LINUX PIPELINE NEWSLETTER
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/
Tuesday, April 6, 2004

IN THIS ISSUE
1. Editor's Note: Who's The Enemy And The Enemy's Enemy?
2. Special Report: The Sun-Microsoft Alliance
3. Only the Best Linux and Open-Source News
4. Trends: Linux Community: You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
5. Trends: Software Vendors Bet Big On Linux
6. Interview: Microsoft's Martin Taylor On Running The 
Counteroffensive Against Linux
7. Trends: Comparing Windows And Linux Security
8. Review: Mandrake 10 Looks To Be On Track For A Great Release
9. Voting Booth: Cast Your Vote On The European Microsoft 
Decision
10. Shameless Self-promotion

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solutions can backup, secure and manage your Linux 
implementation, while also allowing seamless integration into 
your existing infrastructure. As a result, Linux can be easily 
adopted into your enterprise. To find out more about our 
continuing commitment to Linux innovations, visit ca.com/linux.  
  http://www.ca.com/linux

-----------------------------------------


1. EDITOR'S NOTE: 

WHO'S THE ENEMY AND ENEMY'S ENEMY?

Every place I've ever worked, I eventually get the reputation as 
The Guy Who Knows The Useless Trivia. So I was not surprised 
recently when a colleague IMed me to ask who said, "The enemy of 
my enemy is my friend." 

My colleague was, of course, writing an article about the 
Microsoft-Sun Microsystems alliance announced last week. In a 
surprising team-up, Microsoft and Sun said they plan to drop 
several years of litigation, and to cooperate on achieving 
interoperability between their respective technologies. Microsoft 
is also paying Sun $1.95 billion, which Sun badly needs.

Linux is, of course, the reason for all this talk about enemies 
and enemies' enemies. Both Microsoft and Sun have histories of 
animosity with Linux. Microsoft  currently views Linux as its 
single biggest competitor and threat, a place of honor previously 
reserved for Netscape, Novell, Borland and IBM.

Likewise, there's plenty of evidence that Sun wants Linux wiped 
out. Linux is stealing market share from Sun. While Microsoft's 
and Linux market shares are growing, Sun's is shrinking. Both Sun 
and Microsoft have licensed SCO's Unix intellectual property, in 
support of SCO's lawsuits against the Linux community. 

Many industry observers are sure the alliance is anti-Linux. 
Jason Kraft, a financial analyst for A.G. Edwards & Sons, said 
the deal means Microsoft and Sun can concentrate on the "larger, 
looming threat for both companies in the mid- to long-term, and 
that's Linux and its biggest supporter, which is IBM."

Sun-Microsoft Deal Seen Benefiting Both 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700574

Alan Weinberger, chariman and chief executive of the solution 
provider consortium the ASCII Group, said, "Microsoft and Sun are 
making a pincer move around Linux."

News Analysis: Sun And Microsoft's Interoperability Pact 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18900168

And yet the relationship with Linux is not simple, at least for 
Sun. Sun is a major Linux vendor. The company has achieved early 
success with its Linux desktop, which Sun calls Java Desktop 
System. Late last year, Sun announced that the China Standard 
Software Company cut a deal with Sun to make JDS the standard 
desktop for millions of systems across China, and Sun also has a 
big JDS deal in the United Kingdom. Just last week, Sun scored 
two good JDS deals: Tadpole said it will pre-load Java on its 
laptops, and Wal-Mart said it will sell desktop systems with JDS 
pre-loaded. 

Tadpole Laptops To Come Pre-Loaded With Java Desktop System
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700247

Wal-Mart Sells PCs With Sun's Java Desktop System
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700068

Will Sun ditch its current operating system strategy to cozy up 
to Microsoft? SGI is one of many companies that tried this 
strategy; they found it disastrous. Sun's leaders are no dummies, 
they're quite capable of learning from industry history. 

This is the part of the opinion piece where I'm supposed to tell 
you what's really going on, whether the Sun-Microsoft deal is 
anti-Linux or not. For Microsoft, the answer is, yes. Or, rather, 
"Heck, yeah!" But the situation for Sun, with its love-hate Linux 
relationship, is more complicated. 

In the end, I think what mattered to Sun is the money - $1.95 
billion is a lot of potatoes, and Sun is hurting pretty badly. 
The same day that Sun announced its deal with Microsoft, the 
company also said it expects to post losses of $810 million in 
its just-completed third quarter, and plans to cut 3,300 jobs, 
about 9 percent of its workforce. I suspect that Linux had very 
little to do with the deal with Microsoft. I think Sun simply 
decided that they could make more money cooperating with 
Microsoft than bashing them. 

Sun Reverses Course, Settles With Microsoft 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700421

Over the next few days, we plan to to bring you some more 
analysis of the deal and its likely effect on the Linux and open 
source community. But I don't think anyone can give you the 
definitive answer, because we simply can't know definitively at 
this point. 

Another thing I don't know: Who wrote that enemy-of-my-enemy 
quote. Neither did Google. I finally advised my colleague to 
simply attribute it to "an old Klingon folk saying." 

--Mitch Wagner, Editor
Linux Pipeline
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/
mailto:mwagner@cmp.com?Subject=LPNfeedback

For more commentary and links from Mitch Wagner, see Wagner's
Weblog
http://wagblog.internetweek.com

-----------------------------------------

2. SPECIAL REPORT: THE SUN-MICROSOFT ALLIANCE

Q&A: Ballmer, McNealy Tout Landmark Tech Pact
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18900275
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Sun's Scott McNealy answer 
questions about the feud, the legal settlement and the framework 
for technical collaboration between the two companies.

News Analysis: Sun And Microsoft's Interoperability Pact
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18900168

More Executive Changes At Sun In Wake Of Microsoft Deal
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18900164

Sun-Microsoft Deal Seen Benefiting Both
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700574

Sun, Microsoft Pact Viewed As 'Unholy Alliance' Against Linux, 
IBM
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700569

Sun Reverses Course, Settles With Microsoft
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700421

3. ONLY THE BEST LINUX AND OPEN-SOURCE NEWS
 	
Microsoft Posts First Source Code Under Open Source License 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18900342
The source code posted to SourceForge.net was for a tool set that 
targets developers building Windows installation packages from 
XML source.

PolyServe Introduces Storage Clusters For Linux Datacenters 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=189
00302
 	
Gumstix Ships Mini Linux Computers
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18900358

EU Backs Up Its Microsoft Ruling
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18900263

Yankee Group: Switching To Linux Won't Save Money For Large 
Enterprises
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18900099

Sharp Ships Linux Handheld For Enterprises
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700466

MySQL Eases Restrictions On PHP Licensing 
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700298

Tadpole Laptops To Come Pre-Loaded With Java Desktop System
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700247

Wal-Mart Sells PCs With Sun's Java Desktop System
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/news/18700068

4. TRENDS:  Linux Community: You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18900245
Analyst Rob Enderle argues that the Linux community has lost its 
sense of camaraderie, and is defined now by its hatred of 
Microsoft and SCO. The reasons, he says, come down to money.

5. TRENDS:  Software Vendors Bet Big On Linux
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18700318
Companies such as AccPac, who bet on Linux a few years ago, are 
now watching as Linux accelerates quickly into place as a 
mainstream business-applications engine.

6. INTERVIEW: Microsoft's Martin Taylor On Running The 
Counteroffensive Against Linux
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18700322
Microsoft's Martin Taylor says he is taking a "facts-only" 
approach to beating back the Linux onslaught, devoting an entire 
Web site to studies and surveys comparing Windows favorably to 
Linux.

7. TRENDS: Comparing Windows And Linux Security
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/trends/18700099
Forrester Research's report on OS security found Microsoft did 
the best job at patching vulnerabilites quickly, but Linux 
vendors are more thorough.

8. REVIEW: Mandrake 10 Looks To Be On Track For A Great Release
http://www.linuxpipeline.com/howto/18600156
We looked at early code for desktop Mandrakelinux 10.0, and found 
that it's close to prime time, but not quite ready to bet the 
enterprise. Oh, and the performance? It screams. 

9. VOTING BOOTH: Cast Your Vote On The European Microsoft 
Decision
http://linuxpipeline.com/vote/ms_decision.jhtml
The European Union slapped Microsoft with a $613 million fine for
abuse of its market dominance, and ordered the company to change
its business practice. Will the decision drive further Linux
popularity?

So far, most of you believe the decision is irrelevant: Three 
quarters of respondents said Linux adoption will proceed 
regardless of the EU decision. 18 percent of respondents said the 
decision will help make Linux more popular. And 8 percent said 
the decision will actually slow Linux adoption, by making Windows 
more competitive. We've received 118 votes so far; we'll keep the 
voting open another week or so. 

10. SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION

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------- Advertisement -------------------

Maximize the potential of Linux with CA Management Software. CA 
solutions can backup, secure and manage your Linux 
implementation, while also allowing seamless integration into 
your existing infrastructure. As a result, Linux can be easily 
adopted into your enterprise. To find out more about our 
continuing commitment to Linux innovations, visit ca.com/linux.  
  http://www.ca.com/linux

-----------------------------------------

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