linux: halloween // I2O spec now opened up

[Les Schaffer]

Some more developments in the linux / opensource woyld:

1.) Tim O'Reilly responds to the Microsoft "halloween" letter with an
(open) letter himself:

http://www.oreilly.com/oreilly/press/tim_msletter.html

Tim's company publishes (the) manuals for the
UNIX/sysadmin/programming geek world.

2.) Back in May, John St. Clair and I were kicking around on LBO the
problems associated with the then-closed I2O bus specs. Perhaps
responding to outside pressure, the industry consortium in charge has
now opened the spec up:

http://www.newsalert.com/free/story?StoryId=CnJ_FubKbytaWndm

This means that new hardware dveloped for various computer
architectures under the I2O spec can itself have software developed
for it within the opensource/GNU/linux community. It had previously
been feared that the closed I2O spec was a way for MicroTwits to
cordon off new I2O-compatible hardware -- and hence systems -- from
the 'anarchaic' (DeLong) twrirly heads.

for the techical beanie-heads, here is a blurb on the I2O:

http://www.i2osig.org/Architecture/TechBack98.html

-- 
____ Les Schaffer godzilla at netmeg.net ___| --->> Engineering R&D <<---
Theoretical & Applied Mechanics          |  Designspring, Inc. 
Center for Radiophysics & Space Research |  Westport, CT USA
Cornell Univ.  schaffer at tam.cornell.edu  |  les at designspring.com