Study puts paid to common myth about GPL, Apr 24, 2003

The Microsoft EULA "appears to limit choices, options and actions" taken by users of software covered by that licence. The GPL appears to safeguard the rights of the original developers in order to ensure continued accessibility of the source code for the software, the study found.

Webmaster's note: A follow-up to the previous story about Codeweavers

Users can now run Office XP on Linux, but if they have problems they will get little sympathy from Microsoft technical support

I now run Red Hat Linux 9 and Gnome pretty much exclusively, and my WindowsXP partition is gone. Replaced by a virtual machine. I have learned that what you can't accomplish in the Gnome GUI is usually some sysadmin related task. I am forcing myself to use Bash more. I think this is a good thing, and in no way a step backwards. I can create an ISO image of a CD in one line. That's pretty amazing if you ask me. But more importantly, it's testament to underlying philosophies and concepts that are some 40 years old. While Windows struggles to become a true multiuser environment (trust me, it's struggling - I administer WTS/Citrix farms) everything is already there in Linux. Linux has a solid foundation. Windows has its foundations in 'New Technology' which by Bill Gates own admission, NT was to become "more Unix than Unix". If you ask me, Windows has its foundations in mergers, acquisitions and marketing; its underlying philosophy seems to be 'on error resume next'.

The extent to which open source software is free needs to be understood as it may not be as much as you think. However, the multiplier effect comes into play when thousands of PCs are involved; the savings from cutting out Microsoft licence fees can mount up.

CRN: What components does SCO allege IBM donated to the open-source community?

McBride: I can't answer that right now for legal reasons. It will be discussed in court. But we're not talking about insignificant amounts of code. It's substantial System V code showing up in Linux.

MostlyWeb today announced that it has expanded its suite of full-service outsourcing solutions by joining forces with LinuxForce to provide Linux customization, integration and management services for its Philadelphia area corporate clients.

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