Unisys plans Linux on mainframes

Unisys is planning versions of both its ES7000 servers and ClearPath mainframes that are capable of running the Linux operating system, reports CBROnline. Unisys said in the past that it had no plans to support Linux on those machines.

That decision has changed and now it seems a version of the Unisys ClearPath mainframe that is able to run Linux partitions will be available in the first half of 2003, while a version of its ES7000 is also being developed with support for Linux.

The mainframes can already run a combination of Unisys` OS2200 and MCP operating systems, as well as Windows in partitions. A version of the ES7000 server capable of running Linux is also believed to be in the works.

The ability to add Linux as a partition to the ClearPath mainframe will not only mean that Unisys` mainframe is one of the most versatile machines on the block - IBM`s zSeries mainframe can run IBM operating systems as well as Linux, but not Windows - it also means it becomes an extremely attractive proposition for companies that wish to consolidate heterogeneous servers on to a single machine. [CBROnline]

ContentGuard, which makes software to protect the delivery of digital content, says it will license its digital rights management technology to Japan`s Sony Corporation.

The company says Sony will be able to use its digital rights technology to securely distribute content from its music and movie businesses so that they won`t be pirated or copied.

"Traditionally the rights management techniques mainly involve a password that gets you into a domain where you can access content," said Michael Miron, co-chairman and chief executive of ContentGuard. "Digital rights management, by contrast, allows the rights to travel with the content."

A music file with digital rights management technology, for example, could allow someone to listen to it only once, or only on a certain machine, or until a certain date, but it can never be copied.

Sony, which makes the audio and visual equipment and also owns content, has already developed some of its own digital rights technology. [Reuters]

Most video cards today use the AGP bus which was recently upgraded to AGP 8X. However, in a throwback to the 1990s, ATI has unveiled a new PCI video card with a TV tuner.

"The `All-in-wonder VE` is designed to deliver a variety of multimedia TV and game graphics features for this PCI upgrade market," says Rick Bergman of ATI.

The card is targeted at devices requiring high quality video and audio capture, such as PC TVs, set-top boxes, analogue personal video recorders, LCD TVs and other multimedia platforms.

The card also supports Thruview, which allows for translucent viewing of TV. The software package includes ATI`s Multimedia Center version 7.9 and Pinnacle Studio 8. [The Inquirer]

Pervasive Software this week announced version 8 of its Pervasive.SQL, an embedded, transactional database engine built for independent software vendors and resellers serving small and mid-size businesses.

Version 8 provides transaction processing using 32-bit multi-threaded transactional access with the capabilities of SQL relational processing. Features include archival logging and automatic server recovery to ensure that mission-critical data is available, the company says.

The database can be embedded in applications and requires minimal maintenance, according to Pervasive. Support is included for industry-standard APIs including ODBC, JDBC, ADO/OLE DB and Active X. Pervasive`s Distributed Tuning Interface enables developers to control the database engine with the Version 8 toolset from within their applications. Version 8 is integrated with development tools such as Visual Basic, Java, .Net, Perl and C++. [InfoWorld]

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