Linux News for Sep 28, 2000

• Linux Orbit: Interview: 10 Questions with Olivier Fourdan of Xfce (Sep 28, 2000, 23:34)
  "Now, some people see Xfce as a free CDE replacement. It's much more than that. First, it's not a clone, as it's not based on Motif but on GTK+. It doesn't feature all the stuff of the original CDE, but it's so much more easy to use and configure."


• AllLinuxDevices: solopoint.com Selects Coollogic Software to Power Online Marketing Environment (Sep 28, 2000, 23:33)
  "The Coollinux AE software platform will be used to power solopoint.com's front-end, user-interface environment, which is composed of a countertop-style, communications-centric device and a continuously available information portal that will be marketed to broadband ISPs."


• PRNewswire: CYRANO Announces Release of OpenSTA, Free and Open Source Web Load Testing Architecture (Sep 28, 2000, 22:54)
  "By using OpenSTA, Project Managers and IT Staff can generate load to any targeted system by realistically simulating hundreds to thousands of virtual users through OpenSTA's distributed architecture."


• BW: Linux NetworX Evolocity 1240s Cluster Server Wins Best of Show at NetWorld+Interop 2000 (Sep 28, 2000, 22:44)
  "The Evolocity 1240s cluster server, introduced at the show, is designed for managing and optimizing web traffic in the Internet market."


• BW: Enlighten Software Announces Resellar Agreement With Linux NetworX (Sep 28, 2000, 22:25)
  "Under the agreement, Linux NetworX will resell Enlighten's EnlightenDSM systems monitoring and administration product. EnlightenDSM is a complimentary product to Linux NetworX's ClusterWorX cluster management tool."


• CNET News.com: Ballmer learns from past Microsoft missteps (Sep 28, 2000, 21:41)
  "Linux is not catching on, on the desktop. There are no customers. I may be from Mars, but if there's no demand, we're not going to do the work to take Office to Linux."


• LinuxPR: Linux NetworX Evolocity Cluster Server Wins Best of Show at NetWorld+Interop 2000 (Sep 28, 2000, 20:57)
  "The Evolocity cluster server, introduced at the show, is designed for managing and optimizing web traffic in the Internet market."


• LinuxPR: "Visual Basic for Linux" available for download now (Sep 28, 2000, 20:54)
  "Phoenix Object Basic is a unique object-oriented RAD tool for Linux. It combines the expressive power of object-oriented languages like Python and Perl with the familiarity and ease of use of Visual Basic."


• LinuxPR: Abriasoft And Linuxsolve Announce Partnership To Deliver Secure mySQL Network Appliances (Sep 28, 2000, 20:52)
  "The partnership will include technical development projects and co-marketing activities to leverage the secure server and the online database markets."


• LinuxPR: Atipa Acquires Company that Leads OpenNMS.org (Sep 28, 2000, 20:48)
  "The company acquired by Atipa, currently named "PlatformWorks", was the corporate entity originally created by the founders of OpenNMS to fund and manage the software project. OpenNMS has licensed the next-generation software, named "Bluebird", under the GNU General Public License (GPL)..."


• LinuxPR: GroupIT Engine v0.90 (for PHP) Released (Sep 28, 2000, 20:46)
  "...a groundbreaking content and community management engine capable of powering the next generation of online communities, extranets and intranets."


• TechWeb: Unix: Still The One For Enterprise Web Apps (Sep 28, 2000, 20:45)
  "When it comes to large-scale Web apps, most businesses still trust Unix machines over Wintel boxes."


• Eric S. Raymond: Second draft chapter of "The Art of Unix Programming" released (Sep 28, 2000, 20:28)
  "Chapter 2, "On Not Reinventing The Wheel", discusses code reuse and open source, with a focus on the issue in evaluating source code for reuse."


• Midgard Weekly Summary for September 28, 2000 (Sep 28, 2000, 20:18)
  Midgard is a freely-available Web application development and publishing platform based on the popular PHP scripting language. It is an Open Source development project.


• Enterprise Linux Today: Novell moves towards open source NDS (Sep 28, 2000, 20:07)
  "The move represents Novell's first tentative step to open source its crown jewels."


• Kernel Cousin Debian #4 (Sep 28, 2000, 19:55)
  KC Debian provides a peek into the inner workings of the Debian development process.


• Raleigh News & Observer: Software Company (OpenNMS.org) finds a buyer (Sep 28, 2000, 19:52)
  "The OpenNMS team has been working since last year to perfect an open-source, Web-based network management system that will compete with closed-source versions from IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Computer Associates."


• Certification Magazine: Certifying the Penguin: the Wild World of Linux Certification (Sep 28, 2000, 19:50)
  "As of August 2000, there are really three main Linux certification programs out there, with a fourth just emerging. Alphabetically, the three existing programs are: Linux Professional Institute (LPI); Red Hat (Red Hat Certified Engineer-RHCE); and Sair, Inc. On the emerging side, CompTIA has just recently announced its Linux+ program. Let's take a look at each of these in turn, starting basically in the order in which the programs developed."


• USA Today: Hacker Mitnick: Trust no one (Sep 28, 2000, 19:23)
  "...Mitnick warned IT managers Wednesday that unless they educate every employee -- from the CEO to the receptionist -- about how hackers work and how to bolster security, corporate networks and Web sites will never be safe from attack."


• AllLinuxDevices: CoolLogic's End-to-End Internet Appliance OS: CoolLinuxAE (Sep 28, 2000, 18:35)
  "CoolLogic's new OS, CoolLinuxAE, puts a blend of Linux and Java in the reach of Internet appliance designers and provides users with an experience more like a PC than many of the appliance platforms we've seen so far. According to CoolLogic COO Ed Ghafari, choosing Linux was the best business decision his company could make."


• LinuxPlanet: Editor's Note: Tech Triangulation and Linux (Sep 28, 2000, 16:20)
  "Tech triangulation is a simple procedure. You just figure out what you want to know, call the support line three times (making sure you get a different technician each time) and ask your questions. If you're lucky, they all agree with each other. If not, go with the majority unless two of them are clearly dim bulbs and the third is a compulsive 'Linux mentioner' who's looking for his crack at moving off the help desk by antagonizing random customers with comments like 'It's supposed to work that way, but I don't know... I run, uhhh, Linux.'"


• SF Gate: The Napster Effect; Program may have started something that no court can stop (Sep 28, 2000, 16:16)
  "A host of new companies inspired by the wildfire success of Napster are popping up with business plans that not only promise legal uses of "peer-to-peer" file sharing, but could make the technology even more widespread than Napster could ever accomplish on its own."


• Net-Security.org: Surfing Between the Flags: Security on the Web (Sep 28, 2000, 13:27)
  "A number of WWW security issues are presented in three areas: server, client and communication between server and client. Practical precautions and solutions are suggested regarding these issues. Guidelines for protecting host systems are discussed."


• CNET: Red Hat Linux 7.0 [Review] (Sep 28, 2000, 13:03)
  "Red Hat 7's most significant digit is yet to come. While the 7.0 release represents an excellent summary of all that Linux has had to offer so far, it is the anticipated 7.1 release that will bring some of the most eagerly awaited features to X Windows desktops everywhere. Specifically, those with their hearts set on stable releases of the Linux 2.4 kernel and the KDE 2.0 desktop should probably sit tight."


• In Context: Sun's "Linux Strategy" -- What Is It? (Sep 28, 2000, 09:26)
  "The interesting thing about Sun's plan to purchase Cobalt Networks is how little Sun has had to said about Linux. Sun undoubtedly has a 'Linux strategy' that goes way beyond anything they're saying publicly -- care to make an educated guess as to what it is?"


• Linux.com: Have We Come to a Fork in the Road? (Sep 28, 2000, 08:29)
  "The simple fact is that Linux and free software are all about choice, yet we forget this when we wage these flamewars. We negate the very concepts at the center of our revolution."


• PRNewswire: frontpath Announces ProGear - The First High Performance, Linux-based Portable Information Appliance (Sep 28, 2000, 07:47)
  "ProGear's software includes Linux 2.4x operating system, Netscape browser version 4.74 and a complete set of utilities and diagnostics. Hardware components include the powerful Transmeta TM3200 400 MHz processor, a 10.4" polysilicon TFT display."


• Sun.com: Sun Grid Engine 5.2 Software [Linux port in progress] (Sep 28, 2000, 07:35)
  "For example, on average only 5% to 20% of the useful power of workstations are used. These resources are typically underutilized during the nights and weekends when they could be more productively used to run batch jobs."


• LinuxPR: BrowseX Systems Inc. announces Beta Release 1.0.x of BrowseX (Sep 28, 2000, 07:31)
  "BrowseX is an Open Source, cross-platform Web Browser written primarily in Tcl."


• LinuxPR: everydayoffice Partners with PostgreSQL, Inc. on CRM and SOHO solutions (Sep 28, 2000, 07:28)
  "Our intention is to ensure that any small business that is seeking a turnkey solution need look no further than their PC, and the applications that we can help put there."


• Linux Weekly News for September 28, 2000 (Sep 28, 2000, 07:03)
  Leading items and editorials: Is the GPL really less business-friendly?, Review: The Book of Linux Music & Sound, The fun patent of the week, The Red Hat Network launches and The open source panel debate at ESC.


• Kernel Cousin Debian Hurd #60 By Zack Brown (Sep 28, 2000, 05:53)
  Highlights from the Debian-Hurd development mailing lists for the previous week.


• The New Price Tag for Breaking Up Microsoft? $310 Billion! (Sep 28, 2000, 04:37)
  Stan Liebowitz and the Association for Competitive Technology are at it again, this time arguing that it would cost consumers $310 billion if Microsoft were to be broken up, up from their estimate of $30 billion last February. So why are the numbers funny? Because they come from a blatant Microsoft front group and an "academic" who has proven to be nothing more than a mouthpiece for Microsoft. Beware, dear reader, deep FUD lies within, as Microsoft once again goes on the PR offensive to scare us into using Windows. (Oh, and along the way he dismisses Linux as a nonplayer in the consumer economy. As if.)


• Linux-Mandrake Security Update Advisory: esound update (Sep 28, 2000, 03:35)
  "A problem exists with the esound daemon, which is used in GNOME and responsible for multiplexing access to audio devices."


• Enterprise Linux Today: Sendmail Intro's Internet Messaging Solutions for the Enterprise (Sep 28, 2000, 02:51)
  "Offering Customers Cost-Efficient Solutions for Reliable Internet Messaging Systems."


• The Standard: Red Hat Is Now at Your Service (Sep 28, 2000, 02:45)
  "Red Hat is offering Red Hat Network as a subscription service, charging fees of $9.95 per month for individuals, $400 per year per system for small businesses and $500 per year per system for large corporations. Unlike similar services from companies that offer proprietary software, Red Hat Network supports Linux systems across all platforms running all types of applications."


• LinuxWorld: What is open source? (Sep 28, 2000, 02:22)
  "Winer then proceeds, using his own definition, to the conclusion that the GNU project is not open source since the GPL puts constraints on the use of the software. The GNU project list of programs includes Emacs, GIMP, GNOME, GCC, and about 150 others. But many other programs are covered by the GPL, even though they are not directly a part of the GNU Project. The Linux kernel, for example. Imagine the disappointment of the thousands of programmers around the globe who have worked on GPL'd software when they learn that Winer has revoked their visas to live and work in the bazaar."


• InfoWorld: Linux independence needs guarding, pundit says (Sep 28, 2000, 00:26)
  "'The distribution model is to sell the latest version [of the OS],' Petreley said. 'They crank out updates, and it's easy to do because Linux innovates so fast.'"


• Reuters: Corel q3 revenue holds steady, losses shrink (Sep 28, 2000, 00:18)
  "Struggling software developer Corel Corp. said on Wednesday that revenue held steady in its third quarter and losses were not as bad as feared because of across the board reductions in spending."


• National Post: Corel Corp. reports $10.7 million US loss, mostly tied to costs of restructuring (Sep 28, 2000, 00:14)
  "Corel Corp. had a $10.7 million US net loss for its third quarter, including about $6.2 million in one-time charges related to a restructuring at the troubled software company."


• AllLinuxDevices: Weekly Roundup: September 27, 2000 (Sep 28, 2000, 00:07)
  A quick look at TrollTech's newest partnership, GPL'd voice recognition from Xybernaut, an invitation to writers, and more this week.