Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter - Issue #70

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               Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter

             Issue #70  Thursday, 28 November 2002

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Welcome to the Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter -- dedicated to
keeping you up-to-date with the latest Mandrake-related news & info.

In this issue:

 * Company Announcement: MandrakeSoft welcomes new CEO
 * Product Special: 10% discount on MYSQL products & services
 * Mandrake in the News: Mandrake 9.0 speeds into the installation lead
 * MandrakeClub: Celebrating one year anniversary!
 * Business Case of the Week: Swingin' with Mandrake
 * Newsletter Notice: Upcoming changes
 * This Week's Survey: Where is your web server hosted?
 * Software Updates: python, samba, kde
 * Headlines from MandrakeForum


Company Announcement
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François Bancilhon joins MandrakeSoft as new CEO.
MandrakeSoft is happy to announce that founder and former CEO of O2
Technology François Bancilhon has been appointed the new Chief
Executive Officer of MandrakeSoft. Co-Founder Jacques Le Marois remains
as Chairman and President of the company. François Bancilhon's main
focus will be to increase MandrakeSoft's business and profitability
while maintaining a high-level of technology commitment in the Linux
and Open Source arena.

Please join us in welcoming François Banchilon to the MandrakeSoft team.
http://www.mandrakesoft.com/company/press/briefs?n=/mandrakesoft/news/2401


Product Special
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Special "End of the year' offer from MySQL.
MySQL AB, the company behind the MySQL database, is offering Mandrake
Newsletter subscribers a special "End of the year MySQL offer".

MySQL AB provides various technical support options, from e-mail to
24x7 telephone support, as well as training courses and consulting
services worldwide. Check out MySQL's offerings and order online today
at https://order.mysql.com/?ref=mdk42 where you will receive an
immediate 10% discount off standard prices!* You'll also have the
opportunity to register for the first MySQL Users Conference and Expo
ever.

* Offer valid until December 31st 2002 on the MySQL AB offering except
the Premium technical support level, and not cumulative with other
promotions.


Mandrake in the News
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LinuxWorld.com -- Mandrake 9.0 speeds into the installation lead.
LinuxWorld's Joe Barr thoroughly reviews the Mandrake Linux 9.0
installer (from a technical perspective) in Part 4 in his comparison
between Windows and Linux:

"A new champ...
The pluses for Mandrake install are its speed and the absolute ease of
obtaining and applying updates. It completely obliterates the Windows
contenders in both the update category and the installation of attached
devices. Although the speed of the Mandrake update is much more a
factor of the download size, it is also easier to perform than the Red
Hat update process.

Furthermore, the default installation included not one but two
graphical environments, and both seem to work exactly as intended. On
the issue of Office Suites, the Mandrake 9.0 PowerPack install left me
with both Open Office 1.0 and Star Office 6.0. On the basis of those
pluses, and the sheer speed of the process, Mandrake 9.0 nudges Red Hat
8.0 out of first place in the derby."
http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2002/1125.barr2.html


MandrakeClub
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MandrakeClub celebrates one year anniversary.
Twelve months ago, MandrakeClub was introduced as a way for Mandrake
enthusiasts to help financially support the distribution. Today, a full
year later, the entire staff at MandrakeSoft would like to thank each
and every member who has joined the Club over the past twelve months.

Since November 2001, MandrakeClub has introduced an impressive
collection of valuable services and privileges for its members. We
would like to extend an invitation to all Mandrake users who have not
yet joined the Club to become a member and be part of something
important and beneficial for all.
http://mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2549

Not yet a Mandrake Club member? To learn more, please visit:
http://mandrakelinux.com/en/club/


Business Case of the Week
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Swingin' with Mandrake!
Romance.ucam.org is a society for single members of Cambridge
University - it's fun, free, and very popular. A sister society in
Oxford (OxfordRomance.org.uk) runs the same code on the same server (a
Dual PIII, 1GHz with 1.5GB RAM).

The site was initially implemented on MS IIS, using ASP and the Access
database on Win2K, but the administrator writes: "I rewrote the site to
use PHP (thanks a lot to asp2php for doing much of the conversion). We
use PostgreSQL, Apache, and Mandrake Linux 8.2. PHP is a joy to work
with, and I was amazed by the extent to which it all 'just worked' out
of the box. Nice one, Mandrake! Since then, the site has almost run
itself - the only interruptions we get are due to power outages! An
additional benefit is that we saved £1100 by not paying for Micro$oft's
inferior, unstable bugware!"
http://www.mandrakebizcases.com/article.php?sid=413

For many more examples of Mandrake in the workplace, please see:
http://www.MandrakeBizcases.com.


Newsletter Notice
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This issue of the Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter will be the final
weekly version -- from now on, the newsletter will be distributed twice
a month. We'll be back on December 12th with a new issue and the
availability of an HTML version for readers who prefer a nicely
formatted newsletter.


This Week's Survey
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Where is your web server hosted?

 * I don't have any
 * Here at home
 * At work
 * Parked at my ISP

Cast your vote in the Voting Booth and check the results:
http://www.mandrakeforum.com/pollBooth.php?op=results&pollID=47


Software Updates
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9.0 software updates have been released for:

python -- fixes local arbitrary code execution vulnerability
samba -- fixes potential root compromise
initscripts -- fixes wireless problems
kdenetwork -- fixes remote command execution vulnerabilities
kdelibs -- fixes remote command execution vulnerabilities

View the complete list at:
http://www.mandrakesecure.net


Headlines from MandrakeForum
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NYI.net: A really Mandrake-friendly ISP :-)
Deno talks about an Internet Service Provider that will happily host
your site(s) on Mandrake Linux. With a bit of luck, he will try to
secure a special deal for MandrakeClub members in a few days.
http://mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2544

Really Slick Screensavers.
'fischerz' posts a link to some of the nicest screensavers available on
the net... and a Mandrake package is already available.
http://mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2540

'Fun with Mandrake PowerPack 9.0' on OSDN.
Robin 'Roblimo' Miller posted a nice review of the Mandrake PowerPack
on NewsForge. Robin notes the 'quirks' found in Mandrake offerings and
offers some of tips that apply mostly to new users.
http://mandrakeforum.com/article.php?lang=en&sid=2539

Read these and other stories at MandrakeForum.
http://www.MandrakeForum.com/

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http://www.mandrakesoft.com/