Linux World has a story about StarOffice being used at universities. “Universities around the world are using the newly open sourced StarOffice as an alternative to
Microsoft-based file compatibility. Paired with Linux, universities can also use StarOffice to resurrect
old systems that lack the power to handle other uses.”

From Business Wire:
LinuxWizardry Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:LNXWF) is pleased to
announce that the Board of Directors have approved a share dividend of its wholly owned subsidiary, LinuxWizardry, Inc. to the
shareholders of the Company. The Subsidiary is the operating company for the Company’s Linux based Apprentice Router and the Magic Passage
VPN.

Slashdot readers talk about an article at Dr. Dobb’s Journal previewing Debian Hurd saying its modular design enables customization.

From SecurityFocus.com: “A vulnerability exists in certain versions of Sun’s Java Runtime Environment, and potentially in JREs from other vendors having been derived from Sun’s Java Development Kit source tree. Untrusted Java code may be able to calls to classes which would normally not be permitted. As a result, a malicious applet could potentially be used, for example, to compromise the security of a host system visiting an attacker’s web site.”

“A vulnerability exists in the bourne again shell that could allow arbitrary writing to files. The problem exists in the insecure creation of files in the /tmp directory. When using redirection, files are created in the /tmp directory without first checking for existance of the file. This could result in a symbolic link attack that could be used to corrupt any file that the owner of the redirecting shell has access to write to. This vulnerability affects those systems using Bourne Again Shell Version 1.” Full details and patches on SecurityFocus.com.

SearchEnterpriseLinux.com reporter Beth Quimby sums up the week’s Linux-related news. Get info about a new Linux unit, a deal between a China Netcom and Bluepoint Linux and a new evolving book about Red Hat Linux 7.
–Max Kincora

“Matthew Leek has spent more than four years getting a compact disc to resemble a fruit roll-up. His company, ThinDisc Media, has figured out how to make a completely functional digital disc that’s five times thinner than a regular DVD or CD. The ThinDisc is also flexible enough to wrap around soda cans and be inserted into magazines without breaking.” Full story at Forbes.com.

The Register reports on a few security issues with Cisco’s 600-series routers: “Any router in the Cisco 600 family that is configured to allow Web access can be locked by sending a specific URL. If that doesn’t take the fancy of crackers, they could always try sending either a large ICMP ECHO (PING) packet to it or a stream of TCP SYN packets to the router – both of which can be used to mount denial of service attacks, or block services to, the routers in question.”

Wired News reports that some users are unhappy about the new look and feel of Apple’s Mac OS X interface, with some going as far to cobble together their own GUI for the upcoming operating system.

CNET News.com reports that AltaVista is shuttering its free Internet access service in the United States, after failing to find a vendor willing to take over the service.