Munich To Make Linux Migration Official
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A year after announcing it would migrate its Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows-run computers to Linux, the German city of Munich is expected to make the migration official. The city's council has scheduled a vote, which is anticipated to kick off the next phase of the Linux move.
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Linux creator Linus Torvalds, in an interview being made public by the Linux Foundation Tuesday, stressed that version 2 of the GPL (GNU General Public License) still makes the most sense for the Linux kernel over the newer GPL version 3.GPL 3, which was released last year by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), reflects the FSF''s goals while GPL 2 closely matches what Torvalds thinks a license should do, Torvalds said.?"I want to pick the license that makes the most sense for what I want to do. And at this point in time, Version 2 matches what I think we want to do much, much better than Version 3," said Torvalds, who is now a fellow at the foundation. He was interviewed in late-October by Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin.Among GPL 3 highlights are protections against patent infringement lawsuits and provisions for license compatibility. Torvalds acknowledged he had spoken out against GPL 3 before it was released. He had opposed digital rights management provisions in early-2006, calling them burdensome.There could be a change in his stance, though, Torvalds said. GPL 2 basically has acted as a single license covering a huge bulk of source code. Version 3 splits this base with some projects covered by version 2 and others by version 3 or later, he said. Version 3 might be useful if "there ends up being tons of external code that we feel is really important and worthwhile that is under the version 3 license," said Torvalds.He added he cannot change the license on his own anymore. "I mean, because I have accepted code over the last 15 years by people who kind of accepted my original choice of the GPL Version 2, I?m not just, I think, ethically bound by those people?s choices, I am also actually legally bound," Torvalds said.Torvalds also was asked about the Linux development process being centered in North America and Europe despite Linux's now-global reach. Developers, Torvalds said, tend to come from countries with a high density of Internet access. While China and India have a lot of people, they have issues with Internet access, he said.Language and cultural barriers also present an issue. While some Asian countries have huge Internet use and a great deal of education, they do not contribute a lot to the kernel or other open-source projects, said Torvalds. South Americans, meanwhile, may not necessarily speak English but culturally, they are closer to Europe and the U.S., which makes it easier to enter the fray, according to Torvalds.?Asked why the kernel does not have a stable device driver ABI, Torvalds said one reason is that people ask for one but do not want to merge their source code into the stable kernel or the standard kernel."And that, in turn, means that all the people who actually do all the kernel work and maintain the kernel are basically unable to work with that piece of hardware and that vendor because if there are any bugs whatsoever, we can?t fix them," said Torvalds.Commercial vendors have moved away from wanting anything to do with binary drivers because they are not maintainable, he said.Torvalds said Linux started out as a hobby of his, but he has now been working on it full-time for the last four years.
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In an effort to help ensure standardization, the Free Standards Group has officially released the Linux Standard Base (LSB) 2.0, a specification composed of interoperability standards, a base set of APIs and libraries and developer environments and test
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German business software vendor SAP plans to relocate a number of administrative jobs from its German headquarters and European subsidiaries to Prague, in a move aimed at streamlining its operations and reducing costs.
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Blog: Software maker says it's ready with a near-final "release candidate" version, which will find its way on to servers later this year.
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By The Idaho Statesman, Boise  Sep. 15--The Idaho State Linux Users Group will host a Software Freedom Day celebration Saturday in Pocatello.
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NOVEMBER 17, 2004  - Four small Linux vendors have joined together to create a new Linux Standard Base 2.0-compliant binary set that they hope will attract independent software vendors and hardware makers to port their wares to the new code
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BERLIN, Jul 19 (IPS) - A summit on integration of some 15 million migrants  into German society has produced an ambitious new programme.
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The company's next Fedora Linux will include the new approach to carving Linux systems into multiple virtual machines.
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LinuxWorld Conference &amp; Expo will come to Boston for the first time in February, underscoring the area's standing as a hub for the open-source software being adopted by thousands of businesses.
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The decision follows other moves by the IT services and hardware vendor  to embrace LInux.
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BRUSSELS, Oct 14 (IPS) - Proposals to build centres for asylum-seekers  outside the EU will be back on the table at the next European  summit in Brussels Nov. 5.
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which has been making headway with companies and governments -- potentially face headaches if the open-source operating system fragments into differing and incompatible versions.
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Germany comes up with the funds to build a high-speed, magnetic levitation, rail service in Munich.
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Ziff Davis - The number of enterprises migrating from Windows to Linux is a growing concern for Microsoft. But it's not a one-way street. Some companies&#151;unhappy with their open-source experience&#151;are making the switch back to Windows.
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If Microsoft Corp. had any hope of seeing Munich back away from its landmark decision last year to abandon Windows software in favor of open source Linux, that hope faded Wednesday when city officials decided to move ahead with their migration project.
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Several major IT vendors have agreed to support the Linux Standard Base 2.0, which establishes a global standard for the open-source operating system.