Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Quick! Think of some of the most popular open-source programs. Ill bet you thought of at least one of these: Linux, Firefox, Thunderbird and Apache. Now, name some of Microsofts most active open-source projects. Dead silence, except, perhaps the sound of a cricket in the distance? Theres a reason why you were able to quickly […]

IBM and Sun announced on Aug. 16 that IBM will distribute Suns Solaris operating system and Solaris Subscriptions for select x86-based IBM System x servers and BladeCenter servers to IBMs customers. It was only two and a half years ago that IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., said there was no significant customer interest in Solaris […]

It seems like only yesterday that I was saying VMwares IPO made no sense to me. Oh, wait, it was just yesterday. One of the big reasons for my dismissal of VMwares business chances was that I looked at all the open-source alternatives to VMwares flagship programs—Xen, OpenVZ, KVM, VirtualBox and UML (User Mode Linux)—and […]

In a surprising move, Microsoft and Linux distributor Xandros announced on Aug. 15 a messaging protocol license and collaboration agreement that will allow Scalix e-mail servers interoperability with Microsoft mobile- and PC-based e-mail applications. In the deal, Xandros has licensing for the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol and the Outlook Exchange Transport Protocol. Using these Scalix […]

In a surprise move, Google quietly released StarOffice in its Google Pack of free downloadable programs. StarOffice is Sun Microsystems commercial office suite. A version of it, OpenOffice, is the most popular open-source desktop suite. StarOffice 8 was released in 2005. In eWEEK Labs tests of StarOffice 8 at the time, the labs were pleased […]

OK, I dont own a single share of any technology stock. I cant work as a technology journalist and invest in tech companies. Now, if you want to know about the cocoa commodity future market, Im your man. That said, I do know technology and I do know business and I know theres not one […]

I can think of many reasons not to buy Vista, but why should I? After all, Microsoft has been doing a great job of that all by itself. Take, for example, the fact that U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman just ruled that a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Microsoft of what amounts to deceptive advertising […]

The only thing thats surprising today, Aug. 2, is that the Chicago Cubs are leading, albeit by mere percentage points, the National League Central. In Massachusetts, however, the Red Sox continue to lead the American League East and the state government has rolled over for Microsofts so-called standard: Open XML. Technically, all thats happened is […]

If you want a cup of coffee, would you buy a mug from Starbucks that would only let you drink coffee from it if Starbucks filled it? Or, how about a mug from Seattles Best, which can only be filled by a Seattles Best barrister? Of course not! So why do you put up with […]

Weve known for a while now that Cisco was planning on doing away with its Linksys brand. My question for John Chambers, Ciscos CEO, is: “Why do you really want to hurt your company so bad? Back in April, Chambers said, “Over the long run we will move to a Cisco brand in the consumer […]

Some people seem to have a short circuit in their minds when they try to explain why Windows has such an enormous desktop market share. Some of them have the delusion that Windows is technically better than the competition. It never was. It isnt now. And, considering how Vista is staggering along, it never will […]

A recent story entitled, “Dearly Departed: Companies and Products That Didnt Deserve to Die” didnt cover Linux or open-source companies. That got me to thinking. So here, without further adieu, is my list of five Linux companies that died before their time. 5) Cobalt Networks Way back in 2000, Sun purchased Cobalt Networks, a hotter […]