Linux markets hot up in Asia

Adding to the already numerous flavours of Linux available today, Oracle has come out with Asianux, a flavour specifically targeted at Asian markets which already had a strong demand for Linux in Enterprise Server Systems. Oracle claims it is ready for the market (http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,94637,00.html). Asianux was developed jointly by Red Flag Software Co. in China & Miracle Linux Corp in Japan. Oracle holds a 58.5% stake in Miracle Linux Corp.

So what's new & different with another version of Linux coming out? The major difference that I can see is this flavour unlike others is supported by an industry heavy-weight & Oracle will definitely want Asianux to be profitable commercially as they have a major stake in its development. Oracle is well established & can push their products on Asianux & can promote it to their existing customers and dramatically increase it user base.

I feel Asianux is one Linux distribution to watch out for in the coming days...

As Linux gets more and more popular & finds a large user base, we can be sure that the creators of virus programs will turn their attention towards it sooner than later. Already there have been some outbreaks of virus aimed at Linux. Most notable among them are:
1. Linux/Slapper
2. Linux/Lion
3. Linux/Ramen

Not much was heard about the outbreaks of these viruses as is generally experienced with viruses that attach Microsoft systems is mainly because the Linux user community as compared to Windows users is very very small and the user base that uses Linux in a corporate environment with huge amount of critical production data is even smaller. Most of the users using linux use it as a laboratory environment for testing or as an hobby same as yours truly does.

Of the above viruses, Linux/Slapper has hit the Linux user base the hardest, with about 14000 computers getting affected by it according to one industry report (http://www.virusbtn.com/news/latest_news/granneman.xml). Although the number is not very high when compared to the numbers reported by Windows users affected by virus, it warns the users of the things to come in the very near future.

If Linux wants to seriously challenge Windows as the preferred desktop operating systems then the open source community and the ISVs for Linux would have to pay more attention on securing the operating system. One would be very foolish indeed to ignore the signs of things to come.

Bangalore Diary - 28 July 2004

Some more signboards

I was wrong, I admit it I was wrong. I thought this world cannot become weirder. My belief was shattered in less than a week.

I had gone to the Income Tax office in Bangalore to file my annual returns... What a pain it is!!! Anyhow cribbing about the difficulty of filling SARAL (which incidently means easy) is not the point of writing this. When I entered the elevator (lift) to reach the 4th floor to submit my form, I noticed another weird sign on the elevator wall. It read: "Lift only till 3rd floor. To reach 4th floor, turn left & walk" What else do people do in that building? Crawl, slide???? I mean how else can a guy reach from one place to another within a building??? And how does providing lift only till 3rd floor make sense in building having 4 floors? Did the architect or engineer forgot that they were building a 4 storeyed building?

If I continue noticing such signs in Bangalore then I am sure Bangalore will dethrone Pune as the Wierdest sign board Capital of the world...

I have learnt this over a period of time. You should be careful in who you call as your best friend. Calling a person as your best friend brings in a set of expectations. A best friend tries to fulfil those expectations always no matter what & there is not phrase like impossible. A best friend is always there for you when you need someone alongside you.

I think its best not to have a best friend. You risk getting disappointed. No expectations... no falling short of expectations... no disappointment... no unhappy moments... Sounds simple, doesn't it? But its not always that simple. Once you consider someone as your best friend its pretty difficult not to have expectations & you can't help feeling disappointed.

That's what I plan to do henceforth. I won't have any expectations from my best friend. This was my first weekend alone after a long long time and I felt that my best friend could have spent some time with me just to make me feel good. But it was not to be. It does not mean that I consider someone as a best friend means that that person should consider me as a best or even a good friend. Just a matter of matching the expections, no?