Linux bags Bergen

Bergen, Norway, has opted to replace Windows and Unix machines with Linux on servers for its schools and city databases. The city could later put the open source operating system on desktop machines, reports CNet.

The city chose Linux because it costs less, improves reliability and doesn`t lock the government into purchasing one company`s products, said city CTO Ole-Bjorn Tuftedal.

"We want great freedom from being tied to one vendor, to make the competition work better, and it simplifies running things - if you don`t need to support too many different operating systems."

Bergen`s move comes on the heels of other governmental adoptions of Linux, including Munich, Germany; Austin, Texas; and Korea. Paris is evaluating Linux, while Massachusetts adopted a policy of preference for open source software, later modified to emphasise products of "best value".

Making mass e-mailers identifiable is the first step toward curing the spam epidemic, according to Vint Cerf, one of the architects of the Internet.

Cerf, who co-created the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) of the Internet and now works as chief corporate strategist for MCI, delivered the opening remarks at the first inaugural E-mail Technology Conference.

According to ZDNet, the main topic of debate at the conference was spam. Cerf said that standardising methods for authenticating e-mail senders would ultimately lead to successful filtering technologies that many companies that attended the conference are developing.

"Getting to critical mass with those sorts of mechanisms will be really interesting," Cerf said to an audience of technology executives attending the two-day conference.

"Starting from that angle will be more productive than anything," he added. Previously, Cerf jokingly suggested the industry hold public floggings of spammers as a deterrent.

Proxim plans to ship fixed and portable versions of WiMAX technology next year through a partnership with Intel, reports ExtremeTech.

Intel, which is developing WiMAX (or IEEE 802.16) silicon for shipment later this year, says it will work with Proxim to develop stations based on the technology early next year, and develop portable solutions for shipment later in the year. As part of the collaboration, the companies will co-develop a reference design for WiMAX customer-premise equipment using the 802.16a.d specification.

Intel will develop solutions for the customer-premise architecture, while Proxim will design the embedded software that will allow carriers to add features like roaming to their networks. The two firms will also co-develop 802.16e standards for mobile WiMAX deployments.

IBM has signed up a customer for a hosted design software service, which it says is an indication that utility computing is branching out into specialised applications.

Lam Research, a maker of semiconductor fabrication gear, will use Parametric Technology`s Windchill product design applications through IBM`s Web-based hosting service, Big Blue.

According to ZDNet, Lam will be charged for the service based on usage, which means it can avoid up-front licence charges and installation costs, said IBM.

The company added that the PTC application service is its first to deal with product lifecycle management, in which engineers from a number of companies collaborate to design and build products.

IBM also offers SAP`s R/3 and other packaged applications in its hosted services.