Slashdot has links to information on a “new severe bug in all Linux Kernels, from 2.2.0 up to 2.4.10, which
allows users to become root on your system.” Trustix Linux has its own security update, posted on LWN.net.

The Register: “An anonymous coder named ‘Beale Screamer’ claims to have broken the Version-2 Microsoft digital
rights management (DRM) scheme, and has produced the source code and a DOS utility to
un-protect .WMA audio files.

The author’s zipped file contains a lengthy description of the MS DRM weaknesses, a philosophical
tract explaining why he thinks it necessary to crack, the source code, and the command-line utility.”

The Register: “Hackers have developed a trick for pilfering DSL account names
and passwords right from subscriber’s routers, a technique that
provides hackers with untraceable Internet access, and potentially
exposes subscriber email to interception.”

CNET: “At an America Online staff meeting in 1994, then-President Ted Leonsis wheeled out a wooden cutout
of a bare-fanged Tyrannosaurus rex meant to symbolize the company’s most menacing enemy:
Microsoft.

Leonsis’ representation was both right and wrong. The software giant indeed presented a major threat at the
time–the eve of the launch of its Microsoft Network–but its battle form would come to resemble a
multiheaded Hydra more than a prehistoric
monster. Rather than full-frontal assaults,
Microsoft would attack from many directions
simultaneously and regenerate appendages
whenever they were severed.”

Wired: “Technology groups say they’re delighted to share information about computer security with the FBI — as long as it doesn’t get into the hands of nosy reporters. They’re backing a new Senate bill.”

Wired: “Groups viewed as terrorist organizations by the U.S. have no trouble voicing their side on the Internet, and many of the sites are even hosted on American soil.”

From a post to the GNOME foundation list: “Some weeks ago we got a mail from Richard Stallman asking that we
stop
all mentions of non-free software in the GNOME summaries. The
background
for the request was that we had mentioned the beta of Star Office
some
time back.”

Subject: Non-free software and GNOME
Date: 19 Oct 2001 13:05:34 +0200
From: Christian Schaller 
To: foundation-list@gnome.org
CC: gnome-summary@gnome.org




Hi,
As most of you probably know myself and Steve George are writing the
GNOME summaries. Personally I also post or approve a lot of the
stories
comming up on Gnotices. 

Some weeks ago we got a mail from Richard Stallman asking that we
stop
all mentions of non-free software in the GNOME summaries. The
background
for the request was that we had mentioned the beta of Star Office
some
time back.

I argued that the purpose of the GNOME summaries was to promote
GNOME
and while our focus of course is free software I felt that it was
natural to mention the availability of non-free software where the
existence of such software where a clear advantage for GNOME.

RMS replied telling us that he disagreed with my argument and saying
the
we are legitimatizing the use of non-free software by mentioning it.
I left it at that, but today RMS remailed us today asking us to
confirm
that we will not mention non-free software anymore.

So I decided to ask the GNOME foundation on policy advice on this
issue.
So what is to be the GNOME policy on this question? Is all mentions
of
non-free software something we should avoid at all costs or should
we
keep with the current unwriten policy of mentioning it when we feel
that
mentioning will benefit the use of free software (GNOME) overall?

Personally I feel that I and Steve have kept a nice balance using
common
sense up to this point, but if we are out of sync with the rest of
the
community please let us know.

Christian


_______________________________________________
foundation-list mailing list
foundation-list@gnome.org
http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-list

MSNBC.com: “Intertrust Technologies, which makes software that protects
songs and videos from being illegally copied, said Thursday that it has added
three patents to its lawsuit against Microsoft. The new filing alleges that the
software giant’s .Net framework and features of Windows XP, Office XP and
other products infringe on InterTrust technology patents. “In the early ’90s, InterTrust thought about and filed patents on how you
do trust management in a distributed environment like the Internet,” said Ed
Fish, president of InterTrust’s MetaTrust Utility Division. “As Microsoft is now
moving into it, they’re adopting that very technology, and it’s important that
they respect our rights.”

Slashdot: “According to this C|Net article, pieces of Gecko have been spotted in a beta version of the next
CompuServe client, and AOL has confirmed that Gecko is being tested as CompuServe’s default browser. AOL 7.0 is
shipping with IE, but perhaps future versions will widen the gap between AOL and Microsoft. (I’m glad we won’t be seeing
AOL-TW-MS-NBC.)”

PCWorld: “AMD plans to change its Athlon naming scheme to better compete with Intel’s high-speed Pentium 4, according to published reports. Executed carefully, the
supposed plan could be a real boon to the megahertz-strapped chip maker, analysts say.

AMD officials decline to comment on the report, which says the company will in October rename its flagship Athlon CPU, attaching numeric codes that correspond
to similar-performing P4 chips. Intel’s P4 chip, now running at up to 2 GHz, has far outpaced AMD’s 1.4-GHz Athlon in terms of frequency. However, most
benchmarks (including PC World’s tests) show the Athlon’s overall performance is quite comparable to the higher-frequency P4. Under the scheme, names of new
Athlons might reflect that.”