Leading items and editorials: The case for competition, SuSE
lays off most of its U.S. staff, It’s time to make a choice about
software licensing, LinuxWorld 2001 New York and We are not “Linux
Weekly”.
“The case for competition. Those who would criticize free
software often pick on competing projects (GNOME and KDE being the
classic example) as an example of inefficiency and inability to
work together. Many free software supporters take a similar view.
According to many, the free software community would be better off
if everybody worked on a single project in each area. Think of how
much more could be accomplished that way. Recent events, however,
have provided us with a counterexample of utmost clarity.”
“SuSE lays off most of its U.S. staff. We have now received word
from several SuSE employees that they have been laid off as part of
a general cost-cutting measure. Evidently, almost all of SuSE’s
U.S. presence will be closed down, leaving “about two dozen” people
out of work. The people affected were doing installation support,
consulting, and some development work. Some of them have been
saying their goodbyes on the SuSE English mailing list; it is clear
that they will be missed. We wish the best for all the SuSE
folks….”
“It’s time to make a choice about software licensing. At least,
that’s what we read on the front of a piece of junk mail that
Microsoft, in its wisdom, chose to send to the LWN offices….”
“LinuxWorld 2001 New York. If you didn’t catch the links to our
LinuxWorld coverage on the daily page this past week, here is your
chance to check it out. This year’s conference was a study in
contrasts; the exhibit floor was twice the size of last year, but
several vendors canceled their attendance at the show at the last
minute. The venture capitalists were no longer circling, but that
didn’t mean that money wasn’t present. This time, it came in the
form of a large new presence from the big computer companies, IBM
in particular, but also Intel, Dell, Compaq and more….”