Archive for the 'linux' Category
Red hat to be more compatible with Windows
By Justin Silverton
In a recent article:
“In the latest example of a Linux distributor looking to get closer to Microsoft, Red Hat said Tuesday that it has joined the Interop Vendor Alliance, a group of tech companies working to make their products more interoperable with those produced in Redmond.
Red Hat says most of its work within the group will focus on making its middleware more compatible with Microsoft’s and will build on efforts previously undertaken by its JBoss division. The goal, Red Hat says, is to ensure that its products can perform well in environments in which Windows also plays a large role. Shaun Connolly, Red Hat’s VP for product management, says the company is looking to make its user experience “transparent and seamless in spite of heterogeneous environments.
Red Hat’s announcement came a day after Microsoft and Novell outlined a roadmap for products designed to work in either Windows or Linux environments. The companies said they will focus their joint efforts on building more efficient, cost-effective products for facilitating server virtualization, Web services implementations, directory and identity interoperability, and document format compatibility”
Will linux finally have compatiblity with Microsoft windows? Given the history of Microsoft, I don’t think we are going to see a completly open .doc standard anytime soon.
who really owns linux?
By Justin Silverton
The linux operating system is based on community. Many of the utilities and functionality are based on the hard work of open source developers from around the world. A recent article here is slightly disconcerting to me.
From the article:
“The Free Software Foundation is reviewing Novell Inc.’s
“The community of people wants to do anything they can to interfere with this deal and all deals like it. They have every reason to be deeply concerned that this is the beginning of a significant patent aggression by Microsoft,” Eben Moglen, the Foundation’s general counsel, said on Friday.
The foundation controls intellectual property rights to key parts of the open-source Linux operating system.
Novell angered members of the open-source community that develops Linux and other free software programs in November when it entered a wide-ranging business deal with Microsoft.
Critics called on the board to punish Novell by banning it from distributing new versions of Linux software, said Moglen.
Linux is the most popular variant of open-source software. Unlike proprietary software such as Microsoft Windows, open-source software lets developers share code and add functions and is generally available at no cost.
Moglen said the board has not made a decision on the matter but that he expects it to announce a ruling within two weeks.
If the foundation decides to take action, the ban would apply to new versions of Linux covered under a licensing agreement due to take effect in March”
I don’t necessarily agree with what Novell is doing, but why ban them from selling linux? If they haven’t violated the GNU in any way (although many might not like the fact that they are involved with Microsoft) I see no reason to ban them from selling linux.
I also find this very hypocritical from an organization that is against intellectual property (The only reason they can ban novell or any other company from selling linux is because they own the intellectual property on many of the tools that make up the operating system).
Update (2/4/07): A clarification of the above article has been posted here
Novell can still use and sell linux (and GNU based software) under the GPLv2. However, anything under the new license (GPLv3) they will not be able sell because of the patent dealings with Microsoft. This isn’t as bad as I originally thought, but it still makes me wonder how far the FSF will go to “protect” free software.
Companies should start stocking up on GPLv2 software.
5 open alternatives to Microsoft Exchange
By Justin Silverton
After the recent announcement by Novell that they were dropping support for the Hula project (an open alternative to Microsoft exchange), I decided to search the Internet for similar applications/projects.
1) Zimbra (commercial and free versions available)
- Desktop client compatibility. Sync mail, contacts, and calendar to Microsoft Outlook and/or to Apple (Mail, Address Book, iCal).
- Professional administration. Real time mailbox backup and restore, high availability clustering, storage cost management.
- Zimbra Mobile. Over-the-air synchronization of mail, contacts, and calendar data with mobile devices.
- Advanced web productivity. Ability to search for content inside attachments and view attachments as HTML instead of downloading.
- Domain management. Ability to re-brand the web client and administer multiple customer domains.
2) Open Xchange (commercial and free versions available)
- Linux Compatibility. Support 30 different linux distributions.
- All Information in One folder. Using one folder, users can store all information needed for a particular project, including all contacts, meetings, and background information.
- Document Management. Automatic versioning, locking of documents during editing, saving from MS Office applications, and access from MS explorer.
3) Scalix (commercial and free versions available)
- Outlook Support. Offers automatic offline mailbox caching and improved PDA syncing.
- Plug-in support. Provides certified plug-ins support for Google Desktop and MSN Search, McAfee VirusScan, Symantec Norton Utilities and Captaris RightFax Outlook Extension.
- Search and Indexing Services. Real-time indexing of private and public folder messages. This results in sub-second mailbox-wide search and retrievals, even in very large mailboxes and folders.
4) Citadel
- Ajax Support. An intuitive, easy-to-use AJAX interface.
- Domain Management. Multiple domain support.
- Easy Installation. installs in minutes without the need to manually integrate all the different components together.
- Contact Management. Saves and organizes thousands of personal and company contacts, telephone, fax, addresses, e-mail contact addresses just to mention a few. Easily configurable with extensive and speedy search capabilities, categorization and remotely accessible.
- Group Calendar. Manage meetings and events for an entire group or individual set of accounts. Attach notes to appointments. Link appointments to contacts and projects. Automatic detection of conflicts.
- Resource Planner. Keep track of your company’s resources such as automobiles, projectors or conference rooms. Searchable timeslots to check for availability of specific resources or resources assigned to a specific group. Automatically check for resource conflicts upon appointment creation.
Red Hat Rejecting Microsoft’s offer
By Justin Silverton
“Thursday, Microsoft’s Ballmer said that the Redmond, Wash. developer was ready to cut a deal with Red Hat similar to the one it struck with Linux seller Novell last week. “We are willing to do the same deal with Red Hat Linux and other Linux distributors,” Ballmer was quoted by the Seattle Post-Intellengencer during a Q&A at an sql database conference.”
The Microsoft/Novell Deal includes patent protections, support cooperation, and co-development agreements.
In a recent turn of events, Red Hat has reject Microsoft’s offer:
“We do not believe there is a need for or basis for the type of relationship defined in the Microsoft-Novell announcement,” said Mark Webbink, Red Hat’s deputy general counsel, in an e-mail. “[But] Red Hat has and will continue to work with Microsoft on true interoperability and open standards in the way we did in advising them in the development of their Open Specification Promise.”
What will this mean for RedHat? Are they going to be sued for patent violations or will the prevail as Microsoft’s competitor?