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<title>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo LG #39</title>
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<font color="navy">A <I>Linux Journal</I> Preview</font>:
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This article will appear in the May 1999 issue of <I>Linux
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Journal</I>.
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<center>
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<H1><font color="maroon">LinuxWorld Conference & Expo</font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:gazette@ssc.com"></a>Marjorie Richardson</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<A HREF="./photos.html">Photo Album</A>
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<P>
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Back home from LinuxWorld, the first Linux conference held on the West
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Coast, I am finding it difficult to concentrate and get back in the normal
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groove. I spent a remarkable two days, March 2 and 3, in the San Jose
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Convention Center and everyone who didn't go has been dropping by to find out
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about it. This was a major conference with more than just the usual
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suspects in attendance, and everyone had a big announcement.
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<p>
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Over 6,000 people
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turned out to join in the excitement. Described by one attendee as
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``heady stuff'', I can't think of a better way to describe it.
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The attendance by the big-name vendors is a sure sign that Linux has made the
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big leagues. When introducing Dr. Michael Cowpland's keynote speech,
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Jon ``maddog'' Hall described this conference as Linux's ``coming out'' or ``sweet
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16''
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party, with the business community embracing the Linux community and Linux
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embracing business--``Welcome to the world of Linux!'' he said.
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<p>
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Dr. Cowpland gave an articulate speech, focusing on the ways Corel is
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using Linux now and in the future. While I was a bit surprised to learn the first
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keynote was a company presentation,
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it certainly gave a clear picture of how big business perceives Linux as an
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excellent opportunity for promoting growth and profit. Dr. Cowpland said again
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that Corel would be porting all their products to Linux and continuing to
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support the WINE project. His presentation of the Quattro Pro spreadsheet
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program running on WINE was quite impressive--fast and quite attractive.
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He announced WordPerfect Office 2000, stressing their goal of ``value, performance
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and compatibility'', and a Corel distribution which will
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combine the best features from each of the current distributions and be ready
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for release in the fall. He predicted that by the end of the year, we will be
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able to buy high-performance computers, such as Gateway, for $600 to $800,
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preloaded with Linux. Sounds good to me.
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<p>
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Linus gave a well-received keynote address and participated on a panel discussion
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of ``The Continuing Revolution'',
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moderated by Eric Raymond. He also showed up at the Compaq booth with Jon Hall
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for fans to visit, take photos and get autographs.
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<p>
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I attended only one other talk (too much booth duty) and that one was by
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Larry Wall (See in this issue). Larry has a casual
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speaking style that fits well into this environment. Two quotes I enjoyed
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were:
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<p>
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<blockquote>
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Perl does one thing right--it integrates all its features into one
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language.
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<p>
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
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Journalists who give Perl bad press should experience more angst in
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their writing.
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<p>
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</blockquote>
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Speaker Dan Quinlan will also be appearing in our pages
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soon. Dan is writing a feature article for our June Standards issue.
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<p>
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I spent a good bit of time talking to various vendors. Here's a bit of what I
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found out:
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<p>
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<ul>
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<li> Tripwire Security Systems, Inc.: Tripwire is a file integrity
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security system (see ``Tripping up Intruders with Tripwire'' by Kevin Fenzi,
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August 1997) that became commercial in January of this year. All 2.<i>x</i>
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releases are still freely available and include the basic support of 48-hour
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e-mail response. They provide extended support (4-hour response) for a fee.
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Biggest additions are Algomol encryption for the database, damage
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inventories and e-mail warnings when damaged files are found. I brought back a
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Tripwire CD for our system administrator to play with, so expect a review in
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a future issue.
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<li> GraphOn: This company is promoting their Go-Global thin PC X
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server software designed for high-speed access to UNIX/X-based applications
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on the server from any desktop. A web site has been established at
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http://playpen.graphon.com/, where Windows users can enjoy the experience of
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running Linux. Corel, a partner of GraphOn, has embedded the thin-client
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software in WordPerfect 8, making it web-enabled.
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<li> ICP Vortex: This German-based company has the number one RAID
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controller in Europe and they have a fully bootable implementation for Linux.
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Drivers for their controller can be found in all major distributions.
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Beginning this month, they are shipping a 64-bit PCI-fibre channel RAID
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controller, which can also be run in 32-bit slots. ICP is committed to
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continuing support of the Linux operating system. One of their big users in
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the U.S. is Linux Hardware Solutions, and they have promised us a review of this
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excellent RAID device.
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<li> Precision Insight: With funding from Red Hat and XGI, this
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company is creating an OpenGL 3-D infrastructure within XFree86 servers that
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will enable developers to access device drivers which permit access to OpenGL
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clients.
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<li> Cygnus Solutions: Cygnus Solutions has had an open source
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business model since 1989, providing support for open source software. It is
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now a member of the Fortune 500. At this show,
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they talked to me about the cross-compilers included in their GNUPro Toolkit
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for Linux. The Toolkit includes all the popular GNU tools, along with added
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features and custom enhancements such as a graphical user interface to the
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tools.
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<li> IBM demonstrated several of their products that now run on
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Linux, including the WebSphere product line, the Andrew File System and the DB2
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database system. Also on display was the first commercial, Java-based emulator
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for Linux called IBM Host On-Demand. This product provides secure access to
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data and applications via a web browser. When I asked how it happened that
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IBM was entering the Linux market, the answer was ``user demand''. How about
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that--asking for what you want truly works!
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<li> Informix: Janet Smith of Informix graciously came by the
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<i>Linux Journal</i> booth to visit me while I was on booth duty. Informix has
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a very large presence among value added resellers (VARs) and recently
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formed an alliance with
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Hewlett-Packard to deliver Linux-based Internet solutions through their
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Covision program. Informix also announced an alliance with Jones Business
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Systems, by which Informix Linux products will be distributed through JBS'
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reseller channels. HP was also at the conference to show off OpenMail, but I
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didn't get the chance to talk to them.
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<li> Stalker Software: Ali Liptrot of Stalker Software also came
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by to say ``hi''. When I went by their booth, it was
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flooded with traffic to see the demonstrations of their CommuniGate Pro
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messaging system.
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<li> Appgen Business Software, Inc.: Jim Kelly stopped by to tell
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me about their financial software. I had thought financial software
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was one place Linux was weak--looks like I was wrong.
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</ul>
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All the major distributions were there giving away t-shirts and other
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goodies, and in general amazing everyone with their new releases. I saw a
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beta demonstration of Caldera's next release of OpenLinux which has the
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easiest install I've ever seen. They've provided a GUI using QT from Troll
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Tech, and it just zips through, probing for mouse and other information,
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completing the install without the user having to do a thing. It even provides
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a window so you can play Tetris while waiting for the install to complete.
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Not having a ``smart'' install is one item many people have said was a major
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drawback for Linux--well, now Linux has it. One more reason for not using
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Linux has just been blown away.
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<p>
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While doing booth duty on Wednesday, I got to meet many of our readers and
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authors as well as introduce new people to <i>Linux Journal</i>. I had a lot of
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fun. We shared our booth space with our publisher SSC, there to promote their
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latest book, <i>The Artists' Guide to the GIMP</i> by Michael J. Hammel. Michael was
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there and many fans showed up to meet him and have their books signed.
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<p>
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All in all, it was a great show and IDG is planning a repeat performance in
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August. So if you missed it, come and drop by the <i>LJ</i> booth then for a
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visit. Heady stuff, indeed!
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1999, Marjorie Richardson <BR>
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Published in Issue 39 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, April 1999</H5></center>
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