Linux on the rise as messaging platform, Dec 09, 2004

If its manufacturers can guarantee uninterrupted service, Linux could gain traction in the enterprise as a messaging platform within the next two years, according to a recent survey.

Seeking to win over Java coders working on Linux, IBM is making its Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Linux available as a free download on its developerWorks Web site. Java developers can also download the latest version of the open-source Eclipse SDK from the same site.

'This makes it easier for developers to work with Eclipse,' says Gina Poole, IBM vice president developer marketing and Web communities for ISV and developer relations. 'In the past, Java developers would have to download Eclipse from Eclipse.org and then go to Sun and download the Java runtime environment. We're making it easier for them by putting both together.'

It was an interesting week on the open source front. Computer Associates took their low-market-share Ingres database and released it under an open source license. Of course, there are already several widely-used databases (such as MySQL and PostgreSQL - itself a derivative of an earlier version of Ingres) available under open source licenses. The more interesting part of the news is that CA has also put up one million dollars in bounty money for open source developers who help out with migration utilities designed to move applications from other databases to Ingres.

The KDE Project last week announced the availability of the first beta of the 3.3 version of its free graphical desktop environment for Linux and Unix workstations. KDE 3.3 Beta 1, code-named 'Klassroom,' (the alpha of 3.3 was called 'Kindergarten'), was released in preparation for the upcoming KDE Community World Summit 2004 (August 21-29, 2004, in Ludwigsburg, Germany), an event known in the KDE community as the 'aKademy.'

Swedish open-source database maker MySQL AB plans to release a new clustered database product with high-availability support next month, company officials disclosed. The new MySQL Cluster combines the company's flagship open-source database with a clustering architecture officials say is designed to deliver database applications with so-called five-nines availability (99.999%, or less than five minutes of downtime per year).

The new cluster capabilities are based on technology from Alzato, a start-up venture created by European telecom equipment maker Ericsson in 2000 and acquired by MySQL AB last October. Officials describe the technology, called NDB Cluster, as a high-availability data management system designed for the telecom/IP environment. MySQL Cluster is designed to automatically shift workloads among as many as 32 servers, presenting the company with an opportunity to target larger organizations with its products.

The product is scheduled to debut at the MySQL Users Conference in mid-April, according to MySQL AB Marketing VP Zack Urlocker.