2019-05-01_Linux_Format

Nginx acquired, rumours abound

WebserverdeveloperNginxboughtbyF5Networksinwhat

somepeoplesuggestisa moveagainstCitrix.

WEBSERVERS

OPINION

OPERATINGSYSTEMS

urism,theteambuildingthemuch-

anticipatedLibrem5 open-hardware

smartphone,hasannouncedthatits

open-sourceoperatingsystemPureOSwillbe

a ‘convergentoperatingsystem’thatcanrun

onboththesmartphoneandlaptops.

A fewyearsago,convergentoperating

systemsliketheseseemedtobealltherage.

Whilesomesoftwaremakershavedropped

theirconvergenceplans– mostnoticeably

Canonicalditchingitsplansfora single

versionofUbuntutorunonPCs,phonesand

tablets,backin 2017 – Microsoft,Appleand

Googleareallcontinuingtolookatwaysto

haveoneOSonmanydevices.

AccordingtoJeremiahFoster,Director

ofPureOS,Purismhasbeatenitsbig

competitorstothepunch.Inhisblogpostat

http://bit.ly/LXFPureOSConv, hesays

TheOSwillrunonLibrem5 phonesandLibremlaptops.

pplicationservicescompany

F5NetworkshasacquiredNginxfor

theprincelysumof$670million.Gus

Robertson,CEOofNginx,commentedthat“F

sharesourmission,vision,andvalues...they

bringtobeara tremendousamountofadditional

resourcesandcomplementarytechnologies”,

andassuredNginxcustomersthat“F5is

committedtokeepingtheNGINXbrandand

opensourcetechnologyalive.Withoutthis

commitment,thedealwouldn’thavehappened

foreitherside.”Youcanreadhisfullstatement

athttp://bit.ly/LXFNginxBlog.

AnyfearsthatF5Network’spurchasewill

simplyassimilateNginxseemtobeunfounded,

withtheNginxbrandremaininga separate

entity.RobertsonwilljoinF5’ssenior

managementteamandcontinuetoleadNginx

alongsideIgorSysoevandMaximKonovalov,

Nginx’sfounders,whileNginx’soperationswill

continueatitsexistingofficesinSanFrancisco.

It’snotquitea donedealjustyet,however,

asalthoughtheboardofdirectorsofboth

companieshaveapprovedtheacquisition,as

haveNginx’sshareholders,thedealstillneeds

Justa fewweeksago

attheGameDevelopers

Conference(GDC)inSan

Francisco,theKhronos

GroupreleasedtheOpenXR

provisionalspecification.

Andthatsameday,

Collaboraannounced

Monado,a freeandopen

sourceXRplatform,andfirst

OpenXRruntimeforLinux.

OpenXRisanopen

standardthataimstounify

andsimplifythecreationof

experiencesinaugmented

reality(AR)andvirtual

reality(VR),collectively

knownasmixedreality(XR).

Monadoenables

applicationsandgame

developerstotargetGNU/

Linuxwithouthavingto

worryabouthardware

enablement.Monadoalso

helpsthehardware

developersaddsupportfor

theirdevicesonGNU/Linux.

MyhopeisthatMonado

becomesanecosystem

composedofkeyXR

industryplayersand

enthusiastsintheopen

sourcecommunity.

Goingforward,mygoalis

tocreatea monthlyupdate

aboutourprogresson

Monado.Wehavea solid

roadmapaheadofuswith

noshortageofwork.

TheMonadoprojectis

hostedbyfreedesktopat

https://monado.

freedesktop.orgwhere

youwillfindthesource

codeandinstructions

onhowtobuildit.

JakobBornecrantz

SeniorSoftwareEngineer,

Collabora

PureOS’s“futureapplications[will]runonboth

theLibrem5 phoneandLibremlaptops,from

thesamePureOSrelease.”

Theideaisthatalltheappsyouuseon

yourLibrem5 phonewillbeabletorunona

compatiblelaptopaswell– withallyourdata

beingsynced.Notonlydoesthisofferbenefits

toitsusers,whowillgeta familiarexperience

acrosstheirdevices,butit alsomakeslifeeasier

fordevelopers,whoneedonlymake– andtest

• oneapp,ratherthanlotsofdifferentonesfor
  differentoperatingsystems.
  Ofcourse,thatlastpointmainlyreliesonhow
  popularPureOS– andtheLibremhardwareit
  runson– becomes.Fromwhatwe’veseenso
  farregardingtheLibrem5,we’rehopingforbig
  things,butpredictingsuccessesintheworldof
  technologyisnotoriouslydifficult,soultimately
  onlytimewilltell.

PureOS embraces convergence

SHARP

OPENXR

P

A

topassregulatoryapprovals.It’sexpectedthe

dealwillcloseinthesecondquarterof2019.

Thedealisn’twithoutitscontroversy,with

PiperJaffrayanalystsJamesFishandAndrew

Nowinskisuggestingit wasmadetoensurethat

F5’srivalCitrixdoesnotacquireNginxforitself.

AsMitchWagneroftheLightReadingwebsite

reports(http://bit.ly/LXFLightReading), the

analystsalsosuggestedthatNginxwastaking

customersfromF5,promptingtheacquisition

asa defensivemove.

However,thisissomethingF5denies,with

KaraSprague,SVP&GMoftheF5’sApplication

ServicesBusinessUnit,emailingLightReading

tosaythat“OuracquisitionofNGINXwas

neithera defensivemovenorduetoa

dependencyonNGINXforournext-generation

softwareADC.”

NetworkshaspaidbigbucksforNginx,butitsmotiveshave

beenquestioned.

http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux May 2019 LXF249 7

NEWSDESK