January

• Internet access and international telephone calls throughout Malaysia and most of Asia were disrupted for weeks due to an earthquake in Taiwan that damaged the underwater Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 link. Everything returned to normal in February after repairs by ship were completed.

• TIME Engineering Bhd signed an agreement with MSC Management Services, a subsidiary of Multimedia Development Corporation, to provide wireless broadband nationwide via WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and WiFi. Read the rest of this entry »
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According to some recent rumors, the Italian Parliament has decided to switch to Linux more than 3,500 desktop computers and 200 servers. The Linux distribution that would be most probably used is said to be Novel’s SuSE Linux, even though many considered Ubuntu as more appropriate.

The migration process is said to start this September and the Italian officials estimate it would take almost two years to accomplish this. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Ubuntu Dell systems deal with the “Home and Home Office” category and only that. According to cosborn72, an Ubuntu Forums user, Dell refused selling him one of its Ubuntu Dell systems because he intended to buy it for his business and not for personal use only.

After contacting Dell’s small business departments, the above mentioned user, (cosborn72) found out it could not order one of the Ubuntu computers through that department, which is not actually surprisingly at all so far, as the respective systems were placed to the “Home and Home Office” category. Therefore the client went to the home department. Here is where the surprise was to come. The Dell representative the man contacted responded: “these Dell computers are designed for personal use only, as long as you use it for personal use, you can purchase one.”

But that’s not all. If you lie and say you buy the system for yourself and not for your business you’ll stumble upon another problem at pay time, in case you intend using the business credit card. Dell would accept only personal cards. What a shame.

A while ago, Dell Inc. company made an announcement according to which it would start releasing desktop computers and notebook systems with pre-installed Linux as an option. At the time Dell said it did not decide on what Linux distro would be shipped with their systems. In the end, after the suspense and rumors reached a really high quota, Canonical broke the silence and stated that its brand new Ubuntu 7.04, Feisty Fawn, was the chosen Linux version to run on Dell’s computers. The open source fans got so excited with the idea that they even set up online motions to convince Dell to start selling the systems outside the US too.

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Open Source applications can bring unique value to business owners. Since the base application development costs of open source applications is free, small and medium business owners are able to leverage previously unobtainable technolgies against their sales objectives, operational costs and customer satisfaction levels.

Most small and medium businesses cannot afford the typical IT infrastructure model - nor does it make sense even if it is within their budget. Consider the following expenses:

* Hardware Infrastructure (Servers, Routers, etc)
* Bandwith
* Software licenses
* Software maintenance
* IT Staff

The creation, countinued adoption and proliferation of Linux (Open Source Operating System) in many server installations across the world has changed the way businesses run their IT operations. Although Linux is not yet a viable technolgy in the workstation model, it most certainly has gained a large market share in the server/application world. Companies adopting Linux into their server environment have realized the decreased costs, increased efficiency and increased security associated with this platform. The secret is now out and organizations are jumping the Microsoft ship at an ever increasing rate. This trend has not been lost on the major players in the IT industry, as IBM and Novell have been furiously waving the Linux banner and adopting the Linux penguin into all their marketing efforts over the last 12-24 months.

What does this mean to the typical Small & Medium Business Owner?

Since the proliferation of Linux, many applications have been developed by programmers from around the world to run on this platform. Pretty much any application a business could require, no matter how specialized, can now be found in the Open Source community. By choosing an ASP (Application Service Provider) provider that has experience with these applications, and the necessary infrastructure to host, manage & support these applications for you, a business owner can now leverage core business applications at a fraction of traditional, “expected” costs. Although IBM has never been able to capitalize or deliver on their now famous marketing slogan “Pay like a little guy, Play like a big guy” - Savy business owners are learning how to accomplish this, even if it isn’t by calling IBM.

Enterprise level applications such as eCommerce, CRM, Content Management and Portals are now available for 100’s of dollars setup, not 10’s of thousands or 100’s of thousands dollars. Combine this with low, fixed operational monthly hosting and support fees - effectively eliminating infrastructure, IT staff, software and bandwith expenses - and the value statement becomes VERY strong for the typical business owners.

Other advantages with Open Source applications:

* Real time updates and upgrades. No more waiting for your vendor to release the next version before bugs &/or security holes are patched.
* Once a bug is identified and validated, the Open Source community is quick to release a fix.
* Open source means open and available code - unlike various proprietary systems, where source code is not available - application integration is now affordable and possible, even for small business.

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What are the differences between three models of “free” software, and why does it matter?

With all the excitement, many people are actually confusing open source software with two other models of “free” software–with potentially serious consequences. Here, we’ll try to clear it up.

Freeware

The word “freeware” has been so overused, its meaning is no longer clear. Today it is often synonymous with “shareware,” but for our purposes, I will define “freeware” as “software which can be downloaded, used, and copied without restrictions.” (See this definition.)

Legally, the difference between freeware and open source is that you do not have access to the source code. Organizationally, this makes a big difference: There is no community and no development infrastructure around “freeware” as there is around open source software. Thus, while you can use freeware “as is,” there is no real way to improve upon it or obtain support for it.

Thus, freeware is “free” as in those “Free Treadmill” classified advertisements.

Shareware

Shareware is a different concept. You can download and try shareware for free, but if you use it, you are supposed to pay for it. It is developed and released by someone who keeps full control of the intellectual property. The user does not have access to the source code and cannot modify it. There is also no collaboration or community around shareware.

In the end, the only difference between shareware and commercial software is that you can download and try shareware for free. Like commercial software, you are utlimately dependent on the developer of shareware for enhancements and support.

Thus, shareware is “free” as in “Free Sample” at restaurants or grocery stores. Read the rest of this entry »

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