Jordy Blog

Got Contract Work?

Gabe and I want to be sure that our start up company, Izeni, has a cash runway that’s long enough to ensure that we can have a proper lift off. To that end we’ve been doing some consulting and contract work (mostly low-hanging fruit) to slow our burn rate, and it’s worked fairly well because we’re in bootstrapping mode and our expenses are relativity low. So, although we’ve never really sought contract work, we do like it; and I thought I’d do a quick post officially soliciting it.

So without further ado, Izeni will be accepting all kinds of technical consulting and contract work. Our specialities are Python coding; website development (particularly using the Django framework); Linux systems administration (Apache, *SQL, Postfix, Mailman, IPtables, Samba, Bash, etc.); and VoIP-based telephony (Asterisk and Freeswitch).

We can also do general computer and network support, online marketing, and a myriad of other technical and business odds and ends.  :)

Izeni is based out of Utah, but we can also telecommute.

Please let me know if you have any contracting and consulting opportunities or know of any companies looking for web guys, programmers, or other technical contractors. Otherwise, feel free to repost this (pass the word along), or just keep us in mind.

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Ubuntu Linux 8.10 Released

The new Ubuntu is out. Download it here if you haven’t already.

For my non-technical readers:

Ubuntu is a flavor of Linux, an operating system that can replace Windows. Linux is open sourced, meaning you can look at the code and see how it works. It’s also free to download and includes a ton of world-class open-source software: Firefox for web browsing, OpenOffice for office software, Gimp for photo editing, and much more.

Ubuntu is easy to use, and it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with Linux. Plus it can save you a lot of money if you’re buying a PC that doesn’t come with Windows. (Or, if you’re currently pirating Windows –you know who you are– switching to Linux can help you get legal.)

There is a ton of help online. There are also lots of local user groups like Ubuntu Utah that can help you get it installed and answer any questions you have along the way.

Anyway, give Linux a try; you’ll probably like it. I for one, am never going back to Windows.

SCO Stock Dives

SCOX is down almost 72% so far today –a result of failed litigation. (It turns out they never owned the copyright to Unix after all. Who would have thought?)

Anyway, that’ll teach ‘em. SCO might not be around a year from now, but Linux will.

Viva open source!

SINU – SCO is Not Unix

You gotta love this:

Lindon software company SCO Group was dealt a heavy blow Friday when a judge ruled it doesn’t own the rights to the Unix code it has accused IBM of putting into the open-source Linux computer operating system.

In a 102-page ruling, U.S. District Court Dale Kimball tossed out SCO’s claim that it owns the Unix and UnixWare copyrights. At issue: whether SCO purchased all rights to Unix from Novell in 1995, or whether Novell retained ownership while granting limited licensing and development rights.

“If the parties intended to transfer Unix and UnixWare copyrights as well, they could have easily demonstrated that intent while they were making the distinction for Unix and UnixWare trademarks,” Kimball wrote in Friday’s ruling. “There is nothing in the text of the [Asset Purchase Agreement] that would support an interpretation of ‘all copyrights’ to mean only Netware copyrights.”

Kimball’s ruling stands to torpedo SCO’s slander of title lawsuit against Novell and could also fatally undermine its bigger, $5 billion claim against Big Blue.

Joe LaSala, senior vice president and general counsel of the Waltham, Mass.-based software maker, said in a statement Friday that the ruling “vindicates the position Novell has taken since the inception of the dispute with SCO” and “eliminates SCO’s threat to the Linux community, based on allegations of copyright infringement of Unix.

Darl McBride, chief executive officer of SCO, did not return a telephone call seeking comment Friday.

SCO has spent tens of millions of dollars in court since first filing against IBM in March 2003. The software company accused IBM of damaging the value of its version of the Unix operating system by removing source code from two of its Unix products and illegally dumping the code into the freely distributed Linux system, which resembles Unix. IBM denies the claims and has filed a countersuit.

Earlier this year, U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells rejected SCO’s argument that IBM programmers had destroyed potentially damaging code evidence soon after SCO filed suit.

In an 2006 ruling, Wells barred SCO from pursuing most of nearly 300 claims against IBM, ruling that the Utah company had failed to provide specific evidence of Unix code it claimed IBM had misappropriated into Linux. Even so, at the time, McBride vowed to see SCO’s complaint to trial.

SCO has blamed competition from Linux for the protracted slide in its revenues and operating losses. In June, the company said it had an operating loss of $1.1 million in the quarter ended April 30. A year earlier it lost $3.9 million.

Revenue slipped to $6 million from $7.1 million.

SCO is also pursuing a parallel lawsuit against auto parts retailer AutoZone for infringing on its Unix copyrights. It accuses AutoZone of running versions of Linux that contain SCO code.

Basically, SCO vs Everybody has no merit.  Of course we all knew that all along, but it’s good to hear it from the judge.  :)

All Your Cake Are Belong To Tux

Local chef geek extraordinaire Joseph Hall spent several days making an awesome custom cake shaped as Tux the penguin (the Linux mascot). The killer cake, part of the PLUG’s 10th anniversary celebration, was not only attractive, but super yummy. Joseph also provided a full Tux Cake HOWTO for Linux-loving food-o-philes around the world.

Anyway, check out his recipe, and be sure to give it some sweet Digg love if you like it. (Joseph certainly deserves it.)

Here’s the mirror for his page, which is getting Digg-slammed already.

Be an UVLUG Leader!

I’m a co-founder and trustee of UVLUG, a local Linux User Group that will be holding elections soon. If you’re a UVSC student or are a member of the local Linux community here in Utah, you really should read this announcement and consider helping out. LUG leadership has been a great opportunity for me. I’ve learned a lot, met a lot of great people, and I feel like I’m a part of something cool. So can you!

On a related note, Utah Valley’s Inter-Lug BBQ 2006 is this Saturday. Be there or go hungry!

FC5 Released

Fedora Core 5 is out. Here are the release announcement, release summary, release notes, mirrors, and torrents.

For those who don’t know, “Fedora Core is [a Red Hat sponsored] operating system and platform, based on Linux, that is always free for anyone to use, modify and distribute, now and forever. It is developed by a large community of people who strive to provide and maintain the very best in free, open source software and standards.” It’s also the distro I dual boot to. Very clean.

Happy downloading!

UVLUG added to DMOZ

The Linux Users Group I cofounded has finally been added to DMOZ. I had basically given up since I submitted the site well over a year ago. Human edited directories rule, but they sure can take a long time.

Pete Ashdown on Open Source Government

Pete Ashdown (founder of Xmission and candidate for US Senate) will address UVLUG this Saturday:

Pete will present “Democracy 2.0: Open Source Government,” showing how the Federal Government can learn from the open source movement. He will talk about how the government can stop ignoring technology and use it to better the lives of all Americans. He will also take questions on any issue.

This will undoubtedly be a great discussion for people interested in technology and government in Utah.

Pete’s discussion will start at 12:30 in room CS-404 on UVSC campus. For those who’d like to stay, there’ll be a Linux installfest directly afterward.

UVLUG on IPv6

UVLUG will host Dave Heldenbrand’s presentation on IPv6 this Saturday.

From Answers.com:

“IPv4 supports 4.2 billion addresses, which is inadequate for giving even one address to every living person, much less support the burgeoning market for connective devices. IPv6 addresses this problem by supporting 340 undecillion addresses. For scale, this would allow an average of about 430 quintillion unique addresses per square inch of the Earth’s surface.”

With these kind of numbers numbers, I hope to be able to boast a static IP address for every bacterium in my stomach…

Anyway, it should be pretty cool. I hope to see you there.