Linux News for Jul 29, 2009

• Announcing PTS Desktop Live 2009.3 (Jul 29, 2009, 23:32)
  Phoronix: "It has been no secret that we have been working to create our own Linux distribution that is designed to run off a Live DVD/USB device and would provide a standardized free software stack for running hardware benchmarks"


• Open Source as a Healthcare Solution (Jul 29, 2009, 23:02)
  Linux Developer Network: "But as the US watches this debate unfold, many constituents may not realize that steps have already been taken to improve the US healthcare system, both with recent legislation and with 30-year-old software code--code that one company is harnessing with open source practices to improve clinical care across the country."


• Hannah Montana Linux Review (Jul 29, 2009, 22:32)
  Desktop Linux Reviews: "Sometimes I run into a remastered distro that is so odd...so strange...so disgusting...that I don’t even know where to begin in reviewing it."


• Top 3 Linux Burning Applications (Jul 29, 2009, 22:02)
  TuxArena: "1. K3b Not many can argue against this one."


• Have You Been Hacked by Metasploit? Find Out! (Jul 29, 2009, 21:32)
  InternetNews: "Didn't think it was possible to detect a Metasploit attack? New open source tool will change your mind."


• BIND 9 DNS under attack - time to update (Jul 29, 2009, 21:02)
  Netstat-vat: "The end result is a denial of service attack. ISC has an update out now and is urging users to upgrade."


• Hot IT Skills: Linux is No. 2 of Top 15 (Jul 29, 2009, 20:32)
  Datamation: "The tough conditions make the question that much more compelling: what IT skills are most in demand?"


• Why Code For Free? Linux/FOSS Devs Speak! (Jul 29, 2009, 20:02)
  LinuxPlanet: "Last week I talked about some the advantages of Free/Open Source software for us end users. Today developers speak on why they like to use FOSS; I received so many excellent responses that I have split this into two parts, and the second part will run tomorrow."


• Night of the living Yahoo (Jul 29, 2009, 19:32)
  Cyber Cynic: ""Brains! Must have Yahoo advertising brains!" That might have been Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's call as he finally made a deal for Yahoo."


• Aisleriot - Solitaire on Steroids (Jul 29, 2009, 19:02)
  Raiden's Realm: "That's where Aisleriot Solitaire comes in. It's a complete package of popular solitaire games in an easy to use interface that's not only easy to use, but it's stable and fun. In total, Aisleriot comes with some 40+ different solitaire games you can choose from."


• Apple: iPhone jailbreaking could knock out transmission towers (Jul 29, 2009, 18:32)
  InfoWorld: "Unauthorized changes to the iPhone's software could allow denial-of-service attacks or free phone calls, warns Apple"


• GNU Generation: Calling all pre-university students (Jul 29, 2009, 18:02)
  Free Software Foundation: "GNU Generation is a new project sponsored by the Free Software Foundation to involve high school age pre-university students (approximately ages 13-18) in free software"


• World Of Goo is a must have for puzzle game lovers in Linux (Jul 29, 2009, 17:32)
  Ubuntu Manual: "World of Goo is a puzzle game with a highly efficient physics engine. It has won many accolades from across the world since its release. It was initially available for Wii, Windows and Mac, but lately, its available for Linux as well."


• Go ahead and install Firefox 3.5.1 in Ubuntu (Jul 29, 2009, 17:02)
  Ubuntu Manual: "Hardly a week has been passed since the release of brand new Firefox 3.5 and it already have its first update in the form of Firefox 3.5.1."


• About Hans Bayer (Jul 29, 2009, 16:32)
  Groklaw: "As a result, some emails by Bayer about the proposed sale to unXis were stricken from the record. I'll show you in a minute why SCO was so eager to have the emails stricken."


• #!*A5%amp;j9 - How to Encrypt Your File System (Jul 29, 2009, 16:02)
  Linux Magazine: "There are basically three options when talking about encrypting your data on a Linux system. The options are: (1) encrypting a single file, (2) encrypting a directory (with or without a virtual disk), or (3) encrypting a physical block device."


• Automated spam translation keeps global spam rates near 90% (Jul 29, 2009, 15:32)
  Help Net Security: "While spam levels globally remain at a two-year high of approximately 90 percent, some European countries are seeing levels of over 95%."


• SFLC: Microsoft violated the GPL (Jul 29, 2009, 15:02)
  SD Times: "Microsoft violated the General Public License v2 (GPLv2) when it distributed its Hyper-V Linux Integration Components (LinuxIC) without providing source code, says the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC)."


• Speaking UNIX: Man oh man (Jul 29, 2009, 14:32)
  IBM Developerworks: "UNIX has hundreds if not thousands of commands, and it's impossible to remember every option and nuance. But, happily, you don't have to: man, UNIX's built-in, online reference system, is man's best friend."


• WASC Honeypot Opens Up With Open Source mod_security (Jul 29, 2009, 14:02)
  InternetNews: "The idea behind the IT security concept known as the honeypot is all about luring hackers into a server or network so they can be tracked. The Web Application Security Consortium (WASC) has its own particular brand of honey to attract would-be attackers -- a blend of open source and open proxies."


• Debian to adopt time-based releases (Jul 29, 2009, 13:32)
  ITWire: "The Debian GNU/Linux Project has decided to adopt time-based development freezes from now on, on a two-year cycle."


• Apache and the future of open-source licensing (Jul 29, 2009, 13:02)
  The Open Road: "If most developers contribute to open-source projects because they want to, rather than because they're forced to, why do we have the GNU General Public License?"


• Researchers Try to Stalk Botnets Used by Hackers (Jul 29, 2009, 12:32)
  New York Times: "To stalk the botnets, Mr. Minnich and his colleague Don Rudish have converted a Dell supercomputer to simulate a mini-Internet of one million computers."


• IBM, Novell to slash Linux prices for mainframes (Jul 29, 2009, 12:02)
  The Register: "With System z mainframe revenues down 39 per cent - and MIPS mainframe capacity shipments off 20 percent in the second quarter - IBM is keen on boosting mainframe sales. And it wants to use Linux as a lever."


• ARM-Based Pegatron Netbook Protoype (Jul 29, 2009, 10:32)
  Ubergizmo: "Running at a 1Ghz frequency, it is capable of playing 720p video and run basic 3D applications. While Android isn't ready for Netbooks yet, this Pegatron runs Ubuntu (Linux) just fine."


• Are we too naive by believing that GNU/Linux is more secure by design? (Jul 29, 2009, 09:02)
  Technology FLOSS: "GNU/Linux is far more secure than Windows among other things because it's designed to be so (a real muti-user OS by design, real Networked OS by design, etc) plus other customs that we *NIX users have like not using the root account to play Frozen Bubble and so on."


• Reviewed: Fedora 11 (Jul 29, 2009, 07:32)
  Tux Radar: "Leonidas (either named after the king of Sparta who led his troops to victorious annihilation in the Peloponnese or the chain of chocolate shops), is the 11th release of the Fedora operating system."


• Build A Real Time Audio Studio (Jul 29, 2009, 06:02)
  PC Plus: "Linux is a fantastic platform for audio production. Find out how to build the perfect production environment."


• Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service Investigates Netbooks (Jul 29, 2009, 04:32)
  FAS: "On 15th July 2009, the Commission of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) began proceedings in a case against «Асеr Inc.», «ASUSTeK Computer Inc.», «Toshiba Corporation», «Hewlett-Packard Company», « Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.» and «Dell Inc.» for the elements of violating the antimonopoly legislation."


• Studio DV, Open Octave, And More (Jul 29, 2009, 03:02)
  Linux Journal: "Recently I profiled the latest LiVES video editing system, and in that article I mentioned that I intended to buy a camcorder for use with LiVES and other video editing software. Since then I purchased a Samsung SC-D382 midiDV recorder. Studio Dave is now on its way to becoming Studio DV."


• A First Look at Python Classes (Jul 29, 2009, 01:32)
  Web Developer's Virtual Library: "To begin a discussion of classes, I think we should look back to the 'C' language. In many ways, C is the parent of most modern computer languages. Most interpreters and compilers are written in C. Most of the libraries of the scripting languages are written in C. Therefore, I could argue that modern languages are an abstraction of C in the same way that C is an abstraction of assembler."


• Global Business: Hats off To Red Hat (BBC audio interview) (Jul 29, 2009, 00:02)
  BBC: "We spend over $100 million a year to advance Linux"