Server sales shrink, IBM still top dog, Sep 13, 2001

IBM widened its lead in a drastically shrinking server market during the second quarter, gaining against once-feared Sun Microsystems and the possible duo of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer. IBM server revenue increased from $3 billion to $3.2 billion, a 5.3 percent rise from the second quarter of 2000. Big Blue now controls more than a quarter of the total market, according to market researcher IDC. The growth is evidence of the success of its efforts begun in 1999 to recover from Sun's gains.

The 51 employees who lost their jobs in the latest round of layoffs at Caldera International include a programmer who helped lead a key part of the company's strategy of making its Linux and Unix operating systems work in the same way. Juergen G. Kienhoefer helped write the Linux Kernel Personality (LKP) software, which lets Linux programs run unmodified on Caldera's higher-end Open Unix software.

Two more Linux companies are taking drastic measures to cope with financial problems. Lineo is ridding itself of more than half of its work force, and Ebiz Enterprises has filed for bankruptcy protection.

Embedded Linux specialist Lineo is getting rid of over half of its staff, through a mix of redundancies and reassignment to "peripheral" projects the company hopes to sell or spin off.

Sixty staff will be sent pink slips. Another hundred are left wondering when they will leave the company. Some 110 workers will be retained to work on Embedix and RTXC, Lineo's two core OS products.

Trolltech, a Norwegian software company, has released version 1.4 of its open-source Qt Palmtop Environment, a software for handheld computers. The software includes programs to handle basic tasks such as graphics, program launch, text input and windows, as well as higher-level software such as a calendar, to-do list, address book, MPEG4 video and MP3 audio players, picture viewer and games.

 View older news this year: Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
 View news from other years: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999