"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

Contents: News in General Software Announcements

July 1999 Linux Journal

The July issue of Linux Journal will be hitting the newsstands June 11. This issue focuses on Science and Engineering. Feature articles include "Archaeology and GIS", "SCEPTRE: Simulation of Nonliear Electric Circuits", Stuttgart Neural Network Simulator" and "Real-Time Geophysics Using Linux". Also included are an article by Dan York on "Building a Linux Certification Program, one by Jon "maddog" Hall about his visit to Fermi Labs at Spring COMDEX and an interview with Dev Mazumdar and Hannu Savolainen of 4Front Technolgies. Linux Journal now has articles that appear "Strictly On-Line". Check out the Table of Contents at http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue62/index.html for articles in this issue as well as links to the on-line articles. To subscribe to Linux Journal, go to http://www.linuxjournal.com/ljsubsorder.html.

For Subcribers Only: Linux Journal archives are now available on-line at http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/

1999 USENIX Annual Technical Conference

June 6-11, 1999 -- Monterey Conference Center, Monterey, California

The Keynote will be by John Ousterhout, creator of Tcl/TK, speaking on a fundamental shift in software development to applications created by extending existing applications, protocols, frameworks, and devices.

The FREENIX track is devoted to high-level technical discussion of open source software. Peer-refereed papers, expert talks, and evening sessions will be led by leading OSS developers including Linus Torvalds, Kirk McKusick, Theodore Ts'o, Theo de Raadt, and Robert J. Chassell for Free Software Foundation/GNU. (Richard Stallman had planned to lead a BoF but will be in Turkey on FSF business.)

Web site: http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix99

2000 USENIX Annual Technical Conference: Call For Papers

June 18-23, 2000 -- San Diego, California

The Program Chair, Christopher Small, Lucent Technologies-Bell Labs, and the Program Committee seeks to bring together the broad advanced computing community under a single roof to share the results of the latest and best work, find points of common interest and perspective, and develop new ideas that cross and break boundaries. They invite your submission of original and innovative papers. Invited Talk proposals and suggestions and proposals of tutorials are also very welcome.

Paper submissions are due November 29, 1999.

See http://www.usenix.org/events/sec99/cfp.html.

Linux support in Indonesia

PT Cakram DataLingga Duaribu has announced it's first commercial Linux support in Bogor, West Java, INDONESIA. The support includes Linux consultation service, Home PC pre-installed with RedHat Linux, Linux Servers with special configurations.

For more information, contact http://cdl2000.or.id/linux.html or .

Linux 3D Gaming Initiative looking for volunteers

The Linux 3D Gaming Initiative ( http://www.linux3d.net) is a pro-bono community resource project initiated by Full On 3D (http://www.fullon3d.com). It is open to and depending on contributors from all sorts of hardware and gaming websites..

Voluteers needed:

• Linux gurus of many shades, especially XServer and OpenGL=20
• networking under Linux ( LAN setup, internet, etc... )
• 3D theory and application
• Graphic artist(s)
• News hunters/updaters - this is a daily work, little HTML knowledge is needed
• Forum moderators

Linux Administrators Security Guide 0.1.0

https://www.seifried.org/lasg/
150+ pages, Adobe Acrobat format. An https:-capable browser is required for download (This means a browser that can view secure webpages, such as recent versions of Netscape or Internet Explorer.)

There is an LASG FAQ in HTML format, but https: is still required.
https://www.seifried.org/lasg/lasg-faq.html.

sourceXchange: Software-Development Model of the Future

More than just a job-posting or recruiting Web site, sourceXchange is the industry's first vehicle to manage the open-source development process that protects the interests of both corporate sponsors and open-source developers.

The sourceXchange is a Web site that maintains a database of all published project RFPs posted by corporate sponsors, registers open-source developers and their teams, manages RFP responses from the developer community, and manages payment. It also will incorporate peer review and project milestones to ensure quality and reliability of each development project.

SourceXchange, an affiliate of O'Reilly & Associates, was founded in conjunction with HP, the founding sponsor. The two companies plan to launch the service in early summer with an array of open-source development projects from HP that expand its commitment to open-source technologies. Pending a successful beta launch in July, sourceXchange will accept projects from other enterprise sponsors.

See www.sourcexchange.com for details.

Cosource.com: another service to fund Open Source development

Redmond, WA -- Veriteam, Inc., today announced the launch of their web-based service, Cosource.com ( www.cosource.com), which will enable users of Open Source Software to directly influence the development of Open Source Projects.

Cosource.com will launch the beta-testing phase of their service on June 1, 1999. During the beta-testing phase, registered sponsors will nominate seed projects for development by Open Source developers, while programmers will register as potential developers of sponsored projects. After the beta phase, Cosource.com will begin accepting sponsorships for specific projects from consumers of Open Source Software.

Cosource.com allows individuals to offer financial rewards to developers of Open Source Projects in exchange for creating software that meets the individuals' needs. On the web site, a database records the specifications and initial sponsorship amount offered for a project. After the initial sponsorship, other sponsors can easily add their sponsorship amounts to the project, thus increasing the bounty offered for the project.

Once a significant bounty has accrued, developers bid for the right to produce the software according to the specifications detailed by the project's sponsors. The Staff at Cosource.com coordinate the interface between the sponsors and developers, making sure the needs of the sponsors are met and the developers are paid for their efforts. Sponsors make their payments via a secure credit card payment system, and the developer is paid with one check issued by Cosource.com.

O'Reilly "Open-Sources"

Sebastopol, CA-O'Reilly & Associates announced today that they a are making the entire new book, ?OpenSources: Voices From the Open Source Revolution freely available (or "open-sourced") on their web site. Open Sources is a collection of essays that offer insight into how the Open Source movement works, why it succeeds, and where it is going.

OpenSources, published in January 1999, has earned considerable critical acclaim. In "OpenSources", Open Source pioneers such as Brian Belendorf (Apache), Scott Bradner (Internet Engineering Task Force), Jim Hamerly (Netscape), Kirk McKusick (Berkeley Unix), Tim O'Reilly (O'Reilly & Associates), Tom Paquin (mozilla.org.), Bruce Peren (Open Source Initiative), Eric Raymond (Open Source Initiative), Richard Stallman (Free Software Foundation), Michael Tiemann (Cygnus Solutions), Linus Torvalds (Linux), Paul Vixie (Bind), Larry Wall (Perl), and Bob Young (Red Hat) share their vision of the Open Source movement.

Pacific HiTech and Computer Associates announce Linux partnership

ISLANDIA, N.Y., and TOKYO, JAPAN, May 18, 1999--Computer Associates International, Inc. (CA) and Pacific HiTech today announced a partnership to broaden the acceptance of Linux and Linux-based applications by corporate users across the Pacific Rim and worldwide.

Under terms of the agreement, CA and Pacific HiTech will create a unique, high-value operating system solution that incorporates both Pacific HiTech's TurboLinux and CA's industry-leading Unicenter TNG management technology. CA will develop versions of Unicenter TNG and Unicenter TNG Framework to support TurboLinux, while Pacific HiTech will promote the use of Unicenter TNG as the premier management solution for its Linux customer base. The companies have also agreed to collaborate closely on engineering multiprocessor clustering and failover support for their respective solutions.

Here's the full press release.

Pacific HiTech and IBM

Pacific HiTech and IBM announced an industry first partnership whereby Pacific HiTech will ship IBM's DB2 Universal Database with its Linux Operating Suite, TurboLinux.

Pacific HiTech will sell its TurboLinux products integrated with IBM middleware - beginning with DB2 Universal Database - through its channels in Asia and North America.

Also announced today was the largest deployment to date of IBM NetFinity servers running Linux. The deployment, which took place at Kyoto Sangyo University, a leading university based in Kyoto, Japan, involves more than 600 IBM NetFinity 3000 servers running on Pacific HiTech's TurboLinux workstation. The installation of this technology will enable the university's students, faculty and researchers to run both the TurboLinux workstation and Microsoft Windows NT operating systems on a single network.

Intel and H-P: Linux on Merced

Intel and HP have announced that the Merced program has included Linux as one of the Operating Systems the chip will be certified on at its release date.

The announcement is on Intel's website.

USALogin web site revamp (pre-configured Linux systems)

USALogin specializes in pre-configured Linux solutions designed to snap into your existing corporate network.

USALogin's solution will

• Protect your network through firewalling
• Manage your REAL-TIME email - both within your office and to the outside world. ([email protected])
• Host the corporate website (www.yourcompany.com)
• Allow multple users to access the Internet through one telephone line
• Manage the corporate email lists
• Interface seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook, Office and Netscape

The system is complete and installed into your office with a single low monthly cost.

USALogin's web site is www.usalogin.net.

CTiTEK replaced Windows NT with Linux on a client's webserver

Chesterfield, MO - May 18, 1999 - CTiTEK Inc.

"This is the fourth Linux installation in two months. Others consisted of firewalls and Email servers.

An estimated $2,000 - $10,000 annual savings can be realized when switching to a Linux server. (Includes labor, hardware, and software savings).

A Microsoft FrontPage error on an Email form was the last straw that caused this conversion to Linux.

Instead of consistent errors and copious amounts of time spent on Microsoft's software undocumented 'issues', it was decided to rebuild the system into a Linux machine.

It all started by using Windows NT with Option Pack 4 to run multiple web sites one year ago. The customer wanted to run several websites on one machine, so Windows NT with Option Pack 4 was used.

Today it became necessary to run an Email Form (an area on the website that one can fill-in and the info is sent by email to someone in the company) on the website, and FrontPage was used to keep everything in the MS 'family'. Unfortunately the FrontPage Email Form did not work properly with the webserver. After spending countless hours trying to solve the problem, including several calls to Microsoft, we realized that the Windows NT Operating system will have to be rebuilt with the latest version of the Management Console (An uninstall and installation of the latest option pack did not work).

We selected Linux because it is a robust, free Operating System (benchmark tests with reputable magazines indicate a minimum 75% higher performance).

TRADEMARKS. Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and/or other Microsoft products referenced herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft."

CiTEK's website is www.citek.com.

Alpha Processor, Inc. joins Linux International

LINUX EXPO, Raleigh, NC, May 19, 1999 - Alpha Processor, Inc. (API), the leading provider of the world's fastest 64-bit microprocessor and related technologies, today announced it has joined the non-profit Linux International organization, formally pledging its continued commitment to support application development for the Linux operating system.

"In becoming a member of Linux International, API joins industry forerunners dedicated to the mass acceptance of Linux," said Jon "Maddog" Hall, executive director of Linux International. "Offering today's leading high-performance platform for Linux, API is an ideal candidate for membership. This symbol of API's commitment to growing this market undoubtedly will inspire innovations throughout the Linux community."

API is committed to developing enabling technologies to speed adoption and growth of applications built on the Alpha Linux platform. Alpha's superior speed, performance and reliability make it a natural environment for Linux. API's marketing and engineering partnerships and industry standard platform price points are expected to expand Alpha's share in this growing market.

The company's website is www.alpha-processor.com.

Magic Software announces the "Magic for Linux Really Cool Contest"

IRVINE, CA (May 20, 1999) -- Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ: MGIC) announced today that it will award a free 10-day cruise for two to Antarctica to the developer who builds the best e-commerce solution for the Linux platform using Magic, the company's highly productive development technology. The contest, titled "The Magic for Linux Really Cool Conte st", runs from May 20, 1999 through October 15, 1999, with all entry forms d ue no later than September 30, 1999. Complete details on the contest can be obtained through the company's web site, www.magic-sw.com.

Ardent Software delivers key data management software for Red Hat Linux

WESTBORO, Mass., May 20, 1999 - Ardent Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARDT), a leading global data management software company, today announced a partnership with Red Hat Software, the market leading Linux distributor and service provider. In partnership with Red Hat, Ardent will port key data management software tools to Red Hat Linux (RHL), allowing Ardent's extensive channel of resellers and distributors to make their business applications available to Red Hat Linux users. Among the Ardent products to be available on the Red Hat Linux platform are its UniVerse and UniData relational databases and related development tools, including the System Builder multi-tier 4GL and RedBack Web OLTP environment.

Ardent's web site is www.ardentsoftware.com.

IACT's Freedom of Choice Petition

Join us in IACT's Freedom of Choice Petition, to stop the exclusive pre-installation [bundling or tying] of a single company's software on the computers sold, bought and used across the world. To bring real choice and innovation to the PC market, we should be able to buy and sell new computer systems compatible with Linux and a wide range of software programs, in any combination.

Help us send that direct message to the PC companies, by signing and supporting IACT's Freedom of Choice Petition! We're already getting great support from the Internet community and from users, programmers and resellers of Linux, OS/2, Unix, DOS, BeOS, BSD and yes, Windows, too. To add your name to all of theirs, just use either our on-line form or regular e-mail. Details are at http://pages.cthome.net/iact/iaction-freechoice.html.

Linux Links

Rasterman explains his departure from Red Hat: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/05/31/1917240&mode=thread

LuCAS: Spanish-language Linux documentation: http://lucas.hispalinux.es

IBM announces support of four Linux distributions: http://www.theregister.co.uk/990525-000006.html.

SCO's views of Linux and comments on recent press articles

Proven dk bookkeeping program

May 3, 1999 -- Proven Software,Inc. today released Proven dk, Small Business Edition. Proven dk is a single-user quick entry bookkeeping package written specifically for the Linux desktop. The Small Business Edition is priced at $99 (US). An evaluation copy is available on the company's website.

Despite its low price, Proven dk, Small Business Edition is a comprehensive accounting system which includes Sales Invoicing, Accounts Receivable, CheckWriter, Accounts Payable, General Ledger, and Financial Report Generator. This new product provides the general bookkeeping and accounting essentials for most small businesses and organizations.

The company's web site is www.provenacct.com.

EasyCopy: printing and scanning prorgrams for CAD-related industries

SAN JOSE, Calif., April, 1999 - AutoGraph International (AGI) debuted EasyCopy 6.0 at the COE TechniFair with a scheduled late May release to the marketplace. EasyCopy 6.0 is a major rewrite of AGI's flagship, EasyCopy/X, which has an installed base of more than 150,000 users worldwide. With this new generation EasyCopy has taken a major step from a printing solution to a flexible set of image communication tools.

The company says EasyCopy, EasyConvert, EasyCopy/Page, EasyCopy/Scan and EasyCopy/Graphics run on Linux. Pricing of EasyCopy begins at $395.

The company's URL is http://www.augrin.dk.

Other Products

Harlequin Lispworks Beta for Red Hat on Intel (Common Lisp implementation): http://www.harlequin.com/devtools/lisp.

/BriefCase 3.0 Released as OpenSource (Software Configuration Management solution): http://www.applied-cs-inc.com/.

Sylvan Prometric to Deliver New Linux Certification Tests:
Information about the Sair Linux training and certification program: www.linuxcertification.org
Locations of Sylvan APTCs: www.sylvanprometric.com

Integrated Computer Solutions, Inc. (ICS) has released its flagship product, Builder Xcessory (BX PRO(tm)), is now available for SuSE Linux. The press release is at http://www.ics.com/about/whatshot/press_releases/bxlinux-suse.html. This is a WSYWIG integrated development environment.

Metroworks Code Warrior software development tool has been ported to Red Hat. http://www.metroworks.com.

Web-4M(tm) 2.5 provides a comprehensive collaboration/groupware environment for Linux. The Web-4M server supports email, news, phone, the Browseable Document Library(tm), the Interactive Slide Show(tm), audio conferencing, chat, a white board, a calendar, scheduler and more. The Web-4M server runs under Linux and other platforms in conjunction with the Apache web server. Clients can be Linux or any platform that supports a Java-compliant web browser. http://www.jdhtech.com.

SuperAnt releases Linux Security CD-ROM: http://www.superant.com.

VariCAD professional CAD system: www.varicad.com.

This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette,
Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.