Linux gadget lets travelers watch home TV from across the globe, Jul 08, 2003

An interesting Linux-based wireless home appliance targeting international travelers is set to go on sale today in France. According to Nexedi, its "TVBrick Home Server" allows travelers to watch home TV channels when they are abroad. The device, which is based on the OpenBrick platform connects to a broadband Internet connection in the home, and allows the traveler to watch home TV channels remotely using a laptop or PC provided broadband Internet access is available at the remote location. The remote PC thus receives streaming audio and video from the TVBrick Home Server. For example, someone from Japan with a TVBrick Home Server installed and operating at home could watch Japanese TV programs while traveling in France.

The Australian Unix and Open Systems User Group (AUUG) is calling on the open source community to nominate outstanding Australians who have contributed to the open source cause for its second annual awards.

The Open Source Awards (OSA) 2003, which were launched last year alongside AUUG’s annual technical conference in Melbourne, are designed to encourage and recognise work undertaken by Australians towards the open source movement.

Gordon Haff, an analyst with research firm Illuminata, saw the overseas trip as more of a fishing expedition for SCO.

"They certainly have not given the impression of having a clear and specific and well-focused strategy, beside the fact they're just going to try lots of things around their (intellectual property) and see what sticks," Haff said. "At least at this point, they're putting out this appearance that they're going to be pests until someone pays them to go away. They want to see who else might be out there with money and look at what other pressure points they can apply."

NEC Solutions America Inc. and Stratus Technologies Inc. are looking to Linux as a way to expand the reach of their respective fault-tolerant servers.

The consent decree approved by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in November includes provisions aimed at giving computer makers more freedom to feature non-Microsoft software on the machines they sell.

But Massachusetts told Kollar-Kotelly, in a filing posted on the court's Web site on Monday, that it was looking at whether the world's largest software maker had retaliated against a computer maker for promoting Linux, an alternative to Microsoft's Windows operating system.

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