LPH writes: “I’ve put up 25 screenshots of the installation for Mandrake Linux beta 2. I did not include screenshots of the expert mode or the upgrade mode.

TuxReports.”

Anonymous Reader writes: “Microsoft will be at LinuxWorld Conference and Expo to promote what might be called “Lin4Win,” to push its embedded system, and to try to win back some of the server users who have defected to Linux, according to this report in Linux and Main. There won’t be any big announcements or surprises, and certainly no Microsoft Office for Linux.”

Gentu writes: “OSNews is featuring an mini-interview with Miguel de Icaza, discussing the current status of Mono, Gnome2 and Linux on the desktop.”

LinuxPlanet has the tutorial-ish article. “The ability to share disks, directories, and files over a network is one of the most significant advances in modern computing, reducing local disk space requirements and making it easy for users to collaborate without ending up with hundreds of versions of the same files. Personal computers running Microsoft Windows and Apple’s MacOS and Mac OS X inherently support sharing disks and directories with other systems of the same types. Linux and Unix systems traditionally use the NFS network filesystem in order to do the same sort of thing.”

eWeek.com has the column: ” Don’t get me wrong-Windows XP and Mac OS X are very good operating systems, and excellent improvements over the OSes that preceded them. It’s just that what Apple and Microsoft identify as best for their business interests don’t always jibe with what’s best for their users.

In contrast, Linux doesn’t care what you do with it, or when you upgrade or which file formats you choose.”

Anonymous Reader writes:”DesktopLinux.com founder and executive editor Rick Lehrbaum previews a beta version of CodeWeavers CrossOver Office 1.2, which now supports Quicken and Visio (among other enhancements). Lehrbaum also interviews CodeWeavers CEO Jeremy White, to learn more about what else is coming, and what it takes for new apps to be added to CrossOver Office’s support. Read it here.”

C|Net’s News.com reports that Linux sales lost some ground to Windows last year, “but they’re expected to climb in coming years as distributors of the alternative operating system create new revenue streams. According to market research firm IDC, Linux sales declined nearly 5 percent in 2001 to $80 million, but are expected to grow to a $280 million market in 2006.”

From eWeek.com: “Microsoft won’t be waving the white flag when it camps out in Booth 1390 at LinuxWorld Expo next week. But its execs won’t be adorned in pith helmets, either … Microsoft wants to relate, geek-to-geek, to the LinuxWorld conventioneers at the San Francisco Moscone Center. To do so, the Redmond software maker plans to show off four of its technologies that it believes developers will find of interest, according to Microsoft officials. These include its shared-source software-licensing plan; Services for Unix (SFU) Windows utilities; Embedded XP software (for the retail/point-of-sale crowd); and Web Matrix, a new hobbyist programming tool.”

Anonymous Reader writes: “I saw an interesting article on The Register titled ‘Win32 API utterly and irredeemably broken,’ here’s the link to http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/26561.html with all the details.
Apparently it (the fundemental flaw(s)) stem from a comment made by Jim Allchin (who wouldn’t dare say a word about WMS because of “national security” reasons. [ehhh, ok Jim, whatever]) Well anyhow, he let the cat outta the bag, piqued a whole lotta curiosity and, well… the rest is history. Has anyone actually tried this to see if it works (besides the orginal author?) Will someone try it and let us know? How many people knew about this? I didn’t, and it steams me because we are kept ignorant and vulnerable for the “sake of security”. In the mean time there are ones who ARE in the know and use these exploits against others (simply because they can and the victim never knows about it. Why? Because of Microsoft’s ‘SECURITY THROUGH OBSCURITY’!!)
Btw, I was comforted to find out that X windows is NOT suseptable as MS windows.

Here’s the original authors web site, which can be found here: http://security.tombom.co.uk/shatter.html . Thank Linus for Linux!”

Amendments to the Uniform Computer Information
Transactions Act (UCITA) were approved by the National Conference of
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) at its 111th Annual Meeting
just concluded in Tucson, Arizona, to address concerns expressed by various
interest groups.
Highlights from the amendments are:

1. Electronic Self-Help Banned. Vendors (called licensors mainly) of
digital information, including software, may not disable the use of that
information by electronic means if there is a breach of an information
contract. Vendors have an expedited remedy for a material breach of
contract in a court of law.

2. A State’s Consumer Protection Law Trumps UCITA. An information contract
is expressly subject to and may not waive any consumer protection provided
in state or federal law. Included are laws providing for conspicuous
disclosure, unfair or deceptive trade practices laws, and laws relating to
electronic signatures and records.

3. Right to Criticize Protected. Information contract terms that prohibit
criticism of an information product are unenforceable. Parties may contract
in a manner consistent with other law such as the law of trade secrets.

4. Remedies for Known Material Defect Preserved. Remedies for a known
material defect of a product are expressly made available as fully as for
defective goods or services.

5. Reverse Engineering for Interoperability Expressly Authorized. An
information contract may not prohibit reverse engineering that is done for
the purposes of making an information product work together with other
information products.

6. Special Open-Source Software Provisions. Open-source software is
expressly not covered by the Act if only copyright permission is given and
is not part of a contract. If there is a contract, there are no implied
warranties if there is no commercial gain from the transaction.

UCITA is the first uniform law governing information contracts. It adopts
accepted and familiar principles of commercial contract law, and provides
fundamental rules for licensing contracts between users and vendors. It has
been enacted, to date, in Maryland and Virginia.

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws is now in its
111th year. The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers, judges, and
law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to draft proposals for uniform and
model laws and work toward their enactment in their legislatures.

For further information, please contact John McCabe or Katie Robinson at
312-915-0195, or Gabrielle Bamberger at 212-333-5222.