Who Shot Darl McBride?, Apr 23, 2004

Expect SCO to comply or die. There are two reasons for this. Whether or not it could afford the financial hit and whether or not it can be forced to return the money -- neither is clear -- it cannot afford to have Baystar as an enemy for any length of time. The best reason, though, is simple: Baystar is dead right on all counts.

i3 Micro Technology expects to ship in September a version of its "Mood Box" IP set-top box that will run Linux on a single-core DSP from Texas Instruments (TI). The third-generation Mood Box will be able to load a wide range of CODECs on the fly.

The Mood Box targets live IP-based TV, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, music-on-demand, Internet browsing, email, and other interactive services and 'infotainment' applications. It can be used with i3's streaming server products for IP TV and video-on-demand, or standalone with various third-party products and services.

Opera Software today released the beta 1 of version 7.50, redesigned for Linux and across other operating systems including Windows, Mac, FreeBSD and Solaris. The release marks the first time that upgrades for all desktop platforms have been released simultaneously.

KDE 3.2 has won the Industry Award for the best Linux Desktop Environment at the Linux User and Developer Expo 2004 held in London recently, according to a media release.

Linux may be entrenched in the data center, but it will need some sprucing up before the upstart operating system grabs a significant spot on desktop PCs.

Cosmetic improvements, more and better business applications and better marketing will help turn the tide, according to speakers at the Desktop Linux Summit here.

While figures vary widely on worldwide Linux desktop penetration, most credible sources place it between 0.5 percent and 2 percent of the market, making the open-source operating system a slowly rising third to Windows and Apple Computer.

Big Blue is migrating some its internal applications to Linux but is taking its time, according to an IBM executive speaking at the Linux User and Developer show in London

IBM isn't rushing all of its staff onto open-source software but is embracing Linux in places where it provides genuine business benefits, the company said this week.

Brazil's left-leaning federal government is set to adopt free software on a big scale in an effort to save taxpayers billions of dollars and increase independence from multinational suppliers such as Microsoft.

At least five ministries in the federal government are to switch their internet web servers and most desktop computers to free software, such as Linux, the alternative operating system to Microsoft Windows. Already nearly a dozen government agencies, including the defence ministry, have used free software on a trial basis.

Sun Microsystems has exceeded its own expectations. The company has signed 21 original equipment manufacturers for several products the company offers as alternatives to Microsoft desktop software, Sun announced at the Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego this week.

The OEM deals, with companies such as Tadpole Computer and Taiwan-based Nature Worldwide Technology, are for such Sun products as the Java Desktop System, which contains a Linux-based operating system and related desktop software, the StarOffice software suite and Sun Ray thin clients.

While election officials, lawmakers and critics in Maryland and other states squabble over the reliability of electronic voting systems, a small group of computer scientists and engineers has been developing one that might actually work.

The Open Voting Consortium is scheduled to demonstrate a prototype today in San Jose, Calif. You can try a version yourself on the Web at www.open votingconsortium.org.

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