Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

While revenues were up in its second quarter, Novell Inc. ended up reporting a net loss due to a payment on an investment. For its second quarter ended April 30, Novell Inc. ended up reporting a net loss of $15.4 million with the charge a preferred stock dividend payment on an IBM investment. Revenues were […]

Linus Torvalds and Linux 2.6 kernel maintainer Andrew Morton have announced a new way of tracking contributions to Linux: the Developers Certificate of Origin. /zimages/2/28571.gifA think tank claims Torvalds didnt write Linux. Click here to find out why. Under the new kernel submission process, contributions to the Linux kernel may only be made by individuals […]

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday denied Microsofts appeal that the term “windows” be considered only as it is understood by the public today—not as it was when the companys Windows was introduced in 1985—as the companys trademark litigation against Lindows continues. The case has been sent back for trial to Judge […]

Back when we built computers with stone knives and bear skins—OK, 1993—I reviewed the first version of Solaris for Intel for PC Magazine. I liked it. I also noticed at the time that Solaris on Intel wasnt the equal of Solaris on SPARC. It never did catch up. It didnt because Sun didnt want it […]

After writing my column on why Linux users hate Red Hat, I got numerous articulate letters on the topic. It turns out there are many reasons why some Linux users hate Red Hat Inc., while others think Red Hat is just fine. Here are some of the thoughts our readers had to share with us. […]

Linux wasnt written by Linus Torvalds, according to the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based foundation. Instead, Kenneth Brown, president of AdTI, claims that Linux is based on intellectual property “often taken or adapted without permission from material owned by other companies and individuals.” The announcement offers no proof of its assertions but says […]

Black Duck Software, an information services company offering IP risk management and mitigation solutions, on Monday announced the immediate commercial availability of its first comprehensive source-code services program, protexIP for software IP management. The service provides open-source license validation and management, code detection, software registry, training, consulting and support. Within it, there are two offerings: […]

The FBI confirmed Tuesday that it is working with Cisco Systems Inc. to investigate the possible theft of source code for Ciscos main networking device operating system. FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said that the FBI is lending its “assistance” into the “possible” theft. “We are aware of it, and were working with [Cisco] to resolve […]

the company most hated by Linux fans is quite possibly … no, not Microsoft, but Red Hat. I often hear longtime Linux enthusiasts say things like “Red Hat has betrayed Linux” and “Red Hat wants to be the next Microsoft.” If you look closely, its not hard to see why so much ire is tossed […]

The SCO Group Inc. and Novell Inc. are continuing their war over who really owns Unixs intellectual property rights. In this weeks duel, Novell has asked for SCOs copyright case to be dismissed, thus awarding Novell Unixs IP, while SCO has sought to have the case moved from federal to state court. “Lawyers from both […]

The battle between Lindows and Microsoft isnt cooling down just because the company changed its product and Web site name to Linspire. Microsoft Corp. has filed a new complaint against Lindows Inc. in a Dutch court, asking the court to levy a fine of 100,000 euros a day against Lindows. Microsoft asked for the same […]

Novell on Tuesday announced its Connector for Microsoft Exchange Server. The product will be integrated into Evolution 2.0, Novells e-mail and workgroup client for Linux. “We have a compatible, open-source Outlook competitor,” Nat Friedman, vice president of the desktop technologies group at Novell Inc., said of the move. “With the Connector, Exchange Server 2000/2003 users […]