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Interview With the Konqueror team

Author: JT Smith

JigSaw writes, “OSNews is hosting an exclusive interview with the Konqueror team, KDE’s integrated filemanager, image/document viewer and web browser. Dirk Mueller, Waldo Bastian, Carsten Pfeiffer and Simon Hausmann are answering questions regarding the future of Konqueror, its portability and the integration with KDE3 and QT3. And speaking about KDE3, OSNews is reporting what’s new in the new version: KDE 3 will be based on QT 3.0 and will also feature educational and other apps (like Kompare and KWinTV) as part of the default installation, support for extremely large files, new versions for KNode and KMail, email templates in KMail, advanced Web Shortcuts, S/MIME support, plugins for the KMenu, a graphical Regular Expression app (KRegExpEditor) and much more. A (very early) alpha version is already available.”

Category:

  • Open Source

A quarter-million dollar box for a free OS

Author: JT Smith

Slashdot readers discuss an article from CNet describing start-up Egenera’s plans to debut its high-end Linux server Sept. 11. That server will cost at least $250,000.

Category:

  • Unix

Weekly news wrap-up: A subdued LinuxWorld

Author: JT Smith

By Grant Gross

Late August is the time for the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, the west coast edition, and it’s supposed to be when all companies interested in Linux showcase their interest. This fall, LinuxWorld had its share of press releases and product announcements, but observers said the conference seemed more subdued than in years past.

Sure, you could see IBM’s peace, love and Linux advertisements on San Francisco city buses and on billboards on Highway 101 between San Francisco and San Jose. But several reporters at the conference noted things just weren’t the same as in the past. NewsForge’s own conference veteran Robin Miller noted there was less swag, fewer exhibitors and fewer attendees this year, although there were some cool products being pitched. LinuxWorld.com’s Joe Barr suggested the show was “downsized” because of the general economic condition.

Of couse, there were still dozens of companies releasing new products at the show, as NewsForge’s Dan Berkes wrote. And if you get tired of all the corporate spin, the people at the .org pavillion keep showing up and winning awards.

Other LinuxWorld stories worth mentioning:

  • IT-director.com says Linux seems to be gaining a firm foothold in the enterprise.

  • Mathew Szulik, president and CEO of Red Hat, pitched Linux to cash-strapped public schools.

  • The DreamWorks movie studio showed off its Linux animation tools used to create movies such as Shrek.

  • Microsoft, of course, kept a close eye on what was happening at LinuxWorld and spun the events to its advantage.

    Torvalds: Hailstorm not a threat

    Speaking of Microsoft, a story that got a lot of attention this week was Linux creator Linus Torvalds’ comments on Microsoft’s plans for its centralized Internet product Hailstorm. Torvalds says Internet users shouldn’t worry because governments won’t let Microsoft take over the Internet.

    Criminalizing programming, part 1,396?

    Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov and his employer pleaded not guilty this week to violating U.S. copyright law. Earlier, Sklyarov and employer Elcomsoft were indicted on charges of trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in a copyright circumvention device, alleged violating the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a law that itself could very well violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

    Signs of the times

    CNet Networks is shutting down AppWatch.com, a directory of Open Source distributions and applications, less than a year after acquiring it.

    Corel sold its Linux distribution to a U.S. startup, meaning the sometimes Microsoft partner looks to be leaving Linux behind.

    New in NewsForge

    Stories that appeared first in NewsForge this week:

  • Dan Berkes reviews the CodeWeavers CrossOver Plugin 1.0, which allows most browser plugins for Windows to be used in Linux. It works quite well, he says.

  • Business columnist Jack Bryar examines the fall and future plans of VA Linux, NewsForge’s corporate parent. Will building a software services model around SourceForge be enough?

  • In a bit of shameless self promotion, we note NewsForge turned 1 year old, and hey, we’re still here!

  • Compaq boosts Red Hat ecommerce suite

    Author: JT Smith

    From IT Analysis (on The Register): “Red Hat’s new e-commerce suite has received an unexpected boost from its
    wannabe-best-buddy Compaq and an electronics firm called Pioneer-Standard.
    The suite is to be bundled with a host of configurations and servers and pushed out
    to customers through a joint initiative.”

    Category:

    • Linux

    RidgeRun shows streaming video and networking for embedded multimedia

    Author: JT Smith

    From LinuxPR:
    RidgeRun is demonstrating the power of the TI DSC21 dual-core processor in
    supporting both video encoding and advanced networking.

    Alan Cox: Linux 2.4.9-ac6-dupe

    Author: JT Smith

    ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/alan/linux-2.4/. Intermediate diffs are available from http://www.bzimage.org.

    2.4.9-ac6
    o Update compiler requirements doc (me)
    o Fix module count leak (I hope)
    in cs46xx (me)
    o Fix sx.c warnings (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Fix seagate.c prototypes (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Remove non-modular stuff from mod builds
    and fix warnings (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Fix missing return value on xirc2ps (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Fix atmtcp MODULE_LICENSE (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Remove various unused code (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Switch drivers/fc4 to use module_init (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Config file fixes (Christoph Hellwig)
    o Fix AX.25 digipeat crash (Thomas Osterried)
    o DECNET update (Steven Whitehouse)
    o Fix UNUSUAL_DEV entry for eUSB SmartMedia (Andries Brouwer)
    o Remove spare maxinefb setup (Paul Mundt)
    o Add USB MODULE_LICENSE tags (Greg Kroah-Hartmann)
    o Update the irq fix for the i810 audio based
    on further analysis by Doug Ledford (me)
    o make rpm target bug-fixes (Eli Carter)
    o Fix missing export-objs in acpi (Keith Owens)
    o VIA ide update (support 82c576, other small (Vojtech Pavlik)
    fixes)
    o Fix tulip bug when using MWI experimental bits (Jeff Garzik)
    o Add MODULE_LICENSE tags to telephony (Robert Love)
    o Add MODULE_LICENSE tags to drivers/video (Robert Love)
    o Fix z2ram tag (Robert Love)
    o Ask for 255 bytes of header on scsi pages (Matt Dharm)
    | Lots of USB crap can’t even get truncating right
    o Fix ver_linux for e2fsprogs 1.23 (Albert Cranford)
    o Add MODULE_LICENSE tags to zorro (Robert Love)
    o Make __module_license static (Keith Owens)
    o Merge some of the PPC64 submission (Peter Bergner, Anton Blanchard,
    Mike Corrigan, Dave Engebretsen,
    Tom Gall, Todd Inglett, Paul Mackerras,
    Pat McCarthy, Steve Munroe, Don Reed,
    and Al Trautman)
    | I dropped some config bits to keep stuff simpler
    | and a few files that definitely didnt follow CodingStyle
    o Merge updated gdth scsi raid driver (Achim Leubner)
    o Remove escaped debug code from ni5010 (Frank Davies)

    2.4.9-ac5
    o Make pae i386 compile again (Russell King)
    o Add MODULE_LICENSE tagging (me)
    o Clean up aztcd (phase 1)
    (me)
    o Fix aztcd subchannel error reporting bug (me)
    o Reformat cdu31a pending cleanups (me)
    o Reformat cm206 pending cleanups (me)
    o Reformat gscd pending cleanups (me)
    o Reformat isp16 pending cleanups (me)
    o Reformat sjcd pending cleanups (me)
    o Reformat tpqic02 pending cleanups (me)
    o Add tags in drivers upto and including drivers/char/*
    | lots more to add yet…
    o pl2303 oops fix (Greg Kroah-Hartmann)
    o Sony clie updates for clie OS 4.0 (Greg Kroah-Hartmann)
    o Fix elf loader for prelink binaries (Jakub Jelinek)
    o Make xconfig fix (Robert Love)
    o Add reparent_to_init, fix pnp and 8139 zombies (Andrew Morton)
    o Update Configure.help (Steven Cole)

    Noon today: Rally to free Dmitry Sklyarov

    Author: JT Smith

    Noon Monday 3 September 2001 at 41st Street and Fifth Avenue, before
    the
    New York Public Library, on the Island of Manhattan, there will be a
    rally
    to free Dmitry Sklyarov.

    Note that this is not an LXNY event, but rather the seventh of a series
    of
    rallies, whose Lead Organizer and First Contact is

    Leonid Gorkin
    lgorkin@excite.com or lgorkin1@nyc.rr.com.

    Do not bring any sticks to this rally. There is a New York City regulation forbidding sticks at gatherings.

    The New York City police officers who told us of this regulation were
    parfit gentle in their courtesy.

    There have been and will be rallies in about twenty cities.

    http://freesklyarov.org/calendar.

    Much of the organizing of New York City Rallies to Free Dmitry take
    place
    on the fairuse mailing list of NYFairUse, which list may be joined at

    http://www.nyfairuse.org.

    To download a flyer go to:

    http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/dmitry-links.

    Upcoming Meeting:

    Thursday 6 September 2001 there will be an organizational meeting to
    help
    free Dmitry Sklyarov and put down the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
    of
    1984^W1998 under which Dmitry was arrested. The meeting starts at 7:30
    pm
    on the second floor of the Killarney Rose at 82 Beaver Street, near
    Wall
    and Pearl Streets, on the Island of the Manahattoes. This meeting is
    free
    and open to the public. Artists, writers, students, parents, teachers,
    librarians, publishers, booksellers, bankers, lawyers, economists,
    cryptologists, Net folk, and all who have ever borrowed a book from the
    public library are particularly invited.

    Sunday 9 September 2001 the Campaign to Repeal the DMCA kicks off with
    door to
    door canvassing in Brooklyn. Come to the Thursday meeting if you want
    to
    help repeal the DMCA!

    Personal from Jay Sulzberger, corresponding secretary of LXNY:

    Last week Dmitry Sklyarov was indicted. If convicted on all counts he
    faces 25 years in prison. He is accused of distributing a tool to
    manipulate files in certain Adobe formats. All manipulation occurs
    inside
    a single computer. The tool checks as best it can that the file it
    operates on is owned by the person running the tool. Under the DMCA
    distribution of such a tool is a felony. If traditional copyright law
    were
    like the DMCA, then distribution of paper, pencils, ink, pens, and
    cameras
    would also be a felony. Today computers for home and business use
    contain
    no spy hardware nor any spy software, except for certain Trojans which
    may
    have slipped past the owner’s defenses. Under the DMCA and proposed
    legislation all personal computers will be required to contain over one
    megabyte of spy firmware which will monitor every single read and write
    of
    the hard disk. Under the proposed legislation the operating system
    will
    report back to Infotainment Central any “suspicious use” of the hard
    disk.
    Law enforcement agencies will easily get secret writs of computer
    tapping
    and be able to watch everything you do at home on what once was your
    own
    machine. Infotainment Central will be able to disable your computer
    without permission from you.

    Indictment:

    http://archive.nytimes.com/2001/08/31/technology/31HACK.html
    http://cryptome.org/dmitry-indict.htm
    http://cryptome.org/dmitry-burton.htm

    Proposed legislation:

    http://currents.net/news/01/08/28/news2.html

    Our rallies and all the work of propaganda and education have been
    important in alerting the world to the threat facing not only Dmitry,
    but
    everyone who uses computers and everyone who uses the Great Commons of
    the
    Net. Despite our alert, the government of the United States has chosen
    to
    prosecute Dmitry. Our response must be clear, forceful, and effective.

    Why do we rally at the New York Public Library? Because the
    Association of
    American Publishers has declared that they plan to close down all free
    public libraries. Their chosen tool is the Digital Millennium
    Copyright
    Act. As demonstrated by the indictment of Dmitry Sklyarov, the DMCA
    does
    indeed outlaw fair use of books that you, or the library, have bought
    and
    paid for:

    http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36584-2001Feb7.html
    http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-201-6545588-0.html
    http://www.visi.com/~tneu/pro-book.html
    http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/08/23/pirate/index.html
    http://www.macfergus.com/niels/dmca/index.html
    http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    http://www.fsf.org/philosophy
    http://www.loc.gov/copyright/reports/studies/dmca/comments
    http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov
    http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/boucher_ashcroft_dmca.html
    http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/July01/ginsparg.archive.ws.html
    http://arXiv.org/blurb/pg01unesco.html
    http://xxx.lanl.gov
    http://front.math.ucdavis.edu
    http://www.baen.com/library/home.htm
    http://www.lightandmatter.com/article/article.html
    http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/30/opinion/30LESS.html
    http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/08/07/lessig.html
    http://www.immaterial.net/page.php3?id=44
    http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/articles/issue12/LU12-ebenmoglen.html
    http://emoglen.law.columbia.edu
    http://cryptome.org
    http://www.ala.org

    We need marchers and leafleteers and copiers of leaflets and designers
    of
    leaflets and propagandizers and lobbyists and lawyers and coders and
    water
    carriers and publicists and diplomats. Come to the Rally and help!
    Come
    to the Rally and meet allies!

    Dmitry Sklyarov today faces twenty-five years in prison for
    distributing a
    program which allows you to make fair use of books you have bought and
    paid
    for. Come to the Rally and help get Dmitry free! Free to go home and
    free
    to do his work.

    The loss of Internet innocence

    Author: JT Smith

    zyx writes, ” ‘How do you push for the acceptance of a new protocol? First, make the old one unworkable by placing millions of exploitable TCP/IP stacks out on the Net, ready-to-use by any teenage sociopath. When the Net slows or crashes, the blame would not be assigned to Microsoft.’ A horrifying scenario at PBS.org.”

    Building a monster machine

    Author: JT Smith

    “Hard drive prices have continued to fall. Memory prices have been going down. CPU prices, driven by the inexorable flood of new higher performance processors, seem to be on the downfall too.

    Very few things can’t be had for less than they costed 2 years ago. This applies to video cards, sound cards, network cards and even dvd-rom drives. Fueling this drive to lower price points has been, at least here
    in the US, a competitive and cut-throat industry for parts. Places like http://www.pricewatch.com let you see what the real deal is. And you take your business there.

    So what would we define as a monster machine?” Find out at Machine of the Month.

    Category:

    • Unix

    Dennis Ritchie put the C in compiler

    Author: JT Smith

    “He invented the C programming language. He is one of the co-creators of Unix. He has watched more than one multi-billion dollar industry evolve
    around his creations. And still, Dennis Ritchie shows up for work each day in the same Murray Hill, NJ office where he and Ken Thompson first ran
    Unix on a Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-7 back in 1969. Why? Well, it’s not just any old company that employs Ritchie. This is Lucent’s Bell Labs
    we’re talking about ­ the home of the laser, the place where the transistor first saw life. It’s a pretty exciting work environment, and, as Ritchie is
    fond of saying, it’s nice to walk around your office and stumble into things like canisters of liquid helium. It was at his nondescript office, right next
    to where Unix was invented, that Ritchie met with Linux Magazine’s Robert McMillan and Adam Goodman.” More at Linux Magazine.

    Category:

    • Linux