of their work. And they don't even have code to show for it. But hey - they knew that was the trade-off when they went in, right?
Re:Coders? (Score:5, Insightful)
There's your problem right there. You're using emotive language and I wouldn't be surprised to see you modded down because of it. A person can't really take something when it's already been given away, now can they?
Why do people write OSS? I just don't understand this question. I mean, is it that hard for people to understand someone wanting to contribute to a community project? It's not such an alien concept. Is it so different just because it involves writing software, instead of helping out at a local school or non-profit organization?
Re:Coders? (Score:3, Insightful)
Also, consider Marcelo Tosatti, who is the maintainer of the 2.4 kernel series. This was
Re:Coders? (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, it may be true that I got paid to write those. But a lot of people are interested in more than just money. Fame, honor, and "Hey dummy, you should have done it this way
One of the widespread misunderstandings is that people are only motivated by money. The economists who believe this can't understand things like Open Source (and charitable organizations). But to those of us who understand that humans can have a lot of different motivations, including things like "honor", it's easy to explain such mysterious behavior.
Remember a couple of years back, when the OSS crowd got all upset with Sun including some Open Source software in their distributions? People weren't upset that Sun did this. They were mostly rather pleased, in fact. What was unacceptable was that Sun stripped out the credits from the code and documentation. That put Sun on our sh*t list, until they put the credits back in. Using something that is given away is fine; that's why it's given away. But refusing to give credit is unforgivable.
For an interesting example, look at the man pages on linux or BSD systems, and compare them with the man pages on commercial unix-like systems. With linux and *BSD, most of the man pages have an AUTHOR(S) section telling you who wrote it, though sometimes the person's name is in another section near the end. In commercial *nix systems, the man pages usually contain a corporate copyright notice but not the author name(s), though sometimes an actual human name does slip through.
Re:Coders? (Score:4, Insightful)
Ok, I'll attempt an answer. I'll be honest and admit that I'm an insignificant contributor. In the grand scheme of things I rate slightly lower than a slug's belly. But I've still put in a fair few hours. Why do I do it? Because in return I've received the equivalent of over $15,000 of s'ware on my desktop alone. Even better, my licenses for Linux (including BSD, GPL, ART) permit unlimited copies. I can install software whenever and where ever I feel like it, without going through the hassle of paying some obscure company and getting a silly number that makes the software work.
The incredible thing is that when you have a million developers all providing insignificant little contributions, you get a very significant end product. I'm not saying that all developers are insignificant - some Linux developers have contributed far more than anybody else - but the concept is true for the rest of us: I give a little and I receive a lot. I get back far more than I put in. So I'm willing to keep putting something back in. I don't need thanks (nor would I expect any considering my insignificance) because all this great software is even better.
Now if I worked on BSD code I'd probably feel differently. Those guys are exploited schmucks ;-D
Linux installs now easier than ever (Score:3, Interesting)
Linux Spreads its Wings (Score:2)
Does that mean this is The Year Of Linux?
Re:Linux Spreads its Wings (Score:2)
Linux is becoming the standard interface (Score:5, Insightful)
It runs on (almost) all hardware architectures and supports a huge open-source application library which can be recompiled for all hardware architectures.
Mindshare, application library and number of users will continue to increase in all computing, yes even on the desktop.
Re:Linux is becoming the standard interface (Score:2)
"It runs on (almost) all hardware architectures and supports a huge open-source application library which can be recompiled for all hardware architectures."
Absolutely true and absolutely meaningless unless multi-purpose PCs drop dead and are all replaced by specialized Linux-based thin clients that the other 97.5% of the public market will use.
"Mindshare, application library and number of users will continue to increase in all computi
Linux spreads it's wings, but not to the Desktop? (Score:5, Interesting)
However, I don't see any mention of any Desktop Linux breakthroughs. Why? As far as I can tell there are two general types of computer users: those who want the computer to set itself up as much as possible and those who want total control over their computer and don't mind learning more than they ever set out to know about their computer.
If a decent Desktop Linux Distro ever comes out that is loved by the first group I can see the second group griping about how much it takes control away from the user. But wouldn't taking control away from the user be the goal of such a distro?
But that's what I think. I could be wrong.
Re:Linux spreads it's wings, but not to the Deskto (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe, maybe not. I'm reminded of an observation I've read about the early days of unix. At the time (early 70's), it was common practice in the computer biz to have special-purpose install/config tools for every package, and their data was usually in a secret binary format. Every package had its own install/config tool, and if anything went wrong, you often couldn't fix it (because the config tool died while reading the files).
Re:Linux spreads it's wings, but not to the Deskto (Score:2)
Kppp is one front-end that I wish the developers spend a little more time on. It took a long time for me to track down that I needed pppd to get the "noauth" setting set and Kppp was not allowed
Re:Linux spreads it's wings, but not to the Deskto (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not sure the two are mutually exclusive. There have been several times where I WISHED something would just "work" without having to dork with dependencies, the odd compilation error, or somesuch. Even so, just because you have a layer that provides all the sugar coating, it's just that - sugar coating. As long as I as scrape as little or
Re:What about Xandros? (Score:2)
Xandros [xandros.com] looks like it may be a decent Desktop system although it is a commercial distro and I don't want to spend the money to find out. This is the first I have ever heard of it so if they can come out with a Free/Lite edition and get on TechTV and somehow get the general public's interest it may take off.
But my question still is how will the second group react to these distros? Will they feel that they have lost too much control? Will they suffer
Couldn't resist... (Score:5, Funny)
Don't get me wrong, I like the penguins... it's just funny... Oh well, there goes my karma....
Re:Couldn't resist... (Score:2)
I keep forgetting about that site, but I absolutely love it.
"It wasn't Balmer or Gates...." (Score:2, Interesting)
Plausible deniability? He want us to believe that who ever it was at Microsoft who did phone Bay Star and ask them to fund SCO were never told by Balmer or Gates to do it? They just thought it was a whippy idea and took it upon themselves to make the call?
Ya. Right. Al Capone never bribed any cops, either.
The article doesn't mention Michael Anderer (Score:2)
Novell Reborn (Score:4, Interesting)
I just want to throw in my 2 cents and say that the Linux deals Novell has made in the past year are real head-slappers.
You know, "Dang! why didn't I think of that?"
For years, Novell has been looking at the Windows as an internet application server platform and for a while, they wanted Netware to compete. Finally, they found a way to make it happen - big time. They also bring to Linux all their years of experience with Netware, Groupwise and file and user security and directory services, so I even expect other projects like Samba and Filesystem ACLs [bestbits.at] will benefit too.
Dust off the red markers, boys, the 'N' is back in town.
Novell wasn't dead. (Score:2)
-Nick
Why does this matter? (Score:2)
Re:Wings (Score:3, Funny)
Unfortunately, my old laptop attempted this & the result was not pretty.
DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS!
Re:Offended (Score:3, Insightful)
Most older women _are_ technically incompetant.
You, as a slashdot poster, are obviously not. Nor is my mother.
If you had to pseudocode the role of women in that generation, it would be something like:
do
cook
clean kitchen
breed
repeat until dead
There is nothing in there about gaining technical competency. Most older women are not technically competant because its never been a part of their lives.
Re:Offended (Score:2)
Re:Offended (Score:2)
>
> Most older women _are_ technically incompetant.
>
> If you had to pseudocode the role of women in that generation, it would be something like:
>
> do
> cook
> clean kitchen
> breed
> repeat until dead
>
> There is nothing in there about gaining technical competency. Most older women are
> not technically competant because its never been a part of their lives.
>
What a reductionist thing to say. My mom is in that group, and she taught herself to be a
Re:Offended (Score:2)
>
> Italy is "the land that feminism forgot".
>
Ha! Very true. Stories I could tell.
>
> I don't know where you are, but I'm guessing North or Coastal US, Western Europe or Australia.
>
Guilty as charged: I'm an American. But we like to think one of the side effects of our cultural hegemony is emancipation.
And you...British, second year of Uni, not a Geordia?
Slashdot WON'T REPORT THIS (Score:2)
Re:Slashdot WON'T REPORT THIS (Score:2)
s/incompentant/incompetent/g (Score:2)
Re:Offended (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Offended (Score:2)
Were I her, I'd be waiting and waiting for your "duh" moment to hit, then she can gleefully point out how you're dumb.
Seriously, I would tend to agree; there are dumb and smart females out there just as there're dumb and smart males out there. But you need a better example--we all have "duh" moments where we missed the obvious!
Re:Offended (Score:2)
Re:i make music tools. (Score:3)
Re:i make music tools. (Score:2)
This is not a troll, I am genuinely amazed at this comment!
linux is being felt in a major way in this realm, too.
Please emlighten me as in what way. I've been wanting to use Linux for music for a loooong time now. I've tried most of the biggies. Rosegarden, Ardour etc but none of them are really useable Rosegarden is shaping up but its nowhere near stable. There are a few nice sample editors about but I havent found any music composition software that comes close to amazing me.
Im planning on ge
Re:i make music tools. (Score:2)