Here’s another BIG announcement furthering the onward march of Open Source on the desktop:

Lenovo and Novell today announced an agreement to provide preloaded Linux* on Lenovo ThinkPad notebook PCs and to provide support from Lenovo for the operating system. The companies will offer SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 from Novell® to commercial customers on Lenovo notebooks including those in the popular ThinkPad T Series, a class of notebooks aimed at typical business users, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007. The ThinkPad notebooks with the Linux-preload will also be available for purchase by individual customers.

There are two big things with this announcement:

1. Novell’s SLED is enterprise software aimed at business users. This is different (rather than either better or worse) to the Dell/Ubuntu deal which is far more consumer focussed. This move just adds even more credence to the whole idea that Linux and Open Source are ready for prime-time.
2. If Lenovo AND Dell start banging the table of their hardware suppliers for better [and preferably Open Source] drivers, then the whole Open Source community will benefit in long run.

Overall another great news story for Open Source. Here’s the press release in full.

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Yesterday (5th August 2007) I took my Dad to a field in Wiltshire somewhere between Hungerford and Andover. Not all that remarkable you might think…

It was a present to mark his 80th Birthday. We bought him a trip in a Glider. Something I recalled him saying many years ago that he would love to do.

Well. He did it, enjoyed it and didn’t seem to be phased by it at all. In fact the pilot let him take the controls for a few turns, they got up to 2500ft riding the thermals and were airborne for the best part of half an hour.

If I can do half the stuff my Dad does when I get to 80 (which I probably won’t anyway) I’ll be a very happy man.

Cheers Dad, I love you.

An eight litre Chevvy engine has a LOT of pulling power! Here’s a video of the take-off uploaded to You Tube. And here’s the landing.

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The very funny cartoon strip that parodies the IT industry in uncanny style has discovered Open Source… http://www.dilbert.com/comics/…03.html.

Lol.

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