“Transmeta’s not the only chip maker with code-morphing software. IBM Research is developing its own way to ensure VLIW chip compatability.” More from ZDNet News.

The Register reports: “Does IBM ship ThinkPads with Linux preinstalled or not? In the US it certainly seems to, but the position in Europe seems a tad murkier – after hours of research The Reg’s phantom buyer is still no closer to extracting price, spec, availability or even model number out of the loves at the UK branch of Shop IBM.”

With over 40% of the Linux desktop market, Red Hat 7.0 is the most popular Linux distribution in Japan. Read the full press release at Business Wire.

“Red Hat has dropped support for Sun Microsystems’ Sparc chips for its new version 7 of Linux, saying there just wasn’t enough interest in the product. “Due to insufficient demand, we will not be releasing an official Red Hat Linux for Sparc,” spokeswoman Melissa London said in an email interview. The move whittles down Red Hat’s product line to Linux software for Intel and Compaq Computer’s Alpha chips.” Full report at CNET News.com.

eWEEK reports: “As the battle for dominance in the Linux desktop environment heats up, Dell Computer Corp. will announce next week that it has taken a significant stake in Linux software developer Eazel Inc. Dell will also start shipping Eazel’s network user environment with all its Linux-based desktop and notebook products starting early next year.”

PalmPalm technologies announced the completion of development on the IMT-2000, the world’s first cell phone to run an embedded Linux. Running the Tynux embedded Linux distribution (based on the 2.4.0 Linux kernel), the new gadget combines a telephone and personal digital assistant into a single hardware application.

From SecurityFocus.com: “Midnight Commander is a popular file management tool for unix systems. Among many other features, Midnight Commander allows users to traverse their filesystem using a menu-style console interface. There exists a vulnerability in the way Midnight Commander handles directories that may allow for arbitrary commands to be executed when maliciously created directories are opened.”

“The in.identd service is used to provide remote systems with usernames associated with tcp connection port pairs. The version of in.identd that ships with S.u.S.E. Linux contains a remotely exploitable denial of service vulnerability that may result in the service crashing.” Full details at SecurityFocus.com.

ZDNet UK reports: “Computer security firm Network Associates was left embarrassed after two of its corporate Web site were defaced Wednesday although it claims it is not its fault.” The company says it shouldn’t be held responsible for the break-ins because the servers were co-located.

Digital media companies pleaded with federal officials to clear up “cloudy areas” of U.S. copyright law, during a hearing Wednesday, according to a Reuters story. Wired.com has a different take on the hearing, saying publishers, movie studios, and software companies urged the government not to tinker with the current law.