IBM has released version 2.0.0 of the Jikes Research Virtual Machine (Jikes RVM), an open testbed for academic and research communities to prototype new virtual machine technologies and mix and match design alternatives. Jikes RVM has been released under the Common Public License. Jikes home page and 2.0.0 release notes.

The Register reports on a Gartner study showing that the DRAM market will shrink by 19 percent during 2002. Tough news for the DRAM market, which saw sales shrink by 67 percent this year, making the entire segment worth less than a fifth of what it was in 1995.

ZDNet: “If the public has been unclear
on the concept, that may be
precisely what Microsoft had
planned all along. Although it
has a 25-year history of
trumpeting grandiose
initiatives, sometimes with
dubious intentions and
chameleon-like business
plans, .Net may appear
uniquely enigmatic. The
company is targeting a new
and rapidly evolving
area–Web services. And, in
light of the company’s current
legal problems, Microsoft’s
plans may appear so grand
that a detailed announcement
would be tantamount to a
public dare to antitrust
authorities.”

Posted at LWN.net: “We are not trying to take away individuality of the Distribution. The
installer should be built on three different levels. Two of these are
completely changeable and customizable to the Distribution using the
installer. The Three layers will consist of a Functional Layer, a Text
Layer, and a Graphic Layer. The Graphic Layer and Text Layer are totally
customizable should the Distribution want to customize it. This way ALL
istributions can be modified and seem to have there own Installation.”

From Net-security.org: “The ‘login’ program in util-linux stored the user’s
credentials in a static buffer that could later be reused
in other PAM calls issued on behalf of other users. This
could lead to a user gaining access to other accounts.

Note that this is not possible by default.”

The Register reports that the Business Software Alliance has closed 118 UK warez (pirate software) sites
between January and September 2001, including Waraz.at, which it says distributed “pirated” software to several nations.

From InternetWire: Men & Mice today released QuickDNS
for FreeBSD, a comprehensive DNS management
system. The QuickDNS software is a market leading
multi-platform DNS Management system. QuickDNS is
also available for Linux, Solaris and Mac OS X.

Anonymous Reader writes, “According to this story at LinuxDevices.com, Sharp Electronics announced today that next month they will begin supplying developers with the new Zaurus SL-5000D, the first Linux-based PDA from a major consumer electronics corporation. Included in the story are a summary of the new Linux/Java PDA’s specs, info on how to participate in the developer program, and a long list of links to further info, including a device profile of the SL-5000D.”

It’s at LWN.net, of course. Among the items: “LWN received an announcement for the
‘Common Linux Installer Group,’ an organization which is trying to develop a
standard, GPL-licensed installer for Linux distributions. The group is being
supported by the folks at Blue Linux.

Normally LWN is all in favor of standards and this is, in fact, no exception.
Nonetheless, we think it is doomed to failure. Why? Because the installation
procedure is a stamp of individuality for many of the leading distributions.”

From Business Wire: Red Hat Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT), the leader in
developing, deploying, and managing open source solutions, today announced the Red Hat Linux Desktop Productivity Essentials
training course. The new three-day course is designed for people with no Linux experience who want to achieve maximum productivity
at home or work using Red Hat Linux desktop-based application suites for common office productivity tasks.