It's Good To Be Green
- By Peter Varhol
- 05/15/2007
On the heels of
IBM's
announcement last Thursday that it was devoting $1 billion to build business-advancing
green technology and services, industry analyst
Forrester
Research has published a report that provides a snapshot of IT understanding,
attitudes and progress toward building and maintaining energy-efficient computing.
Titled "Tapping Buyers' Growing Interest In Green IT," the report
surveys IT purchasing managers on their knowledge of green technologies available
for the data center, and the relative importance of purchasing such technologies.
Among the findings was the growing importance of environmental concerns. Fifteen
percent of IT purchasing managers in North America said environmental concerns
were not important in buying decisions, 52 percent said they were somewhat important
and 33 percent said they were very important.
However, green doesn't rate very highly in the typical purchasing decision.
Fully 78 percent of purchasing managers in North America said that green factors
are not written into the evaluation and purchasing criteria of IT hardware and
software.
It probably comes as no surprise that IT purchasing managers need more information
on energy efficiency from their vendors. "Only 15 percent of survey respondents
said they have a high level of awareness of vendors' green initiatives,"
the report said. Greater levels of information may spur IT to make green considerations
a higher priority in buying decisions.
Are you buying green? Why or why not? E-mail me at [email protected].
IP Battles Heat Up
Microsoft confirmed over the weekend that it had determined Linux and other
open source software to be infringing
on 235 of its patents. However, Microsoft's dominant position in the IT
market and the dispersed nature of open source development and distribution
has limited its ability to seek legal recourse. Taking legal action against
the many vendors of open source software could be expensive and of limited value,
and filing suit against open source users almost certainly means it would be
suing its own largest customers.
Of course, the GNU General Public License (GPL), under which much open source
software is distributed, is a thorn in the company's side. Any successful Microsoft
claims against developers and distributors will have the counterpoint of running
afoul of the GPL. And with Microsoft's
deal with Novell last fall that has the company distributing Linux certificates
(effectively a promise to indemnify from Microsoft's patents), many are claiming
that Microsoft is now effectively a Linux distributor, and bound by the GPL
itself.
And the kicker is that Microsoft's legal options may have been dealt a blow
by the recent Supreme Court decision that appeared to weaken the case for software
patents in general.
A common defense among software companies is to build up patent portfolios
that can be used to initiate counterclaims against one another. IBM and others
have effectively donated patents for open source use, and can use this portfolio
to do battle with Microsoft.
Do you think Microsoft is a Linux distributor? Let me know at [email protected].
CodeGear Beefs Up Development Tools
CodeGear, the new development tools subsidiary of Borland, announced a new
version of its C++ Builder, as well as an all-new, integrated development environment
for Web platform Ruby on Rails. The C++ Builder is strictly native code
development, but provides support for the Vista APIs. CodeGear refers to it
as a rapid application development toolkit for native apps.
For those interested in dynamic languages, the Ruby on Rails is particularly
interesting. The Ruby language using the Rails framework is rapidly becoming
one of the more popular ways to rapidly build Web applications.
It's not at all clear that there is a viable business in building and selling
IDEs any more, but you have to applaud the effort. Many developers of a certain
age learned Windows programming on the Borland (now CodeGear) Turbo products,
and there's a certain nostalgia in once again seeing these inexpensive, high-quality
dev tools.
Do you look beyond Visual Studio for Web or native code development tools?
I'd like to hear from you at [email protected].
Mailbag: Losing "Longhorn," More
It looks like Microsoft will be dumping
the "Longhorn" codename for "Windows Server 2008," which
sounds about "as
boring as an Al Gore press conference," Doug wrote. But a few readers
actually don't seem to mind:
I disagree with you. I never liked the name "Longhorn." What
makes sense about the equation "Microsoft = Cowboys or Westerns"?
Unless, of course, we are being given a subliminal message about the great
"Bonanza" which Vista and Office 2007 bring us every day. "Windows
Server 2008" is exactly the name the product should have. It says what
it is, and it brings it current. Perhaps you should research where the name
Longhorn came from. Perhaps someone took a virtual snapshot of Bill Gates
roping cattle -- I don't know.
And, yes, nothing is more boring than Al Gore. Except perhaps Tribal
Chief Ubuntu.
-Steve
Just one man's opinion, but "Longhorn" seems boring to me. I
feel like I'm at Al Gore's press conference!
But I like "Windows Server 2008" because it fits the norm since
Windows 2000. Longhorn tends to make me think, "Where does it belong?"
With the year in the name, I think we can focus on a lot, such as how to support
it from where it fits in a particular environment.
-John
I actually like that I will be able to remember the year it came out.
My clients will easily be able to realize the aging of their systems.
-Mary
And readers chime in on the recent
patent scuffle between Microsoft and the open source software community:
It certainly makes me wonder why Apple isn't squeezing MS on patents.
Seems to me that the GUI and mouse were theirs first.
-John
The really apparent patent that nobody is talking about is FAT. With this
patent Microsoft can shut down most disk users.
-Anonymous
Let us know what you think! Leave a comment below, or send an e-mail to [email protected].
About the Author
Peter Varhol is the executive editor,
reviews of Redmond magazine and has more than 20 years of experience as a software
developer, software product manager and technology writer. He has graduate degrees
in computer science and mathematics, and has taught both subjects at the university
level.