Summary: Distributions from which Microsoft is wielding power to 'tax' Linux are tracked on the Web

SUSE

IT has understandably been a quiet week for SUSE, which made the headlines in relation to BankIslami. "BankIslami chooses SUSE Linux enterprise," says this one headline:

Novell today announced that BankIslami Pakistan Limited, a dedicated Islamic commercial bank headquartered in Karachi, has chosen SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop as its operating platform of choice. With around 1400 users in 102 branches, SUSE Linux Enterprise provides BankIslami Pakistan with a secure, scalable, reliable and easy-to-use operating platform for its IT infrastructure. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is the platform for the Bank’s mission-critical application environment, while for desktops; SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is deployed on Sun Ray stateless thin-client terminals from Sun Microsystems.

BankIslami has actually been with SUSE for over 2 years, so it is not as though Novell won something new.

Last week we wrote about SUSE in relation to Itanium. Some more sites speak about it, but this is Red Hat news, not quite Novell/SUSE news.

That leaves Novell as the only major Linux supplier to still back Itanium, for the moment. As the Register points out, Novell has not tipped its hand one way or the other on the Itanium, and could very well extend support as a niche market, the way it does for the System z mainframe. But it seems clear that for most Linux providers, the IBM Power processor will be the high-end platform of choice.

More here:

Red Hat isn't the only enterprise Linux vendor to support Itanium: Rival Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is also a supporter, although it has yet to make any future predictions on whether it will support Itanium in its next release.

"Itanium is a fully supported platform for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, just as it was for previous versions," Michael Applebaum, senior solution marketing manager at Novell, told InternetNews.com. "We've worked closely with our processor and server partners -- including Intel, HP and others -- to deliver an optimized version of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for the Itanium architecture."

Novell's unfair treatment of SUSE developers got mentioned by IDG, which said:

IBM announced that layoffs might reach 16,000 and that Canadian staff would not be spared. Novell took the axe to 100 employees, mostly SUSE Linux developers

Here is a new video that reached YouTube a few days ago:



There are other companies that signed Novell-like deals.

Xandros

Xandros was again mentioned in relation to Freescale. But one of the main functions of Xandros these days seems to be helping Microsoft:

BridgeWays, a division of Xandros, today announced that ProacTIC, a leading provider of IT products and consulting services in the Dominican Republic, will bring BridgeWays multi-platform solutions to banks, retailers, and other businesses throughout the Caribbean.

In relation to the Eee PC, the following couple of posts have appeared:

i. ASUS Eee PC 1005PE review

By our count ASUS has released -- at the very least -- 20 Eee PC netbooks since 2008. Some had 8.9-inch or 10-inch displays, some ran Xandros Linux or Windows XP, and some packed hard drives instead of flash storage.

ii. ASUS Eee PC 1201N On Linux

ASUS has not been putting too much effort into their Xandros-based Linux operating system lately since Microsoft Windows 7 had launched, and sadly, with the Eee PC 1201N this does not change the game.

Samsung

The arrival of Bada has put Samsung in some Linux spotlights recently. But Samsung is part of Microsoft's Linux racket. Here are some new screenshots of Bada:

• Amazing screenshots with Samsung Bada escaped on the internet



• Samsung bada OS Screenshots Revealed



• Cutting Room: Samsung's consistency



• Samsung Bada screenshots hit the web, but what’s with the Series 60 font?



• Samsung Bada: UI shots spied on web

Images showing the user interface Samsung has grafted onto its upcoming Bada smartphone OS have appeared on the web.

Samsung is still working with Android, which contains Linux. It remains a bit of a mystery how Samsung and Microsoft arrange the 'taxation' of Linux, but they are definitely doing it.

About the Android-powered phones from Samsung, we have:

i. Samsung's New Android: It's Fun to Live in the Moment

The Moment is Samsung's latest Android handset, available through Sprint. The device maker has loaded the Moment with useful features, and Android is a strong OS in its own right. The slide-out keypad is very comfortable in a tactile sense, though visually its function markings need a little more contrast.

ii. Linux Mobile Powers the Vodafone 360 M1

The Vodafone 360 M1 is a Linux Mobile smart phone with amazing capabilities; this is the product of Samsung’s manufacturing and the Vodafone service. When three major industry giants with different specializations get together for a single device, you know it is going to be amazing. Still, the 360 M1 is the little brother of the even more powerful 360 H1 Linux Mobile smart phone. Frankly speaking, if the H1 is well within your budget, then you should get that phone instead.

The new GNU/Linux push from Foxconn seems promising. Foxconn employs about half a million people, so FoxOS does have a real chance and unlike Bada, it involves no patent deal with Microsoft. ⬆