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Linux in the news
Recommended Reading
The Rise of Media Independence (Linux Journal)
Doc Searls predicts the end of radio. "Today, if I want to put a show on the radio, I don't bother with radio at all. I record an .mp3 file, put it on a Web site and "enclose" a pointer in an RSS feed. Anybody who picks up the feed or downloads the file can get the recording, anywhere on the Net. Which is "right here" for anywhere with a connection, anywhere in the world. Which is why radio as we know it is doomed."
Does open source encourage rootkits? (NetworkWorld)
NetworkWorld covers a McAfee report claiming a correlation between open source software and the spread of root kits. ""The predominant reason for the growth in use of stealthy code is because of sites like Rootkit.com," says Stuart McClure, senior vice president of global threats at McAfee. Rootkit.com's 41,533 members do post rootkit source code anonymously, then discuss and share the open source code. But it's naďve to say the Web site exists for malicious purposes, contends Greg Hoglund, CEO of security firm HBGary and operator of Rootkit."
The SCO Problem
Feb. 26, 2006 Hearing Transcript (Groklaw)
Yes, the SCO case is still going on. Groklaw has had some fun with the transcript of a hearing regarding SCO's abortive subpoenas to Intel and others. Quoting Judge Wells: "Noting that at the outset of this case or prior to its filing, it was expressed to the media and others that SCO possessed evidence regarding the misappropriation of source code. At this point, don't you have enough evidence to go forward in that regard or, to be candid about it, does it constitute fishing at this point?"
Companies
Micro Center isn't a happy home for Linux (NewsForge)
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier looks for a Linspire PC at Micro Center. "Last November, Linspire issued a press release announcing that Micro Center would be devoting floor space and staff to desktop Linux. I decided to take a trip to my local Micro Center this week to see how that initiative was going. Unfortunately, the answer is not so well. According to the release, Micro Center customers should be able to "try and buy several desktop and laptop computers pre-installed with Linspire Linux." Further, "new sections will put desktop Linux software and products in high-traffic areas of the store, giving Linux products a significant amount of retail space and boosting visibility of Linux within each store.""
New Linux look fuels old debate (ZDNet)
ZDNet revisits the proprietary driver debate. "For Nvidia, intellectual property is a secondary issue. 'It's so hard to write a graphics driver that open-sourcing it would not help,' said Andrew Fear, Nvidia's software product manager. In addition, customers aren't asking for open-source drivers, he said."
Lessig, Stallman on 'Open Source' DRM (The Register)
The Register takes a look at Sun's press release for its open source DRM, which lists Lawrence Lessig as a supporter. "Was DRM less bad because it was 'open source'? Professor Lessig tells us that he should have reviewed the Sun Microsystems press release before it went out. It doesn't fully reflect his position, he says, and he's emphatic that this blessing doesn't constitute an endorsement." (Thanks to Ciarán O'Riordan)
Legal
Prior Art and Its Uses: A Primer, by Theodore C. McCullough (Groklaw)
Groklaw presents Prior Art and Its Uses: A Primer, by Theodore C. McCullough. "The question of what constitutes prior art can be confusing, to say the least. Moreover, the issue of when one can and cannot use a particular type of prior art in attacking the patentability of a particular invention is equally confusing. The following is a high-level outline of the some of the key concepts regarding what constitutes prior art, and how to apply it to address the patentability of an invention. The purpose of this primer is not to serve as formal legal advice, nor should it be considered as such. Rather, the purpose of this primer is to assist the general public, including those in the Open Source Community, with helping to improve patent quality."
Interviews
Oracle considers venturing into Linux (FT)
The Financial Times talks with Larry Ellison about Oracle's plans. "'I'd like to have a complete stack,' he said. 'We're missing an operating system. You could argue that it makes a lot of sense for us to look at distributing and supporting Linux.'" (Thanks to Thomas Kirby).
Q&A: New Mass. CIO offers update on Open Document Format plans (ComputerWorld)
ComputerWorld talks with Louis Gutierrez, CIO of the Information Technology Division (ITD) of Massachusetts. "Gutierrez, a 2002 Computerworld Premier 100 honoree, left a position as chief technology strategist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School to fill the CIO post that had been vacant since Peter Quinn resigned in January. No stranger to government, he served as the state's first CIO from 1996 to 1998 and returned in 2003 as CIO of its executive office of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he worked through June 2004." (Thanks to Pete Link)
Kubuntu Developer Jonathan Riddell Interviewed (Behind Ubuntu)
Behind Ubuntu presents an interview with Kubuntu developer Jonathan Riddell. "How and when did you get involved in Ubuntu? I knew that Ubuntu was going to be big and that it didn't feature my favourite desktop, so I wrote a blog post explaining why KDE people should get involved. That was the top google for "Ubuntu linux" for while and when Ubuntu dug out their plans for a KDE versions they contacted me to see if I could help." (Found on KDE.News)
Interview: Andrey Savochkin (KernelTrap)
KernelTrap has an interview with Andrey Savochkin. "Andrey Savochkin leads the development of the kernel portion of OpenVZ, an operating system-level server virtualization solution. In this interview, Andrey offers a thorough explanation of what virtualization is and how it works. He also discusses the differences between hardware-level and operating system-level virtualization, going on to compare OpenVZ to VServer, Xen and User Mode Linux."
Resources
CLI Magic: Is that CD still fresh? (Linux.com)
Joe Barr looks at the cdck program. "Ever wonder if that ISO or backup CD or DVD you burned last year is still good? This week we'll take a look at a small command-line utility called cdck that checks the condition of data on the media and let you know if it's still good."
OOo Off the Wall: Combining Documents with OOo (Linux Journal)
Linux Journal looks at combining documents and other advantages of using styles in OpenOffice.org. "WordPerfect veterans raise the idea of a Reveal Codes feature for Writer every couple of months. In response, a macro that gives the appearance of Reveal Codes without the functionality has been written. However, the feature isn't likely to appear in any upcoming version of Writer. For one thing, while WordPerfect is a code-based word processor, in which every piece of formatting is embedded in a manner not too different from HTML tags, Writer is a frame-based one processor. That means the characteristics for a selection of text are defined separately from the text itself. As a result, no direct equivalent of Reveal Codes is possible."
Improve your iPod with Rockbox (NewsForge)
NewsForge looks at running Rockbox on an iPod. "Over the past few years, I've been ripping my CD collection to Ogg Vorbis, intending to one day find a portable player for all those tracks of synthpop, reggae, and comedy. Now I've finally found a player for my 60-or-so gigs of Ogg files which has the the ergonomics, battery life, and accessory market of the iPod. The secret to having a player that deals with so many codecs, but that looks and acts like an iPod, is that it is an iPod -- just one that I converted last night with a firmware swap to run the excellent, open source system called Rockbox. Rockbox isn't perfect -- and it sure isn't for everyone -- but I'm pleased as punch with it."
Porting Linux applications to 64-bit systems (developerWorks)
IBM developerWorks looks at porting applications to 64-bit systems. "Linux was one of the first cross-platform operating systems to use 64-bit processors, and now 64-bit systems are becoming commonplace in servers and desktops. Many developers are now facing the need to port applications from 32-bit to 64-bit environments. With the introduction of Intel® Itanium® and other 64-bit processors, making software 64-bit-ready has become increasingly important."
Process your email with procmail (Linux.com)
Linux.com covers email filtering using procmail. "Procmail is a Mail Delivery Agent (MDA), meaning it can be used along with a Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) such as mutt or sendmail to filter messages. Procmail processes all messages before they are delivered to your mailbox. You can have your incoming messages distributed into various folders based on preset criteria such as the subject of a message or the recipient. The use of regular expressions for creating rules and the ability to run multiple rules on messages make procmail a very precise mail filtering program."
My sysadmin toolbox (Linux.com)
Linux.com presents another look into the toolbox with OpenSSH, Socat, Bash, Midnight Commander, Aptitude, Knoppix, awk, Expect, Scite and Ipcalc. "Carrying an operating system with me at all times is bliss. I rarely leave home without a Knoppix CD. Knoppix has always been great, but it got even better with the inclusion of UnionFS, which allows me to install packages as if the CD were writable."
Reviews
ccPublisher gets a GNU outlook on cross-platform availability (NewsForge)
NewsForge looks at the Python program ccPublisher 2. "Creative Commons (CC) offers licenses that allow you to publish material with clear-cut licensing terms that reserve some of your rights while giving the public others. CC offers a number of tools to implement the licenses into the metadata of various media formats. Until recently, its ccPublisher program, which allows you to upload CC-licensed content to the Internet Archive, had official binary releases only for Apple Macintosh OS X and Microsoft Windows XP. This is about to change, with the upcoming release of ccPublisher 2."
FOSS closes patient privacy gap for researchers (NewsForge)
NewsForge looks at HMS Scrubber. " Two new open source software projects are ready to wipe patient histories clean of personal information so researchers can learn from medical cases without endangering privacy. One of the GPLed software programs, HMS Scrubber version 1.0, was recently able to remove more than 98 percent of identifiers -- such as name, address, and Social Security number -- from 1,254 pathology reports processed from three hospitals. Developed by a team from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and other American institutions, the software holds promise beyond pathology in nearly all medical records, which are integral to research, but are full of privacy pitfalls, says Bruce Beckwith, a Beth Israel doctor and developer of the new software."
New GNOME Does Search Right (eWeek)
eWeek reviews GNOME 2.14. "Sabayon, interestingly, uses the nested X-Window capability of the X.org Foundation's X.org graphics system, in which you can launch a new session in a window within your current session. In this session within a session, we could set desktop preferences, add task bar items and change font sizes, among other things, and then save that set of configurations as a profile that we could apply to other users."
Package management meets version control in rPath (Linux.com)
Linux.com looks at rPath. "rPath's goal, according to a white paper on the company Web site, is "a source control system married to a package system." To achieve this goal, rPath has developed three closely related projects: Conary, a package management system; rPath Linux; and rBuilder, a tool for working with Conary repositories. With these projects, rPath claims to be able to drastically reduce the time required to build a Linux release."
Social bookmarking with Scuttle (NewsForge)
NewsForge looks at scuttle, a tool for setting up a local del.icio.us-like site. "Using del.icio.us to manage your bookmarks has its advantages, but it has its limitations too. You can't install del.icio.us on your local network, you can't modify it to suit your needs, and you can't be sure whether the service will still be there tomorrow. Scuttle, on the other hand, is an open source social bookmarking application that offers functionality similar to del.icio.us without the shortcomings."
VPNs Illustrated: Tunnels, VPNS, and IPsec -- A Book Review (Linux Journal)
Linux Journal reviews the book VPNs Illustrated: Tunnels, VPNs, and IPsec by Jon C. Snader. "VPNs Illustrated: Tunnels, VPNS, and IPsec offers a clear and concise evaluation of the technology that allows private networks to extend through insecure channels. Overall, the purpose of this book is to inform readers of the benefits a VPN can offer. This is done through examples, diagrams and source code analysis. As a reference guide, the material does a good job of informing the reader about private networking over a public channel."
A first look at Zfone (NewsForge)
NewsForge looks at Zfone. "Zfone is PGP creator Phil Zimmermann's latest brainchild, a small desktop application that encrypts VoIP softphone conversations using strong encryption and peer-to-peer communication. Zimmermann released the first public beta last month. While I'm intrigued by the concept, getting the application to work is another story."
Miscellaneous
Fedora Frog brings the bling to Fedora (Linux.com)
Linux.com goes to EasyLinux.info for a script called Fedora Frog. "Raivis Dejus, Linux Center project coordinator at the University of Latvia, runs EasyLinux.info. He finished Frog about a week ago, he says, adapting the Automatix script for the RPM-based Fedora Core and using yum to handle downloading and installing the packages. Dejus used his own ideas and some tips from others on the Internet to create Frog. "It seemed like a thing that had to be done," he says. "Ubuntu has Automatix and I decided that Fedora should have something similar.""
Hands-on testing of the new Linux virus (NewsForge)
NewsForge tests a cross-platform virus. "Our tests shows the code's viral nature is sometimes -- but not always -- effective on both platforms, depending on the kernel being used. Of course, it's impossible for us to test every version of the kernel out there, but thus far, it looks like those prior to version 2.6.16 are susceptible, and at least some of those after that release are not. Here's how we tested at NewsForge."
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