Linux News for Jan 31, 2001

• LinuxPR: Transvirtual Technologies announces PocketLinux Version 1.0 (Jan 31, 2001, 23:54)
  "PocketLinux, the world's first Customizable Framework for Information Exchange, is a single application development / deployment environment for all resource constrained computing devices."


• Sun.com: Sun Grid Engine Software Now Available For Linux (Jan 31, 2001, 23:43)
  "Sun Grid Engine software is designed to harness idle compute resources, match them to individual job requirements and deliver network-wide compute power to the desktop, thus speeding time to market and fundamentally changing the economics of technical computing."


• SatireWire.com: Microsoft Says Rival Linux Has No Future, So Linux Industry Will Stop Now (Jan 31, 2001, 23:32)
  "Despite Gains in Market Share, Linux Firms To Call It Quits."


• ComputerWorld: IBM, Canadian research firm team up on Linux/Unix cluster (Jan 31, 2001, 23:22)
  "The deal between IBM and Toronto-based MDS Proteomics Inc. is aimed at developing a supercomputer that can handle 700 billion floating-point operations per second and that will let scientists at the research firm conduct complex analyses of proteomics - the study of proteins and how they function."


• LinuxPR: SOT will release next week Best Linux T-1/2001 including new Kernel 2.4 and KDE 2.1 (Jan 31, 2001, 22:40)
  "A ready-to-burn ISO image will be also available for those who don't want to wait for snail mail."


• LinuxPR: New Swedish office to enhance support to MontaVista Software customers in Europe (Jan 31, 2001, 22:38)
  "This new Stockholm office will further strengthen our customer support across the important Nordic region, which currently represents 30 percent of our European business revenues."


• Linux-Mandrake Security Update Advisory: kdesu update (Jan 31, 2001, 22:34)
  "kdesu is a frontend for the su program, allowing normal users to run programs with root privileges by prompting for the root password. When the "keep password" option is enabled, kdesu tries to send the password across process boundaries to kdesud via a UNIX socket. During this, it does not verify the identity of the listener on the other end, which can allow attackers to obtain the root password."


• CNET News.com: Dell, Oracle to open Linux center (Jan 31, 2001, 22:19)
  "Dell will use the facility, which is scheduled to open in the spring, to test and tune Oracle databases running on Intel-based systems running Linux."


• CNET News.com: AMD offers Linux simulator for 64-bit chips (Jan 31, 2001, 22:11)
  "Advanced Micro Devices has released a Linux version of a simulator application to help programmers write software for its upcoming 64-bit chips."


• LinuxPR: Linux Development Platform Specification 1.1-beta (Jan 31, 2001, 22:05)
  "The LDPS is designed so that programs developed on a conforming platform are expected to be portable to all generally available Linux distributions."


• LinuxPR: New Beta KDE Release for Linux Desktop Ships (Jan 31, 2001, 21:36)
  "New Beta Version of Leading Linux Desktop Offers New Theme Manager, Image Viewer and IDE."


• eWeek: At LinuxWorld, Microsoft exec has fighting words (Jan 31, 2001, 21:24)
  "Linux is many, many years away from being an enterprise-ready operating system that can compete with, and challenge, the Windows platform."


• Globe and Mail: Global geeks bet on open source (Jan 31, 2001, 21:16)
  "The vast majority of hard-core computer geeks don't use the Microsoft product for their Internet servers and other infrastructure. They use a variety of open-source software, all of which is developed on-line through a sort of global community effort -- and all of which is available for free."


• Enterprise Linux Today: SGI Names Paul F. McNamara Vice President of Open Source (Jan 31, 2001, 21:06)
  "Prior to joining SGI, McNamara was vice president of business development and later vice president of products and platforms for Red Hat."


• Upside: Startups keep open source competitive (Jan 31, 2001, 20:55)
  "Indeed, watching WorkSpot CEO Kathy Giori put her company's new AppSpot thin-client product through its paces, I had to fight back an instinctive "So what?"


• Enterprise Linux Today: IBM Wholeheartedly Embracing Linux (Jan 31, 2001, 20:40)
  "However, he said four myths have to date hampered the acceptance of Linux, and IBM is making an effort to dispel those myths. The first is that Linux can't scale...."


• TechWeb: Samba Team Wins Torvalds Award (Jan 31, 2001, 20:27)
  "A lot of system administrators used to smuggle Samba into their NT environments, and the only comment they got [from users] was that the file server didn't crash anymore."


• TechWeb: Palmisano Touts Linux For The Real World (Jan 31, 2001, 20:21)
  "Citing such real-world Linux customers as Weather.com, Shell Oil, and National Center For Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, Palmisano said people who doubt that the operating system can scale to the biggest of applications are just wrong."


• CNET News.com: Sun boosts Java on Linux gadgets (Jan 31, 2001, 20:08)
  "But Sun is clear that it wants its Java software to run on all types of computers, and Linux machines work in concert to undermine the market power of Sun's foe Microsoft."


• Enterprise Linux Today: Linux Support Services Market Set to Blast Off - IDC (Jan 31, 2001, 19:52)
  "...this market will skyrocket from $28 million in 2000 to $285 million in 2004 - a tenfold increase. ... The international growth of the Linux installed base, particularly in Europe and Asia, the increasing penetration of Linux more deeply into the enterprise infrastructure, and the small but growing popularity of Linux on smaller products such as cell phones will fuel opportunities for vendors to jump in and lend support."


• Kernel Cousin Debian Hurd #78 by Paul Emsley (Jan 31, 2001, 18:48)
  Highlights from the Debian-Hurd development mailing lists for the previous week.


• Enterprise Linux Today: HP Offers Linux Drivers for 44 Printers; Part of Big Boost to Linux Support (Jan 31, 2001, 18:42)
  After hiring Bruce Perens as general manager of their newly formed Linux Systems Operation, HP delivers the printer support Linux users have been asking for -- plus Linux: enterprise system management tools, rack-optimized products for service providers, development tools, 3D graphics, and expanded education and enterprise services.


• iWon.com/Reuters: IBM Backs Linux with Central Management, Services Push (Jan 31, 2001, 17:40)
  "Showing Linux's readiness for use in complex corporate computer networks, IBM will reveal plans to manage Linux-based computer systems anywhere within a global business network using its centralized Tivoli management system. The IBM executive will also point to how T-Systems, a Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE) unit, is installing Linux on an IBM mainframe to manage massive e-mail databases for its customers."


• Wired: MS Exec: Linux Is Going Down (Jan 31, 2001, 16:55)
  "These are three key Linux trends to watch for in 2001: a static growth rate, lessening mainstream interest in the open source operating system, and a sharp decline in Linux-based companies' stock value, said Doug Miller, Microsoft's group product manager for competitive strategies."


• InfoWorld: LinuxWorld: IBM to unveil 64-bit Linux server (Jan 31, 2001, 16:18)
  "With the new server, corporate customers will be able to scale from a single Intel processor-based server to a mainframe, maintaining the same class of reliability as the company's line of eServers, company officials said."


• TechWeb: Oracle Selects Dell As Linux Partner (Jan 31, 2001, 16:03)
  "The collaboration is a partnership for Oracle, Red Hat, and Dell, designed to help customers shift their enterprise infrastructure to the combined Dell-Oracle-Red Hat platform."


• InfoWorld: IBM to spend $300 million more on Linux - beyond the $1 billion already announced (Jan 31, 2001, 15:47)
  "The company will invest an additional $300 million in global Linux support services over the next three years... The services will help clients install and commission Linux-based electronic-commerce systems..."


• Lou's Views: Barbarians in Tuxedoes (Jan 31, 2001, 15:30)
  "I recently wrote about a conversation I had with Zend's Jim Jagielski about his company's approach to blending the needs of a for-profit company and open source in a creative and particularly enlightened way. What I couldn't say in that article was that when I spoke with Jim I'd already had a strikingly similar conversation with another company. I was precluded from talking openly about that company and their product plans until the official launch. Since that's happening at LinuxWorld Expo as this is being posted, I'm free to spill the beans."


• LinuxPR: Trolltech, IBM, and KDE To Demonstrate Voice-Control on Desktop Linux Apps at LinuxWorld (Jan 31, 2001, 15:07)
  "When ViaVoice is integrated with Qt, it will be possible to control Qt-based Linux desktop applications with speech input that is as simple as -- if not more simple than -- keyboard input. Developers can build speech-capability into the structure of their application from the beginning."


• SlashTCO.com: Opnix save a packet with complete Linux solution (Jan 31, 2001, 14:48)
  "Since optimizing core Internet routing is a 24x7 job, the most important prerequisite for the company's network was reliability - this prompted the use of a complete Linux solution as the basis for its network infrastructure."


• SearchEnterpriseLinux: MandrakeSoft CEO: Linux-Mandrake tops in retail (Jan 31, 2001, 14:37)
  "We were the first commercial player to create online updates available on the desktop. We started out with the easiest to use installation system, and it's gotten better. That's an area where our competitors are catching up with us quickly. We were the first to put in file journaling, Reiser FS. We have the first control panel, one place where you can set up your system features, of all the commercial distributions."


• SearchEnterpriseLinux: BigStorage CEO speaks on largest Linux storage deal (Jan 31, 2001, 14:18)
  "What are the advantages of working with storage on Linux over other platforms? ... The really big advantage, from a storage standpoint, of Linux is the degree of innovation that is going on with the platform, specifically with file systems."


• LinuxPlanet: .comment: The Wit and Wisdom of Linus Torvalds (Jan 31, 2001, 13:44)
  To a distant observer, operating systems are dead things, little magnetic marks on some spinning gadget that somehow do something that lets you do something, or something like that. Yet to people who spend vast time with their machines, those who have become imbued with the zen of it all, operating systems have distinct personalities -- reflecting the creators of Linux. And of these unique personalities, none is more interesting than the guy who started it all: Linus Torvalds. Dennis E. Powell wades through the kernel mailing-list archives to bring you the unfiltered Linus Torvalds commenting on a variety of topics: hardware, software, and those philosophical issues that make life interesting.


• AllLinuxDevicesPR: Force and Lineo Partner to Provide High Availability Linux Solution (Jan 31, 2001, 12:18)
  "Branded the Force Availix Platform 8-i500, this unique Linux operating system-based cluster solution demonstrates Force's capabilities to integrate CompactPCI technology with third-party hardware and software to provide embedded systems for differing availability requirements."


• Linux kernel 2.4.1 is out [Updated - files changes now available] (Jan 31, 2001, 07:55)
  Without an official announcement, kernel 2.4.1 has been uploaded to kernel.org.


• CNET News.com: IBM to step up to plate for Linux at confab (Jan 31, 2001, 07:51)
  "On IBM's docket are a new 64-processor IBM server that can run existing Linux applications unchanged, courtesy of some new IBM middleware...."


• evil3D.net: Vector Linux 1.8 [Review] (Jan 31, 2001, 07:38)
  "Been looking for a quick and tight Linux distribution for your gaming box? Me too! And Vector Linux just might fit the bill. Utilizing the 2.2.17 kernel, Vector Linux sports i586 optimizations and a small footprint (how does 170MB fully installed sound?)."


• AnandTech: Pogo Linux: 1GHz for under $1000 [Hardware Review] (Jan 31, 2001, 07:33)
  "Quite possibly the biggest selling point for Pogo and the Altura is the fact that their pre-built systems are actually quite a bit like what your average hardware enthusiast would put together if they were given $1000 to spend. The fact that Pogo offers Linux as a primary OS on their creation is yet another point that helps to set them apart from the competition."


• osOpinion: How Sun Saw the Light (Jan 31, 2001, 07:17)
  "The commercial UNIX war of the 1990s ended with the once fragile workstation company Sun Microsystems the victorious champion. Smoldering on the battlefield were the charred remains of IBM and SGI."


• Debian Weekly News - January 24th, 2001 (Jan 31, 2001, 07:09)
  Welcome to Debian Weekly News, a newsletter for the Debian community.


• LinuxPR: MontaVista and IBM Announce Java-Based Development and Runtime Platform for Embedded Linux (Jan 31, 2001, 07:09)
  "MontaVista Software Selected by IBM For Embedded Linux; New Product Featured at Linux World in New York."


• LinuxPR: MIPS Alliance Program Taps MontaVista Software (Jan 31, 2001, 07:07)
  "Hard Hat Linux to Target MIPS32T and MIPS64T CPUs and Cores for Network Appliances and Office Equipment."


• LinuxPR: Alchemy Semiconductor Partners with MontaVista in Growing Internet Edge Device Market (Jan 31, 2001, 07:05)
  "Hard Hat Linux to Power the Alchemy Au1000 SOC in Embedded Applications."


• LinuxPR: MontaVista Ends First Full Year of Operation on High Note (Jan 31, 2001, 07:03)
  "Revenues, Design-Wins, Head-Count, Investment, and Alliances Exceed Company's Goals, Validate Open Source Business Model."


• SuSE Security Announcement: bind8 (Jan 31, 2001, 06:55)
  "bind-8.x in all versions of the SuSE distributions contain a bug in the transaction signature handling code that can allow to remotely over- flow a buffer and thereby execute arbitrary code as the user running the nameserver (this is user named by default on SuSE systems)."


• TurboLinux Security Announcement: All packages prior to LPRng-3.6.26 (Jan 31, 2001, 06:47)
  "The LPRng port, versions prior to 3.6.26, contains a potential vulnera- bility which may allow root compromise from both local and remote systems."


• Conectiva Linux Security Announcement - kde2 (Jan 31, 2001, 06:40)
  "There is a vulnerability in kdesu which allows for other users on the machine to capture that password and thus potencially compromise the root account."


• SuSE Security Announcement: kdesu (Jan 31, 2001, 06:37)
  "When enabling the 'keep password' option it tries to send the password across process boundaries to kdesud via a UNIX socket. During this it does not verify the identity of the listener on the other end. This allows attackers to obtain the root password."


• Slackware Security Advisory: multiple vulnerabilities in bind 8.x (Jan 31, 2001, 06:29)
  "Multiple vulnerabilities exist in the versions of BIND found in Slackware 7.1 and -current. Users of BIND 8.x are urged to upgrade to 8.2.3 to fix these problems."


• Conectiva Linux Security Announcement - bind (Jan 31, 2001, 06:26)
  "COVERT labs and Claudio Musmarra have found several vulnerabilities in the bind packages. Two of these vulnerabilities affect the version shipped with Conectiva Linux (8.2.2P7 is the most current shipped package)."


• Enterprise Linux Today: Oracle Ships Two Major Products on Linux (Jan 31, 2001, 02:09)
  "Oracle Internet File System on Linux Poses Threat to Microsoft Windows NT File System."


• Linuxnewbie.org: Amanda Network Backup Made Easy (Jan 31, 2001, 01:52)
  "Amanda is an open source network tape-backup system. An amanda setup will consist of a dedicated host tape server, and the clients."


• LinuxPR: Zelerate Software to Run ThinkGeek E-Commerce Site (Jan 31, 2001, 01:52)
  "Zelerate is working to increase the functionality of its software in statistical analysis, customer service and accounting system integration."


• LinuxPR: OpenAir.com Selects NuSphere MySQL As Preferred Software Vendor (Jan 31, 2001, 01:23)
  "Provider of Web-Native Professional Services Automation Software To Distribute NuSphere MySQL--the First Packaged Version of the Leading Open Source Database--to Its Customers."


• JabberCentral: What is a Jabber Client? (Jan 31, 2001, 01:12)
  "Jabber is an architecture, a way of thinking, a set of protocols, just as much as it is an actual implementation in the form of a server and clients. And this architecture lends itself to much more than the exchange of gossip between friends, or the hosting of WAMs (Wide Area Meetings ;-) in group chat."


• Kernel Cousin Wine #80 by Eric Pouech (Jan 31, 2001, 01:06)
  Wine is a free implementation of Windows on Unix.


• ZDNet: Why Linux is turning the tables (Jan 31, 2001, 01:02)
  "As a result, Rooney's piece wondered aloud whether Linus, Linux's creator and chief cat-herder, was its worst enemy. We should all be cursed with such enemies."


• Smart Partner: LinuxWorld 2001 - The Best Is Yet To Come (Jan 31, 2001, 00:53)
  "The real news from the show is Linux's continuing journey into the mainstream of server computing. All the major server players who have already committed to Linux--Compaq, Dell and IBM--will be there with a flurry of new small deals to show that they're serious about Linux."


• SuSE Security Announcement: bind8 (Nov 16, 2000, 20:41)
  "BIND, the Berkeley Internet Name Daemon, versions before 8.2.2p7, has been found vulnerable to two denial of service attacks: named may crash after a compressed zone transfer request (ZXFR) and if an SRV record (defined in RFC2782) is sent to the server."


• Conectiva Linux Security Announcement - bind (Nov 10, 2000, 23:01)
  "The bind nameserver has a vulnerability regarding compressed zone tansfers that can be used in a DoS attack. This vulnerability can only be exploited by authorized zone transfers."