Shuttleworth will burn fortune for Ubuntu

In the wake of the launch of Ubuntu 8.10, Mark Shuttleworth made it clear he is perfectly happy to fund Ubuntu until it gets on its own financial feet, says The Register.

Shuttleworth's net worth is not known, but he clearly can afford to indulge in the Ubuntu effort, and he made no apologies for where the company is at in terms of growth and sales and his continuing personal investments in Ubuntu.

"We continue to require investment. I can continue to be careful with my pennies as I make what I consider to be a good investment," Shuttleworth said.

"Delicate" negotiations are under way between the UK HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and EDS over a delayed £26.5 million compensation payment for the tax credits fiasco of 2003, a senior treasury minister told the Commons, reports Computing.co.uk.

Exchequer secretary Angela Eagle told MPs that the time by which HMRC expects to be paid runs out "in the next couple of months", adding that acting CEO Dave Hartnett had "made it clear he intends to be paid" in evidence to MPs.

It is understood that EDS was to have paid quarterly instalments of 4.5% of income from future government work up to the end of this year, but has not won sufficient Whitehall contracts. In the meantime, HP has bought EDS for £7.5 billion.

Microsoft has unveiled a cloud computing service, in which data and applications will not be stored on individuals' computers, reports The BBC.

The new platform, Windows Azure, was announced at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles.

Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie described the platform as "Windows for the cloud".