From ZDNet:
“MandrakeSoft released a new version of its Linux operating system distribution for servers and workstations on Thursday, with improvements to make the
software more stable and flexible, as well as easier to install and use.”

Grok writes “CodeWeavers’ CrossOver Plugin allows Linux users to use software and browser plugins that where once only available on Windows. Version 1.0 was released in late August 2001 to much media fervor, while the release of version 1.1 arrived without much fanfare. Despite the lack of attention by the news media, the new version of CrossOver is a more exciting release than the original. The reason? Microsoft Media Player Support. Finally, every major plugin on the Internet, along with several obscure ones, are now supported under Linux. Full Story at MozillaNews“.

From Advogato: “Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates “must be laughing all the way to the bank. Not only have they possibly gotten off scot-free; they’ve managed to dictate the terms such that even if they lose, they win. Why? Because the trial focused on all the wrong issues.”

NewsFactor Network writes “Giga Information Group vice president Rob Enderle told NewsFactor that shortages of the glass used to manufacture the iMac’s 15-inch LCD monitors is the major factor preventing an efficient ramp-up of the new product. The shortages are a result of increased demand for such monitors, Enderle said.”

From Linux Journal:
“When Steve Jobs introduced Apple’s new iMac in January 2002, the spotlight was focused entirely on the physical architecture of the first mainstream
computer that fully defied the term “box”. The new iMac is a white dome with a flat screen that floats on the end of a chrome arm. It looks like a
cross between a Luxo lamp and a makeup mirror. Jobs called it “the best thing we’ve ever done”.”

Kellie writes “IBM and SAP plan to announce the availability of mySAP.com on Linux for IBM zSeries by the end of May. For those interested, IBM has this mySap on Linux eServer zSeries Frequently Asked Questions (pdf) and also this large ISV list of Software Developers that have products for both Linux for zSeries and Linux for S/390.”

NewsFactor Network writes “Perhaps all is not lost for Psion, a company that might best be described as “in crisis.” Always an innovator, Psion is a major partner in the development of the Symbian operating system. This OS, with the cooperation of mobile phone manufacturers, could prove to be the phoenix that rises from the ashes of this ailing company.”

NewsFactor Network writes “Perhaps all is not lost for Psion, a company that might best be described as “in crisis.” Always an innovator, Psion is a major partner in the development of the Symbian operating system. This OS, with the cooperation of mobile phone manufacturers, could prove to be the phoenix that rises from the ashes of this ailing company.”

– By Grant Gross –

If you’re checking out demographic information at the U.S. Census Bureau’s Web site, there’s a chance the information is courtesy of several Open Source tools. Two senior technology architects with the Census Bureau’s Internet division said the low cost of Open Source software, plus strong support from the developer and user communities make Open Source the right choice for several Web-based projects at Census.gov.

Lisa Wolfisch Nyman and Rachael LaPorte Taylor described five Open Source Web projects at the Census Bureau Tuesday during one of the Open Source Software for e-Government series of discussions sponsored by the General Services Administration, the National Science Foundation and the Cyberspace Policy Institute at The George Washington University. The talk, held at the NSF just outside of Washington, D.C., drew about 30 government employees and private sector developers, two thirds of whom raised their hands when asked if they were Open Source advocates.

On several Web projects, the Census Bureau has used the LAMP suite of Open Source tools: Linux, the Apache Web server, the MySQL database, and the Perl, PHP and Python programming languages. In addition to saving tax dollars, Open Source software makes sense at an agency that uses a combination of Linux, Unix and SGI machines — and even a couple of Windows boxes, said Nyman.

“[Open Source] fits our heterogeneous environment,” Nyman said, listing off some benefits. “In government, we don’t have to worry about procurement — purchase orders, contracts, anything like that. We have access to support, which some people say is a myth. We actually know a lot of the authors of the Open Source software; we know them personally and professionally. It really helps when you can call up Joe and say, ‘hey, there’s a problem with your modules, can you help with it?’ Or even, ‘boy, it would really help us if you added this.’ “

Among the recent Web projects at the Census Bureau that use the LAMP Open Source tools (not counting other Open Source projects at the agency):

The Census 2000 Internet Questionnaire. Nyman said she was a bit disappointed that only 67,000 U.S. residents decided to fill out their Census forms online, but the 2000 online form will serve as a prototype for future online efforts.

The rates.census.gov project, part of the “How America Knows what America Needs” campaign encouraging better response rates to the 2000 census. The rates site tracked the response of local census efforts, and the 67% final response rate was the first time in the history of the census that the rate had increased, said Taylor.

The state and county QuickFacts site, where visitors can click on maps for easy-to-find statistics on their home states or counties. For example, the county where I grew up in North Dakota has a population of 5,102, with 26% of its population aged 65 or older and a median monthly income of $27,798. Over 19% of children there are living below the poverty line, and there are 773 college graduates there, according to the latest numbers. Nyman said the QuickFacts site, designed to be easy enough for sixth-graders to use, gives visitors a nutshell view of their counties or states, without having to deal with complicated search procedures elsewhere at census.gov. The project has no budget and is created by volunteer staff at the Census Bureau, making the Open Source tools particularly important, he added.

The MapStats project, another map-based site that compares state, federal judicial district or congressional district statistics to national stats. This project has been recognized by the GSA as a good use of Open Source tools in government, said Taylor. This project is part of FedStats.gov, a gateway to statistics from more than 100 U.S. agencies that also uses several Open Source tools.

The Census Bureau also uses Open Source software to collect and disseminate economic indicators required of member countries of the International Monetary Fund. Taylor said the U.S. model is generating interest from several other countries.

Asked if their department has encountered resistance from superiors at the Census Bureau, Nyman said that hasn’t been the case, at least at their agency. “People who are at the highest levels, I think they understand Open Source and what we’re trying to do,” she said.

Taylor did admit that saving money at the federal level by using Open Source can come back to haunt those agencies. “Once you save money, that money is taken away from you and used on projects that aren’t yours,” she said. “[The attitude is] ‘Look, they’ve saved all this money, and we’re going to take it away and buy (proprietary) products.’ “

After Taylor and Nyman spoke, there was a presentation from Martin Mickos, CEO of MySQL AB, on the company’s business model. MySQL databases are featured prominently in the Census Bureau’s Open Source projects.

Mickos said his company, unlike some Open Source companies, has been in the black since 1996. MySQL AB offers support and training courses for MySQL, and the company does sell a commercial version of MySQL. The product is dual licensed under the GNU General Public License and a commercial license, so that users have a choice of using it for free or paying for it if they want to avoid the code-sharing requirements of the GPL.

Either way, it’s the same product, Mickos said, and the company gets the benefit under the GPL of having thousands of developers contributing to the code and doing grass-roots marketing. Those benefits balance out any monetary losses from not having a completely proprietary product. “We’re not sorry that people are using it for free,” he said. “We’re not sorry that someone could spend a couple of million dollars but gave us $2,000 instead.”

Sasha Pachev, senior developer with the company, also outlined how MySQL is running large chunks of the finance.yahoo.com site. One Linux machine using MySQL is handling the bulk of the load for 331 tables averaging 50 megabytes a piece, he said. The peak load is 1,200 queries per second.

Asked if that load is MySQL’s limit, Pachev said that’s as big a site as MySQL runs, but that doesn’t mean the database is at its limit. “It’s like a Ferrari — it can go 200 miles per hour, but nobody dares drive it that fast,” he said. “Yahoo Finance using MySQL is like driving a Ferrari 120 miles per hour.”

Rajesh Goyal writes “LinuxCertified, Inc., a leading provider of Linux training, will start offering the latest class in its portfolio, the Linux/UNIX System and Network security Bootcamp, on April 8-9, 2002 in San Francisco bay area (south bay). This workshop has been designed for system, network or application administrators responsible for providing key network services on Linux servers. All students get a free Linux laptop.

As networked IT services become more invaluable, organizations of all sizes must face the growing challenge of ensuring security of these services.Security of network services faces threats from a variety of potential assailants, some with significant knowledge of the target as in the case of former and current employees, as well as uninformed yet equally dangerous cracker individuals and organizations.

This class enables the administrators to scan their network to
identify these vulnerabilities, and provides them tools to build secure systems and network.The curriculum comprises all dimensions of security issues in a complex network of servers offering various services. Some of the topics include operating system hardening techniques, application based exploits, firewalls, network hardening, and security-conscious network topology design. The class will also cover securing the most important internet services such as Web, DNS, Mail, DHCP and File serving. After this class attendees will be well versed with the common methods used by crackers against systems and networks, and methods to block them out.

The overall objective of the class is to build a secure network of servers for mission-critical production environments. Instruction is provided in a highly hands-on fashion, with labs customized to mirror the needs of modern data centers.

Students get a powerful Linux laptop at the start of the class, along with other class materials. Their goal is to secure networking services on this system, as well as to create a tool to analyze the security of rest of their network.

A detailed agenda for the bootcamp is available at:
http://www.linuxcertified.com/security_description .html

About LinuxCertified.com

The mission of LinuxCertified.com is to bring Linux to mainstream IT usage.
We firmly believe that Linux has an enormous potential, once it crosses over from the early adopters to the more mainstream users. Our goal is to help this transition by providing:

– Linux trained and certified professionals
– Linux certified products that cater to mainstream users rather than early adopters.

Contact:
info@linuxcertified.com
http://www.linuxcertified.com/
1-408-314-6700

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.”