The survey says

A national survey of Software Development managers showed an overwhelming number believe Linux is more secure than Windows.

Asked to rate the security of server operating environments against operating system related hacks and exploits, Windows Server fared worst by far. Some 58% rated Windows Server very insecure or insecure versus 13% for Linux. Sun Solaris fared best, with only 6% rating the operating system very insecure or insecure. On the positive side, some 74% of respondents rated Linux secure or very secure versus only 38% for Windows Server.

Ballmer must be scrambling to pay for yet another FUD survey disproving the results, or at least throwing a few chairs around.

Vista Cartoon

Great Vista Cartoon courtesy of The Joy of Tech.

I love the punchline.

Building Bridges, Spreading FUD

And now from the "gag me" department. Via Groklaw.

Dan Bricklin is hosting a meeting on Monday from 9AM to noon sponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council on the Novell-Microsoft deal.

Our expert panel will discuss this agreement and related issues with heavy audience participation, as is the tradition of our Open Source group.

I can guarantee the ONE question that every Linux/Open Source advocate is dying to ask and that WON'T be answered is:

"What Microsoft IP does Linux infringe on?" Specifically.

Any takers?

Update: Looks like a bunch of people submitted questions and the meeting has now been postponed.

After a review of the areas that would be covered by questions provided in advance by attendees, it became clear that there needed to be other speakers better able to address those issues.

I wonder who the "Other Speakers" are. Lawyers, Maybe?

Cisco's iPhone Trademark

Ed Burnette has an interesting blog piece about CISCO abandoning the iPhone trademeark by not using it. And there are other reports that CISCO may lose the trademark in Europe due to a technicality in the complicated trademark laws.

It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out, but CISCO may not be on firm ground on this issue as I first thought they were.

iSued 'cause iPhoned

Mark Chandler, CISCO's SVP and General Counsel presents a lucid, rational explanation for the CISCO Lawsuit.

...this is not a suit against Apple’s innovation, their modern design, or their cool phone. It is not a suit about money or royalties. This is a suit about trademark infringement.

Moreover, in their filing, CISCO presents evidence of how Apple tried to surreptitiously obtain the rights to use the name through a shell company - Ocean Telecom Services LLC in Trinidad and Tobago of all places! They also filed an application in Australia for the trademark. I know a lot of companies have shell corporations for this kind of stuff, but to do it after CISCO wouldn't give up the trademark was a lowly act by an otherwise classy company.

Give it up Apple. CISCO is the rightful owner of the trademark no matter how much you want to whine about it now. They sell very similar products under the same moniker and have done so for a while. Apple's spokesman termed the lawsuit "silly" because Apple is the first one to call a "Cellphone" an iPhone. Give me a break - if I were the judge that listened to that explanation I would come down on Apple like a ton of bricks. I love this company but sometimes Steve Jobs' ego gets in the way of rational thought. How would Apple (legal) react if CISCO came out with a new network router tomorrow and called it the iPod?

I am not naive to think that CISCO is pure as the driven snow in this affair. The fact that they said this is NOT about money is very telling. They talk about interoperability and openness. Translation - Apple has a kewl product(s) and they want IN. Other than the Geeks CISCO is not a household named among teenagers, and teenagers buy iPods not networking equipment. But they own something Apple wants - the iPhone name and they got it first, fair and square. So Apple need to either make a deal with CISCO (which seems unlikely at this point), or call the darn thing an ApplePhone or MacPhone or whatever else. And for good measure, send a few free ones to CISCO with an iTunes gift card.

iPhone

All I can say is WOW!



I am sure the usual naysayers(read Apple Haters) will emerge with their "what's so great about this? ...too expensive... My cell phone has more memory/functions/.... how Windows Mobile is incrementally better at this or that."

Doesn't matter. Apple has proven to be the only company that makes me WANT a product even if I don't need it. As Steve Jobs said in his Keynote yesterday.

"You had me at scroll!"

Taking the Patent fight to Microsoft

Dana Gardner has a great take on how organizations can respond to the patent FUD threats by Microsoft. He is absolutely right. The best way to counter Microsoft is to use your purchasing clout.