Torvalds: Linux 2.4 by Year's End

To celebrate the release of the Linux 2.2.11 kernel, Linus Torvalds has announced that Linux 2.4 will be available by the end of 1999. A host of improvements, including better filesystem management, the end of an absolute upper limit on processes, and USB support, are all slated for the new release.

Speaking at the recent LinuxWorld Expo in San Jose, Torvalds indicated that users can expect improved performance for portable and low-cost PCs, hoping to make the OS easier to install on those machines. Improving scalability -- both up and down -- is also a priority. With growing interest for Linux in handheld, appliance, and embedded applications, expect further expansion of those capabilities in upcoming revisions to the operating system.

Intel, VA Show Off Merced Linux Prototype

At LinuxWorld, onlookers were treated to a short demonstration of an in-progress port of Linux to the Intel Merced (IA-64) architecture. Dubbed the Trillian Project and fueled by VA Linux Systems along with Intel, SGI, IBM and other firms, developer-friendly versions are expected to be ready by early 2000. The demo, hosted by Intel's Andy Grove, showed Apache running under the Trillian kernel, and was carried out on a Pentium III system running IA-64 emulation software.

http//developer.intel.com

CA Launches Linux Product Line

Welcome another heavy-hitter to the Linux fold. Islandia, NY-based Computer Associates, one of the world's largest software firms, announced three Linux products at their CA World Expo.

Unicenter TNG, CA's enterprise system management package, will enable administrators to oversee and control their network resources from a Linux workstation. MasterIT offers Web server manage-ment and performance monitoring for Linux servers running Apache and Netscape HTML servers. And CA's Ingres II relational database will ship in late 1999 at the conclusion of its on going beta program. The preliminary results of a Linux survey conducted by CA at the expo indicate that 49 percent of CA partners and customers rate Linux as "Important to essential" for their infrastructure in the upcoming year.

http//www.cai.com

Enter the Public Linux Company

Red Hat is not just under a public license anymore; it's under public ownership. Despite a flurry of IPO cancellations and delays by other (non-Linux) firms during the week, the Durham, NC-based Linux distributor carried out an IPO on Wednesday, August 11, trading under the symbol RHAT. After pricing its IPO stock at $12­$14 per share, the stock opened at $40 and finished the week at $85 1/4, making it one of the best performing IPOs of the year.

Enterprising investors along with Linux enthusiasts lined up for the shares, although the Red Hat's attempt to offer key Linux contributors access to 800,000 shares of stock was met with mixed results after a number of technical SNAFUs left some would-beinvestors out in the cold.

http//www.redhat.com

It is the Best of Times, it is the Worst of Times for Silicon Graphics (Now SGI)

SGI has undergone a major shake-up. The good news is that SGI still plans to make good on its commitment to open the source code to the XFS journaling file system, a process that they started at LinuxWorld. Although portions of XFS are owned by other firms, SGI is working hard to clear additional copyrights to allow greater functionality for Linux, as well as other open source applications.

The company is far from announcing the end of its IRIX line of business, "Linux and IA-64 are the strategic direction of the company," according to Jan Silverman, SGI's vice president of Marketing. However, this reorganization will come at the cost of the Cray supercomputer division, which SGI will be spinning off, along with job cuts that could affect as many as 1,500 employees.

http//www.sgi.com

Charge it to Linux

If you can get a credit card with your alma mater's name on it, you should be able to get one with the penguin as well. And now you can, thanks to the newly launched Linux Fund, which is being billed as a non-profit corporation chartered with promoting Linux development projects.

For its first project, the fund is trying to sign up Linux users for a special MBNA America Bank card. The bank will make a donation for every Linux Fund credit card registered. That money will then be used to fund "a mix between really large projects, like GNOME, and little tiny projects," according to fund Executive Director Benjamin Cox.

By the way, the non profit Linux Fund is actually the second Linux Fund to spring up this year. The other, linuxfund.com, is a for-profit investment fund.

http//www.linuxfund.org

Andover Buys Freshmeat, too

With slashdot.org still hot on their plate, Andover.net has added freshmeat.net to their Linux holdings. With two of the hottest destinations for Linux professionals and enthusiasts, Andover.net is now able to lay claim to being the largest online Linux destination.

Freshmeat founder Patrick Lenz cited the Slashdot acquisition as one of the compelling reasons he signed with Andover.net. Andover's press release announcing the acquisition hinted at "synergies" between Slashdot and freshmeat, but fans of the sites will have to wait for specifics. http//www.freshmeat.net

Amiga + Linux + Transmeta?

The 300 or so Amiga die-hards who attended the recent Amiga West conference in Sacramento, CA were given a tantalizing hint on the machine's hardware direction, when Amiga listed Transmeta as a partner during a screening of a corporate video. Transmeta is the ultra-secretive microprocessor start-up that currently employs Linux's creator Linus Torvalds.

Amiga recently announced plans to use Linux as the OS for its next-generation computers, but has yet to say what chip it will be using. Amiga officials declined to comment specifically on its relationship with Transmeta, or even on why the company's name was listed in their video.

http//www.amiga.com