Project David (and Goliath)
p2pnet.net News:- And David took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine." I Samuel 17- 40"
That’s how SpecOpS Labs, a company based in the Philippines and which says it’s working with Manilla’s De La Salle University, kicks off its description of its David Project, a systems level product whose primary purpose "is to provide a platform, which will serve as a viable alternative to the MS Windows Operating System".
It goes on,"David is the virtual Holy Grail in OS Technology – it is a Windows compatibility middleware, which will enable all major Microsoft Windows applications to run on the free and open source Linux OS."
However, the D & G refrence notwithstanding, "Our strategy is not to do battle directly with Microsoft," says the company. "Instead we will fulfill the prophetic statement of Bill Joy and give the OS Industry its next breakthrough – David. David will level the OS Industries battlefield; it will free consumers from the bonds of MS Windows, and give them the freedom to use the OS of their choice."
SpecOpS Labs doesn’t give details about pricing or timing but says, "Our first release of David, version 1.0, will be a Middleware program that will sit on top of the free and open-source Linux operating system, and enable it to seamlessly run most Windows applications. Working in the background, David will enable users to run their favorite programs with the look-and-feel they are familiar with."
Is it for real?
Linuxelectronics has several interesting posts on the subject, one of which states:
"sure…its a real windows clone because it mostly based off of stolen windows code…remember the leak of windows code a few months back on the filesharing networks?"
For its part, SpecOpsS (whose name, you have to admit, is like something out of a spy thriller) says: "The story behind David reads like an adventure novel: In July of 2002, news of SpecOpS Labs’ discovery was leaked from Oracle-Philippines to Microsoft in Redmond WA. Microsoft immediately relayed a communiqué to an Asian based Private Investigator requesting detailed info on the SpecOpS Labs Platform; days later, news of the investigation was intercepted by a friendly asset and delivered to SpecOpS Labs ….."
However, "We are in the final rounds of negotiations with Vsoft, Inc. a software development company," says SpecOpsS. "Vsoft has stated their intent to acquire a substantial share of SpecOpS Labs. Mr. Peter Valdes the owner of Vsoft is also the founder of Tivoli software. Tivoli was bought by IBM for $750 million and is now a multi billion dollar product line. Vsoft has instructed its Investment Bankers to raise $1million and we expect their final written offer by the third week of November 2003."
Was the fund raising successful? SpecOpsS doesn’t say on its site. However, there’s an anonymous April 23 post on Linuxelectronics which states: "On 4 June 2003 we signed a joint-development agreement with De La Salle University for the full development of David."
December 10th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
where did this company GO?