Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

In a recent column, I speculated that Mark Shuttleworth, CEO of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, might make Ubuntu the next Linux distribution to make a deal with Microsoft. Now, Shuttleworth, in his latest blog post, denies that possibility, writing, “We have declined to discuss any agreement with Microsoft under the threat of unspecified patent […]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Believe it or not, on my way to the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit at the Googolplex here this week, I realized that I knew at least one more Linux distributor would form a partnership with Microsoft, and that the most likely one was Linspire. Why? Did you read my piece on Linux company […]

Linspire has announced an agreement to license voice-enabled instant messaging, Windows Media 10 codecs, and TrueType font technologies from Microsoft for its Linux distribution. Additionally, Microsoft will offer protection to Linspire customers against possible violations of Microsoft patents by Linux. In his June 14 weekly Linspire Letter, Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony stated, “This agreement will […]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—When Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu founder and CEO of Canonical Ltd., spoke at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit at the Googleplex, he didnt talk about Ubuntu, patents, or hardware vendor partnerships. Instead he devoted his keynote speech to the importance of collaboration in fixing bugs and getting timely patches out to Linux users. /zimages/2/28571.gifRead […]

There are financial programs for Linux, but none of them have achieved the incredible mindshare of Quicken. Now, Intuit has decided to give Linux a try with its release on June 13 of QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions—Intuits financial and business management software for mid-market companies. This is not Quicken or QuickBooks as most users know it, […]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—If anyone out there still thinks that the main Linux kernel might change to the GNU GPLv3 (GNU General Public License Version 3) anytime soon, you can forget about it. At the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit at the Googleplex, five of the leading Linux kernel developers said that they couldnt see anything like […]

Microsoft and Linux distributor Xandros on June 4 signed a broad set of collaboration and patent agreements that reminded many of the November 2006 Microsoft/Novell partnership. What do analysts and other Linux vendors think this new deal means for Linux? While the FSF (Free Software Foundation) has tried to block such patent deals with the […]

The good news for GNU GPLv3 (General Public License Version 3) supporters is that Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, thinks the final draft is better than the earlier ones. The bad news is that he has “yet to see any actual reasons for licensing under the GPLv3.” In a discussion on the LKML (Linux […]

Microsoft has quietly hired Tom Hanrahan, formerly the Linux Foundations director of engineering, to become its Director of Linux Interoperability. As part of his responsibilities, Hanrahan will manage the Microsoft/Novell Interoperability Lab that Microsoft began staffing up earlier this year. Hanrahan began his Linux career at IBMs Linux Technology Center in Beaverton, Oregon, where he […]

Microsoft and LG Electronics, best known for its DVD players, home theater systems and cell phones, announced on June 7 that they have entered into a patent cross-license agreement to enable LG to use Microsoft patented technology in its product lines, including in its Linux-based embedded devices. In turn, Microsoft will have access to LGs […]