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Bringing you the latest news from the Linux World.
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Leading items and editorialsRichard M. Stallman speaks out. Richard M. Stallman (RMS) is a man of strong views, and strong principles. Quotes from RMS, taken out of content, are often misconstrued. A glance at last week's letters to the editor page show that different people interpret what RMS says in different ways. To clear up any confusion, we asked Mr. Stallman to answer some questions for us. He kindly took the time to respond, and now we are happy to present this interview with RMS. The interview covers a number of issues, from the GNU Hurd to copyrights. The following contains selected excerpts, from the interview. Free operating systems based on other kernels are now widely used; what will Hurd-based systems offer that will make them attractive relative to the others? RMS: The Hurd offers the power of a microkernel-and-servers architecture. For instance, you can run two copies of the Hurd at the same time, debug the new one using the old one, even gradually switch from one version to another. You can even use GDB to debug the file system while the system is running--thread-specific breakpoints allow you to debug the file system's activity for certain files, while the same file server runs normally when GDB opens the source files of the file system. These servers do not in general require special privileges. As an ordinary user you can write a new file system and attach it to a file name in your directory. Then anyone who accesses that file name talks to your file system. The file system can emulate the behavior of a single file, or the behavior of a directory. Is it your belief that "high-paying organizations" (i.e. proprietary software vendors) should be banned? RMS: I would not ban high salaries, but I think they should have a high tax bracket. As for making software proprietary, I really don't care whether it is legal as long as in practice it is rare enough to have no significant impact on society. How will the FSF respond if the SSSCA becomes law in the U.S.? RMS: We are responding already--by helping to organize grass roots groups in several cities to oppose the proposed SSSCA and the existing DMCA. (I think they chose the unpronounceable new name CBDTPA on purpose to discourage people from talking about the bill, so we need not let them saddle us with it. Why let them make the rules?) Please visit digitalspeech.org if you want to help. There is, for example, some disagreement (among the copyright holders) over whether run-time loading of modules into the kernel, Linux, requires that the modules have a GPL-compatible license. As the creator of the GPL, do you feel that Linux kernel modules fall within the boundary? RMS: They clearly are covered by the GPL; modules for Linux are extensions of Linux, so under the GPL these modules must be free. However, anything the copyright holders of Linux give permission for in use of Linux is certainly permitted, regardless of what the GPL by itself would say. The license used on a program is legally a statement of what the copyright holders permit. Any statements they make that they permit this or that, once others rely on them, have the same legal force. This is just a sample of what's included in this interview. Please read the full text in this uncut feature article. Anti-Unix campaign has opposite results. Late last week, CNET News.com introduced the news that Microsoft and Unisys were to team up in a large and well-funded marketing campaign against Unix. The 18-month, $25 million campaign, dubbed "We have the Way Out", would specifically attack the Unix offerings of Sun, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard. On Monday, however, CNET learned and published the ironic news that the website for this campaign is actually running on Unix, specifically, FreeBSD and Apache. While this fact alone would certainly provide more than enough fodder to make the Unix crowd rejoice, amazingly the fun doesn't stop there. Once the server's operating system discovery was made and publicly revealed, Microsoft and Unisys wasted no time in moving the server to a Windows-based system. Since the switch was completed on Tuesday, however, the server has not been able to serve pages. At the time of this writing, the server is continuing to display a blank screen with the lonely message "No web site is configured at this address.", which appears to nicely summarize the true message that is being sent via this campaign. Counterpoint: Tom Wu has sent us a letter that states his views on the issues raised in last week's LWN front page editorial about iSCSI and patented technologies. See this week's Letters section. Inside this LWN.net weekly edition:
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April 4, 2002
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Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Letters See also: last week's Security page. |
SecurityNews and EditorialsStores find security in Linux (ZDNet). ZDNet has a very short article, trying to give an overview of the superiority of Linux's security over DOS (No, that's not a typo). "The inherent security of the Linux environment was a key motivation for Burlington Coat Factory in choosing the operating system for a large retail point-of-sale environment." There is a companion article that gives a little more detail. Introduction to msec (MandrakeSecure). Here's an article that provides insight into what exactly msec is, what it does, and how it can be customized to suit your tastes and environment. "The Mandrake-Security package, more commonly known as msec, has been one of the base packages in Mandrake Linux since it was first introduced in version 7.0. Since that time, msec has undergone a lot of changes, most notably the transformation from being a series of shell scripts in 8.1 to the python-based system it is currently in 8.2." Caldera International - Updated Caldera Public Keys. Caldera generated new security keys. Now that the new key is out, Caldera seems to be getting caught up with security alerts. Security ReportsDebian update for analog. Debian has issued a security for the analog web log analyzer that addresses a cross-site scripting vulnerability. Updates are highly recommended. Caldera update to XFree86. This update to XFree86, fixes a problem in which any user with local X access can exploit the MIT-SHM extension and gain read/write access to any shared memory segment on the system. Packages prior to XFree86-4.1-12 are vulnerable. Security advisory for the Name Service Cache Daemon (nscd). Caldera issued an advisory that nscd has a default behavior that does not allow applications to validate DNS "PTR" records against "A" records. "Caldera recommends that this problem be worked around by disabling the hosts cache in the nscd configuration file." Caldera OpenLinux 3.1.1, startkde script vulnerability. startkde sets the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to "/opt/kde2/lib:" which includes the current working directory in the library search path. This exposes users to shared library attacks.
Caldera fix for packages previous to cups-1.1.10-5. This
CUPS update fixes a
buffer overflow vulnerability when reading names of attributes in versions
prior to 1.1.10-5. It does not appear to fix the
more recent buffer overflow vulnerability found in versions
prior to 1.1.14 described below under "Updates".
web scripts.
Proprietary products. The following proprietary products were reported to contain vulnerabilities:
UpdatesApache mod_ssl buffer overflow vulnerability. According to this announcement "modssl versions prior to 2.8.7-1.3.23 (Feb 23, 2002) make use of the underlying OpenSSL routines in a manner which could overflow a buffer within the implementation. This situation appears difficult to exploit in a production environment[...]." (First LWN report: March 7). This week's updates: Previous updates:
Buffer overflow in CUPS. Versions of the Common Unix Print System prior to 1.1.14 have a buffer overflow vulnerability. (First LWN report: February 14). This week's updates: Previous updates:
Problem loading untrusted images in imlib. Versions of imlib prior to 1.9.13 used the NetPBM package in ways which "make it possible for attackers to create image files such that when loaded via software which uses Imlib, could crash the program or potentially allow arbitrary code to be executed." (First LWN report: March 28). This week's updates:
Previous updates:
An off-by-one error in the channel code of OpenSSH versions 2.0 to 3.0.2 has been found. Users are advised to upgrade to OpenSSH 3.1, or to apply the relevant security update. "This bug can be exploited locally by an authenticated user logging into a vulnerable OpenSSH server or by a malicious SSH server attacking a vulnerable OpenSSH client." (First LWN report: March 14). Also see the the advisory from Pine for this vulnerability. This week's updates: Previous updates:
This week's updates: Previous updates: ResourcesThe Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) dictionary achieved a major milestone with over 2,000 official entries. MITRE's CVE Lexicon of Information Security Vulnerabilities aims to standardize the names for all publicly known vulnerabilities and security exposures. Linux security week. The Linux Security Week and Linux Advisory Watch publications from LinuxSecurity.com are available. Pierre-Alain Fayolle and Vincent Glaume have written a study on buffer overflows and the existing protections a Linux system may use against them; A Buffer Overflow Study Attacks & Defenses. The authors are Computer Science students at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Electronique, d'Informatique et de Radiocommunications de Bordeaux. A similar paper was published in 2000 by researchers at the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science & Technology. EventsUpcoming Security Events.
For additional security-related events, included training courses (which we don't list above) and events further in the future, check out Security Focus' calendar, one of the primary resources we use for building the above list. To submit an event directly to us, please send a plain-text message to lwn@lwn.net. Section Editor: Dennis Tenney |
April 4, 2002
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Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Letters See also: last week's Kernel page. |
Kernel developmentKernel Page Lite This week's kernel page is minimal since Jon is busy vacationing in the Utah desert. Tune in again next week for the full kernel page. The current development kernel release is 2.5.7. The current stable kernel release is 2.4.18.
Stable kernel prepatch 2.4.19-pre5 released. Marcelo has released 2.4.19-pre5, with -aa writeout scheduling changes, which should improve IO performance (and interactivity under heavy write loads). Stable kernel prepatch 2.2.21-rc3 released. Stable kernel prepatch 2.2.21-rc3 has been released. The changes include driver updates for Plan B and 3ware raid, numerous fixes, and the final ppp zlib bug fixes. Kernel Traffic #160. Issue #160 of Kernel Traffic covers RFC 2385, the maximum thread count, the maximum partition size, SSCA, ftape in 2.4, a new NTFS driver, ATM Maintainership, filesystem benchmarks, erratic system times in 2.4 kernels, and more. Section Editor: Forrest Cook |
April 4, 2002 For other kernel news, see: Other resources: |
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Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Letters See also: last week's Distributions page.
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DistributionsPlease note that security updates from the various distributions are covered in the security section. News and EditorialsNew Linux Thin Clients: NetStation and PXES. This week we have two new thin client distributions that have been added to our list. You'll find them both listed under "Diskless terminals". NetStation Linux has been around for a few months. It runs on diskless thin client terminals using standard x86 hardware. It can boot from network using Etherboot, and connect to an application server using VNC, RDP, X11 or SSH. Development version 0.5 was released April 1, 2002, with major feature enhancements. PXES Linux Thin Client will boot a thin client, or will convert any compliant hardware into a versatile thin client. The client will be capable of accessing any XDM server presenting the graphical login screen or any Microsoft Terminal Server through RDP protocol. The actual configuration of clients is made with an easy to use graphical configuration tool, allowing the specification of clients parameters or the server to access. Version 0.4 was released March 27, 2002, with major feature enhancements. New DistributionsHaydar Linux. Haydar Linux is a new distribution, still in progress. The initial release is expected later this month. This distribution will be available in Arabic, Dutch and English, with more languages to follow. Distribution NewsDebian Weekly News. The Debian Weekly News for March 27 is out. Covered topics include the admission of crypto software into the main archive, the 2.2r6 release, the Project Leader election, and more. Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 updated (r6). A new Debian version is available. "This is the sixth revision of Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 (codename `potato') which mainly adds security updates to the stable release, along with a few corrections of serious bugs. Those who frequently update from security.debian.org won't have to update many packages. However, most updates from security.debian.org are included in this point release." The second call for votes for Debian Project Leader Election 2002 is out. Mandrake Linux. The Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter #36 contains an 8.2 release follow-up; new products at MandrakeStore; Latest MandrakeClub Activities and more. Some errata for 8.2 has been released. Topics covered include:
Slackware. There have been some updates to slackware-current. See the change log for details. Sorcerer GNU/Linux News. Here's the latest SGL news. Minor Distribution updatesAstaro Security Linux. Astaro Security Linux, Sun Cobalt edition, has released v2.023 with minor security fixes. Crash Recovery Kit. Crash Recovery Kit has released v2.4.18 with major feature enhancements. ELKS. The ELKS (Embedable Linux Kernel Subset) project has announced that Linux 8086 is ready for wider testing. floppyfw. floppyfw has released v1.9.20 with minor bug fixes. Gentoo Linux. Gentoo Linux has released v1.0 with major feature enhancements. herbix. herbix has released v1.0-25 with major feature enhancements. Keeper Linux. Keeper Linux has added a new Internet dialup gateway to its KLX 1.1a release. Sentry Firewall CD-ROM. Sentry Firewall CD-ROM has released v1.2.0 with minor feature enhancements. VectorLinux. VectorLinux has released v2.5, updating the kernel to 2.4.17 (available in four different configurations), a more user-friendly installation (including a partitioning option), and lots more updates and bug fixes. Distribution ReviewsOEone HomeBase 1.0 Linux Review. Joe Klemmer has given us a review of the OEone HomeBase Linux distribution. "The company touts this distro as being easy and fast and all things wonderful. So, of course, I bought a boxed set. This is a quick review of my experiences with the product." A tale of two Linux bootable business cards (NewsForge). NewsForge reviews two Linux bootable business cards, tomsrtbt, and the Linuxcare bootable business card. "Much has changed in the Linux world since the initial appearance of the Linuxcare BBC. Not the least of these changes is the Linuxcare BBC itself. Over time, the BBC grew a usable X Window System that was absent in the first edition, but it also grew a second distribution entirely." Mandrake 8.2: great software distributed poorly (NewsForge. Robin Miller reviews Mandrake 8.2. "I have finally upgraded from Mandrake 8.0 to 8.2, and I am pleased to say that once it is installed, Mandrake 8.2 can be the base of a home or office desktop that is so fast, flexible, and easy to use that people ought to be lining up to buy it. And, strangely, Mandrake is giving it away instead of selling it." Red Hat Rolls Out Advanced Server (eWeek). eWeek says the Red Hat Advanced Server is proof that Linux is here to stay. "Not that Red Hat--nor many other Linux distributions, for that matter--wasn't already being used in corporate computing. But Advanced Server takes Red Hat Linux deeper into the enterprise than ever before, company officials and users said." Short Preview of SuSE Linux 8.0 (Linux Knowledge Portal). The LKP gets a look at SuSE 8.0 beta. "Under the hood, another step toward LSB-conformity has been made, the index structure und /etc has changed, the rc.config loses its meaning, instead, we now have /etc/sysconfig where everything relevent can be found." Working with Micro-Distributions --or-- Linux in Your Pocket (Linux Gazette). Larry Kollar examines some small Linux distributions. "BasicLinux is a compact but competent networking system. Besides the essentials (via BusyBox), it provides network connectivity through both Ethernet and dialup, and can pull firewall duty using ipfwadm. Utilities like fetchmail and links (not lynx, that threw me) provide mail and web connectivity. To keep seasoned Linux users comfortable as possible, it provides the familiar bash shell. The default inittab provides three console logins, more than enough for my purposes (I sometimes use two consoles at a time, one for me and one for root)." Section Editor: Rebecca Sobol |
April 4, 2002
Please note that not every distribution will show up every week. Only distributions with recent news to report will be listed.
Distribution Lists:
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Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Letters See also: last week's Development page. |
Development projectsNews and EditorialsLibAfterImage Sasha Vasko has informed us of his libAfterImage image manipulation library and tool set.LibAfterImage was originally written to give imaging capabilities to the AfterStep Window Manager, but now stands on its own as a versatile imaging toolkit. It supports the import and export of a wide range of common image formats, and can do text rendering with TrueType and X Window System fonts. Emphasis has been placed on memory efficiency and image quality. The software is described as "Intense code with no bloat". Here is the full list of libAfterImage's features. As with most graphics software, much can be learned by looking at the screenshots. The author describes LibAfterImage's XML scripting capabilities: "One feature that makes it worth mentioning is that it includes functionality for processing of XML scripts describing image manipulation process. So for example you can write a script that describes howto generate your entire website's graphics from few simple components, complete with transparency effects, antialiased text, scaling, and many other effects. Then you just run this script through included ascompose tool and it generates all the graphics in few seconds." For installation and usage instructions, see the libAfterImage documentation pages. The software can be downloaded here. LibAfterImage has been released under the LGPL license. DatabasesPostgreSQL version 7.2.1 released. PostgreSQL Version 7.2.1 has been released. This version fixes a critical bug: "sequence counters will go backwards after a crash". A number of additional fixes and features are also included. EducationSeul/EDU report #67. Issue #67 of the Seul/EDU report is out. Topics include a Visual Classroom Scheduler that works with Linux, using PPC Macs as LTSP clients, and a new Free Curricula License (FCL). The usual list of new and updated educational software packages is also included. ElectronicsGnuCap 0.30 released. Version 0.30 of GnuCap, the Gnu Circuit Analysis Package has been released. New features include an enhanced model compiler and compatibility with GCC 3.01. Embedded SystemsEmbedded Linux Newsletter. The LinuxDevices.com Embedded Linux Newsletter for March 28 is available, with the latest from the embedded Linux community. Network ManagementPowerDNS first public release. The first public release of PowerDNS, a name server package, has been announced. "Besides plain Bind configuration files, PDNS reads information from MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and many other databases. Backends can easily be written in any language, a sample perl backend is provided." Printing SoftwareLPRng 3.8.10 released. Version 3.8.10 of the LPRng printing system has been released. The CHANGES include a number of minor bug fixes. Web-site DevelopmentZope Members' News. The latest items on the Zope Members' News site include a new Structured Document release, and the Formulon 0.1.1beta release. asp2php Version 0.76.4 released. Version 0.76.4 of asp2php has been released. The changes are documented here. Log File Tool Vulnerabilities (O'Reilly). Noel Davis examines security vulnerabilities in several common web server log file analysis tools. "In this column, we look at problems in analog, LogWatch, Java Web Start, libsafe, phpBB2, Posadis, Web+, libnewt, OpenLinux's Name Service Cache Daemon, SiteNews, phprojekt, and IRIX's FTP Server." DocumentationLDP Weekly News for April 2nd. LDP Weekly News is ready for your consumption. There are 3 new documents, 6 updated documents, and a long list of unmaintained documents. MiscellaneousSharing computers on a Linux (or heterogeneous) network, Part 2 (IBM developerWorks). David Mertz discusses remote applications on IBM's developerWorks. "David takes a look at some VNC configuration issues, glances at IBM's Desktop On-Call, introduces remote X, and talks a bit about security." |
April 4, 2002
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Desktop DevelopmentAudio ApplicationsAlsaPlayer updates. The AlsaPlayer PCM file player now has a scope output capability, FFTscope is the first downloadable scope. WaveSurfer 1.3.1 released. Version 1.3.1 of the WaveSurfer audio file editor has been released. This version features bug fixes and a built-in documentation browser. Desktop EnvironmentsGNOME 2.0 Desktop Beta 3: 'La lluvia en Sevilla es una maravilla'. The Beta 3 version of the GNOME 2.0 Desktop has been announced. See the release notes and list of changes for all of the details. GARNOME Preview Five: 'The Rottnest Conspiracy Begins'. Version 0.8.5 of GARNOME, the bleeding edge GNOME distribution, has been announced, it is ready for testing. People of KDE: Kristof Borrey. This week's People of KDE features Kristof Borrey, author of the iKons icon theme. GraphicsUnstable Gimp 1.3.5 available. For those of you who like to live on the edge, the Gimp User Group mentions that a new unstable release of the Gimp is available. GUI PackagesFl_Preferences 1.0 for FLTK. FL_Preferences 1.0 was recently released, it allows FLTK applications to store user settings between invocations. InteroperabilityKernel Cousin Wine #119. Kernel Cousin Wine issue #119 is available. Topics include Crossover Office, which allows Windows applications to run under Linux, Font issues, implementing a DIB engine, Unicode and I18N support, and better regression testing. MultimediaGnome Media 1.287.113 is released (Gnotices). A new version of Gnome Media has been announced. Changed packages include Gnome-CD, CDDBSlave2, Gnome-Volume-Control, Gnome-Sound-Recorder, and VUMeter. Office ApplicationsAbiWord 0.99.3 Released. (Gnotices). AbiWord version 0.99.3 has been released. "The AbiWord team continues to make great progress towards 1.0. In the 4 weeks since 0.99.2 was released we've closed tons of bugs, completed RTF import/export, added great new image handling facilities and have made AbiWord significantly faster." AbiWord Weekly News #85. The April 1, 2002 issue of the AbiWord Weekly News is out with the latest development news concerning the the AbiWord word processor. OpenOffice 641d Build available. OpenOffice release 641d has been announced. It is the final release prior to version 1.0, testers are being solicited. A vote is being run to get feedback on what feature set is most desired by the community. Kernel Cousin GNUe #22. Issue #22 of Kernel Cousin GNUe looks at the GNUe Reports proposal, project management, the reports output, a testing strategy, and more. MiscellaneousMozbot 3.0 released. A new version of Mozbot, the Mozilla project's IRC bot, has been released. Features include XML output, a conversion module, and more. |
Desktop Environments GNOME GNUstep KDE XFce XFree86 Window Managers Afterstep Enlightenment FVMW2 IceWM Sawfish WindowMaker Widget Sets GTK+ Qt |
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Programming LanguagesCamlCaml Weekly News. The Caml Weekly News for March 19 through 26, 2002 looks at an online OCaml book, iox-1.00, Objective Caml examples, a Hump for Lablgtk, and more. Developing Applications With Objective Caml. A preliminary translation of the book "Developing Applications With Objective Caml" is available online. JavaMaking P2P interoperable: Creating Jxta systems (IBM developerWorks). Sing Li wraps up his tutorial on Jxta, and writes about extending beyond the capabilities of TCP/IP. "With the rise in popularity of mobile computing and the pervasive application of embedded networkable microprocessors, the TCP/IP protocol is finally showing its age. Jxta has been designed from its inception to extend the reach of the Internet beyond the limitations of today's TCP/IP-based network." Tips for Scripting Java with Jython (O'Reilly). Noel Rappin talks about the use of Jython for web scripting. "It really works. Anything you can do with the Java SDK can be done in Jython, including standalone applications, applets, servlets, and beans. Arbitrary Java code can be called from Jython, Java objects can be used as-is, or can be subclassed in Jython." LispNew Lisp Packages. A number of new Lisp packages are available this week. An implementation of a Java-like hierarchical packages was released for Common Lisp. CLSQL version 0.6.0 is a Common Lisp interface to MySQL, PostgreSQL, and AODBC. SBCL version 0.7.2 is a new release of Steel Bank Common Lisp. PerlThe Perl Review. The April 1, 2002 issue of the PDF format Perl Review is out, follow the link to Past Issues. Exegesis 4 (O'Reilly). Damian Conway has published Exegis 4, in response to Larry Wall's Apocalypse 4. "In Apocalypse 4, Larry explains the fundamental changes to flow and block control in Perl 6. The changes bring fully integrated exceptions; a powerful new switch statement; a coherent mechanism for polymorphic matching; a greatly enhanced for loop; and unification of blocks, subroutines and closures." PHPPHP Weekly Summary. Issue #81 of the PHP Weekly Summary looks at reducing build times with ccache, features talk on a bi-directional process pipe, and includes fixes for openssl_get_privatekey(), a short CLI timeout, and redeclaring in classes. PHP Session Management With Cookies (O'Reilly). O'Reilly has published an excerpt from a book by David Lane and Hugh E. Williams on the topic of PHP Session Management. PythonDr. Dobb's Python-URL!. The Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! for April 2nd is available for your reading pleasure. Topics include an April Fool's roundup, boolean types, Queue, TKinter docs, plotting pointers, measuring memory allocation, and more. The Daily Python-URL. New items on the Daily Python-URL include the pyRXP validating XML parser, the Shicks! POP3/SMTP server, a Python ICAP server and IRML parser, the IM Python module, and several book reviews. RubyThe Ruby Garden. This week, the Ruby Garden mentions a number of new Ruby RPM packages that are available for Red Hat Linux 7.2. The Ruby Weekly News includes announcements for Imlib2-Ruby 0.1.0, Xml Serialization 1.0.pre2, the Ruby IRC bot rbot, and some April Fool's day humor. XMLApache SOAP type mapping, Part 1 (IBM developerWorks). Gavin Bong introduces the Apache SOAP toolkit on IBM's developerWorks. "In this article, I will describe the type system in SOAP, as applicable to the Apache SOAP toolkit. Although the current incarnation of the SOAP toolkit supports both messaging and RPC interaction patterns, this article will concentrate on the latter." Integrated Development EnvironmentsGnustep Weekly Editorial. The Gnustep Weekly Editorial for March 29, 2002 looks at GNUMail.app 1.0.0, code changes to gnustep-gui, and more. MiscellaneousJext updates. There are a few new updates for the Jext programmer's editor. Jext 3.1pre3 has been released, the feature list is here, and SQL Console 1.2 is out. Section Editor: Forrest Cook |
Language Links Caml Caml Hump Tiny COBOL Erlang g95 Fortran Gnu Compiler Collection (GCC) Gnu Compiler for the Java Language (GCJ) Guile Haskell IBM Java Zone Jython Free the X3J Thirteen (Lisp) Use Perl O'Reilly's perl.com Dr. Dobbs' Perl PHP PHP Weekly Summary Daily Python-URL Python.org Python.faqts Python Eggs Ruby Ruby Garden MIT Scheme Schemers Squeak Smalltalk Why Smalltalk Tcl Developer Xchange Tcl-tk.net O'Reilly's XML.com Regular Expressions |
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Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Letters See also: last week's Linux in the news page. |
Linux in the newsRecommended ReadingWhy software should be free (BBC). Here's a BBC interview with RMS. "Richard Stallman is a pioneer of the free software movement. His vision is of software that has no secrets, that people can share freely. He told BBC News Online's Alfred Hermida why free software could replace proprietary programs." Arbitron Throws the Book at CARP (Linux Journal). Now Internet radio receives some support against CARP (Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel). "So naturally Arbitron has an interest in the future of the internet radio business. That's why the company has come down hard on the CARP report , which proposes fees and other requirements for internet radio that effectively prohibit the business from ever establishing itself, an effort made relatively cheap and easy by Linux and other open-source software." Dutch court stuns music industry (Reuters). Reuters reports on a ruling by a Dutch court which allows Kazaa to continue the distribution of its file sharing software. "The Amsterdam Court of Justice ruled that Kazaa was not liable for any individuals' abuse of its software, which is being used by millions of people around the world every day to swap copyright-protected games, music, pictures and films." This represents a bitter-sweet victory though, Kazaa had to sell most of its assets to an Australian company. (Thanks to Michael Walma.) Guard Copyrights, Don't Jail Innovation (BusinessWeek). BusinessWeek provides some cluefull comments following Senator Hollings introduction of the CBDTPA. "America was built on the freedom of information and the spirited atmosphere of innovation. The technologies that have transformed society and the world have revolved around the flow of information, from the printing press and radio broadcasts to videocassette players and e-mail. Not coincidentally, most of these breakthrough technologies presented new threats to copyright when they first came out. But these fears were vanquished when enterprising industries learned to use the new technologies to deliver a better product." (Thanks to Kyle Roberson) Howling Mad Over Hollings' Bill (Wired). Here's a view of CBDTPA from Wired. "With the full support of Hollywood and the major music labels, Hollings introduced the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, which would require all new hardware and software products be embedded with copy protections that limit how people are able to watch and listen to digital files." Copyright holders turn to technology (CNN). CNN takes a closer look at Sen. Hollings' proposed CBDTPA bill. " The bill is seen primarily as a vehicle for voluntary standards. But based on initial reactions, it seems difficult to imagine how that will be achieved. Both sides on the issue have financial reasons to stake out strong positions. Recorded music sales were reportedly down 10 percent last year, in part because of pirating. But anticopying technology on PCs, handheld devices and other technologies could hurt those markets." Stallman: Patents victimize developers (ZDNet). ZDNet reports on a recent speech by Richard Stallman concerning software patents. "Stallman kicked off his talk by explaining that he does not have a problem with patenting individual programs -- 'that would be harmless' -- but with patenting ideas. 'That is what makes them (patents) a dangerous obstacle to software development.' Equally, the term 'intellectual property' should not be used, according to Stallman, because it is biased. 'It makes the assumption that you should treat what you're talking about as property. That is not conducive to clear, open-minded thinking.'" Linux makes life better: Open Source at BioIT World (NewsForge). NewsForge reports on the Linux presence at the Bio-IT conference. "One indicator (or symptom) of an emerging niche's market validity is being the focus of a topically dedicated trade-show event, as opposed to just being an area in some bigger show. IDG, owner of the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, just put together its first BioIT World Conference and Expo, held last week in Boston. It's inarguable that bio-informatics constitutes a serious hardware market." Web servers: MS sneaks up on Linux (ZDNet). The latest Netcraft results are the subject of this ZDNet UK article. "Network Solutions shifted several hundred thousand sites from an iPlanet system at Web hosting firm Digex to Microsoft-based systems at Interland during March. Thousands of the Network Solutions sites at Interland were defaced shortly afterwards." Could Microsoft have killed Linux? (ZDNet). ZDNet discusses comments made by Eric Raymond in an interview concerning the timing of Microsoft's attacks on open-source software. "'If they had done that in mid-1998...they might have buried (open source),' he told ZDNet UK in a recent interview. 'I was seriously worried that was a possibility, that they would turn on the hype machine before we had enough success stories and enough corporate backing to be able to counter that.'" Vision of Flash-based Web raises doubts (News.com). News.com looks at issues surrounding the Macromedia Flash player that is used for web animations. "'If the Web becomes dependent on closed standards, be they Flash or RealAudio or Windows Media Player, then it becomes difficult for new browsers to be created, it becomes difficult to place the Web in embedded appliances, it becomes difficult to have any experience outside what those companies define,' said Bruce Perens, a co-founder of the Open Source Initiative. " JavaOne: Sun lends a hand to open-source Java (CNN). CNN covers Sun's new position that allows Java Specification Requests to be submitted under open-source licenses. "Sun Microsystems Inc. answered a long-standing call from open-source software developers Tuesday, saying Java fans will be able to submit some changes for the platform under open-source licenses and receive financial support from Sun for their projects. " CompaniesApple Ousts Coder for Being Young (Wired). Apple enforced a rule requiring all open source Darwin coders to be over 18 years of age, leaving 15-year-old Finlay Dobbie unable to contribute to his favorite project. "One open-source expert said that Apple's decision is surprising given the company's efforts to market to kids, and the number of kids who are very involved in computing." Could the Mac Be the Premiere Linux Platform? (NewsFactor Network). The PowerPC is the better processor for Linux, according to this Newsfactor article. "Terra Soft co-founder and CEO Kai Staats told NewsFactor that in real-world applications, Motorola's processors are better equipped for Linux than their Intel counterparts." Russian firm battles copyright law (News.com). News.com covers today's hearing on the ElcomSoft/Adobe case. it "At one point during the hearing, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte questioned whether courts dealing with the DMCA should look at intent, according to an attorney for ElcomSoft. 'We're seeing the effects of this unconstitutional law all over the place,' said Cindy Cohen, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which is representing the defendant. 'This is an opportunity for the courts to take a good hard look at it.'" ElcomSoft squares up to Feds in Sklyarov test case (Register). The Register covers the proceedings by the US federal government against ElcomSoft. "The case against ElcomSoft and Sklyarov has become a cause celebre among white hat hackers, who objected to jailing a programmer simply for coding and distributing software. There were also concerns that, at the behest of the entertainment industry, the DMCA was being applied in a way which would stymie legitimate security research." Judge considers dismissal of copyright case (CNN). CNN reports that the judge in the ElcomSoft trial is considering a dismissal of the charges. "Federal prosecutors acknowledged the law addresses new and unfamiliar territory surrounding the distribution and protection of digital content." IBM readies Linux for telcos (CNN). CNN looks at IBM's upcoming telecom server systems. "Sun has benefitted from the reputation of Solaris as one of the most stable operating systems, but the strong developer community around Linux and its steady maturation has some customers thinking the two OSes can go head-to-head..." IBM pushes Linux kit into telcos (Register). The Register reports on IBM's new Linux entry in the telco sector. "IBM has pulled out the stops again to dive into one of its favourite verticals - telcos. Yesterday the company began touting the latest iteration of its e-Series, the x383, bundled with Linux to give a low cost, powerful box - ideal for a capacity booster in the hosting hotels." IBM and SuSE: Worldwide Alliance Provides Linux Support for Corporate Users (Linux Journal). Linux Journal looks into the recent alliance between SuSE and IBM. "In the agreement, IBM Global Services (IGS) and SuSE will collaborate on support and professional services. IBM will package and support turnkey implementations of the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES), backed by SuSE's expert development, maintenance and support teams. In addition to this complete services offering, the two organizations will also collaborate on customer engagements and supplement each other's skills to provide a formidable Linux services delivery capability for corporate customers." IBM, SuSE team up to provide Linux support for big businesses (NewsForge). Here's a press release/story combination giving some details of IBM and SuSE's support partnership. "Really, the IBM/SuSE partnership is an expansion of a working agreement IBM and SuSE already have. But Peter Nielsen, Linux offering executive for IBM Global Services , says the partnership will extend the reach of both companies as they're pitching Linux to big businesses. SuSE benefits from IBM's global reach, while IBM benefits from SuSE's market penetration in Europe and from offering a more complete Linux package to customers." Sun wants you in its StarOffice. ZDNet looks at Sun's announcement for the upcoming StarOffice version 6. "Major corporations in the United States 'that you have heard of' have already made pilot installations of StarOffice, Zander said. 'They aren't in full deployment, but they took a section or department and started them on StarOffice.'" Sun's Tepid Romance With Open Source to Benefit Mobile Apps (TechWeb). TechWeb takes a closer look at Sun's recent announcement that some Web services JSRs (Java Specification Requests) will be released to the open-source community. "Sun indeed hopes to take advantage of the massive amounts of creativity available through open-source development. But rather than jump completely in bed with the open-source community, it's keeping one foot firmly planted on the ground. Sun refuses to accept any API issued under what it considers to be "viral" licensing -- the GPL (General Public License) in particular -- and will continue to maintain complete control over the Java language specification." BusinessWall Street Embraces Linux (Forbes). Forbes reports on the deployment of Linux at Merrill Lynch. "Merrill's plans, and others like it, are very significant because they are the first companywide--rather than departmental--Linux implementations. While not without risk, this lends an enormous amount of credence to the argument that Linux can be used in place of more established technologies like Unix." Can Linux do Database? (IT-Director). The IT-Director wants to know who's using Linux in large database applications. "Where we have not yet seen Linux is on large database servers for big transaction systems or big data warehouses. So I guess the question is whether there is a problem with Linux here or whether the IT departments that implement such applications simply do not contemplate using Linux in such performance critical and scalable roles." The Linux server bandwagon (ZDNet). ZDNet is running an opinion piece by Larry Seltzer about big companies and Linux servers. "Check out the IBM Web site and you'll see barely a mention of desktop systems. They simply have no interest in them, and in fact there are less for sale now than there were a few months ago. Stick a fork in the Linux desktop market. IBM is very interested in using Linux to sell servers, though. This is the guts of what they're in business for--that and follow-on services. The fact that the server is free (as in speech) is a small point. " ReviewsLinux desktop gets boost (vnunet). Vnunet reviews CodeWeavers' CrossOver Office for Linux. "CrossOver Office is being marketed to enterprise customers migrating to the Linux operating system, IT consultants specialising in desktop management, resellers, and internet appliance and thin client users." Mozilla Readies Browser Suite (eWeek). eWeek informs their readers of the upcoming Mozilla 1.0 release. "Version 1.0 was important as Mozilla consumers, including companies developing products, needed a stable, long-lived branch with API compatibility commitments, library version identification, enough modularity so that important core modules could stand alone, stability, good performance and memory footprint, better-than-any-competition standards compliance and usability, correctness" Mozilla 1.0 nears release (News.com). News.com looks at the upcoming Mozilla 1.0 release. "The open-source project has gained some wind in recent weeks as reports surfaced that America Online, the corporate parent of Netscape, may start shipping the Netscape browser to its AOL members instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. AOL has been testing parts of the Mozilla code inside its software and inside its CompuServe service, prompting speculations that it is considering a release of the software to its subscribers." Pretty geeky privacy (Salon). Salon looks at gnupg. "The synergies of the relationship are obvious: open-source software and cryptography are two sublimely geeky obsessions that go well together. But the story of how GnuPG is coming to the cryptogeek rescue also illuminates some of the limitations of open-source, or free software." Sharp Zaurus PDA has all kind of potential, but some small problems (NewsForge). Here's another review of the Zaurus. "First off, I have to say this is the coolest little gadget since sliced bread. I have lived with a Palm IIIx for almost three years as my steadfast companion, but this device just blows my mind with its potential. ... Zaurus is far from perfect. There are "gotchas" a-plenty that I will elaborate on..." Sharp's Zaurus Arrives (Forbes.com). Another Zaurus story, this one from Forbes.com. "Enthusiasts of two particularly geeky corners of the computing landscape, the Linux operating system and the handheld computer, can now buy a toy that combines the best of both worlds." ResourcesInstalling Linux on a VTech Helio PDA. LinuxDevices is running a tutorial on installing Linux on a VTech Helio PDA. ELJOnline: RTLinux Application Development Tutorial. ELJonline, a joint venture of LinuxDevices.com and the Embedded Linux Journal, present this tutorial on coding real time applications using RTLinux. "Here's how to get started developing the code for your next high-altitude atmospheric research project, or anything else where a hard real-time task needs to communicate with other software." Upgrading the Linux Kernel by the 5 Ws Version 1.0 (LinuxOrbit). Here is a HOWTO article about upgrading the Linux kernel. "In this HOWTO, we'll take an in depth look at upgrading the Linux kernel. When you're finished, we hope you'll feel comfortable taking on the sometimes daunting task of upgrading your Linux kernel and understand a little bit more about the inner workings of Linux." Getting IPv6 Using Freenet6 on Debian (Linux Journal). Here's how to put your Debian box on an IPv6 network. "Take advantage of the Freenet6 tunnel service to quickly move from IPv4 to IPv6." InterviewsAn interview with FSMLabs president, Victor Yodaiken (LinuxDevices). LinuxDevices' Rick Lehrbaum chats with Victor Yodaiken, the creator of RTLinux and President of FSMLabs. "Yodaiken: Our customers have the most cool applications! RTLinux is being used for jet engine test at Pratt&Whitney, flight simulators at FlightSaftey, talking animals at the Jim Henson Creature Shop, agricultural robots at a company in New Zealand, machine tools in China, steel mills in Korea, and there are many more." Eric Raymond: Why open source will rule (ZDNet). Here's a two part interview with Eric Raymond. From part 1: " For evidence that open-source movement now has the mainstream credibility it lacked in the late 1990s, Raymond points to Microsoft's failed attempts last year to discredit Linux and the GNU Public Licence (GPL) on which it is based. Now Linux and the open-source development model are well-positioned to succeed in the increasingly complex world of software development." In part 2 Eric talks about why Linux will rule the desktop. " I think Linux will take over the desktop, and I think the reason it will doesn't have much to do with whether we clean up and polish our interfaces or not. Linux will take over the desktop because as the price of desktop machines drops, the Microsoft tax represents a larger and larger piece of OEM margin. There's going to come a point at which that's not sustainable, and at which OEMs have to bail out of the Microsoft camp in order to continue making any money at all. At that point, Linux wins even if the UI sucks." MiscellaneousEmulate This!, Part 2 (Linux Journal). In part 2 of Linux Journal's "Linux can work with just about anything" series, the author discusses running DOS applications under Linux. "A logical question at this point is "Where to go from here?" Keeping old applications alive isn't unusual. Sometimes, it just makes sense. That said, it is possible that you have something that you would like to resurrect, but getting it working might require some tweaking. Where do you turn to for answers?" Embedded Linux in China (LinuxDevices.com). Here's an article, written by the founders of China MobileSoft, giving "a general summary of trends, markets, and the significant Chinese providers/developers of embedded Linux." Section Editor: Forrest Cook |
April 4, 2002 |
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Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Letters See also: last week's Announcements page. |
AnnouncementsResourcesLPI-News for March, 2002. The March, 2002 LPI-News covers the latest Linux Professional Institute happenings. Topics include the new LPI board, CeBit coverage, LPI-Europe, test taking tips, and more. Linux Gazette #77. The Linux Gazette #77, for April 2002, is now available. Articles include: 'Working with Micro-Distributions, or Linux in Your Pocket', by Larry "Dirt Road" Kollar; 'Writing Your Own Toy OS (Part I)', by Krishnakumar R.; 'Network Security with /proc/sys/net/ipv4', by David Lechnyr; and more. Community-based Recording Studios. Studio For Recording, Inc has announced the creation of a Repository Collection at the University of North Carolina's Ibiblio.org site. "This is an Open Source Project dedicated to broadening the base of Public Domain works. The organization fulfills its mission by providing a model for creating community-based recording studios that provide FREE recording services for members of the community. In return, participants agree to place their works in the Public Domain." (Thanks to Tom Poe.) Events2nd Linux Accessibility Conference (Gnotices). The Gnotices site mentions that the notes from the 2nd Linux Accessibility Conference concerning various GNOME utilities are now available online. IBM Combines Conferences. IBM announced they will combine several of their most successful conferences into one large bash. WebSphere, Lotus DevCon and Solutions have been combined into developerWorks Live, May 7 - May 10, 2002 in San Francisco. Earlybird conference prices are available until April 15th. Upcoming Parrot Talks (use Perl). Use Perl has announced a talk on the Perl Parrot compiler in Manhattan on April 8, 2002. JavaOne 2002: Notes from the show floor (IBM developerWorks). IBM's developerWorks site has several articles that cover various aspects of the recent JavaOne 2002 conference. O'Reilly coverage of JavaOne 2002. O'Reilly has also posted coverage of the JavaOne 2002 conference. Events: April 4 - May 30, 2002.
Additional events can be found in the LWN Event Calendar. Event submissions should be sent to lwn@lwn.net in a plain text format. Web sitesLinux Gazette FAQs have moved. The FAQ pages from the Linux Gazette have been moved to new locations. Digital Photography and Linux. Antonio Piccolboni has updated his Digital Photography and Linux page, which contains lots of useful information on cameras, software, and printing. KDE Dot News: We're Back In Business. KDE.News reports that it is back on the net, after some unplanned down time. MiscellaneousLinux User Group Survey. Paul Dholakia from Rice University is conducting a survey of Linux user groups and mailing lists in order to study the sociological issues behind such groups. Win a $1000 O'Reilly Bookshelf from ActiveState (use Perl). According to Use Perl, ActiveState is holding a survey of open source programmers, O'Reilly books are being offered as prizes. Section Editor: Forrest Cook. |
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Software AnnouncementsHere are this week's Freshmeat software announcements. Freshmeat now offers the announcements sorted in two different ways: The Alphabetical List and Sorted by license |
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Sections: Main page Security Kernel Distributions Development Commerce Linux in the news Announcements Letters See also: last week's Letters page. |
Letters to the editorLetters to the editor should be sent to letters@lwn.net. Preference will be given to letters which are short, to the point, and well written. If you want your email address "anti-spammed" in some way please be sure to let us know. We do not have a policy against anonymous letters, but we will be reluctant to include them. |
April 4, 2002 |
From: Oliver Neukum <oliver@neukum.org> To: letters@lwn.net Subject: close() and the kernel Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 12:45:38 +0100 Hi, the subject is not as clear cut as you indicate. close() does not directly map to release(). close() maps to flush(), which does return error values just fine. release() is really just internal kernel operation which tells a filesystem/driver that an object is no longer in use. While it is bad in principle to discard error messages, the errors from release() cannot be reliably delivered to the right process. Suppose that you flush buffers on release() and get an error. You'd report that error to the last process happening to close the device, not necessarily the process which wrote the data. The device in question happened to be a device that can only be exclusively opened by one process. In encouraging such practices in the kernel we get device drivers which fail to work in a multithreaded enviroment. This is the reason Alan Cox introduced flush() in late 2.1.x in the first place. Regards Oliver | ||
From: Tom Wu <tom@arcot.com> To: letters@lwn.net Subject: iSCSI and SRP Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2002 18:12:07 -0800 In the March 28th article entitled "iSCSI and patented technologies", LWN made a few points that require clarification. The article discussed the IETF IP Storage working group's efforts to standardize a password authentication mechanism. SRP was chosen because it belongs to a class of cryptographic technologies known as "strong password protocols", which protect even easily-guessed passwords from password-guessing attacks carried out over the network. As the inventor of SRP and the author of RFC 2945, one of the reasons I decided to make the technology royalty-free was the growing importance of OSS/Free Software. Without an unencumbered royalty-free strong password technology, OSS implementations would at a disadvantage compared to commercial implementors, who could afford to license such technology if it were incorporated into any standards. Strong password technology is too important to be left exclusively in commercial hands. LWN's article says that SRP "appears to be covered" by three separate patents, which is not entirely correct. Stanford has a pending patent on the technology, which is licensed on a royalty-free basis as described in the article. The other patents, held by competitors in the space, need to be examined a bit more closely. Lucent has not actually asserted any claim that any of their patents are relevant; although one might hope for an explicit disclaimer, it might be more realistic to assume that no statement will be made one way or another, and act accordingly. Phoenix claims that its patent "may" apply to SRP, but as with any claim, it is up to the individual to examine the patent and the circumstances surrounding it in order to determine exactly how valid and supportable the claim is. For anyone interested in using (or just learning about) strong password technology, regardless of whether their implementation is commercial, OSS, GPL, etc., the SRP distribution is available from: http://srp.stanford.edu/ The distribution is available under a BSD-style Open Source license. -- Tom Wu Principal Software Engineer Arcot Systems | ||
From: jimd@starshine.org (Jim Dennis) To: letters@lwn.net Subject: "The Way Out" Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 12:38:39 -0800 (PST) Hi, Regarding the amusing Unisys/Microsoft joint venture in to marketing stupidity I have this response: (Posted as "comments" to an otherwise vacuous "registration" form on their site). Jim Jones had "the way out." The Heaven's Gate cult offered "the way out." I see that someone in your marketing department drank the Kool-Aid(TM) and managed to blow away tens of millions of dollars to declare that Microsoft and Unisys can offer sysadmins a roughly similar "way out." At least this isn't another "Astroturf(TM)" campaign, or another case of Mindcraft "bench-marketing." Ahh! The acrid smell of FUD on a Monday morn. Welcome to IT in the new millennium. | ||
From: Duncan Simpson <dps@io.stargate.co.uk> To: letters@lwn.net Subject: Programming and security... Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 23:48:54 +0000 Cc: "jacob navia" <jacob.navia@wanadoo.fr> Jacob Navia suggests the right fix would be making calling free with the same memory twice safe. Indeed there are some implementations of malloc(3) that have this property and one of them might be used by MS windows (subject to unknown dependencies on the exact versions of an unknown set of dlls). Calling free with the same memory twice, or memory not obtained via malloc, is a BUG. If your application dumps core as a result, or causes a herd of flying pigs to emerge from your nose, that this within the documented behaviour. There are other goals in software design in addition to robustness in the face of bugs elsewhere, including scalability and performance. Every test for voilation of the assumptions a function makes, for example that a pointer is not NULL, wastes cycles protecting many applications against bugs which do not exist. Some "facts" are very expensive to test. Often when such tests are implemented they are not included in production binaries for performance and code size reasons. The malloc implementation in glibc 2.x, which dies when free is abused, is designed to be fast and scalable. Very few implementations of malloc which tolerate double free could claim to be scalable, and some are relatively slow. Also note that 99% of the code uses shared zlib and a single update fixes all of that 99%. P.S. Security standards have significnatly improved. Most programs how include very few buffer overrun bugs, which were endemic in older programs. M$ software is a dishonourable exception :-( -- Duncan (-: "software industry, the: unique industry where selling substandard goods is legal and you can charge extra for fixing the problems." | ||
From: jimd@starshine.org (Jim Dennis) To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Nominations: Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 13:22:28 -0800 (PST) Cc: letters@lwn.net, editors@linuxtoday.com Hi Linus, I must commend you on the timing of your decision to step down as "Benevolent Dictator(TM)." However I'm extremely disappointed by your nominations for your successor. I think the time for *benevolence* is over. If we are to usher in a new era of Linux kernel development we must consider a broader, darker range of candidates. I'd like to nominate Senator Hollings! He's the obvious choice since he clearly intends to usurp the role of Grand Software Source Code Dictator for *all* software and firmware (open or closed). Indeed, regardless of whether you select him and even if he declines the title I think that we should all immediately add him to our MUAs for automatic copies of all source code submissions, patches and related discussions (for his legislative approval, of course). (Of course we should also appoint a special "technical advisor" to assist the Respected Mr. Hollings, William Gates III should be considered; surely chairman Bill could see "the way out" of any conundrum offered by the development community). -- Sincerly, Jim Dennis, "The Linux Gazette Answer Jester" | ||
From: Thomas Hood <jdthood@mail.com> To: letters@lwn.net Subject: Re: The SSSCA under any other name Date: 02 Apr 2002 12:11:43 -0500 One way to make the SSSCA issue comprehensible to the general American public might be to draw an automotive analogy, as follows. "Passing the SSSCA is like putting a regulator on every car preventing it from breaking traffic regulartions. Pull up to a stop sign and it slams on the brakes. Pull onto the highway and the accelerator pedal blocks at 55 mph. The proponents argue: Only a criminal wouldn't want such a device built into his car! The regulator also controls the radio, making sure that you listen to commercials. The proponents say: Only a pirate would listen to the radio without listening to what the advertisers, who paid for the programming, have to say! The proponents say: This doesn't restrict your freedom at all---you can always choose not to drive your car on public highways!" Etc. | ||
From: David Neto <DNeto@altera.com> To: "'letters@lwn.net'" <letters@lwn.net> Subject: CBDTPA: definition of a digital media device Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 06:46:37 -0800 Regarding the CBDTPA and its definition of a digital media device. Digitial components don't distinguish between copyrighted works or any other set of bits. That's the beauty of the universality of digital machines. So am I to understand that an ethernet cable is a "digital media device"? How about a 128MB DIMM memory bank? How about just 1024 bits of SRAM? 1 SRAM bit? Sure, that's a debate about definitions. I'd expect that the government might be willing to let the courts interpret the law on this one. Whether the intent of the law is good or bad is an entirely different matter. For that fight you've got to do you politicking. Best of luck from a Canadian, David (These are my views, not my employer's....) | ||
From: Don Carter <don.carter@rogers.com> To: letters@lwn.net Subject: Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 22:09:40 -0500 Regarding the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, you say: "So how can free software function in this legal environment? ... A source-available system, where users can remove the corporate big brother code at will, can never be "reliable" or "resistant to attack" in the eyes of CBDTPA supporters. If that interpretation holds, Linux systems become illegal whether or not they include the security code." A source-available system can implement the CBDTPA if and only if the CBDTPA is implemented purely in hardware. Removing the "corporate big brother code" (which would simply access the api exposed by the underlying hardware) would then merely make the protected content unavailable. This does not mean that computers need to be neutered completely (the 'don't turn my computer into a settop box' argument). Protected content can be handled specially by the hardware, while all other content is treated exactly as it is today. If Microsoft gets its way, protected content will be delivered through proprietary protocols implemented in Microsoft operating systems -- protocols that would be protected from reverse-engineering by the DMCA and protected from clean-room implementations by patent. As much as I dislike the MPAA and the RIAA, they do have a legitimate concern here. Likewise, consumers and Open/Free Source advocates have legitimate concerns (backups for personal use, being able to time- and space-shift content the user has legal rights to, making protected content available in an unprotected format once copyright has expired). We can work with them and find a solution that addresses everyone's concerns, or we can fight against them. But if we choose the latter, we strengthen Microsoft's hand. If content-providers decide to go with Microsoft's "digital rights management", then we will have successfully locked Linux out of any part of the network that transports protected content. Not only will Linux forever concede the desktop market, it will eventually lose the server market as well. Don | ||
From: tom poe <tompoe@renonevada.net> To: letters@lwn.net Subject: Commentary by Alex Salkever Date: Sun, 31 Mar 2002 15:05:25 -0800 Cc: "DMCA" <dmca_discuss@lists.microshaft.org> Hi: Your posting about Guard Copyrights, Don't Jail Innovation, by Alex Salkever highlights some interesting support for NOT passing the DBDTPA law: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2002/nf20020327_2364.htm There is a growing school of thought that recognizes the significance of Lawrence Lessig's Creative Commons Project [see: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/cc/ ] as providing a key ingredient to change within the Music Industry. Here's just a taste of what this marvelous project does for consumers. The Internet empowers all of us, as we have the ability to communicate instantly across the country, and around the world. This empowerment translates into marketing strategies and audience development for artists and musicians that heretofore had to rely on managers, producers, "in-between" agents to do that for them. The stumbling block with the Internet approach resides primarily in the legal profession. Licensing issues, and related issues to distribution, and control of one's works is missing. Without such guidance and assistance, many artists and musicians remain "trapped" in the present Music Industry's grip. The Creative Commons Project unleashes them, frees them to pursue alternative strategies that will, in fact, bring them the fame and fortune the Music Industry refuses. For starters, there is a push to broaden the base of Public Domain works available to the world community. A model for such a mission can be seen in its earliest formation here: http://www.studioforrecording.org/ the main site http://www.ibiblio.org/studioforrecording/ the Repository Page The community-based recording studios provide FREE recording services in return for the artist or musician to place their works in the Public Domain. Related services will assist these individuals and groups to develop and follow marketing strategies that will lead to successful careers, without reliance on the Music Industry. One of the premises for this model lies with recognizing that tours, concerts, and a blending of Public Domain and Copyrighted works is where the "money is". This gives hope to those managers, producers, agents, that they will still have a role to play, but the terms may be slightly different. <grin> I can't wait to see the day this all happens, and we are able to watch ASCAP and BMI "eat their 40 copyright-protected 'arrangements' of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". Thanks, Tom | ||
From: Leon Brooks <leon@cyberknights.com.au> To: Linux Weekly News <letters@lwn.net> Subject: Disney hates baseball, film at 11? Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 13:14:23 +0800 Cc: Jerry <wa6cvl@sbcglobal.net> Jerry used the analogy of crime-proof cars to show the clumsy stupidity of the CBDTPA. Perhaps a more accurate analogy for Michael D Eisner's statements would lie in that all-American favourite, the sandlot baseball game (Aussies might relate better to backyard cricket matches). What Michael is in essence proposing in analogy is that because he wants to be able to sell admission to Disney's baseball grounds, the US government should legislate that all open spaces possibly useable as baseball grounds must have security fencing, sight screens, a ticket office and so on, or be illegal to own or use. The first analogical problem that would confront him in places like Australia (and some US states) is that there are so very *many* of these, and lots of them are crown land or reserves. But the real flies in the ointment would be sandlot baseball, public parks, and undeveloped land. Oh, yes, and what would happen when the lawyers finished with all of these? Anyone carrying a baseball glove across a vacant lot (or their own backyard) would be liable for prosecution. Actually getting together for a baseball game would be really asking to be jailed as criminals. Councils could be prosecuted for making potential baseball diamonds (in the form of parks and gardens) available without properly licenced baseball fittings. Right-Of-Way laws and baseball control laws would clash. The ultimate irony would be watching the Disney corporate Christmas party being rounded up and herded into paddy-wagons after some of the staff carelessly broke out bats and balls. Carrying the analogy back to real life, Disney's overt goal is control over the viewing of their own media. In order to gain this control, they are apparently willing to enforce control over every medium, and every viewing device, regardless of purpose, location, ownership, cost or anything else. The kindest thing that could be said about that is `it is very irresponsible'. It does not appear to have dawned on Disney that many viewing devices exist through which Disney footage has never passed and will never pass. Their proposal would make these devices every bit as illegal as the ones deliberately and carefully used by pirates to clone (for sale) copyrighted, commercial DVDs by the thousands. Cheers; Leon | ||
From: "Charles Hethcoat" <Charles Hethcoat <clhiii@attglobal.net>>
To: letters@lwn.net
Subject:
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 21:15:27 -0600
Dear Editor:
Of all the self-serving balderdash floating about in Congress and
Hollywood, Michael Eisner's article in The Financial Times is just
about the worst I've seen. Thanks for alerting us to it.
Eisner shamelessly quotes Abraham Lincoln's words while using them to
repress the very rights that Lincoln was talking about:
"...The patent system changed this; secured to the inventor, FOR
A LIMITED TIME, the exclusive use of his invention; ..."
The key phrase in this quotation, completely ignored by Mr. Eisner,
was "for a limited time." This is the important fact about patents
and copyrights that is being destroyed by the media moguls. The
public interest is only served by (1) a /limited/ period of
government-protected monopoly (allowing for profit by the copyright
owner), followed by (2) an /unlimited/ period in the public domain.
The facts in the next paragraph come from the excellent article by
Neil Weinstock Netanel that appeared in 106 Yale Law Journal 283
(1996). This article is MUST READING for you, me, Mr. Eisner, all of
Hollywood, and the U. S. Congress:
http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/nnetanel/yljarticle.htm
The Constitution demands that copyrights be limited in term. Congress
originally (in an Act dated May 31, 1790) limited copyright to one
14-year term, renewable at most one time. Since then, reacting to
commercial pressures, Congress, acting against longer-term public
interest, lengthened the term repeatedly (in 1831, again in 1909,
again in 1976). The 1976 Act gave exclusive rights to the copyright's
owner for the life of the author plus 50 years. According to the
article, another piece of legislation pending would extend this even
further, to life plus 70 years. (I am not sure if it passed.)
Where will it end? Apparently never, for, the Constitution
notwithstanding, the idea of a copyright has now been replaced by an
irritatingly wrongheaded notion of "intellectual property"---an idea
that basically makes a copyright into real property for perpetuity,
and gives the owner the right to shoot to kill, figuratively speaking.
(I am from Texas, where trespassers may be shot on sight.) How bad
has it gotten? Now the idea even has an acronym: IP. I have even
seen help wanted ads for something called an "IP Manager."
If I could, I would ask Mr. Eisner a question: How much longer does
he expect to continue getting richer and richer off of Mickey Mouse?
He (Mickey) should have gone into the public domain /years/ ago, if
Congress were doing its job. And if Mr. Eisner were doing his job,
Disney would just have moved on to something else even newer, cuter
and more irresistible with which to lure us into movie houses and make
us buy DVDs. Today, it should be perfectly legal for underpaid
watermelon farmers to eke out a living by making plywood Mickey
likenesses and hawk them from the back of a pickup truck on the
roadside. But it isn't, of course; that is "theft of intellectual
property" and will be stopped immediately under the protection to
Disney afforded by Congress.
Eisner, the MPAA, and their storm troopers are the real thieves. They
are stealing our money and stealing our way of government, and trying
to tell us that Abe would approve. A pox on all their houses.
Charles Hethcoat
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From: JP S-C <jp_sc@yahoo.com> To: letters@lwn.net Subject: 2nd Linux Accessibility Conference Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 20:51:21 -0800 (PST)
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