Samizdat's critics ... Brown replies, Jun 05, 2004

Samizdat is a series of excerpts from an upcoming book on open source and operating systems that will be published later this year. AdTI did not publish Samizdat with the expectation that rabidly pro-Linux developers would embrace it. Its purpose is to provide U.S. leadership with a researched presentation on attribution and intellectual property problems with the hybrid source code model, particularly Linux. It is our hope that leadership would find this document helpful with public policy decisions regarding its future investment in Linux and other hybrid source products.

SCO has asked the court in its case against IBM to force Big Blue to hand over yet more code in the hope of finding lines that infringe what the company claims is its copyright.

After reviewing the Unix source code provided by IBM - something that delayed the trial because of the sheer size and amount of it - SCO appears to be having trouble find the code that it claims IBM wrongly contributed to the Linux open-source OS.

As such, it has asked the court to order IBM to produce more materials documenting the development of its AIX and Dynix operating systems, and argues that the files that IBM has produced to date are "incomplete".

Don't make celebratory plans just yet to join the Open Source Solaris Community: Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) is only saying that it is looking at its plans to open up the Solaris source code, meaning it could happen months from now, years from now or, in fact, never.

Despite reports yesterday that it was a done deal, Sun is now backtracking, confusing just about everyone as to exactly what changes, if any, the company will make to the Solaris licensing and development model. Adding to that problem is the lukewarm reception that the proposal, and the way Sun announced it, is receiving.

Linux seller Red Hat and chipmaker Intel released prototype Linux software this week to support a security technology designed to curtail the spread of viruses.

The security technology, called NX for "no execute," is built into several "x86" processors from Intel, AMD and Transmeta. The technology is designed to block vulnerabilities that viruses and worms use to spread, but operating system support is required for NX to work.

On Wednesday, Red Hat programmer Ingo Molnar announced a Linux patch for NX support based on a prototype from Intel.

Jack Perry was an Amiga user in the world of academia who did research into the field of mathematics. Mr. Perry has an encouraging tale to tell about his (unnamed) university of Macs winning out over both Linux and Windows in his field. Mr. Perry begins his tale with the explanation that he had to replace his Amiga machine, and how he chose to buy an iBook, while his department as a whole went the Linux route. That was three years ago, and today many of those Linux boxes are being replaced with Macs. From his story, which was published by OSNews.com:

Microsoft Corp., has put a new twist on managing its patents past and future by attaching licensing agreements to them that could hurt competitors.

The Redmond, Wash., software giant has more than 100 patent-licensing discussions under way, which will offer royalty-bearing licenses both to partners and competitors, and even to sellers of open-source products that have emerged as the company's biggest threat.

But some observers see an opportunity arising in which Microsoft may press for royalties from the distributors or even users of open-source programs including Linux, the Wall Street Journal said Friday.

American colleges and universities are often on the cutting edge of Linux and open source use -- collaborating across campuses, enabling student and faculty open source projects, and providing unique experimentation and testing environments -- but when it comes to teaching Linux and open source development, administration, or other knowhow, it appears higher education has just been accepted for early admission.

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