Linux

Companies, which offer a special business version of their distribution, add special support packages and special tools to administrate higher numbers of installations or do administrative tasks more easily.
. The business model of commercial suppliers is generally dependent on charging for support, especially for business users. Clicking on the "More" tab at the top directs the user to even more Google Services such as Blogger, University Searches, Google products in their Labs section, Help and Alerts. GNU/Linux users are often organised in so called Linux User Groups or abbreviated LUG. For users searching for more specific results, at the top of Google pages are additional tabs to more narrowly define a user's search results. Technical support is provided by commercial suppliers and by other Linux users, usually in online forums, newsgroups and mailing lists. See also List of Google services and tools.

Complete distributions exist for most of these architectures, but most distributions focus on the "Intel" PC market. The design of the system also has minor privacy implications that Google does not make explicit on their Video site; namely, Google learns who purchases each movie and what computers they watch it on [40]. But eventually, people started trying to port it to other platforms, and now Linux is available on many CPU architectures, among them:. The fact by itself that Google was using DRM was enough to cause criticism by some bloggers, even before Google Video was launched. As originally envisioned by Linus Torvalds, Linux was strictly an x86 application. To protect the copyright of these popular shows such as MacGyver and The Twilight Zone, Google created a Google DRM (Digital Rights Management) lock for certain paid content. Linux also integrates well with Python, Perl, PHP and Ruby. Initially this service is restricted to the United States and certain other countries.

They are interpreted line-by-line as commands entered in the shell. Announced on January 6, 2006 at the CES in Las Vegas, the Google Video Store sells copyrighted content at the Google Video website. These are applications that are written without the need for compilation of the code. See Google bomb and Spamdexing. Another option for linux programming is writing shell scripts. The system is also susceptible to manipulation and fraud through the use of dummy sites, an issue which does, however, plague all search engines. Some of the most popular are Anjuta, Code::Blocks, KDevelop, NetBeans IDE, Glade (actually a user interface designer), Eclipse, the famous Emacs and Vim. It remains unclear whether any process could assert the importance of a page in a way that would draw less criticism than the current PageRank system.

There are also a number of IDEs available for Linux. However, it must also be stated that Google's system relies on human oversight, and use of company names on Adwords, or deletion of critical sites from Google results (for example, sites critical of Scientology), is decided by individual human beings according to company policy. GCC supports C, C++ and Java (for example by using GCJ) among other languages. It must be stated in Google's defense that PageRank is a fully automated system which is impartial insofar as it knows no personal bias. The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) comes with the vast majority of distributions. Common arguments are that the system is unfairly biased towards large web sites, and that the criteria for a page's importance are not subject to peer review. A number of compilers are available for Linux. Some, such as Daniel Brandt, call it "undemocratic".

In a corporate setting essentially the same can be done using a Citrix server, rdesktop to access a Microsoft Terminal Services server, or with NX technology. Google's central PageRank system has been criticized. At its simplest one or more people needing occasional access to Windows applications can share remote access to a single Windows PC for that purpose using VNC. becoming a serious privacy threat.". This is a good solution where applications are unable to be migrated, or an item of hardware such as a dongle, custom decoder card, or some USB devices will only run under Windows. Chris Hoofnagle, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, DC warned that "As courts become more frequent integrators of electronic records, there is a greater risk of Google .. A fourth alternative is to run the applications on a Windows machine but use remote access software such as VNC to view it on the Linux desktop. Other popular email services such as Hotmail also scan incoming email to try to determine whether it is unsolicited spam email (which Gmail also does).

Aside from the performance difficulties, virtual machine approaches to running Windows applications cannot integrate Windows programs into the Linux desktop, as they must instead run inside the virtual Windows desktop. Google claims that mail sent to or from Gmail is never read by a human being beyond the account holder, and is only used to improve relevance of advertisements. Full CPU emulators (such as QEMU or the slower counterpart Bochs) can be used, though to run a Windows program these emulators will also require a copy of Windows. The point is often made that people without Gmail accounts, who have not agreed to the Gmail terms of service, but send email to Gmail users have their correspondence analyzed without permission. VMware is a proprietary hardware virtualisation program that can run Windows in this way with near-perfect functionality, however this approach can carry a considerable speed and performance penalty. Some users believe the processing of email message content by Google's Gmail service goes beyond proper use. A third alternative for running Windows applications within Linux is to use a virtual machine program and run the desired application along with the entire virtual Windows operating system. The use of cookies with such distant expiration dates is common.

Since a legal copy of the Microsoft implementation of the Windows API is needed, use of Win4Lin requires a copy of Windows. In response Google claims cookies are necessary to maintain user preferences between sessions and offer other search features. A similar alternative to running Windows applications inside Linux is to use the proprietary Win4Lin software, which converts Microsoft's version of the Windows API to run inside Linux rather than reimplementing it from scratch. The cookies possess notably distant expiration dates and it is claimed users' searches are recorded without permission for advertising purposes. Although compatibility is improving, in many cases week-by-week, applications that make use of non-standard programming practices can experience problems. It has been claimed that Google infringes the privacy of visitors by uniquely identifying them using cookies which are used to track Web users' search history. Since these programs are written without use of any Microsoft code, they do not require a Windows license. government, or any other government of a country which Google serves.

Many Windows programs run on Linux at approximately the same speed using these programs, and in some cases run even faster. law, Google can be forced to hand over all such information to the U.S. The popular Wine software, along with the commercial derivatives Crossover Office and Transgaming's Cedega create an application compatibility layer by reimplementing the Windows API inside of Linux. Some have pointed out the dangers and privacy implications of having a centrally located, widely popular data warehouse of millions of Internet users' searches, and how under controversial existing U.S. There are several ways to run applications written for Microsoft Windows on Linux, with varying levels of success. The Wikipedia article and Jew Watch are consistently the top two hits, but they often switch positions. Since nearly all settings are stored in ordinary text files they can be configured by any text editor. As a reaction, some webloggers launched a Google bomb to put the corresponding Wikipedia article at the top of the search results.

There are also many command line utilities for configuring programs. [39]. Others, like Linuxconf, Gnome System Tools, and Webmin, are not distribution-specific. Google responded that this was due to the content-neutrality of the PageRank algorithm, and the fact that anti-semites used the specific word "Jew" (as opposed to "Jewish" or "Judaism") more often than others. The easiest way to do this is by using tools provided by distributions such as Debian's debconf, Mandriva's Control Center, or SUSE's YaST. In April 2004, Google received complaints that a search for "Jew" on its site listed the anti-Semitic website Jew Watch at or near the top of the list. There are a number of ways to change these settings. Google Somewhat Lifts Oceana Ad Ban.

A few programs use a configuration database instead of files. Google claimed that their editorial policy states, "that Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations." In 2004 this ban was partially lifted, allowing more positive ads from Oceana to be displayed, however there remains some confusion concerning banning criteria. Configuration of most system wide settings are stored in a single directory called /etc, while user-specific settings are stored in hidden files in the user's home directory. In February 2003, Google banned the ads of Oceana, a two-and-a-half-year-old non-profit organization, which was protesting the environmental effects of a major cruise ship operation's sewage treatment practices. However, the fastest approach is probably that of Workspot, which uses VNC to provide a free Linux desktop demo online. She also refused an offer from Shona Brown, Google Vice President of Business Operations, to reinstate her to a "low-level operations position". Ubuntu have a separate "Live" version of their distribution which runs from CD. After the loss of 3 of her quadruplets, which she claimed was due to the stressful circumstances created by Google, Elwell sued the company.

MEPIS also runs from CD like Knoppix, and both can be installed onto a PC like any other Linux distribution. On August 18, 2005, former Google sales executive Christina Elwell, promoted to national sales director at Google in late 2003, accused her supervisor of discrimination against her when he terminated her employment after she informed him of her pregnancy [38]. The approach by Knoppix, which runs Linux directly from a CD without disturbing the PC's hard drive, is probably the most successful demonstration tool to date. [37]. Many commercial distributions are hard to install, but with work, allow someone to re-use an old machine to see what the Linux desktop is like. The text of the Justice Department's motion is accessible at FindLaw A court date of Feburary 27th has been set, where a federal court in San Jose, California will hear the case. Commercial exhibitions provide Linux demonstrations to potential new users, especially corporate buyers. It has since bounced back somewhat.

Linux User Groups, or LUGs, still provide the primary face-to-face forum for demonstration of Linux. to turn over "a multi-stage random sample of one million URL’s" from Google’s database, and a computer file with "the text of each search string entered onto Google’s search engine over a one-week period (absent any information identifying the person who entered such query)." Noticeably, on January 20, when both the DOW and NYSE fell around a percent, Google stock fell close to 10%. So-called "live CDs" that simply boot from CD and automatically load the necessary drivers for the user's respective system promise to change that. District Court in San Jose seeking a court order that would compel search engine company Google Inc. The difficulty in quickly demonstrating Linux on the computer of a potential new user remains still an obstacle, slowing its adoption as a personal computing platform. Justice Department filed a motion to compel in U.S. After everything is done, the virtual machine can be booted just as if it were an independent computer. On Wednesday, January 18, 2006, the U.S.

The virtual machine software will simulate an isolated environment onto which the Linux system is installed. The settlement cost Google around $275 million which resulted in the company posting a net loss in the third quarter of 2004. Technology of virtual machines (such as Virtual PC or VMware) also enables Linux to be run inside another OS such as Microsoft Windows. Yahoo! had earlier alleged that Google's AdSense program violated a patent held by Yahoo!'s Overture unit. Similar approaches include coLinux. Google recently settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Yahoo! by issuing 2.7 million shares. A Linux boot loader will boot the Linux system when the PC is restarted and the user chooses to boot Linux. In May 2004, the Baltimore Sun interviewed Peri Fleisher, a great-niece of Edward Kasner, the mathematician whose nephew coined the word googol, who said Kasner's descendants were "exploring" legal action against Google due to its name.

The difference is that it is not necessary for the user to leave Windows, since Linux is installed to the Windows hard-disk partition. A judge subsequently threw out SearchKing's lawsuit in mid-2003 on precisely these grounds. The software provides all the needed features; it is a real Linux distribution. In its defense, Google stated that its rankings are its constitutionally protected opinions of the web sites that it indexes. After downloading the installer (more than 100MB), the user can install Linux just like any other Windows application. Google's efforts to refine its database have led to some legal controversy, notably a lawsuit in October 2002 from the company SearchKing which sought to sell advertisements on pages with inflated Google rankings. Consider WinLinux, for example. On February 5, 2006, google.com was banned by China Telecom, only use google.cn can be visited, but unfortuntely, the blocking released after several hours.

Some let the user install Linux on top of their current system. Most Chinese Internet users did not express much concern about Google's choice, with one blogger saying that censorship is a fact of life in China and Google could not have done any better.[36]. Some beginners (especially those familiar with Microsoft Windows and Mac OS) may still feel that making the shift can be hard but many solutions have been created to solve this problem. [35] Google states on its help pages that it does not censor content, but it does block pages as demanded for in certain jurisdictions, such as DMCA requests in the United States. Many distribution companies now are sparing no effort to provide users with advanced, easy and specific installations. The company does not plan to give the government information about the users who search for blocked content, and will inform users of restricted categories. It is famous for its ability to automatically partition a hard drive using the Disk Druid utility. Google was heavily criticized for the move, yet it claims it is necessary to keep the Chinese government from blocking Google entirely.

Anaconda, one of the more popular installers, is used by Red Hat Linux, Fedora Core and other distributions to simplify the installation process. The restrictions will apply to thousands of terms and websites.[34] The censored content will appear on a website called google.cn. Many distributions also support booting over a network, so an installation on a properly configured machine can be done remotely. In January 2006 Google affirmed its intent to filter certain keywords given to it by the Chinese government. The cost savings achieved by using thin clients can be invested in greater computing power or storage on the server. In October 2005, Blogger and access to the Google Cache were made available in China; however, in December 2005, some Chinese users of Blogger reported that their access to the site was once again restricted. Variations on this mode include using local drives and computing power to run applications. However, the government remains active in filtering Internet content.

The clients can be ordinary PCs with the addition of the network bootloader on a drive or network interface controller. This complete ban is currently lifted. A Linux Terminal Server is a single machine to which many clients can connect this way, so one obtains the benefit of installing Linux on many machines for the cost of installing on one. The mirror search site elgooG has been used by Chinese citizens to get around blocked content. Clients can boot over the network from the server and display results and pass information to the server where all the applications run. The People's Republic of China, whose human rights record has been widely criticized by the international community, has in the past restricted citizen access to popular search engines such as Altavista, Yahoo!, and Google. Still another mode of installation of Linux is to install on a powerful computer to use as a server and to use ordinary less powerful machines (perhaps without hard drives, and having less memory and slower CPUs) as thin clients over the network. Any data stored on Google is therefore subject to being turned over to any country, including China.

Similarly, some minimal distributions, such as tomsrtbt, can be run directly from as little as 1 floppy disk without needing to change the hard drive contents. Google's Terms of Service allow it to comply with the laws of any one country, providing information that was originated (or that Google stores) in another country. With this, one boots from the CD and can use Linux without making any modification to the contents of the hard drive. Google complies with these laws by banning keyword searches related to these terms. Other distributions, such as Knoppix, can be run directly from a "live CD" running entirely in RAM, rather than installing it to the hard drive. According to American law, any copyright owner can require material to be removed via the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, whereas under French and German law, for example, hate speech and Holocaust denial are illegal. After a basic system is installed, more software can be added by downloading it from the Internet or using CDs. In order to comply with the varying laws of these countries, several versions of Google restrict very specific keyword searches.

Some distributions, such as Debian, can be installed from a small set of floppy disks. Google is a multinational corporation, having offices in over a dozen countries [33]. Such a CD can be burned from a downloaded ISO image, purchased alone for a low price, or can be obtained as part of a box set that may also include manuals and additional commercial software. In a concession to general concerns about the nature of their project, Google had announced plans back in August that they would respect the wishes of copyright holders who contacted the company to inform them that they did not want their works included in this digitization project. The most common method of installing Linux, supported by all major distributions, is by booting from a CD that contains the installation program and installable software. Many commentators in the world of copyright law and technology were not surprised by this development as the Authors Guild has also been involved in attempting to make online publishers pay royalties to writers whose stories appear in any number of online databases without their express consent. Further, personal computers that come with Linux distributions already installed are readily available from numerous vendors, including large mainstream vendors like Hewlett-Packard and Dell. Arguments in the case will hinge around the interpretation of the four factors of Fair Use.

Also it is not normally necessary to feed a stack of driver CDs into a Linux installation as most hardware is supported out of the box. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction that will prevent the company from continuing their very ambitious digitization project. It is unnecessary to file license numbers and enter them during installation. authors, including a former Poet Laureate of the United States, filed a class action suit in federal court in Manhattan against Google over its unauthorized scanning and copying of books through its Google Library program. Many distributions are at least as easy to install as a comparable version of Windows. On September 20, 2005, the Authors Guild, a group that represents 8,000 U.S. In the past, difficulty of installation was a barrier to wide adoption of Linux-based systems, but the process has been made easy in recent years. Google could even argue that it "adds value" to AFP's news without harming the French news wholesaler.[32].

The paper Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers! identifies many quantitative studies of open source software, on topics including market share and reliability, with many studies specifically examining Linux. The lawsuit's outcome will likely depend on whether Google can successfully argue that its use of AFP's material constitutes "fair use" under copyright law. The large number of choices of Linux distributions can also confuse users and software vendors. AFP's lawsuit, if successful, is bound to have a major impact on how news is delivered on the Internet.". However, some observers claim that the intervals between Linux distribution releases are no worse, and often better, than the project management "schedule slipping" that occurs with other operating systems and with software systems in general. It seems that the basis of the lawsuit is just the abstract notion of copyright without any real damages to justify the action." The article concluded "It would be a sad day for those who look to the Internet for news if AFP is successful in limiting what Google can display.. Linux distributions have been criticized for unpredictable development schedules, thus making enterprise users less comfortable with Linux than they might be with other systems (Marcinkowski, 2003). is now attempting to remove all postings of Agence France-Presse material from its site, although AFP spokesmen say that even if this is done, the lawsuit will continue..

However, Relevantive, the renowned Berlin-based organization specializing in providing consultation to companies on the usability of software and Web services, concluded that the usability of Linux for a set of desktop-related tasks is "equal to Windows XP." Since then, there have been numerous independent studies and articles [10] [11] [12] that show that a modern Linux desktop using Gnome or KDE is on par with or superior to Microsoft Windows. According to the Canada Free Press, "Google Inc. Microsoft-sponsored studies such as those by IDC and Gartner have argued that Linux had a higher total cost of ownership (TCO) than Windows. [31] Still, AFP argues that the headline and first sentence of an article constitutes the "heart" of the work and that reproducing it is copyright infringement. There have been conflicting studies of Linux's usability and cost in the past. Additionally, "in 2002, a federal appeals court ruled that Web sites may reproduce and post 'thumbnail' or downsized versions of copyrighted photographs," so Google News' thumbnails are likely legal. Deliberately non-portable hardware drivers like Winmodems and Winprinters have been a general problem. It was argued that had AFP wanted to prevent free use of its articles, it should have asked its providers to require subscriptions rather than suing Google.

Often, this development requires reverse engineering of some sort, as certain manufacturers remain secretive and refuse to provide the hardware or firmware specifications for their products. It is possible that AFP will make additional arguments in court that it has not yet made in public, but currently, many pundits are confused by the decision to sue [28][29][30] because Google does not display the full article on its site, provides a link to one of AFP's 600 online clients such as Singapore's Channel NewsAsia (which presumably benefits AFP because more people view the article and advertising), and because the articles are available via the providers' websites regardless of Google's actions. Though some vendors provide device drivers, many device drivers must be developed by volunteers after the release of the product. In March 2005, Agence France-Presse (AFP) sued Google for $17.5 million, alleging that Google News infringed on its copyright because "Google includes AFP's photos, stories and news headlines on Google News without permission from Agence France-Presse." [27] It was also alleged that Google ignored a cease and desist order, though Google counters that it has opt-out procedures which AFP could have followed but did not. Support for certain new and obscure hardware remains an issue. The contract says that it will comply with "fair use", an exemption in copyright law that allows people to reproduce portions of text of copyrighted material for research purposes. Linux is rapidly gaining popularity as a desktop operating system as it is increasingly used in schools and workplaces and more people are becoming familiar with it. of Michigan does make it clear that Google will provide only excerpts of copyright text in a search.

Linux is past that stage now, with numerous manufacturers installing Linux and many organizations having five or more years experience with Linux - since installation evolved to graphical user interfaces - or Unix, which has been around for decades. The contract between Google and the U. Because of reluctance to change and the fact that many computers still come with Microsoft Windows pre-installed, there has been a slow initial adoption of new desktop operating systems. Meanwhile, Google claims that it is in compliance with all existing and historical applications of copyright laws regarding books. Most distributions of Linux have two or more means of software installation, and more office and end-user applications now come with an automated installation program. Also, Google is setting a new precedent by making digital copies of copyrighted material on a wide scale without explicit permission from copyright holders. However, general applications like spreadsheets, word processors, and browsers are available for Linux in profusion. There are claims that it is a violation of copyright laws to use copyrighted material for profit by placing search ads beside the search results of these digitized books.

Equivalents of some specific programs may not be available. This contract is part of Google Print's effort to digitize millions of books and make the full text searchable. Users might have to switch application software, and there may be fewer options, as in the case of computer games. On June 2005, Google Watch revealed the details of a contract between the University of Michigan and Google to create digitized copies of the copyrighted materials stored at the University's library. For example, Gentoo Linux, a source-based distribution, is time-consuming to install, but can be more usable for advanced users than stereotypical beginner-friendly distributions, such as Mandriva or Ubuntu. However, Google provides mechanisms for requesting that caching be disabled (which Google respects; it also honors the robots.txt file which is another mechanism that allows operators of a website to request that part or all of their site not be included in search engine results). It is worth noting that an operating system's usability is subjective and dependent on the background knowledge and needs of its users. There have also been complaints that Google's Web cache feature violates copyright.

It used to be easier to find local technical support for Windows or Mac OS than for Linux in some places but with local Linux User Groups or LUGs appearing everywhere this has changed. Google typically handles this by removing the link as requested and including a link to the complaint in the search results. Many older programs with text user interfaces (TUI) have wild inconsistencies between them, but they maintain loyal followings. A number of organizations have used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to demand that Google remove references to allegedly copyrighted material on other sites. On the command shell, many usability hangups from early Unix days generally remain, such as the difficulty in finding some commands, and the inability to undo many operations such as file deletion. They also offer a download of Firefox with the Google Toolbar pre-installed. GUI configuration tools and control panels are available for many system settings and services, but editing of plain-text configuration files is often required. This is confirmed by a job listing posted on Google.

The area of hardware and services configuration is where user experience is most varied. Google is looking for software engineers to join them in collaborative development on the Firefox browser. Additionally, proprietary software for other operating systems may be run through compatibility layers, such as Wine. Google has an unknown partnership with the Mozilla Foundation. A growing number of proprietary software vendors are supporting Linux, and open source development for Linux is also steadily increasing. As part of the partnership Google will hire employees to help the open source office program OpenOffice.org. While some very specific application may not be available for Linux, there usually exists a replacement, often of better quality. Google also has a partnership with Sun Microsystems to help share and distribute each other's technologies [26].

Applications running within graphical desktop environments such as GNOME and KDE in Linux are very similar to those running on other operating systems. [25]. Linux and other free software projects have been frequently criticized for not going far enough in terms of ensuring usability, and Linux was once considered more difficult to use than Windows or the Macintosh, although this has changed. The new building would also include labs, offices, and housing for Google engineers. The Linux market is among the fastest growing and is projected to exceed $35.7 billion by 2008 [9](this statistic is not comparable to capitalised operating systems like Windows - since Linux is free to use). As reported by SearchEnginejournal.com, NASA and Google were said to be planning to work together on a variety of areas, including large-scale data management, massively distributed computing, bio-info-nano convergence, and encouragement of the entrepreneurial space industry. However, argued advantages of Linux, such as lower cost, fewer security vulnerabilities [8] , and lack of vendor lock-in, have spurred a growing number of high-profile cases of mass adoption of Linux by corporations and governments. On Sept 28, 2005, Google announced a long-term research partnership with NASA which would involve Google building a 1-million square foot R&D center at NASA's Ames Research Center.

According to market research company IDC, in 2002, only 25% of servers and 2.8% of desktop computers were already running Linux. Display advertising throughout the Google network will also increase. Its market share of desktops is rapidly growing. This will allow users of Google Video to search for AOL's premium-video services. Once viewed as an operating system only computer professionals and aficionados could use, Linux distributions have become user-friendly, with many graphical interfaces and applications. [24] As part of the collaboration, Google plans to work with AOL on video search and offer AOL's premium-video service within Google Video. Graphical Linux software exists for almost any area and in some areas there is a greater quality and quantity of software available than for proprietary operating systems. 21, including an enhanced global advertising partnership and a $1 billion investment by Google for a 5% stake in AOL.

In desktop environments like GNOME and KDE, Linux may be used with a user interface that is similar to that of Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, or other desktop environments, and its traditional Unix-like command line interface. Time Warner's AOL unit and Google unveiled an expanded partnership on Dec. Linux is rapidly gaining popularity as a desktop operating system. The New York Times article was headlined, "Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain" [23]. As of June 2005, the 3 fastest supercomputers in the world (as recorded by the Top500) run Linux. In 2005, articles in The New York Times and other news sources [22] began suggesting that Google had lost its anti-corporate, no evil philosophy. Linux is increasingly common as an operating system for supercomputers, most recently on 64-bit AMD Opterons in the Cray XD1. Page said, "We think a lot about how to maintain our culture and the fun elements.".

Linux is also expanding into telecommunications equipment through efforts such as Carrier Grade Linux. Later Mr. The TomTom satellite navigation system also uses an embedded version of the Linux kernel. In a report given to potential investors, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised that the IPO would not change the company's culture. A large number of network firewalls and routers, including several from Linksys and Netgear, use Linux internally, taking advantage of its advanced firewalling and routing capabilities. Also, it may be more challenging for the company to maintain a collegial atmosphere when approximately 1,000 (30%) of the employees are paper-millionaires. The popular TiVo digital video recorder also uses a customized version of Linux. Many people have suggested that after Google's IPO the corporate culture will not be able to stay so "fun" and focused on the future.[20] [21] The company may be required to answer to its new shareholders who may press the company to reduce employee benefits and to focus on short term advances.

In handheld devices, it is an increasingly popular alternative to the Windows CE and Palm OS operating systems. Some people thought the announcement of Gmail in 2004 around April Fools Day (as well as the doubling of Gmail's storage space to two gigabytes in 2005) was a joke. In mobile phones, Linux has become a major competitor to the proprietory Symbian OS software. They also offer versions in Pig Latin Elmer Fudd, and Klingon. Its low cost makes it particularly useful in set-top boxes and for devices such as the Simputer, a computer aimed mainly at low-income populations in developing nations. Bork! is the mock Swedish of the Muppet Show's Swedish Chef. Linux is also often used in embedded systems. In the languages list one can find the Bork! Bork! Bork! version.

Sony has previously released a PS2 Linux kit for their PlayStation 2 video game console. One can find other pranks hidden between Google's pages. The multi-billion dollar video game industry will see widespread Linux use with the 2006 launch of the Sony PlayStation 3 video game console which will run Linux out of the box. In 2004 it featured Google Lunar which featured jobs on the moon and in 2005 a fictitious, brain-boosting drink termed Google Gulp was announced. Additionally, Linux has a plethora of database software such as MySQL, Sybase ASE (linux application) , mSQL and others. In 2002 they claimed that pigeons were the secret behind their growing search engine. A prominent example of this software combination in use is MediaWiki — the software primarily written for Wikipedia. Google has a tradition of creating April Fool's Day jokes such as Google MentalPlex which featured the use of mental power to search the Web.

Linux is the cornerstone of the so-called LAMP server-software combination (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python) that has achieved widespread popularity among Web developers, making it one of the most common platforms on the Web. The building also offers state-of-the-art bathroom facilities featuring digitally controlled toilets [19] which are similar to Japanese toilets. Linux has made considerable gains in server and special-purpose markets, such as image rendering and Web services, and is now making inroads into the high volume desktop market. In addition to the rec room, there are snack rooms stocked with various cereals, gummy bears, toffee, licorice, cashews, yogurt, carrots, fresh fruit, and dozens of different drinks including fresh juice, soda, and make-your-own cappuccino. This stereotype has been dispelled in recent years by the increased user-friendliness and broad adoption of many Linux distributions. Recreational amenities are scattered throughout the campus, and include a workout room with weights and rowing machines, locker rooms, washers and dryers, a massage room, assorted video games, Foosball, a baby grand piano, a pool table, and ping pong. Because of this, and because of being attracted by access to the internals of the system, Linux users have traditionally tended to be more technologically oriented than users of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, sometimes revelling in the tag of "hacker" or "geek". Each employee has access to the corporate recreation center.

In the past, a user needed significant knowledge of computers in order to install and configure Linux. The hallways are full of exercise balls and bicycles. The source code for the Linux kernel used to be maintained using the software application called BitKeeper but, partly because a license dispute, it is now maintained via Git, the new directory content manager created by Linus Torvalds himself. The lobby is decorated with a piano, lava lamps, and a real-time projection of current search queries. This distribution contained over fifty-five million source lines of code, and the study estimated that it would have cost 1.9 billion dollars (year 2000 dollars) to develop by conventional proprietary means. Google's headquarters is called the Googleplex. In a later study, Counting potatoes: the size of Debian 2.2, the same analysis was performed for Debian GNU/Linux version 2.2. Some of Google's newer services, such as Gmail, Google News and Orkut, are said to originate from this possibility.

Slightly over half of the code in that distribution was licensed under the GPL. The time can be allocated to one day a week, or pooled into a month. Had all this software been developed by conventional proprietary means, it would have cost 1.08 billion dollars (year 2000 dollars) to develop in the United States. Every Google engineer is encouraged to spend 20 percent (20%) of their work time on projects that interest them. Using the Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO), the study estimated that this distribution required about eight thousand person-years of development time. Google's relaxed corporate culture can also be seen externally through their holiday variations of the Google logo. The Linux kernel contained 2.4 million lines of code, or 8% of the total. Twice a week there is a roller hockey game in the company parking lot.

More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size, a study of Red Hat Linux 7.1, found that this particular distribution contained 30 million source lines of code (SLOC). The company encourages equality within corporate levels. A variety of Linux distribution screenshots can be viewed here. Google's corporate philosophy is based on many casual principles including: "You can make money without doing evil", "You can be serious without a suit" and "Work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun." A complete list of corporate fundamentals is available on Google's Web site [18]. A typical general-purpose distribution includes the Linux kernel, some GNU libraries and tools, command-line shells, and thousands of application software packages, from office suites and the graphical X Window System to compilers, text editors, and scientific tools. Google is known for its relaxed corporate culture, reminiscent of the Dot-com boom. Over 450 distributions are available [7]. Page and Brin, however, had sold $2 billion before some of the largest stock gains.

Distributions are created for many different purposes, including localization, architecture support, real-time applications, and embedded systems, and many deliberately include only free software. In late 2005 Google shares were valued at $400. They include additional system software and application programs, as well as certain processes to install these systems on a computer. When recorded on the Forbes 400, Google's stock was around $111. These are compiled by individuals, loose-knit teams, and various professional organizations. But due to the recent surge in stock price (April 2005-June 2005), their net worth is significantly higher. Linux is predominantly used as part of a Linux distribution (commonly called a 'distro'). According to the Forbes 400 list (2005), the combined net worth of Larry Page and Sergey Brin is $22 billion US.

The most comprehensive coverage of this suit is given by Groklaw. As a result, Google Inc.'s (CGQ®) as of January 2006 is better than 31.7% of Russell 3000 companies and 41.4% of Software & Services companies. A few of Novell's press releases seem to demonstrate serious problems with SCO's claims:. Also, Google has changed some of its board governance practices, and disclosed its executive compensation policies. To date, no proof of SCO's claims of copied code in Linux has been provided and SCO's claims have varied widely. However, after that ranking came out, ISS revised its CGQ® ranking methodology. This controversy has involved lawsuits by SCO against Novell, DaimlerChrysler (partially dismissed in July, 2004), and AutoZone, and by Red Hat and others against SCO. [17] The primary contributor of the low ranking was due to how Google's dual class share capital structure was used by ISS to determine the Corporate Governance Quotient (CGQ®) ranking for Google.

Additionally, SCO sent letters to a number of companies warning that their use of Linux without a license from SCO may be actionable, and claimed in the press that they would be suing individual Linux users. In 2004, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ranked Google's corporate governance dead last in the list of members of the Standard & Poor's 500, even though Google is not yet a part of the S&P500. In March 2003, the SCO Group (SCO) filed a lawsuit against IBM claiming that IBM had contributed some portions of SCO's copyrighted code to the Linux kernel in violation of IBM's license to use Unix. [16] Page, Brin, and Schmidt have all declined recent offers of bonuses and increases in compensation by Google's board of directors. The distinction between Torvalds' kernel and entire Linux-based systems that contain the kernel is a perennial source of confusion, and the naming remains controversial. The CEO also agreed to accept an annual base salary of $1 for 2006. Torvalds, the creator of the Linux kernel, has said that he finds calling Linux in general GNU/Linux "just ridiculous." Still, some distributions do use this name — notably Debian GNU/Linux — while most people simply refer to the system as Linux. Founders Brin and Page reportedly earned $1 billion in 2004, but after the IPO in Aug 2004, it became public knowledge via annual SEC filings that their base salary is $1 for 2004, 2005, and now 2006.

Because the GNU libraries and programs, an essential part of nearly all Linux distributions, stem from a long-standing free operating system project that predates the Linux kernel, Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation ask that the combined system (regardless of distribution) be referred to as GNU/Linux or a Linux-based GNU system. Position: name, age, compensation in USD (as of June 2005). See also List of words of disputed pronunciation for a fuller technical discussion of the various ways "Linux" is pronounced. (It is estimated that less than one job offer is made per thousand resumes submitted.) Google reportedly employs one in-house legal recruiter just to assist the legal department in evaluating the high volume of resumes from attorneys seeking to join the corporation. Note that in English, "Linux" and "Minix" are usually pronounced with a short /ɪ/ sound that is different from Torvalds's phonemically Finland-Swedish pronunciation of these words (which is somewhere between what would be considered short and long in English). Beyond monetary compensation, Google's workplace amenities, culture, global popularity, stellar prospects (relative to most Bay Area companies), and strong brand recognition continues to attract far more applicants than there are positions available. An audio file of Torvalds saying "Hello, this is Linus Torvalds, and I pronounce Linux as /lɪnʊks/" also exists [6]. In 2005 Google has implemented other employee incentives such as the Google Founders' Award, as well making higher salary offers to new employees.

In 1992, Torvalds explained [5] (IPA pronunciations added to quote in braces):. Nevertheless, Google's excellent stock performance following the IPO has enabled these early employees to be competitively compensated by participation in the corporation's remarkable equity growth. Other variations are also possible, but less frequently heard. For instance, some system administrators earned no more than $33,000 — while $40,000 at that time was considered to be low by Bay Area employment market levels. The first pronunciation is considered more correct, while the second has become popular for sounding more natural in English. Prior to the IPO offering, typical salaries at Google were considered within the industry to be quite low. Linux is most commonly pronounced either to rhyme with minix [ˈlɪnəks], or to sound like lie nix [ˈlaɪnəks]. We try to see new problems and new markets using the technology that others use and we build.".

In September 2005, Intellectual Property Australia, the trademark regulator in Australia, rejected an application to trademark Linux. We look at markets as they exist and we assume they are pretty well served by their existing players. LMI has also sought to enforce the Linux trademark in countries other than the US. And so if you try to predict our product strategy by simply saying well so and so has this and Google will do the same thing, it's almost always the wrong answer. Reg No: 1916230) is owned by Linus Torvalds, registered for "Computer operating system software to facilitate computer use and operation." The licensing of the trademark is now handled by the Linux Mark Institute (LMI). During the third quarter 2005 Google Conference Call, Eric Schmidt said, "We don't do the same thing as everyone else does. The Linux trademark (U.S. [12].

In 1997, Linus Torvalds stated, "Making Linux GPL'd was definitely the best thing I ever did." [4] Other subsystems use other licenses, although all of them share the property of being free/open-source; for example, several libraries use the LGPL (a more-permissive variant of the GPL), and the X Window System uses the permissive (non-copyleft) MIT License. [11] Google and Microsoft reached a settlement out of court on 22 December 2005, the terms of which are confidential. The GPL requires that all source code modifications and derived works also be licensed under the GPL, and is sometimes referred to as a "share and share-alike" (or copyleft) license. Microsoft sued to stop his move by citing Lee's non-compete contract (he had access to much sensitive information regarding Microsoft's plans in China). The Linux kernel, along with most of the GNU components, is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 (not or later). This feud boiled over into the courts when Kai-Fu Lee, a former vice-president of Microsoft, quit Microsoft to work for Google. Originally, Linus was going to call it Freax for "free" and with the often-used X in the names of Unix-like systems. Many Microsoft employees who worked on Internet Explorer have left to work for Google.

(The name Linux was derived from Linus' Minix.) The name was later trademarked (see below). This corporate feud is most directly expressed in hiring offers and defections. He was the one to invent the name Linux for the directory from which Torvalds' project was first available for download [3]. Rumors of a Google browser are fueled by the fact that Google is the owner of the domain name "gbrowser.com". Lemmke was working for the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK), located in Espoo near Helsinki, as an administrator of ftp.funet.fi, an FTP server which belongs to the Finnish University and Research Network (FUNET), which has numerous organizations as its members, amongst them the TKK and the University of Helsinki. Some have even suggested that in addition to an Internet Explorer replacement Google is designing its own Linux based operating system called Google OS to directly compete with Microsoft Windows. The name "Linux" was coined, not by Torvalds, but by Ari Lemmke. Hotmail), search (both online and local desktop searching), and other applications (for example, Microsoft's Virtual Earth competes with Google Earth).

Tux the penguin is the logo and mascot of Linux (although there are other, less common representations,such as theOS-tan), based on an image created by Larry Ewing in 1996. Furthermore, the two companies are increasingly offering overlapping services, such as webmail (Gmail vs. The task of producing an integrated system, which combines all of these basic components along with graphical interfaces (such as GNOME or KDE, which in turn are based on the X Window System) and application software, is now performed by Linux distribution vendors / organizations. Microsoft has been touting its MSN Search engine to counter Google's competitive position. Today, Torvalds continues to direct the development of the kernel, while other subsystems such as the GNU components are developed separately. One such example is the rivalry between Microsoft and Google [10]. The Linux system quickly surpassed Minix in functionality; Torvalds and other early Linux kernel developers adapted their kernel to work with the GNU components and user-space programs to create a complete, fully functional, free operating system. With Google's increased size comes more competition from large mainstream technology companies.

Initial versions of Linux also required an operating system to be present in order to boot from a hard disk, but soon there were independent bootloaders, the most well known being lilo. On June 7, 2005, Google was valued at nearly $52 billion, making it one of the world's biggest media companies by stock market value. A computer running Minix was originally necessary in order to configure, compile, and install Linux. URL accessed on June 1, 2005.) When companies are first listed on the S&P 500 they typically experience a bump in share price due to the rapid accumulation of the stock within index funds that track the S&P. By the 0.01 release, Linus had implemented enough POSIX system calls to make Linux run the GNU Bash shell; after this bootstrapping procedure, development accelerated rapidly. L.A.Times. Raymond's essay The Cathedral and the Bazaar discusses the development model of the Linux kernel and similar software. (Source: Google Shares Rise on New Price Target.

Eric S. On the same day, rumors circulated in the financial community that Google would soon be included in the S&P 500. Since then, thousands of developers from around the world have participated in the project. On June 1, 2005, Google shares gained nearly 4 percent after Credit Suisse First Boston raised its price target on the stock to $350. The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) was released to the Internet on September 17, 1991, with the second version following shortly thereafter in October [2]. Jessie Stricchiola, president of Alchemist Media, called Google "the most stubborn and the least willing to cooperate with advertisers" when it comes to click fraud. After that, it gradually evolved into an entire operating system kernel intended as a foundation for POSIX-compliant systems. Google's CFO George Reyes said in a December 2004 investor conference that "something has to be done about this really, really quickly, because I think, potentially, it threatens our business model."[9] Some have suggested that Google is not doing enough to combat click fraud.

When Linus needed to read and write files to disk, this task-switching terminal emulator was extended with an entire filesystem handler. Click fraud is a growing problem for Google's business strategy. The terminal emulator was running two threads: one for sending and one for receiving characters from the serial port. Page says in the prospectus that Google has "a dual class structure that is biased toward stability and independence and that requires investors to bet on the team, especially Sergey and me." The company has not reported any treasury stock holdings as of the Q3 2004 report. Linux started out as a terminal emulator written in IA-32 assembler and C, which was compiled into binary form and booted from a floppy disk so that it would run outside of any operating system. The actual voting power of the insiders is much higher, however, as Google has a dual class stock structure in which each Class B share gets ten votes compared to each Class A share getting one. However, Tanenbaum did not permit others to extend his operating system, leading Torvalds to develop a replacement for Minix. The two founders are said to hold almost 30% of the outstanding shares.

Torvalds originally used Minix, a simplified Unix-like system written by Andrew Tanenbaum for teaching operating system design. In January 2005 the shares outstanding was up 100 million to 273.42 million, 53% of that was held by insiders which made the float 127.70 million (up 110 million shares from the first trading day). Meanwhile, in 1991, another kernel — eventually dubbed "Linux" — was begun as a hobby by Finnish university student Linus Torvalds while attending the University of Helsinki. On August 19, 2004 the number of shares outstanding was 172.85 million while the "free float" was 19.60 million (which makes 89% held by insiders). However, due to a lack of cooperation from the Berkeley programmers, Stallman decided instead to use the Mach microkernel, which subsequently proved unexpectedly difficult, and the Hurd's development proceeded slowly. Since the IPO, Google's stock market capitalization has risen greatly and the stock price has more than quadrupled. According to Thomas Bushnell, the initial Hurd architect, their early plan was to adapt the BSD 4.4-Lite kernel and, in hindsight, "It is now perfectly obvious to me that this would have succeeded splendidly and the world would be a very different place today" [1]. [8].

The GNU project began developing their own kernel, the Hurd, in 1990 (after an abandoned attempt called Trix). Google said it would use the money for "acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies or other assets". By the beginning of the 1990s, GNU had produced or collected nearly all of the necessary components of this system—libraries, compilers, text editors, a Unix-like shell, and other software—except for the lowest level, the kernel. The move would double Google's cash stockpile to $7 billion. The goal of GNU was to develop a complete Unix-like operating system composed entirely of free software. On August 18, 2005 (one year after the initial IPO), Google announced that it would sell 14,159,265 (another mathematical reference as π = 3.14159265...) more shares of its stock to raise money. In 1983, Richard Stallman founded the GNU project, which today provides an essential part of most Linux systems (see also GNU/Linux, below). The company was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol GOOG.

. Yahoo!, a competitor of Google, also benefited from the IPO because it owns 2.7 million shares of Google. It is deployed in applications ranging from embedded systems (such as mobile phones and personal video recorders) to personal computers to supercomputers. Many of Google's employees became instant paper millionaires. Linux was originally developed for Intel 386 microprocessors and now supports all popular computer architectures (and several obscure ones). The IPO gave Google a market capitalization of more than $23 billion. Proponents and analysts attribute this success to its vendor independence (the opposite of vendor lock-in), low cost, security, and reliability. The vast majority of Google's 271 million shares remained under Google's control.

Since then, Linux has gained the support of major corporations such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Novell for use in servers and is gaining popularity in the desktop market. The sale raised $1.67 billion, of which approximately $1.2 billion went to Google. Initially, Linux was primarily developed and used by individual enthusiasts. Of that, 14,142,135 (another mathematical reference as √2 = 1.4142135...) were floated by Google and 5,462,917 by selling stockholders. Most broadly, a Linux distribution bundles large quantities of application software with the core system, and provides more user-friendly installation and upgrades. 19,605,052 shares were offered at a price of $85 per share. In the narrowest sense, the term Linux refers to the Linux kernel, but it is commonly used to describe entire Unix-like operating systems (also known as GNU/Linux) that are based on the Linux kernel combined with libraries and tools from the GNU Project and other sources. After some initial stumbles, Google's initial public offering took place on August 19, 2004.

It is one of the most prominent examples of free software and of open-source development: unlike proprietary operating systems such as Windows and Mac OS, all of its underlying source code is available to the public for anyone to freely use, modify, improve, and redistribute. The SEC (Security & Exchange Commission) forbids giving out information pertaining to a company's specifications before an IPO is launched. Linux is a computer operating system and its kernel. Before Google initiated its initial public offering, Larry Page & Sergey Brin faced legal action for giving Playboy an interview about themselves and Google. Greene, The Register, retrieved December 22, 2005. The public valued it at $100.34 at the close of the first day of trading which saw 22,351,900 shares change hands. Mandrake 8.1 easier than Win-XP by Thomas C. The initial offering of shares was sold for $85 a piece.

Desktop Linux: Ready for Prime Time? by Emmett Dulaney, Redmond Magazine, June 2005, retrieved on 21 December 2005. In the run-up to the IPO the company was forced to slash the price and size of the offering, but the process did not run into any technical difficulties or result in any significant legal challenges. Wheeler. The smallest required account balances at most authorized online brokers that are allowed to participate in an IPO, however, are around $100,000. Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers! by David A. They chose the unconventional way of allocating the initial offering through an auction (specifically, a "Dutch auction"), so that "anyone" would be able to participate in the offering. González-Barahona et al. In May 2004, Google officially cut Goldman Sachs from the IPO, leaving Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston as the joint underwriters.

Counting potatoes: the size of Debian 2.2 by Jesús M. The deadline imposed by this requirement accelerated our decision." The SEC filing revealed that Google turned a profit every year since 2001 and earned a profit of $105.6 million on revenues of $961.8 million during 2003. Wheeler. By law, certain private companies must report as if they were public companies. More Than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size by David A. As Google stated in the filing, their "growth has reduced some of the advantages of private ownership. Retrieved January 19, 2004 from [14]. April 29 was the 120th day of 2004, and according to section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, "a company must file financial and other information with the SEC 120 days after the close of the year in which the company reaches $10 million in assets and/or 500 shareholders, including people with stock options.[7] Google has stated in its Annual filing for 2004 that every one of its 3,021 employees, "except temporary employees and contractors, are also equity holders, with significant collective employee ownership", so Google would have needed to make its financial information public by filing them with the SEC regardless of whether or not they intended to make a public offering.

Linux Torvalds Q&A. On April 29, 2004, Google made an S-1 form SEC filing for an IPO to raise as much as USD $2,718,281,828 (with a touch of mathematical humor as e = 2.718281828...). (2004). According to a banker involved in the transaction, the deal would yield an estimated $12 billion market capitalization for Google. Mackenzie, K. That IPO (one of the most anticipated in history) was projected to raise as much as $4 billion. Retrieved January 16, 2004 from [13]. In January 2004, Google announced the hiring of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group to arrange an IPO.

Linux breaks desktop barrier in 2004: Torvalds. In October 2003, while discussing a possible IPO (Initial Public Offering of shares), Microsoft approached the company about a possible partnership or merger; no such deal ever materialized. (2004). Around six months later, a much larger round of funding was announced, with the major investors being rival venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital. R. After a frantic few weeks, this was topped up to give an initial investment of almost $1 million. Gedda. The first funding for Google as a company was secured in the form of a $100,000 contribution from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, given to a corporation which didn't yet exist.

Glyn Moody: Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, Perseus Publishing, ISBN 0-713-99520-3. Products and demos Google Labs, the experimental section of Google.com help Google maximize its relationships with its users by including them in the beta development, design and testing stages of new products and enhancements of already existing ones. Sparc (Sun4). Frequently, new Google enhancements or products appear in its inventory. SuperH (Sega Dreamcast). Analysts speculate that Google's response to Yahoo! will be to continue to make technical and visual enhancements to personalized searches, using the personal data that is gathering from Orkut, Gmail, and Froogle to produce unique results based on the user. IBM System/390. The logo is notorious among web users for April Fool's Day tie-ins and jokes about the company.

PowerPC (Macintosh). Not only may decorative drawings be attached to the logo, but as well the font design may mimic a fictional or humorous language such as the Star Trek Klingon[5] and Leet[6]. PA-RISC (HP workstations). The Google site includes humorous features such as cartoon modifications [4] of the Google logo to recognize special occasions and anniversaries, known as "Google Doodles". MIPS (DECstation, SGI Indy....). This is interpreted by some activists as against the "Don't Be Evil" spirit. Motorola 68K (Sun3, Amiga, Atari, early Mac, Apollo....). Google.cn search results are filtered so as not to bring any results up on Tianamen Square, the independence movements of Tibet and Taiwan, the Dalai Lama (any results describe him as a troublemaker), Falun Gong and anti-Communist information.

Alpha. Some controversy has occurred over Google's decision to participate in the Chinese government's Internet censorship policy, colloquially known as "The Great Firewall of China". ARM (handhelds, embedded systems). Google's declared code of conduct is "Don't Be Evil", a phrase which they went so far as to include in their prospectus (aka "red herring" or "S-1") for their IPO, noting "We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served — as shareholders and in all other ways — by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains.". Both AMD and Intel versions of "64-bit x86". Yet Yahoo!'s move highlighted Google's own distinctiveness and today the verb "to google" has entered a number of languages first as a slang verb and now as a standard word meaning, "to perform a web search". Intel/AMD x86 (the "normal PC"). Google lost user share of the search market.

2003-Nov-18 Novell Statement on SCO claims regarding a non-compete clause in Novell-SCO contracts. At its peak in early 2004, Google handled upwards of 84.7 percent of all search requests on the World Wide Web through its Web site and through its partnerships with other Internet clients like Yahoo!, AOL, and CNN.[3] In February 2004 Yahoo! dropped its partnership with Google in order to provide users at its site independent search results and to maintain their loyalty. 2003-Jun-06 Novell Statement on SCO Contract Amendment. However, the acquisition secured the company's competitive ability to use information gleaned from blog postings to improve the speed and relevance of articles contained in a companion product to the search engine, Google News. 2003-May-30 Novell Statement re: SCO press conference allegations. Some analysts considered the acquisition inconsistent with Google's business model. 2003-May-28 Novell Challenges SCO Position, Reiterates Support for Linux. In February 2003, Google acquired Pyra Labs, owner of Blogger, a pioneering and leading weblog hosting Web site.

2003-May-15 Novell Statement on SCO Contract Amendment (good news for Linux users). The patent was officially assigned to Stanford University and lists Lawrence Page as the inventor. Patent 6,285,999 describing Google's ranking mechanism (PageRank) was granted on September 4, 2001. U.S. While many of its dot-com rivals failed in the new Internet marketplace, Google quietly rose in stature while generating revenue.

The model of selling keyword advertising was originally pioneered by Goto.com (renamed Overture, and now Yahoo! Search Marketing)[2]. It also only cost a very small amount per click to the websites that advertised this way. The ads were text-based in order to maintain an uncluttered page design and to maximize page loading speed. This strategy was important for increasing advertising revenue, which is based upon the number of "hits" users make upon ads.

In 2000, Google began selling advertisements associated with the search keyword to produce enhanced search results for the user. This appearance, while imitating the early AltaVista, had behind it Google's unique search capabilities. They were attracted to its simple, uncluttered, clean design — a competitive advantage to attract users who did not wish to enter searches on web pages filled with visual distractions. The Google search engine attracted a loyal following among the growing number of Internet users.

Silicon Graphics leased these buildings to Google. After outgrowing two subsequent sites, the company settled into a complex of buildings in Mountain View at 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, in 2003. Google quickly outgrew its University Avenue home. This unexpected change alienated part of AltaVista's user base.

Google received a big break in 1999 when one of the most popular search engines, AltaVista, relaunched itself as a user Web entry point, or portal. In March 1999, the company moved into offices at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto, home to a number of other noted Silicon Valley technology startups. They formally incorporated their company, Google Inc., on September 7, 1998 at a friend's garage in Menlo Park, California. The domain google.com was registered on September 15, 1997.

Originally the search engine used the Stanford website with the domain google.stanford.edu. (A small search engine called RankDex was already exploring a similar strategy.) Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant Web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine. (Contemporary search engines essentially ranked results according to how many times the search term appeared on a page.) It was originally nicknamed BackRub because the system checked backlinks to estimate a site's importance. They hypothesized that a search engine that analyzed the relationships between Web sites would produce better results than existing techniques.

students at Stanford. Google began as a research project in January 1996 ^[1] by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D. . See Google platform for more details on their technology.

While the company does not provide detailed information about its hardware, it was estimated in 2005 that they were using over 100,000 Linux machines. Google's services are run on several server farms, each consisting of many thousand low-cost commodity computers running stripped-down versions of Linux. multiplex, cineplex, etc). As a further play on this, Google's headquarters are referred to as "the Googleplex" — a googolplex being 1 followed by a googol of zeros, and the HQ being a complex of buildings (cf.

The name "Google" is a play on the word "googol," which refers to the number represented by 1 followed by one hundred zeros. Eric Schmidt, formerly chief executive officer of Novell, was named Google's CEO when co-founder Larry Page stepped down. The company employs approximately 5,700 employees and is based in Mountain View, California. public corporation, first incorporated as a privately held corporation in September 1998, that designed and manages the Internet Google search engine.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is a U.S. Catalogs: Catalog Search allows the user to search and browse mail-order catalogs. Non-peer reviewed material is also included in the index. Scholar: Allows users to search some peer-reviewed, scholarly journals.

Although it allows you to search specific blogs, this feature is currently malfunctioning. Results can be sorted by relevance or by date. Blogs: Blog Search allows the user to only search blogs based on RSS feeds. See Google Video.

Videos: Allows the user to limit a search to videos on the Internet; Use Google to find reviews and showtimes for movies playing somewhere near you. See Google Talk. Talk: Allows users with Gmail accounts to communicate with each other through instant messaging and have online conversations. See Google Desktop.

Desktop: Allows the user to search their computer for files, folders, and emails. See Google Earth. Earth: Allows the user to download a program to have a 3D version of satellite pictures. Currently it provides full service only in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland.

See also Google Maps. Maps include road maps, medium-resolution satellite images, and "hybrid" maps combining both. Local: Searches for places (such as shops or other landmarks) in a geographical area, and displays maps and driving directions. See Froogle.

Froogle: Allows the user to shop online searching websites within a user specified budget. Google.com.au allows selection criteria for Australia. The search page provides the option for twenty countries. News: Brings the user directly to the Google News search page, formatted similar to news websites such as MSNBC or BBC News.

Groups: Allows the user to create, search and browse groups for discussion. Images: Allows the user to limit a search to images on the Internet; the images are identified by Google by the image name saved on the webpage and context information about the page. Washington Post 20 September 2005 "Google library push faces lawsuit by US authors". The Google Print Library Project: A Copyright Analysis - .pdf.

Scout Report "Authors’ group files lawsuit against Google" Sept, 2005. Drummond, 42, $776K. Counsel: David C. Development, Secretary and Gen.

VP of Corp. VP of Worldwide Sales: Omid Kordestani, 41, $572K. Sr. Page, 32, $1 see [15].

President of Products: Larry E. President of Technology: Sergey Brin, 31, $1 see [14]. CFO: George Reyes, 51, $781K. Schmidt, 50, $1 see [13].

CEO: Eric E.