Stories about: SBS

IBM on Tuesday said it wants to free desktops from Microsoft software, announcing an alliance with Linux vendors to preload its middleware on Linux distributions.

Speaking at a conference in South Korea, Eric Schmidt, the chairman and CEO of Google, ducked the question of whether his company's dominance of Internet search may ultimately distort democratic gains from improved information access. But he promised governments will be held to account more than ever before.

Open source databases may not be seen as up to the task when it comes to core enterprise systems, but Australia's Department of Defence is happy to bet on MySQL over commercial offerings.

A severe shortage of local Web application developers is making it increasingly difficult for companies to hire staff for eBusiness and Web-based projects. Meanwhile, the lucky few with relevant skills are netting in correspondingly healthy salary packages, claims one IT recruitment agency.

Telstra BigPond has launched its movies-on-demand service, with the service available to all Internet users, regardless of ISP.

Viewers of government broadcaster SBS Television will see news reports created with the help of the open source Linux operating system following a system upgrade last month.

Novell this week bolstered its Linux strategy with several software announcements at its annual BrainShare user conference in Salt Lake City.

Siemens Business Services GmbH & Co. OHG (SBS), the IT service provider unit of Germany's Siemens, has completed the migration of its payroll system to a platform using the open source Linux operating system.

A Microsoft-commissioned case study on a New Zealand-based reseller's website touts the example of a South Island company switching from Linux to MS Small Business Server on the grounds of performance. But according to the reseller which implemented the changeover, it's more a case of finding the right technology fit.

Don't write off InfiniBand just yet, experts say, as momentum behind the high-speed bus transport has merely slowed, not stalled.

Even Ardent supporters of Linux concede the the open-source operating system is not quite ready to take on big database loads and mission-critical applications. But that has not prevented some users from pushing Linux into roles beyond its niche as an Internet infrastructure platform.