The Commercial Bear Hug Of Open Source, Aug 18, 2008

While there is never any shortage of hope in the world of technology, perhaps the largest gusher in the last 20 years came from two words: open source, a term that is too large for one column (too big for most books, in fact).

In the print edition of Forbes there's a great (albeit sometimes painful) tradition of doing "follow-through" articles where a reporter either takes a victory lap for making a good call or falls on his sword for making a bad one. Online publications don't typically ask for follow-throughs. But I need to write one.

The SCO Group frightened potential business users away from Linux with lawsuits demanding billions in royalties. But the litigious company's claims were shot down in a ruling that will likely boost uptake of the operating system.

At long last, the SCO Group's ugly, often farcical legal crusade against Linux appears to be over.

... while Stallman lacks a talent for hype, he does have persistence on his side, and the kind of credibility that comes with being a true believer.

Microsoft should have admitted that Linux matters sooner. For years, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant seemed to be in denial as the open-source operating software made gains against its Windows franchise.

SCO tried last week to serve a subpoena to Jones at a house in Darien, Conn., where they believe she's been living, but the attempt was unsuccessful, according to a person close to the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Investors fled SCO Group’s stock on Friday, voting with their feet after a federal judge gutted its lawsuit against IBM.

It seems like a great idea: making a computer that's somewhere between the size of a cell phone and a laptop, for people to carry around and surf the Web.

This is stunning. This is like Red Sox fans announcing they're going to root for the Yankees.

Seems like this case will never, ever grind to a conclusion. And not a month goes by without something weird or pathetic or inadvertently hilarious happening.

The world already has several “free” versions of the open-source Linux operating system, but Shuttleworth’s version, called Ubuntu, undercuts them all on price--and works better, according to many respected sources.

Linux today has less than 2% market share on the desktop. That's because with past versions of Linux only hackers could get Linux installed and running right. But a new batch of easier-to-use versions is putting Linux within reach of regular folks.

RealNetworks said Wednesday that it has agreed to a multiyear agreement to offer Mozilla's Firefox Web browser with downloads of its RealPlayer, Rhapsody and RealArcade software programs.

Shares of Red Hat fell 9% after the Linux software provider disappointed with below-consensus first-quarter earnings and a conservative outlook for 2007.

Wednesday night, in a blistering 39-page ruling, Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells of the United States District Court in Utah tossed out two-thirds of SCO's claims against IBM.

After a recent pullback in Novell shares and meetings with company management, Banc of America Securities analyst Kirk Materne suggested that the time is right for a new chief executive officer.

Sun’s problem is huge and it is simple: Linux. The free operating system, yoked to low-cost processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, has decimated the Unix market by offering customers a cheap alternative to pricey Unix boxes like the ones Sun makes.

Microsoft is to give Linux' penguin mascot a plank across the ice. The software leviathan stunned a rookery of Linux users yesterday at a conference and expo in Boston with the revelation that it will now provide technical support for the open-source software running on Virtual Server, and would make Virtual Server 2005 R2 available free.

Microsoft can't afford to screw up like this. There are free alternatives to everything Microsoft sells, like the Linux operating system and the Open Office application suite.