Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Red Hat recently announced that the city of Vienna, Austria, has selected Red Hat Enterprise Linux as its server platform of choice. Despite challenges from Oracle, which is copycatting its Linux OS, and Novell, which has partnered with Microsoft, Red Hat is continuing to land large accounts. The Raleigh, N.C., business also has no qualms […]

Just about everyone has expressed an opinion on the Novell-Microsoft patent agreement—except, that is, for the 800-pound gorilla of Linux: IBM. Today, Scott Handy, IBMs VP of Worldwide Linux and Open Source, decided that enough was enough and it was time to state IBMs position. In an interview with Linux-Watch.com, Handy opened by saying that, […]

Microsoft really doesnt want you to know this, but many of your existing applications wont work with Vista. In fact, some brand new products wont work with Vista. At the top of that list of “It doesnt work,” we find, believe it or not, Microsoft new music player, Zune. Yes, thats right; Microsofts iPod killer […]

In an unusually fast turnaround, Microsoft replied within hours to Novell CEO Ron Hovsepians “Open Letter to the Community from Novell.” In a statement, Microsoft acknowledges that Novell never agreed, as some critics of the deal have claimed, to Microsofts vague contentions of patent violations in Linux. In his open letter to the community, Hovsepian […]

For some people, when Novell recently made a deal with Microsoft, it might as well have sold its soul to the devil. At the same time, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been mouthing off about how Microsoft signed the pact because Linux “uses our intellectual property” and Microsoft wanted to “get the appropriate economic return […]

The LPI (Linux Professional Institute), the vendor-neutral Linux certification organization, has announced an improved training partner program for Linux training organizations around the world: The LPI-ATP (LPI Approved Training Partner) program. While certifications may not be as valuable as they have been in the past for IT workers, they can still be a valuable first […]

Would you have believed at the end of last summer that Microsoft and Novell would partner over Linux, or that Oracle would create its own brand of Linux? Yeah, I wouldnt have believed it either, but here we are. So, what does it all mean? Rather than make a snap judgment I decided to sit, […]

Red Hat had planned to release RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) 5 Beta 2 on Nov. 21, but engineering finished the job early and the beta is already being released to the companys partners and customers. The release boasts the latest open-source technologies for improved performance, security, and flexibility, according to the company. RHEL 5 […]

Novell wants to make its PartnerNet program easier and more profitable for its partners. PartnerNet 2007, which launches in November, introduces several key new partner benefits, including technology specializations, an integrated partner portal and partner tracks to ensure that partners get the right attention for their specific business model. One major change is that Novell […]

Well, at long, long—repeat after me—long last, Sun has open-sourced Java. At first, Sun rejected the idea, but the company finally has come around to it. And, not only that, Suns doing under the GPL. Frankly, I think Sun finally did this because it had no choice in the matter. My only question, as someone […]

The Samba team, which is responsible for software that enables Linux systems to use and provide Windows-compatible file and print servers, announced on Nov. 12 that it “disapproves strongly” of Novells recently announced patent agreement with Microsoft. The Microsoft/Novell patent deal was part of the two companies larger agreements about improving sales and working together […]

Vista doesnt need anti-viral software? Thats what Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsofts platforms and services division, said in a recent phone conference on Vistas release to manufacturing (RTM). Specifically, according to BetaNews, Allchin said, “Ill give you an example: My son, 7 years old, runs Windows Vista, and, honestly, he doesnt have an antivirus system […]