Stories by Jack McCarthy

Doubts about Linux linger

Amidst all the hype about the platform at the LinuxWorld Conference in San Jose last week, one panellist on a Q&A session said the coming year will be vital for the future of Linux as corporate executives decide whether to make serious commitments to the open-source operating system.

FCC Rejects Call for Cable Internet Access Probe

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard has turned down a request for an inquiry into whether cable companies unfairly restrict their customers' choices for Internet service providers, saying government intervention would chill overall development of broadband networks.
Kennard yesterday said he was rejecting a recommendation made last month by the FCC's Local and State Government Advisory Committee that the FCC begin investigating complaints about cable companies with an eye toward forcing them to open their networks. The FCC's Local and State Government Advisory Committee is composed of state and local government telecommunications and cable regulatory officials, said Morgan Broman, an FCC spokesman.

LinuxWorld: Panel says Linux doubts linger

The coming year will be vital for the future of Linux as corporate executives decide whether to make serious commitments to the open-source operating system, a panellist at the LinuxWorld Conference said here on Tuesday.

AOL, MS Dare Each Other on Messaging Standard

America Online Inc. and Microsoft Corp. continued their "cat and mouse" battle over instant messaging today, even as they separately issued high-minded calls to set messaging standards.
Since last week Microsoft has continued to release messaging software to allow its Microsoft Network (MSN) users to communicate with users of AOL's Instant Messenger Service (AIM). AOL, in turn, keeps blocking the software, company officials said.

IBM posts healthy Q2 earnings

IBM yesterday posted strong earnings in its second quarter financial report, showing earnings of $US1.7 billion, compared with $1.5 billion in the second quarter last year.
Revenues for the quarter, ending June 30, rose 16 per cent to $US21.9 billion from $18.8 billion.

Earthlink, MCI WorldCom Agree to Broadband Deal

Internet service provider EarthLink Network Inc. has signed an agreement to deliver high-speed Internet service nationwide using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) access provided by UUNET, a unit of MCI WorldCom Inc.

Linux growth is in servers, analysts say

Linux will have most success in the near term running servers for small and mid-sized companies, but it's not ready to become the leading operating system for large companies nor will it supplant Microsoft's Windows OS, analysts said at the Open Source Forum here

Telecom trading exchange debuts

A newly-formed, Washington, DC-based company is operating an Internet brokering service for telecommunications companies to buy and sell bandwidth capacity internationally.

AMD predicts losses, introduces K7

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Wednesday warned that it expects to report a second-quarter operating loss of about $US200 million, but tried to sweeten the news by releasing its Athlon, or K7, processor, which it hopes will make up ground on arch rival Intel.

Oracle announces layoffs as earnings fall

Oracle posted strong year-end financial results yesterday, at the same time cutting 325 jobs in what it said was a move to a more efficient electronic commerce method of operating.

Red Hat files for IPO

Red Hat, a leading developer of open source software and services based on the Linux operating system, announced on Friday it had taken steps towards an initial public offering of all of its stock.
The company said it has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the IPO.

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