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 March 2000 Linux Journal

The March issue of Linux Journal is on the newsstands now. This issue focuses on Linux training.

Linux Journal has articles that appear "Strictly On-Line". Check out the Table of Contents at http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue71/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/subscribe/index.html.

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


Distro News


 BlueCat

SAN JOSE, Calif., 7 February 2000 - Lynx Real-Time Systems, Inc., today announced the availability of BlueCat(tm) Linux, Release 1.0, Lynx' version of Linux for high-availability, high-reliability embedded applications. BlueCat Linux is part of the LynuxWorks(tm) suite that allows embedded systems development of both BlueCat Linux and the LynxOS(r) real-time operating system with a common compatible tool set.

BlueCat, a tested and stabilized Linux version based on Red Hat 6.1, is binary compatible with Linux applications, system and development tools and drivers to allow rapid, efficient embedded deployment. Lynx provides cross development support for BlueCat to a variety of popular embedded processors and includes an advanced test methodology to ensure quality and reliability.

"BlueCat and its development environment, LynuxWorks, has established Lynx as a key player in the embedded Linux market," said Rick Lehrbaum of LinuxDevices.com, the embedded Linux portal. "By taking the bold strategy of 'competing' against themselves in delivering BlueCat Linux, Lynx has provided a viable business model that will avoid fragmenting Linux. Real-time support is an important option for embedded developers who are choosing Linux as their operating system."

www.bluecat.com.


 Corel

Corel Delivers Macromedia Flash to Linux


 Hard Hat

Bellevue, Wash., February 8, 2000 - GoAhead(R) Software, today announced that MontaVista Software Inc. is shipping GoAhead WebServer with their recently announced Hard Hat Linux(R), a Linux operating system for embedded applications. GoAhead WebServer is an open source, embedded Web server that provides a secure, flexible and free way to access remote devices and appliances via standard Internet Protocols.

GoAhead WebServer leverages embedded JavaScript, a strict subset of JavaScript optimized for small footprint environments. It is the only open source, embedded Web server that uses Active Server Pages (ASP), embedded JavaScript and in-memory CGI processing to deliver a highly efficient method of dynamic Web page creation. GoAhead WebServer also features a ROM packaging utility for Web pages.

GoAhead's web site is http://www.goahead.com. The source code for the GoAhead WebServer is at http://www.goahead.com/webserver/wsregister.htm. Support for GoAhead WebServer is available through a collaborative Usenet newsgroup, news://news.goahead.com, in which GoAhead is an active participant.

Information on Hard Hat Linux is on MontaVista's web site, http://www.mvista.com. (See the picture of a penguin wearing a yellow hard hat in the top left corner of this page.)


 Linux for Windows

Linux for Windows has been released in the UK. It is based on Linux-Mandrake 6.1, and requires no partitioning or reformatting since it runs from a file within Windows. For details, see the Macmillan software webs site


 Linux-Mandrake

NEW YORK - (LinuxWorld); February 2, 2000 - Macmillan USA, the Place for Linux, (http://www.placeforlinux.com), announced it is shipping Complete Linux-Mandrake 7.0 for beginning and intermediate Linux users. Macmillan's new product simplifies the process of installing the Linux operating system for first time users and includes in-depth user reference guides, technical support, and a complete suite of desktop productivity applications. Complete Linux-Mandrake 7.0 is available now at a MSRP of U.S. $29.95.

System Requirements for Complete Linux-Mandrake 7.0: CPU Intel Pentium


 Red Hat

Red Hat Expands European Operations to France and Italy


 SPIRO-Linux

A description of SPIRO-Linux is included in the Configure your network from a web cell phone announcement below.


 Storm

Storm Linux 2000 Makes European Debut


 SuSE

SuSE has appointed Sysdeco Mimer as its first Business Partner in Sweden. Sysdeco Mimer will be providing their MIMER DBMS technology on the SuSE Linux distribution. MIMER is characterised by ease-of-use, high performance, scalability, openness and high availability. Among the thousands of MIMER users all over the world, Volvo, Swedish Telecom, Ericsson, Hammersmith Hospital (UK) and English Blood Authority can be mentioned. MIMER Personal Edition for Linux is available for free download from http://www.mimer.com/download.

LINUXWORLD EXPO 2000, NEW YORK, NY (February 2, 2000) - SCO and SuSE Linux AG today announced plans to deliver SCO's Tarantella web-enabling software to SuSE Linux customers worldwide. SCO will bring Tarantella web-enabling software to the SuSE Linux platform and work with SuSE to market the software to its customers.


 TurboLinux

TurboLinux Adds E-Commerce Suite to New Server


News in General


 C.O.L.A news


 Upcoming conferences & events

Linux Open Source
Expo and Conference
March 7-10, 2000
Sydney, Australia
www.linuxexpo.com.au
Game Developers Conference
March 10-12, 2000
San Jose, CA
www.gdconf.com

Software Development Conference & Expo
March 19-24, 2000
San Jose, CA
www.sdexpo.com

Singapore Linux Conference (SLC)
March 23-25, 2000
Singapore
www.slc.com.sg

Colorado Linux Info Quest
April 1, 2000
Denver, CO
thecliq.org

Montreal Linux Expo
April 10-12, 2000
Montreal, Canada
www.skyevents.com/EN/

Spring COMDEX
April 17-20, 2000
Chicago, IL
www.zdevents.com/comdex

HPC Linux 2000: Workshop on High-Performance Computing with Linux Platforms
May 14-17, 2000
Beijing, China
www.csis.hku.hk/~clwang/HPCLinux2000.html

(In conjunction with HPC-ASIA 2000: The Fourth International Conference/Exhibition on High Performance Computing in Asia-Pacific Region)

Linux Canada
May 15-18, 2000
Toronto, Canada
www.linuxcanadaexpo.com


 Open Source Equipment Exchange

Hauppague, New York, NY - February 8, 2000 - BASCOM Global Internet Services, Inc. (BASCOM), pioneering developers of Linux-based thin server productivity solutions for small business, today announces an initiative in keeping with the collaborative spirit of the Open Source movement. BASCOM's Open Source Equipment Exchange (osee.bascom.org) is designed to match those donating computer equipment with those in the Open Source community needing to add infrastructure to further their development efforts and spur innovation toward the continued evolution of the Linux operating system.

The OSEE web site will link those donating equipment with those in the Open Source community in need of hardware resources. Since the Linux OS requires relatively modest "horsepower" to drive it, older class computers that have outlived their use in corporate environments will be given renewed life in the hands of Open Source developers.


 Help wanted - literally

I have a position available for a Framework Developer/Designer in d/t Toronto. The technology is C/C++, Unix or Linux (Linux preferred), and TCP/IP (sockets), and it is being used to develop secure web conferencing software that can operate in almost real-time and across multiple platforms. It is full-time and the company is pre-IPO. Maybe someone out there is interested?

Ken French, BScH, MSc
Consultant, IT Division
Multec Canada Ltd.
200 Ronson Drive, Suite 204
Telephone: (416) 244-2402 ext. 105
Email: kfrench@multec.ca
Web: www.multec.ca


 Global Linux Event Series

MILFORD, CT - 11 February 2000 - Advanstar Communications, Inc., parent company of LINUX Canada and Advanstar Expositions Canada LTD, and Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc., publishers of Linux Journal, announced today a strategic alliance to create a series of global conferences and expositions for the Linux community.

The Linux event series launches in Canada, May 15 - 18, 2000 at the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre. The inaugural event, LINUX Canada, will consist of multiple conference sessions and an exhibit hall with leading-edge, Linux-related exhibitions. Three visionary keynote presentations are also confirmed, including: Robert Young, chairman & CEO of Red Hat, Tuesday, May 16; Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux operating system, Wednesday, May 17; and, Ransom Love, title of Caldera Systems, Thursday, May 18. The event has already gained strong support from the Canadian Linux Users Exchange (CLUE) and the Toronto Linux Users Group (TLUG).


 What is the Future of OS?

Portland, OR, February 15, 2000 - Representatives from Caldera Systems, GartnerGroup, Novell Corporation and Red Hat will debate "The Future of OS on Desktop PCs and Servers" on Friday, March 10th at Noon, announced System Builder Summit today. The panel discussion will take place in conjunction with System Builder Summit Spring 2000, being held March 8-11th at the Desert Springs Marriott Resort and Spa in Palm Desert, California.

In addition to the OS panel, the agenda for System Builder Summit Spring 2000 includes Keynotes by Michael Tiemann, CTO of Red Hat; Jim Yasso, Vice President of Intel Corporation; and Dan Vivoli, Vice President of Marketing at nVIDIA. Through roundtable sessions, theater presentations and exhibits, more than 100 technology vendors will offer a preview of year 2000 roadmaps, products, services and programs that cover the entire technology spectrum from the desktop to the server to Internet-enabled computers and communication. Among them are 3COM Corporation, AMD, ATI Technologies, Canon Computer Systems, Conexant, D&H Distributing, Imation, Ingram Micro, Intel Corporation, Logitech, NASBA, Novell, nVIDIA, Quantum and Techworks, among others. http://www.systembuildersummit.com


 GetTux.com closes shop

This note is going out to all customers of GetTux.com, and their 'SubX Series' subscribers.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of funding, GetTux.com is ceasing business. This is a most unpleasant situation, and we are not thrilled to have to send out this notice, but, without major funding, we are unable to advertise, unable to increase staff, and are thus unable to advance as a company. We had meetings with several large investors, but, unfortunately, no one was able to invest in us, while at the same time leaving us control of the company and its direction. What a sad thing the business world can be.

As several of you know, the company was run, on a day to day basis, by me, Scott McDaniel. Website, promotions, product, research and all. We really needed a few other people, and, without that funding, we couldn't continue.

We certainly felt that we offered a unique and useful product, but, again, without the funding we hoped to receive, we were forced to discontinue service. Hopefully, the Linux community will strive (of course it will!), and someone may indeed resurrect the idea of a monthly subscription service. I know that several of you are in Linux related businesses, some of you in the print media, and others are part of Linux related websites.

GetTux.com was formed in the hope that we could advance the use of Linux , and that the ease of use would be promoted by allowing users updates to documentation and applications. We are fans of Linux. We are users of Linux. We are part of the commmunity. And we are sorry we are unable to continue to serve you in this capacity.

In the event that anyone in the community would like to use the GetTux.com domain, or would like the product we were selling, business plan and all, please contact me personally, scott@mcdev.com.

Anyway, back to the sad business: Current subscribers will be given a FULL refund. Consider the first month of your subscription a gift from other Linux aficionados. If you have a refund related question, please email refunds@gettux.com.

Again, my apologies for any inconvenience, and, again, I wish to thank each and every customer that allowed us to serve them.


 Linux Links

VA Linux Acquires Andover.Net for $800M

IBM Expands Linux Investment

VA Linux Expands SourceForge Online Development regarding KDE and the CMU Sphinx speech recognition system.

The Atlanta Linux Showcase has a call for papers. Submissions are due April 17 for the Extreme Linux Workshop, and May 1 for the Hack Linux/Use Linux Tracks.

eSoft and Gateway are partnering to advance Linux-based Internet software and services to small and mid-sized businesses.

Python and Tkinter Programming is a new book by John E. Grayson, published by Manning Publications.

www.whichrpm.com is a site helping you to find Linux software in the RPM format. Over 35 000 software packages are indexed, allowing you to find, for instance, a package that lets you talk to your PalmPilot.

Using Linux in Embedded and Real-time System is a white paper on why Linux is ideal for this environment.

Extreme Programming was mentioned in Jason Steffler's article, but I want to mention it again because it's a cool site. It's "a gentle introduction to Extreme Programming", which is one of those strategies for getting product development synchronized with the client's expectations.

Metran Technologies has updated the HTML version of Using Samba, and placed it on a more reliable web server.


 The Linux-Net Project

The Linux-Net Project, http://linux_net.tripod.com (temporary URL), seeks to modify Linux to allow your household computing devices to become intelligent "terminals". For instance, your refrigerator may notice that milk is running low and, being a termenal, asks the server to put "Milk" on the shopping list. Now you get the shopping list off of your PDA, which is also a termenal, and see that you should get milk. It could even be extended so that the server will watch how much milk, or any other product, your family drinks and will adjust the ammount you should get based on that.


 Cobalt Qube 2 and the Phoenix Adaptive Firewall

COLUMBUS, OH, (February 1, 2000)-Progressive Systems, Inc., a leading provider of Linux-based network security solutions, and Cobalt Networks, Inc., a leading developer of server appliances, today announced a new firewall appliance solution based on Progressive's Phoenix Adaptive Firewall, the only firewall for Linux to be both ICSA and LinuxLabs certified, and Cobalt's award-winning Qube 2 server appliance. The combination will allow small-to medium-sized businesses, workgroups, branch offices, schools and government institutions greater flexibility in establishing network security policy and design.

With the Phoenix firewall on the Qube 2, Progressive extends both its relationship with Cobalt and its existing offering of Linux-based firewall appliances. The partnership with Cobalt allows Progressive to deliver security solutions designed to meet a range of customer needs and opens Cobalt's customer base to Progressive. The Phoenix firewall on the Qube 2 joins the existing Phoenix firewall on the Cobalt RaQ 2, a Linux-based firewall appliance that allows service providers and resellers to deliver security products and managed services to small-to-medium-sized businesses, branch offices, schools, and government institutions. The addition of the Phoenix on the Qube gives customers an easy-to-use, high functionality premise-based solution that satisfies the needs of individual businesses and institutions. Progressive and Cobalt enjoy synergies in their product and sales organizations, allowing the companies to leverage their respective channel and product strategies.

The Phoenix Qube will retail for $2,495 with unlimited users.


 OpenTape.org

Boulder, CO - January 31, 2000 - Ecrix Corporation and the Linux Fund today announced OpenTape.org, a new nonprofit web site supporting the open source software movement. OpenTape.org offers users access to technical information about data backup hardware and software for the Linux operating system. All advertising and vendor participation revenues generated by the site go to the Linux Fund, a non-profit organization that supports Linux programmers with development grants and university scholarships.


 LinuxLinks.com launches free e-mail service to rival Hotmail

LinuxLinks.com is proud to announce the launch of a free web based email service targeted specifically for the Linux community. This service allows users to send and receive email on any computer that offers a web browser. Now you can deal with email anywhere in the world in a discreet and secure manner whilst at the same time promoting the Linux cause.

Some of the features provided include: a yourname@firstlinux.net email address, lightning fast service, attachments, folders, address book, spam filters and POP mail retrieval. There are many preference options available too allowing users to enhance their messages with different font styles, sizes and colors. A built-in help facility is also provided.

To complement this rich number of features we also provide message searches, personal signatures, aliases, and a personal profile to make a complete FREE web email service.

For more information and to sign up please visit http://www.firstlinux.net/

This service is the latest addition to the FirstLinux network, which currently comprises of LinuxLinks.com and FirstLinux.com.


 Lineo to appear in hotel/apartment set-top boxes

LINDON, UTAH-Jan. 18, 2000-Lineo, Inc, developer of embedded Linux system software; Elitegroup Computing, manufacturer of system board products; and Bast, Inc., provider of set-top hardware, today announced an agreement to use Lineo Embedix Linux 1.0 and Embedix Browser for Bast's line of embedded Linux-based set-top hardware. These devices will be installed in hotel rooms and apartment buildings in the United States, Europe and Asia. This Embedix-based Web browser is the first Internet appliance to provide hotel and apartment managers a low-cost, convenient way to give customers easy access to the Internet from an ordinary television set via a broadband network maintained by the property owner. Lineo:www.lineo.com
Elitegroup: www.ecsusa.com, www.ecs.com.tw
Bast: www.bastinc.com.


 G.lite: Linux-based DSL modem

Silicon Automation Systems Limited today extended its Synapse range of xDSL products by introducing a G.lite solution for Linux. This is the world's first Linux based internal G.lite modem offering the end-user enhanced data rates over the existing copper lines.

Mr. Deepak Gupta, Vice President., SAS, says, "External ADSL modem solutions available in the market today are expensive and bulky. They are not suitable for the Internet appliance market where cost and size are critical. Synapse G.lite for Linux is an extremely attractive solution for OEMs looking for providing ADSL access to their Linux based appliances. Providing G.lite under Linux is a pioneering step towards mass deployment of ADSL and in firmly establishing it as the technology of choice in the Internet access market," he added.

The Synpase G.lite for Linux modem provides data transfer rates of 1.5 Mb / s downstream and 512 Kb / s upstream while allowing simultaneous access for analog voice telephony. It is fully compliant with the ITU-T G.992.2 standard and has been interoperated with most major DSLAM vendors. Moreover, the performance of the system exceeds those mandated by standards. www.sasi.com


 New Red Hat CTO to address system builders

Portland, OR, January 31, 2000 - Michael Tiemann, Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of Red Hat, will address system builders and technology vendors from North America and Europe at the Opening Reception of System Builder Summit on Wednesday evening, March 8th. A technical leader in the industry, Tiemann will provide strategic insight into the open source movement and the impact it will have on current industry and channel models. System Builder Summit takes place March 8-11th at the Desert Springs Marriott Resort and Spa, in Palm Desert, California.

Tiemann was named Chief Technical Officer of Red Hat on January 12th of this year. Prior to this, he was co-founder and acting CTO of Cygnus Solutions, which Red Hat acquired this month. In his new role, Tiemann is responsible for communicating Red Hat's strategic direction to the company's customers and ensuring that Red Hat technologies meet their long term business requirements. www.systembuildersummit.com


Software Announcements


 C.O.L.A software news


 Internet phone for Linux

Phone is a linux client program that lets you talk with other people on the internet using voice on a full duplex connection. The requirements are:

Your identity is based on your email address. The server maintains a database of who is online and everyone's contact list. You can find out if your friends are on line if they are in your contact list and you're in their contact list. Similar to ICQ.

The program is very new and is command line based. Lots of improvements are planned, should it become popular. The client is free and open source. The matching service is free until further notice.


 CodeCatalog and cyclic.com acquired by OpenAvenue

Scotts Valley, CA -- Paul Hessinger, chairman and chief executive officer of OpenAvenue, Inc. (www.openavenue.com), today announced that the company has acquired CodeCatalog and Cyclic.com from SourceGear Corporation. OpenAvenue is a privately-held, business-to-business company specializing in Web-based hosting, management, and distribution of worldwide collaborative software development projects. OpenAvenue hosts application development content provided by individual and corporate content owners, and makes it available to a worldwide community of software developers under open source, community-based, and private licensing.

A Web-based open-source code search engine, CodeCatalog (www.codecatalog.com) provides a fast reference tool to search and browse a source code repository which currently contains more than 20 million lines of open-source code from Linux, Mozilla, KDE, GNOME, and others. All of the most popular open-source projects are represented, searchable, browsable, and cross-referenced against each other. CodeCatalog is built upon a variety of open source technologies, including Linux. OpenAvenue will integrate CodeCatalog into its OAsis infrastructure.

OpenAvenue also acquired SourceGear's Cyclic.com, a popular Web destination for developers using the Concurrent Versions System (CVS), the leading version control tool for open-source developers. OpenAvenue will further SourceGear's initiative to support the open community development of CVS, work to enhance its functionality, and remain committed to its status as free software.


 e-speak.net

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--Collab.Net announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Hewlett-Packard Company to build, host and maintain the Open Source software development infrastructure and Web site (www.e-speak.net) for e-speak technology. E-speak, an HP-developed software that is now available as Open Source software, dramatically simplifies the creation, composition, deployment, management, and maintenance of e-services over the Internet.

Collab.Net is providing Web-based development life-cycle management services including code versioning, bug tracking, and email discussion forums that are key to a well-run Open Source software community.

As a part of this effort, Collab.Net is providing a hosting platform consisting of several major, well-known packages of Open Source software combined into a cohesive offering:

- Code Version System (CVS) repositories 
- Bug tracking using the BugZilla software from the Mozilla Project
- Mailing lists, archived and searchable
- Source code browsing tools 
- An administrative interface for "admins" from the e-speak community


 iPlanet web server from the Sun-Netscape Alliance

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - January 19, 2000 - The Sun-Netscape Alliance (Alliance) today announced iPlanet(TM) Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.1 and the new FastTrack Edition 4.1 software, both of which now include support for the Linux operating system and the latest Java(TM) technologies. With these additions, iPlanet Web Server software now gives users an even wider degree of choice and flexibility in using iPlanet Web Server software on the operating system - or combination of operating systems - that best meets their business and Internet system requirements.

The new iPlanet Web Server, FastTrack Edition 4.1 software was specifically designed to meet the needs of developers and will be offered for free. FastTrack Edition 4.1 contains nearly all the core application development and administrative features of Enterprise Edition 4.1 that developers need to build rich, dynamic Web applications. iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.1 software continues to meet the needs of enterprises and service providers who require a high performing, scalable Web server to power their mission-critical Internet applications.

CNN To Power Web Sites With iPlanet Web Server 4.1 Software "The CNN Web sites have relied on Netscape Web Servers to meet the world's tremendous demand for news ever since CNN.com's initial launch in 1995. We have served billions of pages with Netscape Enterprise Server 2.01, and now it is time to move forward," said Sam Gassel, chief systems engineer for CNN Internet Technologies. "Our initial testing shows that iPlanet Web Server 4.1 software should be a highly scalable and reliable release. As we offer a more dynamic and personalized service, our users will benefit from the improvements in core functionality and new features such as integrated support for the latest Servlet and JavaServer Pages(TM) (JSP) specifications."

A pre-release version of iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.1 software on Linux is currently available on the iPlanet Web site, at www.iplanet.com/downloads/testdrive/index.html, for trial use and feedback. iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.1 software on the Linux, NT and Solaris(TM) Operating Environment is scheduled to be available for purchase in early March, 2000. iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.1 software with support for HPUX, AIX and Tru64 (Compaq/DEC) is scheduled to be available in early April, 2000. iPlanet Web Server, FastTrack Edition 4.1 software is scheduled to be available on all supported operating systems--Linux, Solaris, NT, AIX, Tru64 and HPUX--for free on the iPlanet Web site in early May, 2000. iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.1 software is priced at $1495 per CPU.


 Configure your network from a web cell phone

January 24, 2000 - Wayne, NE - SPIRO-Linux announces the development of a Linux Administration System, SPIRO-Linux WETMINtS, a powerful web-based administration interface for Linux systems.

Using WETMINtS, you can configure DNS, Samba, NFS, local/remote filesystems and more using your web-enabled cellular phone. WETMINtS is simple web-enabled cellular phone software, and consists of a number of CGI programs which directly update system files. WETMINtS supports all SPIRO-Linux and other Linux operating systems. Standard operations available with WETMINtS include:

	
  • Creating and editing Unix users and groups
  • Log in to your system with telnet
  • List, Kill and Renice running processes on your system
  • Manage WETMINtS configuration
  • Perform network diagnostics (ping, traceroute, port scanning)
  • List currents logins
  • About SPIRO-Linux

    SPIRO-Linux is the only distribution that comes with five easy-to-use Server installations (Mega Server, Web Server, Application Server, Name Server, File and Print Server) and three Workstation installations (General Purpose, Development and Graphics), plus an upgrade path and a custom install. SPIRO-Linux includes an Office Suite which contains a word processor, spreadsheet that is built into the product. In addition, SPIRO-Linux has the capability to import Microsoft Word documents into Linux.

    Currently, SPIRO-Linux is pursuing relationships with different OEM manufacturers in need of a more robust and easier to use version of Linux. SPIRO-Linux is published under the GNU general public license.

    [Just before press time, I couldn't get to www.spirolinux,com. It could be on http://www.openshare.net according to a web search, but that site is under renovation. However, Walnut Creek has a version of SPIRO-Linux for download at ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/linux/sunsite/distributions/spiro/i386/SPIRO/RPMS/ . If anybody at SPIRO-Linux reads this, please send the correct URL to gazette@linuxgazette.net. -Ed.]


     Xi Graphics Product Line for Linux

    Denver - XI Graphics Inc. has announced a new web-based product line of graphics hardware drivers for Linux. In making the announcement, Xi Graphics' National Sales Manager, Lee Roder, said the company would continue to offer its existing Accelerated-X Display Server line of products for Linux and Unix operating systems.

    "Desktop Linux is coming fast, and we're going to be there," said Roder. "We produce higher quality drivers more efficiently than anyone else in the business. Linux gamers and developers alike can easily download, demo and purchase our drivers from the Web site at affordable pricess -- it's good for us and it's good for Linux."

    The 3D Linux drivers are OpenGL 1.1.1-compliant, support libGLU and libGL, and are available for download from Xi Graphics' web site (www.xig.com) starting at $29 each. A limited number of drivers are currently available, but more are being added weekly.

    Roder said each driver is priced according to a numbe of factors such as hardware capabilities of the card, the degree of difficulty developing and testing the driver and the likely volume of sales of the driver.

    "Our new line of graphics support for Linux in desktop installations is a result of requests from our customers," said Roder. "It gives them the ability to very quickly get superb graphics support for their specific hardware at a price that is quite economical."

    The new 3D Linux driver products are sold only over the Web and are available as freely downloadable, limited-run-time demos. The demos can be run on the customers' hardware to confirm compatibility and performance before purchasing. Customers use a registration system to purchase a key through Xi Graphics' web site. The key is e-mailed back to the customer, unlocks the demo product and converts it into standard product.


     Other software

    Magic Enterprise Edition V.8 is a toolkit to build e-commerce and enterprise software directly on Linux.

    clobberd 4.16 is a daemon that monitors user activity and network interface activity. Available at Linux FTP sites.

    TotalView 4.0 is the first parallel debugger to support multiple development platforms for both traditional UNIX and Linux.

    Babylon remote-access software from Spellcaster is now open-source.

    Cyclades has released version 6.5.5 of the Cyclom-Y and Cyclades-Z Linux driver. (In the Tech support section of the web site.)

    EZHTML makes the arcane art of HTML accessible to everyone with an easy to use interface and well thought out design. Tags are arranged in categories and are grouped with other related tags. The built in search function makes it easy to find that one tag you are looking for and save time. A free 14-day trial is available.

    Igloo FTP has released a beta version of their commercial FTP client, IglooFTP-PRO Beta 1.0.0pre1. Binaries for this, and the source for an earlier version (IglooFTP 0.6), are on the web site.

    The Parallel Computing Toolkit from Wolfram Research, Inc. is a Mathematica application package that brings parallel computation to anyone having access to more than one computer on a network or to a multiprocessor computer.

    Easy Software Products announces


    This page written and maintained by the Editor of the Linux Gazette. Copyright © 2000, gazette@linuxgazette.net
    Published in Issue 51 of Linux Gazette, March 2000
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