Practical Technology

for practical people.

July 1, 2008
by sjvn01
2 Comments

What’s what with Xandros buying Linspire

t’s safe to say that no one saw Xandros, the oldest of the desktop Linux companies thanks to its Corel Linux ancestry, buying Linspire, the desktop Linux perhaps best known for being the first Linux to openly embrace proprietary software. So how did this deal happen? Why did it happen? Here’s what Xandros CEO Andreas Typaldos had to say about the surprising deal.

First, Typaldos explained during a call and in a e-mail memo that Xandros was indeed acquiring Linspire lock, stock and barrel. Xandros will own “the CNR software distribution facility, and the Linspire and Freespire Linux desktop operating systems.”

Why make this deal when Xandros, thanks to its Asus partnership, appeared to be gaining users at a quick rate. According to Xandros, his company made the “acquisition will provide an exploding number of mobile Linux customers with one-click software delivery to update and enhance their platform.”

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July 1, 2008
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Best Practices for using Open-Source Software

When faced with using open-source software in your company should your first reaction be:

1 )Run in terror.
2) Pick up and cuddle your stuffed Steve Ballmer doll while shouting “No!”
3) Refuse to even consider it
4) Deal with it.

Even if you think open source is the dumbest idea to hit IT since Microsoft Bob, number four is your only real choice.

There was a time when SCO and Microsoft could pull the FUD over some people’s eyes and convince them that using open-source software would be leaving your company open to lawsuits or that the only support you’d ever get for your open-source software would be someone who looked like he’d been playing Jesus in a third-rate road show of Godspell. Those days are long gone.

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June 30, 2008
by sjvn01
13 Comments

Surprise Desktop Linux Move: Xandros Buys Linspire

Practical Technology has learned from several sources that Linspire, the San Diego, Calif-based Linux distributor is being bought out by Xandros, the Canadian desktop Linux vendor.

In an announcement that was sent out today, June 30, to Linspire stockholders, CEO Larry Kettler wrote that the stockholders had decided to sell all of Linspire’s assets. This deal specifically includes Linspire, Freespire, and the company’s distribution agnostic CNR (Click ‘N Run) desktop installation platform.

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June 29, 2008
by sjvn01
3 Comments

Avoiding Server 2008 Password Troubles

I was setting up Windows Server 2008 on a test system today to get a better grip on Microsoft’s just released Hyper-V virtualization when I ran into a completely unexpected problem: I couldn’t set up the system’s initial password

I expected to have some trouble integrating Server 2008 into my network. My LAN, while it used AD (Active Directory), relies on Samba and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) so I expected to have some trouble with, at a minimum, some authentication issues. And, indeed, I did run into that kind of problem, but first I had to get logged into my server. This is not a problem I ever expected to have with a modern operating system.

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June 27, 2008
by sjvn01
1 Comment

A Print Server to Avoid: the Linksys WPS54GU2

Generally speaking for consumer/SMB grade network equipment, I swear by Linksys hardware. I’ve been using he Linksys WRT54G family of access points since 2002 ever since Linksys open-sourced the firmware for many WRT54G models and they’ve never let me down. But, then there’s the Linksys print servers. If I had met these devices first, I’d be swearing at Linksys and using D-Link, Netgear, heck, anyone’s else equipment.

What’s really ticked me off is the Linksys WPS54GU2 Wireless-G Print Server for USB 2.0. All I wanted was a simple print -server for my wife’s upstairs studio. What I got was one of the most annoying network devices I’d ever worked with.

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