[fdn-ann] More coverage

["Cecile Roux" <croux chenpr com>]

Here is more coverage from The Industry Standard. Also, I realized I sent 
the wrong AP story in my previous email, so here is the right story.

We are following up with the few publications that haven't posted the story 
as of yet (InformationWeek, InternetWorld, InternetWeek, WSJ, Business 2.0).



The Industry Standard
Geeks, Nerds and Drastic Personality Changes
August 16, 2000
Jimmy Guterman
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,17723,00.html


The Associated Pres
Linux System Called Great Equalizer
August 16, 2000

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Who would have thought an operating system whose 
mascot is a cute, smiling penguin could engender such fear?

One after another, companies attending the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo 
here are portraying the so-called open-source movement as the great 
equalizer, capable of reducing giants to dwarfs and making paupers patrons 
as new electronic applications begin to flow freely and fast.

Companies developing everything from wristwatches to electronic organizers 
to supercomputers are flocking to Linux because the platform allows anyone 
to tinker with the operating system to fit individual needs, while freeing 
them from paying costly licensing fees. That helps keep down the price and 
can speed product development, allowing upstarts to take on entrenched 
competitors.

``Linux is a business-model disruptor of pretty mammoth proportions,'' said 
Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Computer Corp., in a keynote address to 
conference attendees.

Microsoft Corp.'s Windows and Apple Computer's Mac OS have been mentioned 
as the most threatened operating systems, but companies such as Dell, 
Motorola Corp. and others are using Linux to challenge markets dominated by 
Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and Palm Inc.

Even small companies see opportunities. Agenda Computing Inc., a subsidiary 
of Hong Kong-based Kessel International Holdings, showed off a slick, new 
electronic organizer called the VR3 that uses the Linux operating system. 
The handheld market is currently dominated by devices that run on the Palm OS.

And new software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets and 
games that could challenge Microsoft's Office suite could come sooner 
rather than later now that industry leaders are working to establish a 
common desktop interface for the raw code that powers Linux.

The 3-year-old Gnome Foundation announced Tuesday that Compaq, HP, IBM, Red 
Hat, TurboLinux and others had joined an advisory board determined to set a 
single standard for the interface.
Middlemen such as San Francisco-based CollabNet also are gaining new 
business as they bring together corporations to work on projects with 
developers.

Dell noted his company is expected to announce soon an agreement with the 
startup, similar to those announced by HP, Sun and Oracle for software 
engineering projects.

CollabNet launched what 26-year-old founder Brian Behlendorf, a well-known 
programmer in the open-source movement, terms an ``open-source eBay.''

CollabNet's SourceXchange so far has attracted nearly 8,000 programmers as 
registered members. When a client with a software problem posts a formal 
request for help, SourceXchange programmers are notified by e-mail. Willing 
programmers then submit proposals and suggested fees.
If a client accepts a proposal, SourceXchange creates a contract, supplies 
a ``peer reviewer'' to referee any disputes and oversees payment, charging 
the client an additional fee.

``It's really hard to deny there's a huge phenomena happening here,'' 
Bernie Mills, vice president of marketing at CollabNet, said of open 
source. ``There is an element of spontaneous innovation that happens when 
you have developers share code and advance that code using open-source 
principles.'''

Companies that would benefit from weakening Microsoft's dominance are 
backing the project in a big way. CollabNet has received $35 million in 
funding from Sun, Oracle, HP and Intel Corp., and Netscape co-founder Marc 
Andreessen, whose browser was trambled by Microsoft, sits on CollabNet's 
board.

``These are all advantages proprietary systems do not provide,'' added 
Stacey Quandt, an analyst who follows Linux for Giga Information Group. 
``We don't see the same sort of excitement and trends focusing on Windows 
at this point.''