Infrastructure Linux News for Nov 28, 2000

• LinuxLookup.com: Shell Prompt Customization (Nov 28, 2000, 23:30)
  "You can display information such as the machine you are working on, the current directory, how many users there are in the system, date, time, etc. You can also add ANSI color to the display making it easier to read... In this article I'm going to show you how to customize the prompt for a BASH shell."


• Applix response to the NewsForge article on giving up on the Linux desktop (Nov 28, 2000, 23:12)
  "It is the belief of VistaSource, Inc. that some of the statements made in this article are incorrect, and some of the quotations made by RJ Grandpre were taken out of context. To correct some of the statements made in this article, please note the following...."


• LinuxNews.com: Sanity Clauses: the OSDA Initiative Protects Developers' Rights (Nov 28, 2000, 22:30)
  "Exactly what work of yours does your employer own? A group of system administrators has been working on ways to clarify that issue for computing professionals who also work on Open Source projects in their spare time. The fruit of their work, released this Monday, is itself Open Source."


• Slashdot: CGI Programming with Perl (Nov 28, 2000, 21:13)
  "In this second edition, the authors have gone far beyond CGI circa 1996. New topics include XML, search engines, security, and high performance Perl-based alternatives to CGI. How far we've come."


• PenguinPPC.org: the obligatory 2000 hardware roundup (Nov 28, 2000, 21:01)
  "The Kerbango is an embedded linux device using a ppc processor. It is an Internet radio. You turn the knobs to tune in to Internet radio channels. ...the first true mass market Internet appliance."


• LinuxPR: SuSE Linux 7.0 Now Available For Alpha CPUs (Nov 28, 2000, 20:39)
  "The port of the current SuSE distribution to Compaq 64-Bit-technology, underlines SuSE's technical competence as the leading provider of server solutions."


• ZDNet/Reuters: What makes Linus tick? (Nov 28, 2000, 20:29)
  "An autobiography of Linus Torvalds promises an inside look at the open-source revolution. The Linux creator says it was purely accidental."


• It's a Beautiful Libre Software School Day (Nov 28, 2000, 19:39)
  "Evolved from continuing mailing list discussions in Italy and France throughout the summer of 2000, the Libre Software School Day group's mission is to assist Linux user groups (LUGs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in enlightening school administrators about free software's utility through educational materials and demonstrations of free, or "libre", software."


• Linux.com: Migrating Penguins (Nov 28, 2000, 19:28)
  "What we need is a migration tool... Microsoft's interoperability has always been geared toward migration, so why not take a cue from that and make migration to linux as painless as possible? ... With the improvements in the user and administrative interface, this could really take the ease of administration, at least for the simpler stuff, down to the level of Windows NT administration. Which would give the existing Windows NT administrator extra time to do more important things... like learning Linux."


• LinuxPR: openCOLA Takes Peer-To-Peer Issues Global at DDMI (Nov 28, 2000, 18:09)
  "...will address the issues of digital rights management and audience acquisition on a panel discussion: The Emerging Digital Music Technologies. The paper will be also be available from the openCOLA web site..."


• LinuxPR: We're Baaacccckkkkk! The Linux Show has returned (Nov 28, 2000, 17:31)
  "The big surprise that will be coming out of the new studio is the fact that the "new" Linux Show will be both a weekly one hour and a daily 15 minute show."


• Reuters: Cowpland to advise British e-commerce firm (Nov 28, 2000, 17:06)
  "Former Corel Corp. chief executive Michael Cowpland has been named a director at a British Internet commerce company and will play a key role in developing DealCommodity's business plans, its chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday."


• OLinux.com.br: Joe Kaplenk and the OSs (Nov 28, 2000, 15:40)
  "As an educator, what do you think about this Linux certification services proliferation? ... Personally, I think certification is overemphasized and the important thing is what the admin has done and can do. The RHCE comes the closest to being a true test because it has three parts. The first is multiple choice, the second is debugging and the third is installation."


• The Register: BT still chasing cash for hyperlink patent (Nov 28, 2000, 13:21)
  "BT is still trying to extract megabucks from US ISPs following the telco's patent claim to hypertext links - and it's prepared to taken legal action if those fingered don't cough up."


• LinuxWorld.com.au: Web serving revolution (Nov 28, 2000, 07:22)
  "The result of these efforts is apparent in the up-and-coming Linux 2.4 release: not only does Linux now offer much faster networking, it also offers the ability to run a kernel-level Web server."


• LinuxToday.com.au: This Time Next Year.... (Nov 28, 2000, 07:03)
  "Conventional wisdom says that Linux still isn't quite ready for prime time. Yet I reckon that magic moment is drawing closer by the day. Much closer...."


• FreeOS.com: Interview: Michael Tiemann CTO, Red Hat (Nov 28, 2000, 06:50)
  "Red Hat has worked incredibly hard to make Red Hat 7 the best Linux distribution ever, and I think we did a great job balancing a lot of complex requirements. Did we make some mistakes? Yes. Are we fixing them? Yes."


• Italian Senator iterates the suit against BSA (Nov 28, 2000, 06:36)
  "A short update on the BSA campaign in Italy and the related suit."


• KDE.org: The People Behind KDE: Chris Schlaeger (Nov 28, 2000, 06:23)
  "I'm the maintainer of ksysguard (formerly known as ktop). I did some work on the core libraries, mostly kdeui, but now have very little time for this. Recently I have spend most of my time putting together the KDE League."


• LPI News - November 27th 2000 (Nov 28, 2000, 06:09)
  "Welcome to the weekly newsletter of the Linux Professional Institute."


• Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: Updated curl packages available (Nov 28, 2000, 05:59)
  A bug in some versions of curl would cause it to incorrectly parse error responses from FTP servers. A malicious FTP server could use this bug to crash its client.


• Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: Updated fetchmail packages are available (Nov 28, 2000, 05:54)
  The updated IMAP server released in errata advisory RHSA:102-04 exposes a bug in fetchmail's implementation of the AUTHENTICATE GSSAPI command.


• Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: Updated web server module packages are now available for Red Hat Power Tool 7. (Nov 28, 2000, 05:48)
  Apache 1.3.12 and 1.3.14 are not binary compatible if both have been modified to support mod_ssl. These modules have been rebuilt using updated development packages.


• Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: nmapfe dumps core when scanning some operating systems (Nov 28, 2000, 05:41)
  When using nmapfe to SYN scan some operating systems, nmapfe will dump core. The console based nmap application is not affected by this behavior.


• Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: Updated web server module packages are now available for Red Hat Linux 7. (Nov 28, 2000, 05:29)
  Apache 1.3.12 and 1.3.14 are not binary compatible if both have been modified to support mod_ssl. These modules have been rebuilt using updated development packages.


• Linux.com: Linux Vegas: Fear and Loafing at COMDEX 2000 (Nov 28, 2000, 00:28)
  "The big winner of the Penguin Playoffs at Linux Business Expo was Pocket Linux, a special distribution for handhelds. Not only did it impress the judges at Linux Journal, it impressed the hell out of me too. Pocket Linux was shown not only working on pricey Compaq iPaqs and Casio Cassiopeas, but on the very econo VTech Helio."


• Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: Updated fetchmail packages are available (Nov 10, 2000, 20:46)
  "The updated IMAP server released in errata advisory RHSA:102-04 exposes a bug in fetchmail's implementation of the AUTHENTICATE GSSAPI command."


• Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: nmapfe dumps core when scanning some operating systems (Nov 06, 2000, 22:17)
  "The frontend to nmap (nmapfe) dumps core when scanning some operating systems."