Linux News for Aug 30, 2000

• LinuxWorld: The last roundup - Impressions from the Expo and a look at current industry happenings (Aug 30, 2000, 23:25)
  "In addition to fleshing out his LWCE coverage, Joe looks at the future of Linux desktops in the age of the GNOME Foundation and at Inprise's and IBM's plans for Java on Linux...."


• LinuxWorld: Attacking Linux - To stop an attacker, think like a cracker (Aug 30, 2000, 23:10)
  "Or the attacker may skip the fancy network scanners and concentrate on stealing one of your passwords. In my experience, that is the bad guys' usual way in and absurdly easy on most systems."


• CNET News.com: Sun helps Linux go global (Aug 30, 2000, 22:43)
  "The software is a layer that makes it easier to write software onto which any number of languages can be grafted."


• CNET News.com: California decision raises legal stakes for Microsoft (Aug 30, 2000, 22:18)
  "San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stuart R. Pollak cleared the first group of the more than 130 private lawsuits pending against Microsoft to go to trial."


• NY Times: First Central Lab for Linux Research Planned (Aug 30, 2000, 22:12)
  "Linux developers, industry analysts and participants in the project said a leading reason Linux had not been moved onto these superpowerful computers was that Linux programmers have not had access to the hardware needed to experiment with and test new programs."


• Debian Weekly News - August 29th, 2000 (Aug 30, 2000, 22:04)
  "Welcome to Debian Weekly News, a newsletter for the Debian community. This has been a relatively quiet week, with only 400 messages posted to debian-devel."


• NY Times: Transmeta's Stock Offering May Buck a Cooling Trend (Aug 30, 2000, 21:55)
  "That public stock offering is widely expected to get a blazing reception, despite a market far cooler to new technology offerings than last year's."


• AllLinuxDevices: Weekly Roundup: August 30, 2000 (Aug 30, 2000, 21:52)
  "Once again, it's been a big week for news at AllLinuxDevices, with a variety of stories from all over the embedded Linux world. From real-time networking to handheld development, we've had something for everyone. Here's a look at the past week."


• TheLinuxGurus.org: Automating FTP (Aug 30, 2000, 21:34)
  "I prefer FTP from the command line, all those GUI FTP clients are really cool looking but you lose one of FTPs most powerful abilities, the ability to automate FTP. In other words, the ability to make a connection, transfer files and break the connection without you even being around."


• LinuxPlanet: The Linux Community: Wear Your Hearts On Your Sleeves (Aug 30, 2000, 21:23)
  "With the Linux and Open Source community, not only do people see the exchanges, they have the source code to the work both parties are referencing. There are no mysteries involved. What we see is literally what we're getting. It would be as if your family feuds were broadcast live over cable television, along with a diagram of the house and where all the weapons were located."


• Enterprise Linux Today: The Open Days Are Just Beginning (Aug 30, 2000, 21:23)
  "I remember the Open Systems promises like they were only yesterday....The first problem was cost. The second problem was inter-operability. Enter the dark horse, Linux."


• InfoWorld: IBM makes [AFS] file system open source (Aug 30, 2000, 20:52)
  "The technology contribution should give open-source software, most notably Linux, another boost of credibility among corporate shop considering implementing enterprise-level applications and integrated solutions."


• SF Gate: Jobs' sneak preview of next Mac system [OS X] (Aug 30, 2000, 20:33)
  "...it brings many fundamental benefits to users like stability, reliability and performance... it has a greater affinity to Unix-type systems, such as Linux."


• VNU Net: Industry giants unite to form Linux lab (Aug 30, 2000, 20:22)
  "While it will not create new projects itself, the lab will be open to developers of new and existing projects that conform to accepted open source development models."


• LinuxPR: Pixami Completes Linux Solution for Online Photo Enhancement Technology (Aug 30, 2000, 20:20)
  "Pixami has added Linux support in response to the operating system's overwhelming adoption on the Internet, and by the online photo industry in particular."


• Helix Code Security Advisory - go-gnome pre-installer (Aug 30, 2000, 20:10)
  "A vulnerability in the go-gnome pre-installer allows non-root users to exploit world-writable permissions in /tmp, permitting files normally only accessible by root to be overwritten."


• Linux-Mandrake Security Update Advisory: xchat update (Aug 30, 2000, 20:06)
  "XChat 1.3.9 and later allow users to right-click on a URL appearing in an IRC discussion and select the "Open in Browser" option. To open the URL in a browser, XChat passes the command to /bin/sh. This allows a malicious URL the ability to execute arbitrary shell commands as the user that is running XChat."


• Debian Security Advisory: New version of xchat released (update) (Aug 30, 2000, 19:58)
  "The version of X-Chat that was distributed with Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 has a vulnerability in the URL handling code: when a user clicks on a URL X-Chat will start netscape to view its target. However it did not check the URL for shell metacharacters, and this could be abused to trick xchat into executing arbitraty commands."


• AllLinuxDevices: Editor's Note: Microsoft is Your Friend, and Other Useful Tidbits from Salon (Aug 30, 2000, 19:52)
  "If Xbox succeeds, it will be a 'rich gaming experience' for Microsoft as it plays "Run to the Bank Laughing"; and for its chummy partners, who will sigh with relief as the next generation of gaming turns out to be "Elbow Out the Little Guy" once more."


• Red Hat Security Advisory: Updated usermode packages (Aug 30, 2000, 19:36)
  "The usermode package allows unprivileged users logged in at the system console to run the halt, poweroff, reboot, and shutdown commands without using the superuser's password."


• Helix Code Security Advisory - X-Chat (Aug 30, 2000, 19:28)
  "A vulnerability in the X-Chat IRC client allows a malicious URL to possibly execute arbitrary shell commands as the user running X-Chat."


• LinuxPPC.org: A Players Guide to LWE (Aug 30, 2000, 19:26)
  "Who can blame the nerds for wanting the free wares these booths offer? Temporary tattoos, neon colored-tshirts, and buttons with geek in-jokes are free for the taking after volunteering your email address. I grab a a bag and start giving out my managers email address. I'm sure he'll enjoy spam from dice.com, Sun Microsystems, and countless other companies."


• Linux-Mandrake Security Update Advisory: xpdf update (Aug 30, 2000, 19:20)
  "There is a potential race condation when using tmpnam() and fopen() in xpdf versions prior to 0.91."


• AllLinuxDevices: David Beal and David Schleef Talk About RTnet: the Real-Time Networking Stack (Aug 30, 2000, 17:13)
  "In this interview, David Schleef, primary author of RTnet, discusses the importance of bringing real-time networking to Linux; and David Beal of Lineo talks about working with the Open Source community, and why the GPL works."


• NetworkWorld: Linux a la carte [from VA Linux] (Aug 30, 2000, 16:54)
  "According to Augustin, all pieces of the various Linux code building blocks available for users to choose from have been tested and confirmed to interoperate with each other. The blocks have also been optimized for, or "burned into," VA Linux hardware."


• AllLinuxDevices: Opersys/Lineo: Linux Trace Toolkit for RealTime Linux (Aug 30, 2000, 16:20)
  "Like the expensive time-tracing solutions available for many proprietary embedded RTOS solutions, LTT provides developers with all of the information necessary to reconstruct a system's behavior over a certain period of time."


• LinuxPR: IBM Contributes Enterprise File System Technology to Open Source Community (Aug 30, 2000, 15:12)
  "The contribution of AFS Enterprise File System gives the community a remote file system with a proven track record that features high performance and scalability in rigorous computing environments."


• LinuxPR: FTOSX on the way ... (Aug 30, 2000, 15:11)
  "The product will be based on Linux 2.4, with a RedHat Linux hierarchy and KDE 2.0 on X Window System 4.0.1. FTOSX will run on i386 and PowerPC processors."


• CNET News.com: Computing heavyweights to chaperone Linux onto [high-end] servers (Aug 30, 2000, 14:55)
  "Computing heavyweights IBM, NEC, Intel, SGI, Dell Computer and Hewlett-Packard are joining with Linux companies to coax the operating system into high-end, multiprocessor machines... joining forces to create a laboratory in Oregon where open-source programmers can improve the performance of Linux and associated software on these expensive servers."


• Upside: Linux incubators overcome harsh environment (Aug 30, 2000, 13:51)
  "Rather than wait for a chance to buy Red Hat (RHAT) or VA Linux (LNUX) on the inflated open market, he began looking for other ground floor opportunities."


• Security Portal: Debian 2.2 [Security issues in the newest release] (Aug 30, 2000, 13:14)
  "I wanted to write a really positive article about Debian 2.2, which was just released a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I can't. While Debian itself is a reasonably well-done Linux distribution, it has some major security issues."


• LinuxPlanet: .comment: Disco Night at the Old Folks' Home (Aug 30, 2000, 13:11)
  "The old money is starting to take an interest in Linux, and no matter what you think of it, it's a little pathetically comical, like disco night at the old folks' home. Or midlife crises, when men who ought to know better do things like buy motorcycles and marry beautiful, much younger women (though in at least one case I know of -- me -- this has worked out pretty well)."


• Linux.com: Do We Need a Different Kind of Software? (Aug 30, 2000, 13:08)
  "I would like to see the free software library grow every day, and with any luck, I'll be a contributor. But I wonder if what we really need is "another office application," or "a more friendly interface."


• Wired: Joining Forces at New Linux Lab (OSDL) (Aug 30, 2000, 12:54)
  "Computer hardware giants Hewlett-Packard, Intel, IBM, and NEC are joining together to fund an independent, nonprofit laboratory to help speed the development and testing of enterprise-targeted Linux projects."


• www.hinterlands.org: BT's ADSL Farce (Aug 30, 2000, 11:18)
  "The connection at your end of the ADSL link, in this package, is a USB connector and not an Ethernet connector. Wonderful if you run Windows, next to useless if, like me, you use Linux as your gateway machine to the Internet. USB support for Linux is there and it is improving all the time, however, I've not yet heard of anyone successfully using ADSL with it. Please mail me if I'm wrong."


• LinuxToday.com.au: Linux and Napster - The Paradoxical Parallels (Aug 30, 2000, 11:09)
  "At first sight Napster has little in common with Linux. Look below the surface and you'll find there's a deep philosophical link that goes way beyond technology and points the way to a freer, more democratic future."


• LinuxToday.com.au: Galeon: The Little Browser That Could (Aug 30, 2000, 10:55)
  "Gecko provides a huge code base for Galeon to make use of, and as a result, in the short time that the project has been operative, Galeon has developed into a fast, functioning browser."


• Evil3d.net: Linux Made Easy With easyLinux [Distribution Review] (Aug 30, 2000, 10:50)
  "Everyone knows Linux has a steep learning curve, right? In steps easy Information Technology. Based in Germany, eIT dares to counter these ideas by making the easiest Linux distribution possible"


• LinuxDevices.com: FreePad: Norway's alternative to Sweden's Screen Phone (Aug 30, 2000, 10:45)
  "In a few months, Screen Media will begin shipping a sleekly designed, easy-to-use wireless web-pad device called the FreePad."


• Philip Hunt: Proposal to change the GPL (Aug 30, 2000, 10:42)
  "I propose a new version of the GPL that would rectify this omission, by preventing anyone from using GPL'd software if they had taken any legal action against any free software program."


• LinuxToday.com.au: Interview with Matt Allen, Founder of Linux Worx (Aug 30, 2000, 08:47)
  "Matt Allen is the founder of Linux Worx Pty Ltd, a company which "came about from years of frustration with a certain M$ operating System."


• Linux.com: Programming with Python - Part 1: Baby Steps (Aug 30, 2000, 08:35)
  "Since I myself have garnered a modest Perl background before learning Python, I will target this tutorial at the Perl programmer. However, anyone with a little programming experience should find this text useful."


• osOpinion: The Importance of Being Standard (Aug 30, 2000, 08:21)
  "The Internet illustrates the great power of an open and welcoming infrastructure, so why do we have such trouble trying to pry American business from proprietary messaging standards or to pry consumers from a proprietary desktop?"


• osOpinion: The DVD controversy: a newspaper swat on the muzzle (Aug 30, 2000, 07:55)
  "Taschek, whether voluntarily or not, has become the head bootlicking lapdog for the MPAA."


• osOpinion: Curing the Linux Zealot (Aug 30, 2000, 07:45)
  "Not all users of proprietary systems look upon Linux enthusiasts with disdain."


• SunWorld: Scripting with C (Aug 30, 2000, 07:31)
  "While we generally think of C as the prototype industrial language -- hard-edged, high-performance, and dangerous-- numerous projects have attempted to wrap C in a more amiable package."


• LinuxMedNews: Win4Lin Puts Windows on Linux Desktop (Aug 30, 2000, 07:18)
  "Let's face it, on the desktop it is still a Microsoft world. Windows and the myriad useful programs such as Quickbooks, Lotus Notes and Photoshop, that are unique to it are not going to go away soon."


• Rildo Pragana: Running a GDI printer under Linux - part 5 - Solving the compress puzzle (Aug 30, 2000, 06:50)
  "No matter what acquisition method you use, you will finally get some compressed data."


• Linuxnewbie.org: Setting up multiple users in Kmail (Aug 30, 2000, 06:35)
  "One problem I had with Kmail was that I share an account with my wife, so how could we both see the mail if we logged on as different users and downloaded our mail at different times?"


• ZDNet: This ain't no tradeshow - A reshaped SCO rallies the troops or at least tries to soothe them (Aug 30, 2000, 06:20)
  "Part pep rally, part study session, part sales pitch, and part schmoozefest, Forum has a far different atmosphere than any conventional tradeshow."


• LinuxPR: Industry Leaders HP, INTEL, IBM, and NEC Forming Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) (Aug 30, 2000, 05:53)
  "The Open Source Development Lab will help fulfill a need that individual Linux and open source developers often have -- access to high-end enterprise hardware."


• Linux Today Quick Takes (Aug 30, 2000, 05:28)
  "Quick takes aplenty this time around. In Malaysia, Linux users have gone wireless; in the Netherlands, business gets serious about Linux; in your mailbox, Microsoft cries out for help; and on their own pages, even as they cuddle up with GNOMEs, Sun spreads a little... sunshine... about "public domain software."


• Byte.com: The LinuxWorld Expo LoveFest (Aug 30, 2000, 01:30)
  "Have you ever gone to an event or trade show to discover that something was on fire? The joint was a-hoppin."


• LinuxDevices.com: ELEC to feature keynote on IBM Linux Wrist Watch Project (Aug 30, 2000, 01:27)
  "The RTC Group and LinuxDevices.com today released the technical program of the second Embedded Linux Expo & Conference, to be held October 27th, in Westborough, MA."


• BW: NeTraverse Announces Availability of Win4Lin Server Edition Pre-Release for Download (Aug 30, 2000, 01:14)
  "Leveraging the power of the Linux-Intel architecture, Win4Lin delivers robust performance and scalability of Windows applications over the LAN, WAN and Internet."


• PRNewswire: Advanced Management Solutions Joins VA Linux Solutions Partner Program (Aug 30, 2000, 01:11)
  "As a member of VA's Partner program, Advanced Management Solutions will have access to VA Linux Systems' broad-based technical expertise in systems, software design and Open Source solutions."


• BW: Red Hat Wins Industry Awards for Best Linux Solutions (Aug 30, 2000, 01:07)
  "Recognition as the best server distribution affirms Red Hat's position as the leader and top provider of software and services that provide the backbone for today's Internet economy."


• BW: VA Linux Appoints Senior Executive To Lead Systems Division (Aug 30, 2000, 01:05)
  "With his solid background in large-scale systems marketing, engineering and operations, Ali brings valuable experience that will help VA Linux as we enter a new stage of growth."


• Debian Security Advisory: New version of ntop released (Aug 30, 2000, 00:54)
  "The updated version of ntop (1.2a7-10) that was released on August 5 was found to still be insecure: it was still exploitable using buffer overflows. Using this technique it was possible to run arbitrary code as the user who ran ntop in web mode."


• Linux Magazine: Perl of Wisdom: Moving Your News Service (Aug 30, 2000, 00:45)
  "The solution is a bit complicated and requires extensive bookkeeping, but that's what computers are for, and Perl in particular."


• Computing Canada: Open Source Makes Big Business Inroads (Aug 30, 2000, 00:39)
  "I think to some degree the danger these organizations have is they want to be seen as highly Linux-friendly, but they have to do it in such a way it doesn't impact their other operating system strategies."


• Linux-Mandrake Security Update Advisory: xchat update (Aug 25, 2000, 06:18)
  "XChat 1.3.9 and later allow users to right-click on a URL appearing in an IRC discussion and select the "Open in Browser" option. To open the URL in a browser, XChat passes the command to /bin/sh. This allows a malicious URL the ability to execute arbitrary shell commands as the user that is running XChat."