ZDNet reports that IBM has named Val Rahmani, a 20-year IBM veteran, to lead its Unix server
division as “Big Blue stands to gain over rivals Hewlett-Packard and Sun
Microsystems.”

Posted at LWN.net: “ht://Dig is a powerfull indexing and information gathering tool for the
web. ht://Dig’s search engine htsearch could be run by a http server
as CGI program or standalone as commandline tool.
Due to insufficient checking of the running environment it is possible
to use commandline options via CGI. An remote attacker could use the -c
option to specify /dev/zero as an alternate config file to causes a
denial of service for some minutes.
To read files with the privilege of the http server by abusing the -c
option an attacker needs write access to the server running htsearch.”

From ZDNet AnchorDesk: “The trouble with feature-rich packages like Windows XP is that they often prove to be less than
meets the eye upon close inspection. Take, for example, the all-in-one stereo units of the 1970s
and early 1980s that came complete with turntable, tuner, tape deck, and speakers. These
stereos were convenient and low-priced, but the individual components were often inferior to
their standalone counterparts.”

Dave writes, “ZDNet has a report on the future of Linux provided by Gartner.

Here’s a snippet:
‘What is the acceptance of Linux in the enterprise?
Gartner detects a greater level of comfort in deploying Linux among project development teams. They also detect more willingness to run Linux as front-end application servers, but, in large enterprises, IS directors and CIOs still are concerned about support and tend to use their vendor support on Unix and mainframes as the reference comparison for that expected of Linux.’ “

Dave writes, “‘Down at the bottom of Bill Gates’ keynote to the Professional Developers Conference yesterday lies confirmation that the wheels have come off the Windows rollout wagon. Again. Actually, we all already knew that the Big One, Blackcomb, has been knocked back in the general direction of 2005, and we already knew that the interim XP+1, Longhorn, was 2003, but Bill saying it – or something pretty close to it, anyway – is confirmation that it’s going quiet for a while, and there will be no interim release next year. ‘ Read the rest of the article at The Register.”

– by Jack Bryar –
Open Source Business –

Based on all the negative press coming out of places like Computer
Reseller’s News, independent software developers and system integrators are
ready to declare war on Microsoft. The reason? System integrators are nervous that
Microsoft, along with HP, IBM and a host of other vendors are trying to
take over the service business.

A recent article
by CRN’s Steve Burke is among a
blizzard of similar pieces threatening that system integrators will begin to walk away
from proprietary developers and begin to popularize Linux if Microsoft and
the other vendors don’t stop muscling in on the service business.

I don’t think so.

Unfortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to watch some of these vendor-based professional services teams in action over the last few months. I
have watched Microsoft Consulting Service (MCS) in particular. And — I
have a warning for any independent system integrators who think they could take on
these vendor-based professional services teams: A lot of these guys
know more about servicing customers than you do. What they have done,
and what Microsoft Consulting Services has done particularly well, is
pick off yet another good idea from the broader IT community and made it
their own. What makes it all the more galling is the fact that the idea
of building a service business came right out of the business plans of
several leading Linux developers.

You may remember when Linux companies were going to take on the
world, and they were going to do it by providing service. Without a laundry
list of proprietary products to flog, they were going to depend on
satisfying the customer in order to generate revenues. Without the
distraction of a line card, they were going to provide the best solution
possible for their corporate customer.

A great idea. It never happened.

The reason it didn’t happen, and why so many Linux solutions providers
got nowhere in the marketplace, is because they refused to get past the
technology and listen to what the customer really needed. By contrast,
the professional services units of the proprietary vendors, most
notably MCS, did what the Linux guys said they were going to do. They
listened. They discovered a set of problems that the average IT integrator
doesn’t want to know about. The solutions they generated are the result.

I know because I have spent the last few months interviewing IT
managers on behalf of an independent corporate publisher in the Boston area.
The assignment: track the decisions made by senior IT executives about
their enterprise architecture with respect to the design of their
systems and the partners they brought in to help them. As part of that
assignment I have sat in discussions with senior banking execs, salty
characters from the mining and manufacturing sector, government bureaucrats
and hyper-slick management consultants.

What I watched amazed me. I saw Microsoft Consulting Services
consistently run circles around the competition. The reason for their success
was pretty obvious to me. They, unlike guys I met from half a dozen other
vendors and system integrators did real consulting. They listened to their customers,
and, frequently, they helped the customers listen to themselves. Rather
than flog software like a used car salesman, MCS reps helped clients
try to identify and articulate their business requirements. They helped
clients identify costs of ownership and support, and identify who was
really paying those costs inside the organization.

Even more amazing was the fact that a lot of these MCS reps were
genuinely trying to position Microsoft products as “good citizens” in their
client’s infrastructure. I saw a couple of instances where the MCS rep
bit his tongue and let the client adopt a piece of technology from
another vendor — going some lengths to re-configure some Microsoft code-
even though there was a superior, made-in-Redmond alternative. Recently
Bob McDowell, the Microsoft v.p. in charge of MCS, was charged with using
his organization to force all Microsoft solutions onto clients. Whatever
they may or may not be saying in Redmond, at the ground level MCS reps
are trying to make sure that their clients see Microsoft as a trusted
partner.

These MCS staffers earned that trust because they understood that
corporate solutions involved a lot more than technology — a fact that most
independent system integrators (especially Linux guys) refuse to acknowledge. Changing
a corporation’s architecture by adopting a directory services model, or
by centralizing support operations, involves a lot more than software
or equipment. It can represent a fundamental change in a company’s
business methods. Things like reporting lines and managerial autonomy are
deeply affected by these changes in the technical environment, and a
“solutions” provider who does not understand or respond to these issues is
providing no solution at all.

A successful solution for a government agency or a major bank involves
the ability to manage corporate politics as fully as any issue
associated with the enterprise network architecture. Frequently MCS reps did
this far better than the client-side IT personnel they worked with.

In the case of one global business association, I saw the MCS rep
orchestrate a networking solution that involved structuring more than 50
“national” domains, not because they were required technically, but because it
was the only way to deal with the never-articulated concerns that
remote offices had about losing their autonomy. At another site, I watched a
different set of MCS reps use a relatively obscure feature of
Microsoft’s Active Directory in a way that you will never find in a technical
manual. But — their solution immediately soothed the feathers of touchy
regional prima donnas within a global manufacturing organization, and
still made certain the headquarters tech personnel got the functionality
they required. These solutions may have been inelegant by traditional
geek standards. They aren’t the sort usually proposed by the average
systems integrator. However, they were the only kind of solution that
could have met the client’s real needs.

Nothing earns respect (and fear) among a customer’s IT grunts faster
than a vendor who can manage “the suits” back at headquarters.

Recently, a few Microsoft senior managers have tried to downplay the
role that MCS has played in key company wins. In one case involving a
professional and financial services organization, a senior Microsoft
executive called me personally to request that we scale back the degree of
praise given to MCS by a Fortune 100 customer. Whether that was because
he feared that the praise undercut the official marketing spin out of
Redmond, which focuses entirely too much on the software, or because of
the growing fear of a backlash among independent VARs and systems
integrators, I cannot say.

But whether it is highlighted or hidden, professional services vended
by Microsoft is one of the secrets behind their string of successes in
the enterprise. And the irony is that the Open Source community had the
chance to do it first.

IBM’s WebSphere Commerce, the

industry’s first e-commerce software to support Linux* on the mainframe, is

now available for customers using the open source platform on Intel

servers.

WebSphere Commerce Suite V5.1 will now support Linux on Intel-based

systems, allowing small and medium size businesses to create fast, flexible

and highly-reliable e-commerce sites to more effectively conduct business

around the world.

IBM’s e-commerce software allows business managers to easily design

compelling sales campaigns, explore new revenue opportunities and enhance

relationships with their customers worldwide — all from a single commerce

site.

MuscleTech, a leading research company that develops and distributes

sports and nutrition aids, has embraced WebSphere Commerce for Linux.

“IBM’s WebSphere Commerce for Linux is enabling MuscleTech to develop

a state-of-the-art e-commerce site that runs on a highly cost-effective,

secure and stable platform – bringing one of the most advanced, integrated

e-commerce systems in the world to our customers,” said Jason Bell,

eCommerce Division Manager, and Sean Klyne, Information Technology Manager,

of MuscleTech. “This offering from IBM will allow us to quickly create and

deploy a powerful new direct to the customer retail channel and an enhanced

call center, helping our company drive business around the globe.”

IDC anticipates that Linux will remain the fastest growing server

operating system through 2004, with a compound annual growth rate of 28

percent from 2000 to 2004. IDC research also shows that 40 percent of all

spending on Linux servers is for Internet related applications, firmly

entrenching Linux servers in the Internet infrastructure**.

IBM’s WebSphere Commerce software will now allow businesses to grow

their e-commerce Web sites on Linux, the open operating system which gives

developers the flexibility and freedom to customize the platform to meet

their business needs.

IBM’s e-commerce software supports a variety of languages and

currencies, as well as region-specific sales tax and shipping rules,

customized product catalogs and localized payment methods and pricing. In

addition, WebSphere Commerce allows for anytime, anywhere access to

e-commerce sites with enhanced mobile computing features — including

notification messages, automatic content selection and customized shopping

flow — tailored to individual devices.

WebSphere Commerce is based on open industry standards and features a

Java? programming model. With its intuitive design, WebSphere Commerce

makes it easy for business managers to create dynamic marketing campaigns,

product promotions, discounts and advertisements, all targeted to specific

customers using powerful business rules technology.

Product Availability and Pricing

WebSphere Commerce Version 5.1 for Linux will be available in early

December 2001. WebSphere Commerce Version 5.1 for Linux will support Red

Hat and SuSE Linux, with a starting price of US $5,000 per processor for

Start Edition, and US $52,000 per processor for Pro Edition.

Additional information is available at:

http://www.ibm.com/software/commerce. For more information about IBM’s

offerings for Linux, visit: http://ibm.com/linux.

Newsbytes.com reports that Red Hat is downplaying a security expert’s report of potential security problems with its latest release.

Red Hat did confirmed that two files distributed with Red Hat Linux 7.2 lack digital signatures used for
determining their authenticity.

From ZDNet: “EarthLink plans to nudge its broadband customers toward cable Internet access instead of
digital subscriber line services in a move that could boost its future profit margins.

But there’s a catch. In an ironic twist, EarthLink is going head-to-head with its chief Internet
service provider rival, America Online, on its home turf — AOL Time Warner’s cable networks.”