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Submitters, send your News Bytes items in PLAIN TEXT format. Other formats may be rejected without reading. You have been warned! Send a one- or two-paragraph summary plus URL rather than an entire press release.
October 2000 Linux Journal
The October issue of Linux Journal is on newsstands now. This issue focuses on Security. Click here to view the table of contents, or here to subscribe.
All articles through December 1999 are available for public reading at http://www.linuxjournal.com/lg-issues/mags.html. Recent articles are available on-line for subscribers only at http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/.
General
Comparision of Linux distributions. (LinuxNewbie.org)
The Duke of URL has new reviews of several distributions. See the links below in the "Linux Links" section of General News.
Upcoming conferences & events
Listing courtesy Linux Journal. Red indicates shows LJ staff will be attending.
| September 26-28, 2000 Atlanta, GA www.key3media.com/linuxbizexpo | ||
| October 3, 2000 Burlington, MA October 5, 2000 Vienna, VA www.computerio.com/news/seminar.html | ||
| October 10-14, 2000 Atlanta, GA www.linuxshowcase.org |
Building Dependability in Global Infrastructures Host of the Real-Time and Embedded Systems Forum | October 23-24, 2000 Washington, DC www.opengroup.org www.opengroup.org/rtforum |
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Embedded Linux Expo & Conference | October 27, 2000 Westborough, MA www.rtcgroup.com/elinuxexpo/index2.html |
ISPCON | November 8-10, 2000 San Jose, CA www.ispcon.com |
| November 13-17, 2000 Las Vegas, NV www.key3media.com/linuxbizexpo |
USENIX Winter - LISA 2000 | December 3-8, 2000 New Orleans, LA www.usenix.org |
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Pluto Meeting 2000 | December 9-11, 2000 Terni, Italy meeting.pluto.linux.it |
LinuxWorld Conference & Expo | January 30 - February 2, 2001 New York, NY www.linuxworldexpo.com |
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ISPCON | February 5-8, 2001 Toronto, Canada events.internet.com |
Internet World Spring | March 12-16, 2001 Los Angeles, CA events.internet.com |
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Game Developers Conference | March 20-24, 2001 San Jose, CA www.cgdc.com |
CeBit | March 22-28, 2001 Hannover, Germany www.cebit.de |
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Linux Business Expo | April 2-5, 2001 Chicago, IL www.linuxbusinessexpo.com |
Strictly e-Business Solutions Expo | May 23-24, 2001 Location unknown at present www.stricltyebusinessexpo.com |
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USENIX Annual Technical Conference | June 25-30, 2001 Boston, MA www.usenix.org |
PC Expo | June 26-29, 2001 New York, NY www.pcexpo.com |
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Internet World | July 10-12, 2001 Chicago, IL events.internet.com |
O'Reilly Open Source Convention | July 23-26, 2001 San Diego, CA conferences.oreilly.com |
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LinuxWorld Conference & Expo | August 10-14, 2001 New York, NY www.linuxworldexpo.com |
Linux Lunacy Co-Produced by Linux Journal and Geek Cruises | October 21-28, 2001 Eastern Carribean www.geekcruises.com |
Really bad ideas
Speaking about a kernel patch, Linus said: "Thanks, and THIS time it really is fixed. I mean, how many times can we get it wrong? At some point, we just have to run out of really bad ideas." (Linux Weekly News)
SGI Linux certification
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Sept. 12, 2000)--SGI Education Services announced the availability of its new "eLearning for Linux" program, a suite of Linux courses delivered over the Internet. This allows users to study Linux operating system fundamentals in a way that is flexible, self-paced and available on any desktop.
The courses, based on Linux Professional Institute (LPI) exam objectives, include "Introduction to Linux," "Linux System Administration I," "Linux System Administration II" and "Linux Network Administration."
http://www.sgi.com/support/custeducation/
Yggdrasil Linux DVD Archives
San Jose, CA--Yggdrasil Computing has shipped the world's first Linux DVD9-ROM, a successor format to CD-ROM's, with over twelve times the capacity. Linux DVD Archives (MSRP $24.95) contains over eight billion bytes of open source software (over 23 billion bytes uncompressed), giving Linux users a new level of convenience and access to open source software.
Linux DVD Archives is the first DVD-ROM made from dvdtape, a program released under the GNU General Public License by Yggdrasil. Because of the high level of technology risk inherent in building the first DVD-9, and building it from a new development system, we chose to begin with a very simple product. A user cannot install Linux from Linux DVD Archives, so it is only useful as an accessory for current Linux users. What the product does provide is the largest collection of software from the metalab.unc.edu and ftp.gnu.org archives ever assembled on a single mass produced medium.
DVD-9 is the state of the art in disc manufacturing, requiring equipment that can bond together layers with two different metals: the conventional aluminum used on CD's and single-layer DVD's, with a layer of gold, giving the discs their distinctive look: silvery on top and gold underneath. Although the manufacturing process may be more exotic than with smaller DVD's, Linux DVD Archives should be compatible with all DVD-ROM drives.
There have been other DVD-ROM's produced for Linux, but these have been "DVD-5" discs, which consist of a single aluminum layer like a conventional CD and have to 55% of the capacity available per side with DVD technology. Yggdrasil's DVD-9 product enables use of the full capacity. The bigger difference, in terms of which event will improve products available to end users, is that Yggdrasil has released its internally developed software for making DVD's under the GNU General Public License, eliminating an expensive proprietary barrier throughout the Linux industry for DVD production, an act which will likely presage more widespread development of DVD-ROM's.
Linux DVD Archives Product Information
How we made a Linux DVD-9 Archive
[The first document cited contains an interesting quote: "...you must be running Linux kernel 2.2.14, 2.3.28 or later in order to access files located more than four gigabytes into the DVD." -Mike.]
Good Morning Server
The Good Morning Server has its Linux operating system and 20 applications embedded on a flash memory card. This separates the OS from the hard drive, one of the most failure-prone components of any computer.
Five products are currently offered, each fulfilling a different deployment niche: general Internet server, DNS server only, mail server only (includes mailing lists and virtual accounts), e-commerce server, BBS server. Additional products are coming. Each product is designed for maximum security; e.g., unnecessary services have been eliminated. Configuration is via a web interface or telnet.
To upgrade the system, merely change the flash card and reboot, or download a patch file. This upgrade method is patent-pending.
The Good Morning Server is made by Duli Network Corporation, Ltd. in Seoul, South Korea.
http://www.duli.net (Korean language)
Jabber.com picks up some bigwigs
September 7, 2000 - DENVER - Jabber.com Inc., a subsidiary of Webb Interactive Services Inc., today announced the addition of two new Technical Advisory Board members - Michael Tiemann, current CTO of Red Hat, and Dr. David P. Reed, former vice president of research and development and chief scientist for Lotus Development Corporation and one of the early members of the committee that defined the Internet protocol suite TCP/IP.
Meanwhile, downloads of the Jabber server have reached the 10,000 mark.
Note that Jabber itself (an XML-based instant-messaging program that can intercommunicate with proprietary systems, in case you've been asleep), is open source, and its development happens at Jabber.org. Jabber.com provides commercial support for it, and JabberCentral provides end-user support.
Jabber is now integrated with Open3's e-business integration platform. This XML-based, open-source platform helps companies move from paper-oriented office procedures to digital.
Linux Security, or Rather, the Lack Thereof
Do you know all the services (=daemons) your Linux box is running? If not, you'd better find out now and turn off the ones you don't want. Every extra service gives the script kiddies another opening to try to sabotage or commandeer your computer. OSOpinion contributer Joeri Sebrechts rakes the Linux distributions over the coals for shipping default installations that leave optional services on and for not setting the default access policy to "DENY". This, he argues, is a ticking time bomb for users who just migrated from Windows and don't know that these services--which are running now on their computer--even exist.
Mr Gates
"You left them alone in a room with a penguin?! Mr Gates, your men are
already dead."
-Seen on a Slashdot posting by Tough Love.
Linux Links
Duke of URL articles:
Anchordesk UK (ZDnet) articles:
The differences between the various BSDs. (ZDnet Inter@ctive Week)
Mojolin.com is a free Linux job site.
Linux2order.com offers over 5,000 pieces of Linux software in its web site, which can be downloaded for free or ordered on a custom CD-ROM for US$12.95 plus shipping. The site also includes software reviews. The company plans to offer at least 2,000 additional titles by the year's end.
A review of the Matrox Millennium G450 Under Linux (Slashdot)
CRYPTOAdmin 5.0 - Strong User Authentication
KANATA, Canada, September 7, 2000 - CRYPTOCard Corp. has launched CRYPTOAdmin 5.0 for protecting Web Sites, Email and Remote Access Security CRYPTOAdmin 5.0 protectss Apache, iPlanet and Microsoft IIS Web servers from unauthorized access - right down to the page level.
CRYPTOAdmin 5.0 CRYPTOAdmin 5.0 with WEBGuard, ensures access to protected web pages is only permitted with the correct one-time password generated from a CRYPTOCard hardware or software token. Web severs communicate with CRYPTOAdmin, enabling ASP (Active Server Page) or JSP (Java Server Page) security. WEBGuard offers seamless and transparent integration without the need for browser configuration, plug-ins or additional software.
CRYPTOAdmin 5.0 provides strong user authentication in the Linux environment. Used in conjunction with freely available facilities such as PAM and Kerberos, CRYPTOAdmin enhances the stability, versatility and networkability of Linux. A new Graphical User Interface (GUI) makes administration an easy and welcome task for Red Hat, SuSE and Caldera network administrators.
CRYPTOAdmin 5.0 server runs on Windows NT, Windows 2000, Linux and Solaris.
CRYPTOCard's Authentication Server Software license is $7,495 compared with RSA's server license of $57,512 - a savings of $50K. And, unlike RSA, CRYPTOCard's tokens are purchased only once, are not time limited, and have replaceable batteries.
Loki games
SimCity 3000 Unlimited for Linux is now in production. The first copies will roll off the assembly lines late next week for shipment to our online store and other distributors. [demo]
Version 428 of Unreal Tournament for Linux is now available. [README and download locations]
New and improved FAQs on Loki games.
Loki will partner with Timegate Studios to bring Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns to Linux. Kohan will be the first of the immensely-popular real-time strategy gaming genre to be commercially available for Linux. The Linux version of this masterpiece will be released near-simultaneously with the Windows version in Q1 2001.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Friday, September 15, 2000 - It's fragtime for the Dust Puppy. Today kicks off the UserFriendly.org and Loki Software Quake III Arena Contest.
Contestants will create and modify "skins" and levels based on the cast of characters from the UserFriendly.org episodic comic strip for use with Quake III Arena, the blockbuster 3D, first-person perspective, shooter video game developed by id Software. Skins dictate the appearance of the player within the game environment, while the levels define the appearance and layout of the space used by the battling players inside the game. "I am categorically terrified by what the UserFriendly.org community might come up with," explains J.D. "Illiad" Frazer, the comic strips creator and Founder of UserFriendly.org. The contest runs until October 11. For contest information, visit www.userfriendly.org/community/quake.
Other software
BORG 0.2.90 is a graphics-rendering tool. [news] [download]
Want an alternative to KDE and Gnome? Try XFce, a GTK+-based"light" cousin to Gnome that contains less features, but therefore uses less resources and is faster. It includes a Gnome compatibility module for xfwm (XFce's window manager) enabling you to run the Gnome panel, pager and tasklist integrated with xfwm. There's no such compatibility module for KDE, so you can't run the KDE panel, but KDE applications run fine. Of course, xfwm also has its own panel.... Here's a LinuxOrbit interview (Slashdot). Readers, anybody wanna review it?