Author: JT Smith
Category:
Author: JT Smith
Category:
Author: JT Smith
Category:
Author: JT Smith
Category:
Author: JT Smith
Blue Linux felt that there was too much replication in the current Open
Source work and Blue Linux was only replicating the work of other systems.
Currently there are many other secure Linux distributions on the market but
yet Linux seems to be lacking a full Educational distribution. Other secure
Linux distributions include:
a.. Astaro Security http://www.astaro.com/products/index.html
b.. Castle http://castle.altlinux.ru/
c.. Engarde http://www.engardelinux.org/
d.. NSA Secure Linux http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/
There are many others included in this category.
Blue Linux will fork out the Blue Security Daemon (automatic patching
utility) into an open source project in the near future so that it can be
used across any distribution or user that chooses to use this application.
BlueEDU is a project to bring a Linux Operating system to schools. Our
initial Focus will be on producing something for the children to play
educational games on, run educational software, word process, and to learn
the GUI interface of a computer in general. BlueEDU will also include
facilities to made to make the process of changing from other Operating
Systems to Linux easier
For more information visit http://bluelinux.org/ , Members of the press or
anyone who would like more information regarding this project are encouraged
to contact:
Matt Jezorek
Blue Linux
Lead Developer / Project Admin / Founder
Author: JT Smith
The nine states opposing the original Microsoft settlement have proposed their own settlement. It’s an uneven mix of good ideas and unlikely solutions. However, their proposals may get drowned out as the investment community rallies to protect their stock holdings. There are going to be hearings on the original Justice Department settlement by
the U.S. Senate, but the witness list has already been watered down and Microsoft
supporters have been telling media circles not to expect any news.
The nine rebel states have weighed in with a series of proposals to
cut Microsoft’s monopoly down to size, and, potentially, eliminate it.
Last Friday, the rebel states and the District of Columbia filed a 40-page
document with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly outlining the
groups set of preferred remedies in Microsoft’s long-running antitrust
case.
On the face of it, the state’s proposed remedy (now
online in PDF) is a mixed bag of common sense and long-shot proposals.
Among the provisions is a suggestion that Microsoft produce versions of its office suite for other OSes such as Mac
and Linux. How a settlement of this sort could guarantee quality,
product and timely releases nearly boggles the mind, and one has trouble
believing that the Open Source community would embrace a Penguin-friendly version
of the Office suite of products. The proposal recommends forcing
Microsoft to provide a stripped down version of the OS, with no
add-ons such as its browser or media player program, although why anyone would
buy such a product, unless it was virtually given away, is another
open question. Forcing Microsoft to include Java support makes sense
technically and may address a key finding of the U.S. Court of Appeals, which cited
Microsoft’s attempt to undercut Java as evidence the company illegally abused its
monopoly position, but it is an unusual remedy and will be hard to sell to the
court.
Other provisions, such as appointing a court-appointed special
master to supervise Microsoft’s behavior, is an idea that has been used
repeatedly in cases requiring administrative oversight over long periods of time.
By contrast, the Justice Department’s proposed settlement calls for an
oversight by a three-member panel whose findings could not be used in
any enforcement actions in the future. The state’s proposal has real teeth,
proposing that any finding of non-compliance would require Microsoft
to publicly release its source code. In legal circles, this is known as
a “crown jewel” penalty, a punishment so severe that the company would
avoid the temptation to indulge in another round of legal gamesmanship of the
type that followed earlier antitrust lawsuits.
The litigants may be hoping that Kollar-Kotelly’s relatively
liberal leanings will give them an edge in court. She may also be
influenced by the decision of European antitrust enforcers to reject the Justice
Department’s proposed settlement. Whatever her decision, it will be made in the midst
of a media frenzy that is likely to get louder and more strident over
the next several weeks.
Microsoft has already reached out to people in the investment community for
support and they have not disappointed. Prudential Securities, one of the
principal market makers of Microsoft stock has unleashed its financial analysts.
Rather than advise stockholders on the relative impact of litigation on
Microsoft’s earnings, these analysts have attacked the ethics and
motives of that state’s attorney general.
One of the most strident has been Prudential analyst James Lucier. Lucier
is a prominent conservative who had previously served as chief of research
on behalf of Americans for Tax Reform. In an
extraordinary article circulated by First
Call, the normally dry-as-dirt financial analysis wire service, Lucier denounced the states’ position as “doing the public a disservice,” saying:
“It is hard to see how any of the [remedies proposed by the
states] have any bearing on the case as it now stands. We think it is
reasonable to ask what the state AG’s think they can achieve by drawing out the
case … in our opinion the litigants have at last lost their grip on
reality. In our view, the proposed final order seems designed more for purposes
of going out in a final blaze of glory than achieving any serious legal
or public policy objective … One could dismiss the whole thing as a
baroque revenge fantasy by embittered ex-Netscape lawyers.”
Lucier went on to compare the states proposed remedies as comparable
to the “The 21 Demands” presented to Germany at the end of World War I. Because those demands were partly responsible for rise of the Nazis a decade later, it was hard to know where Lucier was going with his analogy, but it sure was colorful.
Other analysts were more circumspect. In another piece
of First Call “analysis,” Prudential analyst John McPeake claimed the states
were asking “for anything that they could possibly fit into a 40-page
document.” McPeake, who holds substantial Microsoft stock, also suggested that the
Justice department’s original was a fine remedy for Europe “although
the U.S. case and the EU investigation are factually and legally different.”
CSFB analysts Wendell Laidley and Vikram Churamani suggested that the “demanding” nature of the states suggested remedies made it likely that the court would reject them altogether.
Today the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee is scheduled
to begin the hearings. Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vermont) promised a hard focus when the Justice Department’s proposed settlement was first announced. However, all the heat from the financial community and conservatives has had an effect. The content of the hearings has been sanded down, and Microsoft backers are suggesting it will be a non-event.
Leahy’s own view has been curiously ambivalent. Critical of the
lack of antritrust enforcement elsewhere in the economy, Leahy has
been far more circumspect about Microsoft. Last year, when Judge
Thomas Penfield Jackson earlier proposed breaking up the company, the senator issued a masterpiece of doublespeak, praising Richard Posner’s mediation and Jackson’s decision to break up the company, while simultaneously praising Microsoft for its efforts to “lead the American software industry in the global marketplace.”
During the hearings Senators will have a chance to question Charles
James, the assistant U.S. attorney general and lead government attorney as to whether
there was anything improper in his negotiations with Microsoft attorney Rick
Rule. However, none of the other federal attorneys who
were shut out of the negotiations are being asked to testify. In addition, Microsoft supporters were able to drop a number of Microsoft critics such as James Barksdale from the original witness list. He has been replaced by Jonathan Zuck, head of the Microsoft backed group called
The Association of Competitive Technology.
Many of the alleged beneficiaries of the original Justice Department
settlement aren’t in attendance, although Red Hat’s Matt Szulik has
agreed to testify. Testimony may be covered in part by CSPAN, although
Microsoft partisans have argued that the testimony will not be all that
compelling, and the network had not finalized its coverage decision as of press time.
Author: JT Smith
“We announced this promotion to familiarize the broader market with the capabilities of Bynari’s messaging products,” says David Wolff, head of Marketing and Strategic Alliances. “This release comes in preparation for our anticipated January release of version 3.0 of our Insight Server and a later release of Version 3.0 of Insight client. The users taking advantage of this offer will be given an upgrade discount to the newer version. Existing users who purchased previous versions of Bynari’s client will get an additional discount by registering their products and watching for the product announcement on our web page.”
Version 3.0 of the client and the server provide some significant advancements over version 2.x in that they address user requests and features such as:
*A new look and feel compatible with a variety of desktop environments
*Server side calendar coordination
*Client mailing list management
*Native support on Linux, Solaris and AIX
*A carbonized version for Macintosh OS X and 9.x
*A native version for the Win32 platform
“Bynari has marketed Exchange client compatibility since Outlook 98. Our first versions provided a connector which received stiff opposition from Exchange administrators,” adds Tom Adelstein. “Our latest solutions stand alone without a need to proxy off a Microsoft box and it still handles meeting requests, shared tasks, journals and automates calendar functions. We’ve always had demand from Unix users in Exchange environments. Now, we’re seeing increased demand as the Linux desktop catches hold.”
Bynari’s terms and conditions for one to receive a free copy of Insight client 2.6 says the following:
Under the terms of this offer, a user may install the Bynari client after downloading and registering at http://www.bynari.net between now and January 31, 2002. At time of registration and within 24 hours the user will be sent a key to allow the software to be installed on their computer. While this offer is not limited to any specific number per enterprise, it will require each unique user to register directly with Bynari.
Users will find on-line support in Bynari’s knowledge base available on the website.
About Bynari Inc.
A privately held company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Bynari Inc. develops and markets enterprise solutions, which provide platform interoperability, server consolidations and alternatives to close, proprietary software. Earlier in the year, Bynari wrote a version of its Insight Server for IBM’s zSeries and S/390 Linux eServers. The Company has lead the way to scalable, low-cost, high-availability e-mail and collaboration solutions for Linux and a number of different operating environments including those mentioned above.
Bynari Insight Server presents an attractive messaging and collaboration solution for organizations running Linux on the mainframe, and for any company moving away from proprietary standards and exploiting the benefits of commercial Unix/Linux platforms. Insight offers a rich environment among different e-mail clients and also provides a bridge between Unix/Linux workstations and Microsoft desktops.
Author: JT Smith
We are pleased to announce that David Hand (a programmer and system
administrator) will be speaking on "Putting together a Linux Box (or
buying one)" at our GNUbies (GNU/Linux/Free OS Beginners' Group)
meeting tomorrow night. If you need a new computer and don't want the
OS to self-destruct or invade your privacy, or simply want to run
GNU/Linux because of the things that make it wonderful, you should
attend this meeting.
In addition to the regular general Q&A at the beginning, there will be
plenty of opportunity to ask questions about putting together or buying
a computer to run GNU/Linux. The details are as follows:
Wednesday December 12th, 2001
6:30-7:00 PM General Questions & Answers
7:00 PM David Hand on "Putting together a Linux Box (or buying one)"
with topic specific Q&A
at: The IBM Building, 590 Madison Ave.
(57th Street and Madison Avenue)
(prerequisite procedures: you must first email your name as indicated
below and you must bring photo ID)
As always the most up-to-date and accurate information can be
found on the web site at
www.gnubies.org
or
www.eskimo.com/~lo/linux
IBM has asked us to implement these security measures for our
meetings. In particular, it will be necessary to email us your name
in advance if you plan to attend so that we can give them a list of
the people who will be attending. It will also be necessary to bring
photo ID in order to get in to the meeting. We regret the need for
these measures. Our contact person at IBM has assured us that this
list of names will be used for security purposes only (i.e. that no
commercial use will be made of the list). Please send email to
lo+ibm1201@eskimo.com with the Subject "Dec list" (note this is a
"plus" not the letter "t"). Sorry for the inconvenience.
You can use mailto:lo+ibm1201@eskimo.com or send return mail with your
name as the top line.
We look forward to seeing you at this meeting.
Lyn
GNUbies
The GNU/Linux/FreeOS Beginners' Group
Author: JT Smith
Providing multi-level secure access using open network infrastructures, the workstation solution will let users access both classified and unclassified data from a single workstation. Traditionally, organizations whose users require access to a sensitive or classified environment, but whose only network connectivity is on an open/unclassified network, have been forced to install a separate classified network with separate workstations or have users travel to a classified facility. With the Secure Multi-Domain Workstation, an authorized user will be able to change to a sensitive or classified state, by simply activating a “state change” mechanism that once activated, will instantly switch the user between the classified and unclassified environments.
Incorporating INFOSEC components to authenticate user transactions, the workstation operates in conjunction with Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology with encryption services and the XTS-300? based “Trusted Access Portal” server. As part of the joint development agreement between the three companies, Getronics Government Solutions and Delta Security will provide the secure operating system and hardware configuration, while NeTraverse will provide the unique technology to deploy Microsoft Windows applications on the secure platform.
“The need for this technology has been around for years, we are excited by this partnership not ONLY because we are finally able to bring to market a product that has been needed for years, but the Secure Multi-Domain Workstation will dramatically reduce costs in infrastructure and personnel,” stated Mary Stassie, CTO, Getronics Government Solutions.
“Security, reliability and efficiency are key components of the secure workstation solution we will bring to market,” said James Curtin, president and CEO of NeTraverse. “We are very pleased to partner with Getronics and Delta to provide a high-performance workstation solution to the US Government that enables it not only to ensure the highest level of security, but to improve productivity and reduce the cost and complexity of IT management.”
For more information on the secure workstation, please visit www.getronicsgov.com or contact bob.jordan@getronicsgov.com.
About Getronics Government Solutions
Getronics Government Solutions, is a leading provider of secure, desktop and network information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to the United States federal government. The company has provided the U.S. Department of Defense, civilian agencies and intelligence community with the practical solutions and reliable applications of technology for 30 years. Headquartered in Northern, Virginia, Getronics Government Solutions has more than 2,300 employees worldwide.
To support its customers’ end-to-end ICT needs, Getronics Government Solutions’ portfolio includes seat management, network and communications solutions, and information assurance services and products. More information about Getronics Government Solutions can be found on the World Wide Web at www.getronicsgov.com
About NeTraverse Inc.
NeTraverse Inc., is the market leader in bridging Windows® to Linux® with over 800,000 users worldwide. Providing thin-client software solutions on the Linux and Unix platform, NeTraverse offers innovative products and services to facilitate the seamless migration from Windows to Linux and lower the cost of enterprise IT infrastructure. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NeTraverse is bringing the Revolution to Desktop TCO?. For more information, please visit www.netraverse.com
About Delta Security Technologies Corporation
Delta Security Technologies, Inc. (DST) is a woman-owned small business that specializes in security systems engineering and security support services for customers in the Federal Government and Private Industry. The corporation has three operating divisions which include the Information Systems Division; the Security Services Division; and System Engineering Division. All of these divisions are managed through our corporate headquarters located in Lexington Park, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.delta-sec.com.
For Further Information, Contact:
Teresa Norman
NeTraverse Inc.
(512) 228-2000
tnorman@netraverse.com
Author: JT Smith