Red Hat Sues Switzerland Over Microsoft Monopoly

£8 million a year to Microsoft, with no public bidding. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, say open source activists.

Linux vendor Red Hat, and 17 other vendors, have protested a Swiss government contract given to Microsoft without any public bidding. The move exposes a wider Microsoft monopoly that European governments accept, despite their lip service for open source, according to commentators.

The Red Hat group has asked a Swiss federal court to overturn a three-year contract issued to Microsoft by the Swiss Federal Bureau for Building and Logistics, to provide Windows desktops and applications, with support and maintenance, for 14 million Swiss Franc (£8 million) each year. The contract, for “standardised workstations”, was issued with no public bidding process, Red Hat’s legal team reports in a blog – because the Swiss agency asserted there was no sufficient alternative to Microsoft products.

Read more here: Red Hat Sues Switzerland Over Microsoft Monopoly – News – eWeekEurope.co.uk

New Linux.com Goes Live

The new Linux.com site has been launched. For those who don’t remember the Linux Foundation took over the site in March and have been planning the relaunch since then.

In addition to Linux news, product listings, and more, Linux.com is designed to be interactive; ‘for the community by the community.’ You can:

• Gain Guru Points for contributions to the site and compete for the “Ultimate Linux Guru” recognition and prizes
  
• Create a group for your LUG or developer group and invite friends to stay informed. (linux.com/community/groups)
  
• Add an Event to the Linux.com Calendar. No event is too big or small. (linux.com/community/events)
  
• Post a comment in our Forums to get help with Linux (linux.com/community/forums)
  
• Ask a question or give a solution in Answers (linux.com/learn/answers)
  
• Add a listing or a product review in our Directory (linux.com/directory)
  
• Create your own tutorial (linux.com/learn/tutorials) or blog entry (linux.com/community/blogs)
  

When you add content to the new Linux.com, you gain the goodwill and support of your fellow Linux.com users. As you participate in the site’s community by providing content, you will gain guru points that will move you towards the rank of Guru that can help you connect to jobs and collaboration opportunities.

The top-ranked Linux.com user will be recognized each year as the “Ultimate Linux Guru” and be given a fully loaded “dream” Linux notebook, personally autographed by Linux founder Linus Torvalds, as recognition of his or her guru status. The top five contributors to Linux.com will be invited to the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit to participate in the planning for the future of Linux.com.

FSF and Cisco Kiss and Make Up

The Free Software Foundation and Cisco have announced that they have reached a joint agreement and settled the law suit which the FSF initiated in December. The settlement announcement, which had been expected after an order to dismiss, was filed with the district court, sees Cisco agreeing to appoint a Free Software Director for the Cisco subsidiary Linksys who will enforce the company’s compliance with the terms of the GPL. Cisco have also agreed to notify customers who have received products which contain FSF programs of their rights with regard to the GPL and to publish notices on their web site. The settlement also involves Cisco making a monetary contribution to the FSF of an undisclosed amount.

Read more here: FSF and Cisco Settle – Officially – News – The H Open Source: News and Features