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Linux Business

Submission + - Linspire releases controversial version 6.0 (archive.org)

Submitted by
christian.einfeldt
christian.einfeldt writes: "Today, Linspire releases version 6.0, its first new GNU/Linux distro in more than two years. With version 6.0, Linspire is betting that its business model of including licenses for proprietary software and formats such as Quicktime, Windows Media Player, Flash, Real, and Microsoft OOXML will win enough market share among mainstream Apple and Microsoft users to offset the backlash from opponents of proprietary software and formats. Version 6.0 also includes the highly controversial Microsoft patent coverage that has incited wide-reaching negative press coverage in the Free Open Source Software press, forums and blogosphere. But from Linspire's perspective, it's all about those new GNU/Linux users:

"Today we continue the Linspire tradition by offering the choice of a better overall experience for users new to desktop Linux," said Larry Kettler, President and CEO of Linspire, Inc. "Linspire 6.0 further bridges the gap between open source and commercial software, combining the best from each into a single easy-to-use, familiar and productive operating system."
"
Operating Systems

Submission + - Linux 2.6.23 Kernel Benchmarks (phoronix.com)

Submitted by
Orre
Orre writes: "It looks like the new Linux 2.6.23 Kernel performs very good even with the new CFS process scheduler (Completely Fair Scheduler) has stirred up some worries in the Linux community. Look at these initial Kernel Benchmarks."
Microsoft

Submission + - Ballmer claims that Red Hat users owe Microsoft

Submitted by
walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: "According to this story in vnunet "Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has warned users of Red Hat Linux that they will have to pay Microsoft for its intellectual property." According to PJ at groklaw "Ballmer threatens to destroy all FOSS with patents, not just Red Hat." Microsoft does not specify exactly what IP that is supposed to be infringing."
Biotech

Submission + - Scientists studying mutations in MRSA strain (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by jb.cancer
jb.cancer writes: Scientists at Rockefeller University are studying mutations of a Multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) strain in an unnamed victim. The bug has been tracked over a 12 week period during which the genetic mutations under influence of antibiotics were studied. Scientists hope to understand the underlying mechanism used by such microbes to evade drugs.

The story from BBC is here.

One wonders if multi-drug resistant microbes or a new class of antibiotics will have first strike in this bio-war.
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Sun Says Project Indiana is Not a Linux Copy (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "Ian Murdock (Debian author & Sun's OS Chief) made some comments about Project Indiana that many have said is an attempt to make Solaris simply "more Linux-like." But Murdock quashes any concerns that this is just another Linux clone — muddying up the waters of distribution selection. He says that it's more a 'best of both worlds' attempt to make an OS that appeals to a broader audience. From the article, "Project Indiana will include a revamped package management system, which should prove popular with developers unaccustomed to Solaris. The OS has some clunky, archaic aspects, and Murdock thinks the new package system will modernize Solaris.""
Intel

Submission + - Intel says EC's antitrust case is wrong (mercurynews.com)

Submitted by SplatMan_DK
SplatMan_DK writes: According to this article at MercuryNews.com, The European Commission relied on incorrect assumptions and mistaken conclusions to bring antitrust charges against Intel, the company's top attorney said Friday. Europe's antitrust watchdogs notified Intel of the charges Thursday, alleging that the world's largest chip maker abused its dominant position by trying to exclude AMD from the $33 billion semiconductor market...
United States

Submission + - US -Saudi arms deal (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by jb.cancer
jb.cancer writes: The US it seems is preparing for major arms deal with Saudi Arabia. This includes missile systems and fighter jets. The stated purpose is along the lines of countering Iranian military strength.

Well it could be called paranoia, but the last time the US supplied an anti-Iran country with weapons things didn't turn out quite well for the recipient a decade or two down the line. Now Osama and family are from Saudi Arabia, which sounds like a good enough reason (provided the place has enough oil to attract the right people) to...
Google

Submission + - Google plans youtube Antipiracy tool

Submitted by
nevillethedevil
nevillethedevil writes: "PCWorld is reporting that Google have announced a new antipiracy tool for Youtube to be launched by September. This announcement comes as part of the lawsuit battle with Viacom. From the article. "The technology will be as sophisticated as fingerprint technology used by the FBI and Google plans to roll it out in the fall, "hopefully in September," attorney Philip S. Beck of Barlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP told U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton, according to the AP. Fall runs from late September to late December.""
Censorship

Submission + - MPs outlaw satire in New Zealand

Submitted by
mernil
mernil writes: "New Zealand's Parliament has voted itself far-reaching powers to control satire and ridicule of MPs in Parliament, attracting a storm of media and academic criticism. The new standing orders, voted in last month, concern the use of images of Parliamentary debates, and make it a contempt of Parliament for broadcasters or anyone else to use footage of the chamber for "satire, ridicule or denigration"."
Communications

Submission + - Vodafone Tipped for iPhone Agreement (timesonline.co.uk)

Submitted by
bobmarleypeople
bobmarleypeople writes: "According to an article on The Times Online, it's rumoured that Vodafone will be the network provider for the Europe release of the iPhone. However as the article states: "Vodafone faces stiff competition for the exclusive rights to distribute the handset in Europe from rivals such as Orange and the German-owned T-Mobile. ... The relatively greater upside for smaller UK players such as T-Mobile means they will not retire from the negotiating table without a furious fight." So don't go out buying Vodafone SIM cards just yet."
Space

Submission + - Return of the Static Universe

Submitted by Dr. Eggman
Dr. Eggman writes: According to an article on ars technica and its accompanying General Relativity and Gravitation journal article The return of a static universe and the end of cosmology, in the far future of the universe, all evidence of the origin of the universe will be gone. Intelligences alive 100-billion-years from now will observe a universe that appears much the way our early 1900s view of the universe was: Static, had always been there, and consisted of little more than our own galaxy and a islands of matter.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Flash game illustrates BSA anti-piracy thinking

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Turkish branch of the BSA is promoting a somewhat bizarre Flash game titled 'Korsanavcisi' ("Piratehunter") where you guide a BSA agent in suit and sunglasses around a maze and smack software pirates carrying sacks filled with illegal CDs with a "Copyright and Royalties Law" book. Upon being smacked with "the Law", the pirates become immobilized and turn into sheepish looking but legal software users. But beware — any pirates left on the loose can turn "cured" software users back into software pirates on contact. You must thus hunt down every last pirate within a set time limit to advance to the next stage, brave Piratehunter! Arrowkeys move the agent around the maze. Space brings copyright law down on the Pirates.
Software

Submission + - Jim Butterfield Passes Away (google.com)

Submitted by
outZider
outZider writes: "Jim Butterfield passed away last night at 1:30 in the morning from complications from cancer, according to a thread in comp.sys.cbm. He inspired many a geek who hacked their way through a Commodore 64 in the old days. He certainly helped me explore the inner workings of these machines, and how to write better code. He will be missed."

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