LWN Weekly Edition
Front pageSecurity
Kernel development
Distributions
Development
Linux in the news
Announcements
->One big page
This page
Previous weekFollowing week
| |||||||||||||
Linux in the newsRecommended Reading Firefox marketing site hacked (News.com)News.com reports that the SpreadFirefox.com site was compromised. "The exploited flaw was a vulnerability in PHP, the language in which Drupal, the content management system that Spread Firefox uses, is written."
Linux in Government: Outside the US, People Get It (Linux Journal)Linux Journal looks at the spread of Linux around the world. "Interestingly, the US government appears to favor a company it deemed a monopoly over Linux and open-source software. While technically educated Linux and open-source work forces have grown in Germany, China, Brazil, India and Hungary since 2001, the US government has done nothing to keep pace with the rest of the world. Only a decade ago, the US held a technological edge over Europe and Asia in all areas of IT. Today, the once burgeoning IT industry in the US has given way to its competitors, especially China and India."
Trade Shows and Conferences O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference Wrap-UpO'Reilly has released a Where 2.0 Conference Wrap-Up. "Where 2.0, a new O'Reilly conference that took place June 29-30 in San Francisco, honed in on the new tech sector coalescing around these location-related technologies that promise to transform and personalize the way we all engage the Web and the world around us."
The SCO Problem The Michael Davidson Email - SCO v. IBM (Groklaw)Here's a fun one: Groklaw has a message from Michael Davidson, thanks to the unsealing of various exhibits in SCO v. IBM. This message, from 2002 (i.e. before the suit was filed), summarizes his attempt to find copyright infringements in Linux; it was sent to Reg Broughton, and thence to Darl McBride. "The hope was that we would find a 'smoking gun' somwhere in code that was being used by Red Hat and/or the other Linux companies that would give us some leverage.... At the end, we had found absolutely *nothing*. ie no evidence of any copyright infringement whatsoever." SCO decided to sue anyway.
The Davidson Email, Red Hat, and the Lanham Act (Groklaw)Groklaw takes a look at Red Hat and the Lanham Act. "Let's go back and take a look at what Red Hat is claiming in its lawsuit against The SCO Group. I think it will help you to understand why SCO is trying to spin, spin, spin so hard and what they are probably really afraid of. At least, I'd be scared, if I were them."
Sandeep Gupta's Redacted Declaration of July 2004 (Groklaw)Groklaw examines the recently unsealed Redacted Declaration in Support of SCO's Opposition to IBM's Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment by Sandeep Gupta. "It's quite a perfomance by Mr. Gupta. So much is redacted, it's hard for us to know what he said in detail, but Dr. Brian Kernighan, IBM's expert, did get to read it all, and he answers Mr. Gupta point-by-point in scathing terms in the recently unsealed Declaration of Brian W. Kernighan. In fact, unless I have misunderstood, he as much as says that Mr. Gupta improperly (may I even conclude he implies dishonestly or is it just incompetence being alleged?) cobbled bits and pieces of code from all over the place to make it look like a block of similar code".
Companies HP to announce restructuring Tuesday (News.com)News.com reports that HP has announced restructuring and job cuts. "[CEO Mark] Hurd is expected to announce sweeping cuts to HP's workforce as part of a plan to bring the company's costs more in line with its competitors. About 15,000 employees could lose their jobs, with HP's IT, sales and service divisions among the areas particularly hard hit, according to a source close to the company."
Intel to cut Linux out of the content market (Inquirer)Over the years, your editor has seen several "platform X will lock Linux out of the market" stories. Here's the latest installment: a lengthy Inquirer article on how Intel is handing the digital video market to Microsoft. "The vehicle to do this is called East Fork, the upcoming and regrettable Intel digital media 'platform'. The funny part is that the scheme is already a failure, but it will hurt you as it thrashes before it dies. Be afraid, be very afraid."
Sun to open-source single sign-on code (News.com)News.com looks at Sun's plans to release parts of its Java Access Manager single sign-on product as open-source code. "Web single sign-on makes it easier for users to log into multiple Web applications with one set of credentials and simplifies password management for organizations. The code Sun is releasing is meant to enable single sign-on only inside a single organization; it does not support federation across organizations."
Linux Adoption Schools ink deal for open source (Stuff)A New Zealand publication called Stuff looks at the use of Novell/SUSE Linux by the New Zealand Education Ministry. "The Education Ministry has signed an 18-month software licensing deal with Novell New Zealand, the ministry's first deal to provide open source software to schools. It includes Novell's SUSE distribution of the Linux desktop operating system. The Novell deals lets schools buy software for the same cost as Microsoft products, about $99 per product per server for a year-long licence. The ministry's senior ICT consultant, Douglas Harre, says it is meant to equalise prices of Microsoft and Novell products."
Linux at Work Linux trounces Windows Mobile in smartphone shipments (Linux Devices)Linux Devices looks into the rise of Linux in the mobile phone market. "Embedded Linux powered 14 percent of smartphones shipped worldwide in Q1 of 2005, up 412 percent from 3.4 percent in Q1-04, according to Gartner. Windows Mobile Smartphone shipments also grew, rising 50 percent from a 2.9 share in 1Q-04 to 4.5 percent in 1Q-05, Gartner says."
Legal Grokking Grokster (O'ReillyNet)Quinn Norton analyzes the MGM v. Grokster case on O'Reilly. "Fred Von Lohmann of the EFF, who represented Grokster in district and circuit court, pointed out that Sony also openly advertised dubious uses of its Betamax, some of which were ruled a fair use, like time shifting. But "Librarying [building up a library of aired works for repeat viewing] was never ruled a fair use." So, what makes Sony OK and Grokster not?"
Interviews Interview: Greg Wallace on the future of embedded Linux (NewsForge)NewsForge talks to Emu Software's Greg Wallace about the C3 Expo panel on embedded Linux. "I think that this market is really exploding in complexity, size, and in innovation. Embedded Linux intelligence is making its way into devices as diverse as network equipment to digital cameras. I think the entrepreneurs, developers and investors that gain an understanding of what is driving this market will be extremely well positioned to gain from its growth."
Mozilla: From obscurity to opportunity (ZDNet UK)ZDNet UK has published a set of articles and interviews about the Mozilla foundation. "The non-profit Mozilla foundation has gone from zero to hero over the last two years thanks to the increasing popularity of the Firefox browser ZDNet UK visited the company's HQ in Mountain View, California, to find out how a small band of open source enthusiasts have started to challenge Microsoft's hold on the browser market." (Found on MozillaZine.)
Resources What New Users Need to Know About OpenOffice.org (Linux Journal)Linux Journal's Bruce Byfield looks at some pitfalls that new users of OpenOffice.org are likely to encounter. "The question is worth asking. Any large piece of software has its own ways of doing things, and OpenOffice.org is no exception. In fact, because of its history and its design assumption that users are at least as interested in designing documents as in writing them, OpenOffice.org needs more orientation than most. OOo is not difficult to learn, but if you approach it expecting it to behave exactly like another office suite, especially MS Office, you are setting yourself up for frustration."
At the Sounding Edge: FreeWheeling (Linux Journal)Dave Phillips plays with audio looping software for the Linux Journal. "I'm often asked whether Linux audio software includes anything similar to Acid. I freely confess that Linux audio development has yet to come up with an Acid competitor, although Ardour might be warped into service. However, Linux-based musicians do have access to some impressive loop-based music software, and so we come at last to FreeWheeling."
Linux Audio MusingsDave Phillips has updated his Linux audio musings column for July/August 2005. Take a look to see what's new in the world of audio software.
Creating a community Linux event (NewsForge)Matthew Revell discusses the process of organizing a community Linux event in a NewsForge article. "My fellow LugRadio presenters and I decided that we'd try to fill the gap for a U.K. community-oriented Linux event. Last month, roughly 250 open source fans attended LugRadio Live, a mix of talks, exhibition, LAN gaming, paintball, beer, and curry. Central to our event was the idea that everyone is a member of the same community and so everyone should be able to come."
Reviews Device Profile: Aeronix Zipit instant messenger appliance (Linux Devices)Linux Devices reviews the Aeronix Zipit, an inexpensive instant messenger appliance that runs an embedded Linux operating system. "The Zipit is marketed under brandnames that include ZipitWireless and K-Byte, and is currently available at Target and TigerDirect, priced at $99, in colors that include white, silver, blue, red, and pink. It includes an 802.11b WiFi radio, 16-color greyscale LCD with QVGA (320x240) resolution, and a thumb keyboard with rubber buttons. Also included is a stereo DAC (digital audio converter) connected to a speaker and headphone jack."
Miscellaneous OSDL's Linux Initiatives (O'ReillyNet)There is a rather uncritical article on O'ReillyNet describing OSDL's specification efforts. "The intent of the group is to create a list of the capabilities that a desktop system must have to successfully address each of the usage models. Once the group understands and clearly documents the required capabilities, it then becomes possible to identify key inhibitors that are preventing successful adoption, as well as specific technologies that either are not present or have some deficiencies when applied to enterprise environments. Working with Linux distributors and existing open source development communities, and, if necessary, creating new development communities by way of OSDL SIGs, the group hopes to accelerate Linux development in the specific areas that will facilitate its adoption on the enterprise desktop."
Coding misstep forces new Firefox release (News.com)News.com follows the story behind recent and upcoming releases of Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird. "The open-source Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail client will be updated for the second time in a week because of code changes that have unintentionally stopped some third-party extensions from functioning correctly. The updates will take Firefox and Thunderbird to version 1.0.6, while the Mozilla Suite will be updated to version 1.7.10 ..."
Page editor: Forrest Cook |
|||||||||||||