[ Thanks to Phil
Lavigna for this link. ]
***********************************************************************
Issue #33 Tuesday, 5 March 2002
Welcome to the Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter -- dedicated to
keeping you up-to-date with the latest Mandrake-related news & info.
***********************************************************************
This Week's Summary: Beta 4 has been released; Worldwide Expansion of
"Linux Campus"; Upcoming CeBit Show; Legislative Alert; Mandrake in the
News; 8.2 Commercial Packages at MandrakeClub; Business Case of the
Week; Security-related Software Updates; Headlines from MandrakeForum.
Top Stories
----------------------------------------
Mandrake Linux 8.2 Beta 4 has been released.
A new beta of the upcoming Mandrake Linux 8.2 is now available. This
could be the final chance to ensure that 8.2 will run perfectly on your
equipment, so everyone is invited to download, test, and submit bug
reports. Beta 4 can be found at the usual FTP locations.
Similar to the previous betas, MandrakeForum will soon host a series of
Test this articles where beta-testers can post comments and
suggestions about Beta 4. Read the official announcement here.
--
Linux training -- Mandrake style.
MandrakeSoft is proud to announce the expansion of its professional
Linux training program known as Linux Campus. Linux Campus provides
high-quality training curriculum to Certified Training Centers
throughout the world. Additionally, the "Administrator Program" is
compatible with the highly regarded LPI certification program produced
by the Linux Professional Institute.
Linux Campus training is now offered at 25 locations in 8 countries,
with 35 additional locations coming soon. One of the new German
training centers is run by Dieter Thalmayr, who developed and lead
SuSE's first (and main) training center in Germany before deciding to
become his own boss.
MandrakeSoft representatives will be present at the European "CeBIT"
trade show to recruit new training center partners from all over
Europe. If Linux Campus isn't yet available in your area, feel free to
request it from one of your local training centers.
Upcoming Event
-----------------
MandrakeSoft will be present at this year's CeBIT trade show, which
is being held in Hannover, Germany from March 13th to the 20th, 2002.
Just like last last year, Mandrakesoft will have a small delegation of
representatives ready to discuss "Professional Training" (Gilliot
Alexis), "Hardware" (Regis Wira), and "Community" (Denis Havlik).
Alexis will be at the LPI booth (Hall 3, Stand C57) with our latest and
most important training partner in Germany: INTEA. Following on the
heels of "Magnum Opus" in Munich, INTEA just become the third certified
Linux Campus training center in Germany.
Magnum Opus: http://magnum-opus.de/
Intea: http://intea.de/
Davision: http://www.davision.com/
Denis will be working at AMD's booth (Hall 19, Stand B24) giving
presentations of Mandrake Linux 8.2 and the MandrakeClub. Regis will
be working the floor, meeting and speaking with hardware vendors.
Legislative Alert
----------------------------------------
According to Eurolinux, on Thursday Feb. 20th, the European Commission
published a draft for enacting software patents in Europe similar to
the U.S. system. The draft was authored by a director of the B.S.A.
(the Business Software Alliance is an anti-piracy alliance dominated
by Microsoft).
The proposal:
- Introduces unlimited patentability on *all* abstract ideas, especially
those of the Amazon "One Click" and BT "Hyperlink" type
- Legalizes 30000 patents on "computer-implementable inventions"
(i.e. abstract rules disguised in computing jargon)
- Undermines the copyright property on which the European software
industry has been thriving
- Allows standards to be monopolized, denying Open Source software,
shareware and SMEs entry to markets, charging "per-use" fees even from
creators and users of multimedia content (MPEG 4 will cost 0.02 EUR
per hour)
- Erodes software innovation in Europe
- Transfers several billion euros from the software industry to the
people in charge of the directive proposal in Brussels
- Weakens elementary rights of citizens in the information society
This far reaching maneuver in Brussels deserves everyone's attention.
Please take a moment to sign EuroLinux's Petition for a Software
Patent-Free Europe, and also warn your local government, elected
politicians, and journalists about this dangerous proposal.
Mandrake in the News
----------------------------------------
OSNews.com -- Interview with David Faure of Mandrake & KDE.
OSNews is featuring an interesting interview with KDE developer (and
MandrakeSoft employee) David Faure. David's main projects include
Konqueror and KWord. In the interview, he discusses KDE3, GNOME, and
much more.
LinuxProgramming.com -- Jeff Garzik: Doing the BitKeeper Thing,
Penguin-Style.
Linux kernel hacker (and MandrakeSoft employee) Jeff Garzik provides a
series of notes on using Bitkeeper for Linux kernel development (or
other development projects). "BitKeeper is a distributed system. When
applied to revision control, this means doing away with client-server,
and changing to a parent-child model... essentially peer-to-peer."
MandrakeClub
----------------------------------------
This week, the first commercial software packages from the 8.2
distribution will begin appearing at the Club for downloading. Since
the 8.2 distribution isn't completely finished yet, these packages
should still be considered "experimental", so please use them at your
own risk.
Not yet a Mandrake Club member? To learn more, please visit:
http://mandrakelinux.com/en/club/
Business Case of the Week
----------------------------------------
Webbods Pty. Ltd. -- Mandrake is our OS of choice.
A Web development company north of Sydney, Australia selects Mandrake
Linux as their OS of choice for the desktop PCs, and even a Powerbook.
All of the company's web development is now performed in Linux, as well
as normal everyday tasks such as surfing the Web, email, online
banking, word processing, spreadsheets, etc.
"Fitting in with our other machines was a breeze, we have NT and Mac
boxes here, and the Linux machines talk to all of them, no extra
software needed... I have 17 years experience with DOS, Windows, OS/2,
Mac OS & OSX, BeOS, etc etc. Mandrake is our platform of choice now. I
don't need to use Windows, Mandrake does all that I need, and quicker
in just about all instances." says Nick Texidor.
For many more examples of Mandrake in the workplace, see MandrakeBizcases.
Software Updates
----------------------------------------
Security-related software updates have been released for:
cyrus-sasl -- fixes format string vulnerability
php -- fixes file upload vulnerability
postfix -- fixes SASL support
View the complete list at MandrakeSecure.net.
Headlines from MandrakeForum
----------------------------------------
Lots of stories this week about testing beta3, including:
* What and how to test
* Testing The Mandrake Configuration Tools
* Testing Window Managers
* Network configuration
* And lots more
Where's That Key?
Tom kicks off a discussion of various "touch-typing" programs that are
available for Linux.
New Mainboard? No Problem!
If you've ever worried about how Linux handles hardware changes,
Mandrake user "JeroenM" shares his experience of replacing his
computer's motherboard.
MandrakeClub Newsletter #3
Read the latest Club activities.
Read these and other stories at MandrakeForum.
----------------------------------------
To subscribe to the weekly Mandrake Linux Community Newsletter,
please visit the MandrakeSoft website and enter your email address
into the "Sign in" box located on the right side of the webpage.