Linux News for Oct 29, 2000

• Stefan Westerfeld: KDE2.1 multimedia planning (Oct 29, 2000, 18:49)
  "I think as we have done for KDE2.0, we should again have a rough plan what we want for 2.1 in the multimedia department. So here is something discuss. Any comments appreciated."


• ApacheWeek: Issue 220 27th October 2000 (Oct 29, 2000, 18:12)
  In this issue: ApacheCon Europe 2000: Day 1 and ApacheCon Europe 2000: Day 2


• LinuxPR: Digital Factory USA and UnionBuiltBox team up to take on the Linux world! (Oct 29, 2000, 17:41)
  "With the rapidly increasing use of Linux, it is beneficial for members of the IT community to work together to provide quality solutions for the consumers' growing needs."


• LinuxWorld: Tips on reiserfs - How to install the file system (Oct 29, 2000, 17:21)
  "Reiserfs is a journaling file system that is purportedly more efficient at handling many small files than the de facto standard ext2fs file system and just as efficient as ext2fs in other cases."


• Linux Magazine: Journaling Filesystems; The Future Of Storage Under Linux (Oct 29, 2000, 16:48)
  "Journaling filesystems are superior to static filesystems when it comes to guaranteeing data integrity and even when it comes to flat-out filesystem performance. Replacing the ext2fs static filesystem with a journaling filesystem will ultimately be a big win for all Linux users."


• InfoWorld: What makes a useful user interface? (Oct 29, 2000, 16:28)
  "...most Linux setups do a nice job of accounting for both new and experienced users. I like having the flexibility to choose advanced setup and configuration so that I can avoid annoying routines that waste my time."


• O'Reilly Network: OpenAL Development: The Programmer's View (Oct 29, 2000, 15:59)
  "The OpenAL project employs the two mainstays of all successful open source projects: a very active mailing list and a CVS source code repository."


• O'Reilly Network: An Introduction to Webmin (Oct 29, 2000, 15:34)
  "Admit it: When you think of using pretty GUI administrative utilities, Unix is usually not the first operating system that springs to mind."


• About.com: Setting Up Login Messages (Oct 29, 2000, 15:07)
  "If your system accepts remote user logins via telnet or serial ports, or console logins in text mode, you can present text messages to your users simply by editing two files in the /etc directory."


• About.com: Kernel Testing (Oct 29, 2000, 14:45)
  "Development kernels can be unstable, and compiling and installing your own kernel isn't a task for absolute Linux novices. Before working with the 2.4 kernel series, be sure to create and maintain backups of your data."


• Seattle Times: Microsoft says hacker did no damage, but FBI called in (Oct 29, 2000, 14:34)
  "Microsoft did not fault its security system, saying corporate attacks are part of modern existence. The company contends its security is among the world's best, but security experts say Microsoft's reliance on Windows systems and personal computers leaves it open to sabotage. As younger systems, Windows programs are considered less secure than older systems based on the Unix operating system, or those of Linux, modeled after Unix."


• SunWorld: Security through obscurity - Why are we helping hackers? (Oct 29, 2000, 14:17)
  "Is security through obscurity ever a useful way to protect your network, or does it just make things easier for corporate spies and hackers?"


• Washtech.com: Micromatix.net Finalizes LinuxOne Merger Terms (Oct 29, 2000, 14:00)
  "LinuxOne, Inc. is a privately-held developer of embedded Linux thin client systems. IMC builds custom-configured systems, ranging from thin clients to full-scale custom configured servers, which are sold to value-added resellers (VARs) through the company's online site."


• SunWorld: Security basics, Part 1 - Understanding file attribute bits and modes (Oct 29, 2000, 13:45)
  "Security is always an issue in multiuser computing systems. Unix provides a rich set of security options, and this month we begin a three-part security series by exploring some basics."


• Washington Post: How Much Computer Does it Take To Connect? (Oct 29, 2000, 13:35)
  "Unless you're shopping among the major online services, which require the use of proprietary software, you don't even need to worry much about operating systems. Most of the Web looks identical on a Mac, Windows or Linux machine. The main difference is that some Web multimedia is platform-constrained: Microsoft's ActiveX is Windows-only, while Apple's QuickTime and Macromedia's Flash work only on Mac and Windows machines."


• O'Reilly Network: Getting Started with SQL (Oct 29, 2000, 13:22)
  "Of course there is plenty of power under the hood for gurus, but even a newbie can get an enormous amount of work accomplished with a few simple commands. So where to begin...? A good first step is choosing a SQL environment."


• NYTimes: Irregular New Accounts Alerted Microsoft to Network Intruder (Oct 29, 2000, 13:11)
  "On Friday, the rest of the world found out that Microsoft had been the victim of a break-in. But yesterday the company said that contrary to earlier reports and information it had provided, the episode did not span six weeks, but only a week."


• O'Reilly Network: What's the Big Deal about SQL? (Oct 29, 2000, 13:10)
  "Tired of not knowing what SQL is? Any serious application developer is going to need to learn some SQL at some point in their career. And once you start learning it, you'll use it. A lot."


• Ethereal Network Protocol Analyzer 0.8.13 released (Oct 29, 2000, 12:41)
  "Ethereal 0.8.13 is now available. New dissectors include H.261, TPKT, and IGRP. RTP and RTCP were re-written, and many other dissectors were updated and improved. The wiretap library enables Ethereal to read Nokia-firewall tcpdump files, Shomiti Surveyor 3.x files, pppd log files (pppdump format), and NetXRay ATM files."


• TechRepublic: Efforts afoot to keep Linux standard (Oct 29, 2000, 12:31)
  "With the exploding popularity of Linux, several efforts have taken root to keep Linux from blowing apart at the seams, with different manufacturers and distributors corrupting the open-source nature of its code."


• Is Linux Mandrake 7.2 Officially Released? Kinda Sorta (Oct 29, 2000, 12:13)
  Linuxnewbie found 7.2 on a remote FTP server, but the main Linux-Mandrake site doesn't mention the official release 7.2 -- yet. If you look hard enough, you'll find Linux-Mandrake 7.2 on a wide variety of FTP sites.


• IBM developerWorks: An interview with Jon "maddog" Hall, Part 2 - Size and diversity in Linux distributions (Oct 29, 2000, 12:12)
  "Jon "maddog" Hall shares his thoughts with developerWorks' Alberto Tomita on the increasing size of Linux distributions, the virtues of Linus' iron-hand rule over the kernel, the Linux Standard Base project, and what would happen if Microsoft went open source."


• Signal Ground: A Tale of Two Socket A Boards: AOpen AK33 and Soyo K7VTA (Oct 29, 2000, 11:40)
  "There's no doubt about it: AMD Durons and Athlons offer users the best bang for your buck right now. For everything from low-end servers down to glorified typewriters, there's an AMD Socket-A solution that fits the bill. But which motherboard should you use for that new Linux box? To help answer that question, we compare the latest mid-priced Socket A offerings from AOpen and Soyo."


• Alan Cox: Linux kernel 2.2.18pre18 (Oct 29, 2000, 05:31)
  "Treat this one with care. The LRU corruption fix is one of those 'clearly right but makes a mess if its not so clear as it seems' kind of fixes."