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Technology Stocks : Applix is back in action -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nanocap who wrote (2596)	3/3/1999 7:00:00 AM
From: Mr. Big	Respond to of 3014

LinuxPPC Inc. has announced that Applix Inc. (APLX - no debt - $2 in cash - future partner soon) has developed a version of its Applixware Office software suite that runs on the LinuxPPC operating system, officials from both companies said this week. Based on Red Hat Software Inc.'s Red Hat 5.0, LinuxPPC is designed to run on PowerPC processors. Its use currently is restricted mostly to a band of computer enthusiasts, but the availability of an office suite for the platform could help open the door to wider use, said Jason Haas, Linux PPC's marketing director. LinuxPPC runs "natively" on PowerPC computers rather than relying on the Mach microkernel as other versions of Linux for PowerPC, such as MkLinux, do. As a result, LinuxPPC is about 20 percent faster than microkernel-based offerings, according to Haas. Applixware Office is sold mostly to businesses that use workstations running proprietary Unix versions like Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Solaris and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s HP-UX. Two years ago, Applix "got religion" and decided to port its office suite to open-source operating systems, said Steve Miller, director of sales at Applix. Miller sees the Linux market as "a big fat niche," which he expects will grow significantly in the next couple of years, spurred on by the momentum gathering behind open-source software. Applixware, which includes mail, spreadsheet, and word processing applications, is already available for machines that run Linux and are based on either Intel or Alpha chips. Sales to Linux customers represent 5 to 10 percent of Applix's current business, but Miller thinks that figure could rise to 25 percent in the next 18 to 24 months, he said. LinuxPPC's booth at Macworld was crawling with users on Tuesday. One of them said the OS has "come a long way" in the past year in terms of its speed and stability. "It crashes less often than the Mac OS does," said Nathan Sheeley, a PowerPC verification engineer for Motorola Inc. Sheeley uses the operating system at home because it gives him "something to hack with." LinuxPPC plans to release version 5.0 of its OS in about three weeks, Haas said. "In terms of the technology, Release 5.0 should put LinuxPPC on par with the Intel Linux platform," Haas said. PowerPC versions of Linux typically lag behind Linux on Intel in terms of features and performance. LinuxPPC bundled with Applix's office suite will be available January 12, priced at $130, Haas said.

To: nanocap who wrote (2596)	3/3/1999 11:24:00 PM
From: Scott Bergquist	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3014

Linux Convention in San Jose (March 3 1999) Took the train down to the convention center in SJ. The exhibit hall was moderately packed with attendees at 11:30 when I entered (opened at 10 AM) Surprisingly, Computer Associates was a big promo: everyone put their literature in their bright yellow bags. Most noticeable, intensive exhibits: Caldera, IBM, Oracle, Compaq (!!) . Red Hat, SuSE, all other "repackagers" with substantial presence. Applix?? Eh.."spare" exhibit for Applix. Not exactly bare-bones, but by no means flashy. Applix at the end spot of several booths in a row, unlike IBM, Sun, HP, who all had standing islands. New to me: (I do not do a lot of these "exhibits") was a technique of making you watch 3 of 4 demos of an Oracle product (gave you a card to get "checked off") and they gave you a little penguin (beany baby??) 3" tall. No free t-shirts. T-shirt vendors in force (Slackware??). ============================================== Met some of the guys at the Applix booth. At first I thought, "Two guys??!!! That's all??!! Then they all showed up. Grandpre was there, and a couple of other "names". Talked about SHELF. They had two demo machines running, but I only perused for 2-3 minutes: I know from experience, it would take 2-3 weeks worktime to really make a program valuation (I am a mainframe coder since 1982). These demos can really fool you at the software shows, so I never get too deep into them. Appliware demo software CD disk handed out in profusion. The "CNBC" angle: was told CNBC was there yesterday: everyone wanted them to put their booth on camera: Slackware guys walked in behind "talking head" with their sign. But CNBC never shot on Applix's side of the hall. ++++++++++++++ hardware guys out in force VA Research (also a "force" presence.) Midway, Adaptec, many boxes. General buzz: Linux feels legit-mainstream now.