Weekly news wrap-up: MS could use Open Source code review; selling Linux to businesses

– By Grant Gross –
Not that Microsoft asked for this advice, but Gartner Group says Windows security would benefit from an Open Source style code review. Any bets on how soon that’ll happen?
But the U.S. Senate seems to not realize Windows’ failings. Wired.com notes Senate staffers have little choice on what operating system to use with full support: Windows or Windows.

If you’re looking for antivirus solutions in Linux (Windows clients connected to a Linux server can still get viruses, and it’s easier to stop them at the server level) Mike Dittmeier offers a roundup of options.

Robin “Roblimo” Miller suggests a new approach to advocating Linux to those used to a Microsoft world. Linux is mainstream, he says, and business owners should know how mainstream it is.

Linux on servers, mainframes

Where’s the hardware market related to Linux going? That’s the question we asked in a couple of articles this week. Jack Bryar suggests the traditional server market isn’t particularly strong. Meanwhile, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols examines Linux on mainframes and says that market is healthy and getting better.

DeCSS still banned

Not good news for the DeCSS code that allows DVDs to be played on Linux machines and for free speech: 2600 Magazine has lost its appeal of a ruling banning it from posting DeCSS.

Success story of the week

VARBusiness notes that Linux is gaining momentum in the value-added reseller space. The example used is Fly-By-Day Consulting, which has worked with a Japanese company to install a Linux server.

Newly released

ZDNet notes the release of Ximian Evolution 1.0.5, the Linux email suite.

Netscape 6.2.3 was released. It’s based on the Gecko browser engine and is available for Linux.

GCC 3.1 was announced.

Opera 6.0 for Linux was released. Opera’s a Web browser.

Newly reviewed

The Associated Press reviews the Sharp Zaurus and says the Linux-powered handheld is “halfway there.”

The Wall Street Journal reviews StarOffice 6.0 and says it falls flat on compatibility and ease of use.

LinuxOrbit reviews VMWare 3.1 for Linux, calling it a solid update to the package that allows people to run two different operating systems on one computer.

LinuxBeginner.org looks at Red Hat 7.3 and gives it good marks.

New at NewsForge/Linux.com

Among the other stories we reported first this week:

Bruce Tober looks at the outlook for Linux in Russia and finds mixed results so far, but a growing interest.

Tina Gasperson generated a lot of discussion by suggesting that a Sustainable Computing Consortium won’t work if it doesn’t embrace open standards.

Stock news

The Nasdaq had a good week for a first time in several weeks, rising from 1,600.85, to 1741.39 in the space of five days. Our list of 11 Open Source related stocks didn’t fare quite as well — six were up, four down, and one stood pat for the week.

Among the significant news this week, news agency Reuters chose Red Hat Linux with Hewlett-Packard hardware for a market-data delivery system. Both companies’ stock were up this week, although Red Hat’s was just a few cents.

Here’s how Open Source and related stocks ended this past week:

Company Name	Symbol	5/10 Close	5/17 Close
Apple	AAPL	23.32	25.01
Borland Software Int’l	BORL	9.78	9.99
Caldera International	CALD	0.87	0.73
Hewlett-Packard	HPQ	19.26	19.68
IBM	IBM	79.68	85.69
MandrakeSoft	4477.PA	e2.70	e2.70
Red Hat	RHAT	5.03	5.12
Sun Microsystems	SUNW	6.26	7.35
TiVo	TIVO	4.00	3.90
VA Software	LNUX	1.11	1.0497
Wind River Systems	WIND	7.49	7.22