Microsoft Strikes Patent Deal With Alpine Electronics, Feb 20, 2008

Alpine already offers a number of products, including global positioning systems, that run atop a version of Microsoft's Windows operating system designed for vehicular use.

The company plans to ship Ubuntu and Red Hat versions of its "Open Collaboration Client," a combination of Lotus Notes 8 and Symphony.

Novell has expressed concerns that SCO is attempting to sell off assets that could be used to help satisfy its possible financial obligations to Novell.

Previously, Microsoft has reached Linux accords with Samsung, Novell, LG Electronics, and Linux distributor Xandros.

Until recently, Linux PCs were about as easy to find in stores as a vinyl record. Now, personal computers with the Linux operating system pre-installed are becoming more readily available, thanks to new models from upstarts and established PC makers -- and disappointment with Microsoft's new Windows Vista OS.

A British educational report suggests the upgrade would increase costs and create software compatibility problems while providing little benefit.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer once called Linux a cancer. Now, thanks to his company's alliance with Novell, he's probably labeling the open source OS as something much more benign.

McAfee warned that license terms governing open source software "may result in unanticipated obligations regarding our products."

Just in time for the holidays, Wal-Mart has re-stocked a Linux-based PC that sells for $199.

Microsoft has long claimed that Linux violates its patents, but has refused to be specific. A recent deal between the software company and a printer maker may offer a clue.

Wal-Mart officials said Wednesday that the retailer plans to re-stock a hot selling, Linux-based PC that is currently sold out on its Web site.

SCO is hoping to sell its UnixWare line of business software and some of its mobile technology to investment group York Capital Management for $36 million.

The European Union said Monday that Microsoft is now in compliance with its antitrust rulings -- paving the way for greater use of open source operating systems like Linux in the workgroup server market.

Linux 2.6.23 includes a number of technical enhancements that will be of most interest to developers, including better support for Sun Microsystems' 64-bit Sparc chips and Analog Devices' embedded Blackfin processors.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company expects payment from computer users who run Red Hat Linux because the open source operating system violates Microsoft's intellectual property rights.

SCO Group CEO Darl McBride says competition from the open source Linux operating system was a major reason why the company was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.

SCO could be facing a serious cash and asset shortage if it does not receive a favorable decision in its 3-1/2-year-old legal battle with Novell over the Unix operating system.

Talk about irony. Now that we know "Fake Steve Jobs" is Forbes reporter Dan Lyons, we also know that FSJ--as Lyons--once tried to out the tech industry's other, equally infamous sub-rosa blogger--Groklaw's Pamela Jones.

Microsoft says software that's licensed under GPLv3 isn't covered by the patent protection deal it recently signed with desktop Linux distributor Linspire.

Linux creator Linus Torvalds said the authors of a new software license expected to be used by thousands of open source programmers are a bunch of hypocrites and likened them to religious fanatics -- the latest sign of a growing schism in the open source community between business-minded developers like Torvalds and free software purists.