Re: [school-discuss] Beth Guerard - need SchoolForge input

[Matt Jezorek <matt@bluelinux.org>]

Yeap I got the same email, probably a lot of the schoolforge members.

Matt

Quoting Michael Viron <mviron@findaschool.org>:

> >X-Persona: <mviron-softhome>
> >Return-Path: <bGuerard@eschoolnews.com>
> >Delivered-To: mviron@softhome.net
> >Delivered-To: mviron@seul.org
> >Subject: need SchoolForge input
> >Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2002 11:02:53 -0500
> >X-MS-Has-Attach: 
> >X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.0.4417.0
> >content-class: urn:content-classes:message
> >X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: 
> >Thread-Topic: need SchoolForge input
> >Thread-Index: AcGz3rpKM7exnuOpR6iz+dPA3dN9ig==
> >Priority: Urgent
> >Importance: high
> >From: "Beth Guerard" <bGuerard@eschoolnews.com>
> >To: <mviron@findaschool.org>
> >
> >Hi Mr. Viron,
> >My name is Beth Guerard and I'm the associate editor for eSchool News.
> >We are a K-12 education technology newspaper. I'm working on a story
> >about a new technology that can allow users to run Microsoft Windows
> >applications on a  Linux OS. I was hoping you might be interested in
> >commenting on this new technology, since you're a member of SchoolForge,
> >and they support "open source for education" initiatives. Please look at
> >the story (below) for background. 
> > 
> >My questions are:
> >1.	Do you think this technology could benefit schools? Why or why
> >not?
> >2.	What are the benefits of Lindows? The drawbacks?
> > 
> >Thanks!!
> > 
> >Story:
> >Lindows OS to run Windows programs but faces skepticism, lawsuit
> >From eSchool News staff and wire service reports
> > 
> >Michael Robertson's last startup, MP3.com, helped ignite the digital
> >music revolution, attracting a big buzz and lawsuits from major record
> >labels. Robertson's latest gig is no less ambitious: an operating system
> >called Lindows that aims to run programs designed for Microsoft Corp.'s
> >Windows OS.
> > 
> >The gist: No Microsoft purchase necessary. Lindows is being built to run
> >on the open-source Linux platform, meaning it would be an attractive
> >option for cash-strapped schools.
> > 
> >Lindows.com Inc. is attracting considerable attention-and
> >skepticism-just months after it was announced. It is also fighting its
> >first lawsuit, from Microsoft, for alleged trademark infringement.
> > 
> >"Anytime you're trying to change the world, you're going to encounter
> >challenges," said Robertson, who sold MP3.com last year to Vivendi
> >Universal SA but still serves as an adviser.
> > 
> >If delivered as promised, Lindows could do nothing less than crack
> >Microsoft's monopoly on business and home operating systems-in effect,
> >succeed where antitrust regulators have so far failed.
> > 
> >If Lindows works, it would provide an alternative that is easy to use
> >and runs efficiently but costs about half the full retail price of the
> >home edition of Windows XP and plays well with real Windows-based
> >systems.
> > 
> >And if it wins customers, it could open up a vast library of Linux
> >software and opportunities for programmers in the open-source community.
> > 
> >But those are big "ifs."
> > 
> >Lindows has offered few details about its product. On Jan. 24, it
> >offered a $99 download of a "Sneak Preview" on condition the information
> >not be made public. Public releases are expected later this year.
> > 
> >Even if Lindows works, analysts question whether it will find traction
> >among consumers who have largely rejected attempts to make Linux
> >palatable for the masses.
> > 
> >Linux, after all, has not made headway into desktop PCs despite low
> >costs, user-friendly desktop environments, and programs that claim to be
> >compatible with Windows, including Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Star Office.
> > 
> >It may simply be too difficult.
> > 
> >"Look at Star Office. Here's something that's already interoperable with
> >the world-accepted standard of Microsoft products," said Matthew Berk of
> >Jupiter Media Metrix. "Why hasn't it found wider adoption?"
> > 
> >Sun tried in the mid-1990s to create software that could run Windows
> >programs in its Unix-based Solaris operating system. The so-called Wabi
> >project was shut down in 1997.
> > 
> >"They didn't put enough money behind it," said Rob Enderle, an analyst
> >at Giga Information Group. "It was a special project, and for the most
> >part it was never funded to a level that would have allowed it to
> >succeed."
> > 
> >Since 1993, a loose community of Linux and other Unix programmers in the
> >so-called Wine project have been working on free software that allows
> >Windows-based programs to run in Linux.
> > 
> >Despite all that effort, Wine remains difficult to use and is far from
> >100-percent compatible.
> > 
> >Lindows will use components of Wine but also is improving them,
> >Robertson said. The new operating system promises much greater
> >simplicity than any other Linux distribution and file navigation that is
> >familiar to Windows users.
> > 
> >Lindows also will have a more liberal licensing policy. With one
> >license, users can legally copy Lindows to a home PC, laptop, and work
> >or school computer. Microsoft would charge for each.
> > 
> >Lindows isn't promising the world. At first, its focus will be on office
> >productivity applications such as Microsoft's Office Suite and Lotus
> >Notes.
> > 
> >Rather than reverse engineering software, Lindows programmers look for
> >how the program interacts with the operating system and then replicate
> >that in the Linux environment.
> > 
> >"It's much like French and English. We say cheese. They say fromage,"
> >Robertson said.
> > 
> >Lindows is attempting to accomplish its goals without any help from
> >Microsoft. Analysts wonder whether that may be too big a task for its
> >two-dozen employees and limited funding.
> > 
> >"It's not just a matter of watching how it works," Berk said. "I think
> >you need to have a relationship there."
> > 
> >Microsoft, for instance, could make changes to its operating system or
> >its programs that render Lindows obsolete.
> > 
> >But Robertson might have an ally in the suggested remedies proposed by
> >state attorneys general who are not adhering to the proposed antitrust
> >settlement between Microsoft and the federal government.
> > 
> >The dissenting states want Microsoft to be forced to share more of the
> >inner workings of Windows and other programs.
> > 
> >So far, Microsoft isn't saying much about Lindows beyond its trademark
> >infringement lawsuit, which was filed in December.
> > 
> >"If Lindows were to cease using the name Lindows, then we would have no
> >problem at all with the product itself," said Microsoft spokesman Jon
> >Murchinson.
> > 
> >The Microsoft suit intends to try to slow down Lindows development and
> >scare away investors, said Robertson.
> > 
> >"We're not on a [mission] here against Microsoft," he said. "We're on a
> >mission to bring choice."
> > 
> > 
> >~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
> >Elizabeth B. Guerard, Associate Editor 
> >eSchool News
> >(800) 394-0115 ext.113 toll-free
> >eMail: bguerard@eschoolnews.org <mailto:bguerard@eschoolnews.org> 
> >fax: (301) 913-0119
> >web: www.eschoolnews.org
> > 
> >
> 




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