use.perl.org lists the latest module releases.

Intel is introducing two Celeron
chips, one running at 766 megahertz and the
other at 733 megahertz. Both use Intel’s 0.18
micron manufacturing process, which allows
the company to fit more transistors onto a
single chip and to get more of them out of a
single silicon wafer. From ZDNET.

IDG.com reports that users receive Navidad via e-mail in the form of an attachment with the name
NAVIDAD.EXE. Users receive the attachment as a reply message to an
e-mail sent to an infected user. Once the virus has infected a PC, it prevents
users from launching any programs of the .EXE type, which includes basic
applications such as Microsoft Word. Navidad is the Spanish word for
Christmas.

From Dallas News:Even the most gadget-crazed techies admit that pen and paper are hard to beat for convenience. On Sunday night, Bill Gates was expected to unveil the latest developments in Microsoft Corp.’s efforts to introduce what it calls a Tablet PC, a full-fledged personal computer that uses a pen and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard.

This machine had been modified to be Y2K compliant, (as posted on the Teledyn bbs)and had been their main production system until Sept.
No one mentions what it was doing for its last 30 days (playing nethack?).

Showing once again the characteristic
relentlessness of his company, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates
kicked off the Fall Comdex trade show by demonstrating a
handful of technologies aimed at further blurring any distinction
between Windows and the Web. Seattle Times has the story.

Business Week reports that the music-file-sharing service’s future is uncertain if the Bertelsmann deal
forces it to largely abandon the rollicking peer-to-peer network that made it
so popular.

It seems to me that Open Source software as a whole suffers from “messiness” — this is perhaps due to the fact that a lot of Open Source stuff is written by students and hobbyists who do not (yet) have formal training in software engineering or design. This greenness shows in the programs: they (usually) work (kind of), but they tend to be brittle and exhibit interface quirks that an experienced engineer would instinctively avoid. –Kelly McNeill

Shark submitted this link: “The Open Source business model may make for an interesting college thesis. But, when it comes to making some serious money, Linux companies are a disaster in progress”..says this news report in CIOL.–Shark

– By Grant Gross–

It was a big news week for chip maker Transmeta, employer of Linux godfather Linus Torvalds. Probably the biggest news item: The maker of chips designed to make your laptop batteries last longer bucked the recent tech stock trend in its IPO. The price of the company’s stock in first-day trading rose more than 100 percent.

However, some in the press questioned the company’s success, saying “investors bought blindly.” Another writer, noting IBM’s recent decision to drop Transmeta from its laptops and Intel bringing new chips to market, wondered if Transmeta is running on vapor.”

Indeed, the news isn’t all good. Also this week, Compaq first said it won’t use Transmeta’s Crusoe chip in its next generation of laptops. Compaq later denied that it was dumping the Crusoe, and Transmeta still plans to go forward with partnerships with Gateway and Microsoft.

Transmeta also picked up a few cool-factor points this week when wearable computer maker Vio announced it was planning to use the Crusoe chip in its belt-attached computer. The U.S. Army will test the Crusoe-powered Vio.

America Online: A Linux convert?

News reports in recent months have the propriety Internet service AOL flirting with Linux. This week, AOL and Gateway announced a Linux-based, AOL-oriented ‘Net appliance. Apparently, proprietary companies like an Open Source product when it serves their business interest.

AOL may not be the only company seeing the light. A Zona Research study says the adoption of Linux will boom in the next year, with half of large companies saying they expect up to 25 percent more Linux users in their ranks during the next year, and small companies, which want low-cost computing options, expecting an even greater adoption rate.

Mixed news among Open Source giants

Bad news this week for hardware maker VA Linux (also the parent company of NewsForge). VA’s stock tumbled more than 40 percent Monday when the company issued a warning saying its sales weren’t going to grow quite as fast as expected. Revenue for fiscal year 2001 should be 225 percent higher than in 2000, instead of the 250 percent growth the company first projected.

Red Hat, the giant Linux distributor, got some good news this week, when investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs declared that the Red Hat Network shows some promise. Another story noted Red Hat is on track for 100 percent revenue growth by the end of 2001.

New in NewsForge

Tina Gasperson reviews the Unofficial Mandrake Linux page, saying it provides great step-by-step information for newbie Linux users.

We talk to developers interested in working with the Indrema gaming console after Indrema recently announced its Indrema Developer Network. Some developers say they have concerns about how to develop games for the Linux-based console, but many hobbyists say they’re excited about getting the chance to write games for what may be a major player in the gaming world.

Jeff Field reviews the Belkin Omnicube 4-Port KVM and says the switch makes it easy to run multiple computers off of one set of mouse, keyboard and monitor.

NewsForge editors read and respond to comments posted on our discussion page.