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IBM Files New Claims Against SCO in Linux Case (Dow Jones)
According to this Dow Jones story (on Yahoo), IBM has filed a new set of counterclaims against SCO. "According to the memo, which was obtained by The Wall Street Journal, the new counterclaim charges that SCO infringed IBM's copyrights by distributing IBM's contributions to Linux after SCO had violated its Linux license by claiming a copyright on parts of Linux." So it looks like another GPL-based claim.
Strong reactions to CCIA security report give it added credibility (NewsForge)
A report (PDF format) titled CyberInsecurity: The Cost of Monopoly is currently available. NewsForge reports that Dan Geer, recently CTO of @Stake, has been fired in reaction to this report. "When you hire a security consultant for your factory or warehouse, you expect that consultant to tell you if your security fence needs reinforcement, not to defend the fence manufacturer. And if seven respected consultants tell you a particular make of fence is too weak for your purposes, and "industry associations" and "think tanks" supported heavily by that fence manufacturer lash out at the consultants and claim they being paid off by rival manufacturers even though they aren't, it's the manufacturer of the weak fences that looks bad in the end."
Proprietary software--banned in Boston? (News.com)
News.com reports that Massachusetts has adopted a new policy favoring open-source. "The state will also give preference to open-source software, although it will continue to purchase proprietary products if they are found to be superior technologically or otherwise, Kriss said. He identified state Web servers, which currently run on Microsoft's Internet Information Services software, as a potential early candidate for retrofitting. "We're taking a serious look at Apache as a Web server," he said."
Not everyone is entirely happy about it, as indicated by this press release from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW).
The SCO Problem
An open-source letter (News.com)
News.com is carrying a letter from Joe Firmage, a former Novell VP and once a "good friend" of SCO CEO Darl McBride. They won't be such good friends anymore. "SCO's real agenda in refusing to identify the offending code is quite clear: Prevent the open-source community from removing and rewriting implicated segments of source code. In effect, SCO is seeking to prevent the Linux community from correcting the alleged plagiarism so as to broaden and sustain its prospects for royalties. Thus, SCO is now an accomplice to the crime it alleges by refusing to allow the alleged perpetrators to clean up their act. Courts should succinctly reject such blatant and calculated extortion."
Visions of Ka-ching Dance in Their Heads (Groklaw)
Groklaw analyzes two research papers by Renaissance Ventures on SCO. "The first document is an explanation of Renaissance's reasons for thinking SCO was a good investment. I know you've been wondering what in the world those folks in the stock market have been thinking. The second is an analysis of the SCO v. IBM lawsuit. They are both so blazingly wrong in both facts and conclusions that I fully grasp for the first time how some people may have invested in SCO, based on such misinformation." Worth a read.
SCO's FUD missiles rain down on the infidel (vnunet)
vnunet has some fun with the SCO case. "Particularly controversial was the claim that SCO had the capability to launch a wave of invoices within 45 minutes of an outbreak of licence infringement. This was flatly contradicted by intelligence reports, which insisted that the only weapons in the company's armoury were a few elderly FUD missiles and the odd bluster bomb."
HP hides its secret SCO shame (Register)
The Register follows up on HP's sponsorship of the SCO road show. "HP is still sponsoring the SCO City-to-City Tour, but it did ask the great Utah IP defender to pull mention of its backing from the Web site. Now, Microlite sits alone as a SCO friend, receiving premier sponsorship perks without paying the premiere sponsor price."
Companies
IBM, JBoss eye new Java plan (News.com)
News.com reports on possible collaboration between IBM and JBoss Group. "The two companies are investing independently in a software development technique called aspect-oriented programming, or AOP, which is intended to make application development faster, more flexible and less prone to error. Both companies are now looking to make AOP a standard feature of Java, said Bob Bickel, JBoss' vice president of corporate development and strategy."
HP shells out for SCO road show (Register)
The Register looks forward to SCO's "road show," which begins next week. "The SCO City-to-City Tour is a nice touch to the whole IP affair. It gives the impression that SCO still has a vibrant, diverse user base that is clamoring for the latest details on SCO software. While there are plenty of SCO users out there, the need for a company-backed outreach program is quite slim. That might be why per city registration is capped off at 50 customers. Wouldn't it be funny if ambitious Linux users filled all of those spots?" The article also asks why HP has signed up as the primary sponsor for this set of events.
Seagate pops Lindows onto hard drives at no charge (Register)
According to this story in The Register, Seagate will be offering its 40GB Barracuda 7200.7 drive to resellers with Lindows preinstalled. "Seagate will sell the hard drives with our without the Linux OS at the same cost and estimates that Whitebox manufacturers can save about $100 per computer by picking the pre-loaded option."
Linux Adoption
Linux in Hollywood (TechNewsWorld)
TechNewsWorld takes a lengthy look at the use of Linux in digital film production. "Contrary to common sense, to build the best secret proprietary software you need an open-source platform underneath it. The reason is that proprietary software can require tweaks to the operating system itself that no proprietary operating system vendor would be interested in implementing. Moreover, motion picture production is a very time-sensitive business. A problem in the operating system can't be allowed to hold up production. With open source, studios can throw programmers at anything, whether at the software or OS level."
Linux Taking Off, And Being Taken Off (IT-Director)
IT-Director is running a Robin Bloor column on the use of Linux in government. "In Pakistan 50,000 low cost computers will be installed in schools and colleges all over Pakistan (for less than $100 each) that use GNU/Linux. Pakistan is also considering the use of StarOffice office. Salman Ansari, an advisor to the Ministry of Science and Technology says 'Don't be surprised if we become the first country in the world to say that all (government-run) services are going to be GNU/Linux based'." As an aside, the article also mentions questions about the provenance of the code in SCO's "Linux Kernel Personality" offering.
Massachusetts Wants to Use Linux-Type Systems (AP)
The Miami Herald is carrying a AP story stating that the state of Massachusetts is adopting a policy of moving over to open systems. Quoting Eric Kriss, the state's Administration and Finance Secretary: "Kriss said the state's decision was driven by a desire to reduce licensing fees but also 'by a philosophy that what the state has is a public good and should be open to all.'"
Korea launches a switch to open source (News.com)
News.com reports on a South Korean plan to replace a significant percentage of its desktop and server systems with free software by 2007. "'If the change is successful, we will be able to save about $300 million a year. Also, we may insure security and interconnectivity of national information system', the ministry representative said. However, industry experts have expressed skepticism, saying that the country's software developers don't have the resources to support both Windows and Linux."
Legal
Europe shows little patience over patents (Financial Times)
The Financial Times reports on the European software patent vote. "So what happens next? Last week's decision is only the first stage in a procedure that will see the legislation approved by EU member states, many of which would have preferred tougher rules and will seek to have the directive returned to the parliament for redrafting. But already there is speculation that Frits Bolkestein,the EU single market commissioner, may decide to take the matter out of the European parliament's hands." (Thanks to Thomas Hood).
Interviews
Tom Adelstein interview, founder of Government Forge (DesktopLinux)
DesktopLinux.com interviews Tom Adelstein, founder & chief proponent of Government Forge. "Tom Adelstein, longtime Linux advocate and consultant has spent the last year working closely with state, local, and federal government open source software initiatives. Tom launched Government Forge, a Web site devoted to state and local governments interested in Linux and open source which is newly part of the Open Source Software Institute. In November 2002, Tom initiated the legislation for Open Source Software in Texas which resulted in Senate Bill 1579 filed by State Senator John Carona."
Porting Linux to the iPod (O'ReillyNet)
O'ReillyNet interviews Bernard Leach about porting Linux to Apple's iPod. "The port uses uClinux, a Linux flavor designed for devices that lack a memory management unit (MMU). While the iPod has some MMU-type capabilities, they are not sufficient to support the Linux kernel. The code is released under the GNU General Public license."
Ransom Love Speaks of Unix, GPL and the Lawsuit (eWeek)
eWeek interviews Ransom Love former CEO of (the company now known as) the SCO Group. "This is awkward to me, I don't know what's going on inside SCO today, and I don't want to throw stones on either side. I, however, no longer have any investments in SCO. When news of the IBM lawsuit broke, I sold the last of my stock. I no longer have any relationship with the company." (Thanks to Denice Deatrich).
Security Expert Geer Sounds Off on Dismissal (eWeek)
eWeek talks with security expert Dan Geer. "Software diversity in the name of security is by no means a new idea, but Geer and the other authors are all very visible in the high-tech industry, especially within the security community, and their opinions carry a certain weight. However, Geer said Monday that the opinions in the paper were no more controversial or edgy than many of the things he's said in speeches, interviews and other papers during his time with @stake."
Reviews
Exploring RSA Encryption in OpenSSL (Linux Journal)
Linux Journal explores RSA encryption in OpenSSL. "When sending your credit card number through a public medium, such as the Internet, your financial credibility may be compromised if the number is not first encrypted. It is impossible to tell who may be listening in on your connection as you shop for new CDs or books. The RSA encryption method often is used to hide your credit card number from would-be thiefs on the Internet, because it uses a public key to hide your information and a private key to reveal it. This article banishes the mystery surrounding RSA encryption and explains how a realistic implementation of RSA works in the OpenSSL library.Samba Team Releases Samba 3.0 (NewsForge)
Jeremy Allison introduces Samba 3.0 in this NewsForge article. "Samba 3.0 contains the first Open Source/Free Software implementation of Windows NT Primary and Backup Domain Controller functionality. Customers can transparently migrate their existing Windows NT domains to Samba 3.0 whilst keeping their existing user and group account databases. This enables significant cost of ownership savings over a Windows NT4 domain as a Samba 3.0 Domain Controller does not require client access licenses. Existing Windows tools can be used to manage a Samba PDC, allowing customer Windows expertise to be leveraged in a domain migration. A choice of LDAP back-ends allows integration with an existing customer directory service."New SuSE version coming next month (NewsForge)
NewsForge takes a look at the SuSE Linux 9.0, due out next month. "The latest version of the company's home user operating system will be the first to support AMD's Athlon 64 processor, and will include a test version of the 2.6 Linux kernel, according to Holger Dyroff, SuSE's general manager, Americas."
Miscellaneous
Helping Broadcast Radio with Linux (Linux Journal)
Linux Journal looks at the possibilities of building an automated broadcast radio station using Linux. "RFPI downloads much of its program material from the Internet--using a Linux system, of course. Rather than save the material on the computer, RFPI saves it on mini-disks. Broadcasts, then, are done with a live announcer filling in between pre-recorded material. The live broadcast also is recorded on tape for re-broadcast later in the day. In the RFPI example, the only missing link to full automation is some software."
UN Summit Tones Down Open-Source Stance (ComputerBusinessReview)
Computer Business Review Online reports that the United Nations has eliminated "Programmers Without Frontiers" and any preference for open source in the latest draft of the United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society's Plan of Action. "Language in an August draft of the WSIS Plan of Action that would have advocated the use of open-source software, particularly in developing nations, was toned down in the September 26 draft, to give equal weight to the value of proprietary software. The August draft promoted open source awareness, the creation of intellectual property mechanisms supporting open source, and the creation of a UN "Programmers Without Frontiers" body to support open source software in developing nations."
Page editor: Forrest Cook
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