OStatic

The Mixed Message award for today goes to Thomson Reuters, the company that brings us, among other things, the EndNote bibliographic/citation management software. Information Today is reporting that the latest update to EndNote, coming this June, features Cite While You Write technology that formats citations automatically is fully compatible with OpenOffice.org's Writer component.

This is definitely welcome news for those who use EndNote and OpenOffice. It is a heartening sign that the open source office suite is a heavyweight, a real competitor in the market. It's great to see Thomson Reuters working to make EndNote work with the applications its audience desires.

It's also at least a little bit jarring when Zotero, an open source browser add on that can convert EndNote file formats to an open format, was served a subpoena to hand over contributor information to Thomson Reuter's lawyers.

In November, I wrote about Ulteo's Open Virtual Desktop, an open source desktop delivery utility. Simply described, the Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop (OVD) is a browser-based operating system and applications suite that is controlled and configured, ideally, by your organization's systems administrators. This makes managing, working, and collaborating from remote locations possible so long as there is a computer nearby with a Java-enabled browser and internet connection.

This week, Ulteo announced some major updates to its OVD, including the ability to deliver Linux and Windows applications (or a mix of both), Active Directory and LDAP authentication capabilities, several file server options, and collaboration support.

I can safely say when I covered the speculation that IBM and Sun were wrapping up the finer points of the acquisition Friday, I figured that if there was anything left to say come Monday, it would deal with idiosyncracies of the agreed-upon terms. Even though the announcement is imminent reports were not officially sanctioned by IBM or Sun, there was no reason to believe the sources were dishonest about the information they gave. It still doesn't seem there was dishonesty, or that these sources made wildly off-base assumptions about what was to come. It seemed as though IBM's purchase of Sun Microsystems was set to proceed, until late Saturday evening, when IBM and Sun broke off negotiations, according to Bloomberg.

There had been much debate about how an IBM acquisition would affect Sun's open source efforts. As those questions move even further into the hypothetical realm, far more troubling questions loom about Sun's next potential buyer -- or its choice to weather the storm on its own.

According to the New York Times and Bloomberg, IBM's purchase of Sun Microsystems is imminent. The official announcement and terms of the acquisition will most likely be made public on Monday, but a late in the day announcement hasn't been ruled out. It's estimated that the purchase will cost IBM nearly $7 billion.

There's been much speculation and discussion both here at OStatic and elsewhere about what this means for Sun and its open source projects.

Ulteo is an interesting company. Started by former MandrakeSoft developer Gael Duval, the company aims to make using your computer easier, regardless of whether you're using your computer. The company focuses on the development and delivery of open source web applications and storage.

They offer applications such as the Virtual Desktop Beta, which runs a Linux environment over a Windows installation, allowing users to switch easily between the two, the Ulteo Online Desktop, which allows users access to a remote desktop and applications such as OpenOffice 3, and its full distribution the Ulteo Application System. Having used a few of these products, some are hits (the Windows Virtual Desktop is really sleek) and others (the Application System) still need significant work.

Today Ulteo announced another application, the Open Virtual Desktop.

According to The Register, Sun plans on laying off between 15-18% of its workforce (an estimated 5,000-6,000 positions) and restructuring itself into three major divisions, thanks to earlier periods of slowed growth (or losses) and the already bleak economic picture.

Sun's President and CEO Jonathan Schwartz says that this is a decisive action in the face of the economy, and that these cuts should facilitate the delivery of key open source platform innovations, including MySQL. In his corporate blog, however, Schwartz drops a few hints about other projects, such as OpenOffice.

On Internetnews.com, Christopher Saunders asks if Linux is really necessary for the desktop. He relates a discussion he had with a creative/marketing executive recently, and the doubts that this executive has about the ability of open source alternatives to meet his company's needs.

This conversation goes astray with the word necessary. Is Linux necessary? Is Windows necessary? Perhaps a Mac would do better here? A key point that many open source detractors -- and supporters -- miss is that there doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach to using free software.

Over at TechRepublic, Jack Wallen details ten points to consider prior to moving your organization to Linux.

Some points are far more critical for operation than others (it is easier to switch to a more suitable desktop environment than make some highly specialized proprietary applications work with Linux, for instance), but all require attention. Depending on the workplace and industry, it might be worth an administrator's time to consider a few other points as well.