An independent project working to modify Red Hat’s distribution to include support for ReiserFS has made its latest release. The new CD images are based on Red Hat 7.1, featuring the 2.4.6 kernel, kickstart support, and updated rpms. Keep in mind that this project is not a Red Hat offering. Should something go wrong, you’re on your own. Check out the release notes.

The Register notes that the L1NUX number (US: license) plate is now up for auction on eBay’s United Kingdom site. The bidding started this morning at £5, and at last check, has reached £1,750.

EE Times: “IBM Corp. will roll out a chip set this fall that adds
mainframe-class features to servers based on Intel Corp.’s 32-bit or 64-bit
processors. The Summit chip set will support Intel’s next-generation Itanium chips
and multiprocessing versions of the Xeon.

IBM said the chip set will include in such features as “Chipkill,” wherein memory can
be hot-swapped without downtime, as well as a host of remote-I/O and
multiprocessing features, including chip partitioning that will let different processors
in a server run different operating systems.”

A Reuters report on News.com says that three of the ten board members of Exodus Communications have jumped ship. The troubled site hosting company released a positive statement esssentially (but not literally) saying “Yeah, well, we didn’t need you anyway!” Additional details were not immediately available.

From The Register: “ICANN has officially approved widespread corporate cybersquatting for new
domain name registry operators.

It is not a well-known aspect of the new domain operators’ contract, but they are
entitled to register up to 10,000 domains for themselves before allowing anyone
else access. ICANN argues that a registry operator will need a wide range of
addresses on that registry in order to work effectively, and it is impossible to
disagree with that.”

Anonymous Reader writes “LinuxWorld.com.au has released the Linux Minibook, second edition. See the Web site, http://linuxworld.com.au/minibook to purchase it online (international orders welcome). The 160 page book comes with 4 CDs including Red Hat 7.1, Linux Mandrake 8.0 and an applications CD. Another feature is the advanced topics which include iptables firewalling, Web/database development and using Samba to replace Win NT. Media should contact LinuxWorld.com.au for review copies.”

News.com (on MSNBC): “Apparently looking to quash rumors before they
start, Apple Computer said Tuesday that it won’t be
launching any new hardware at the Apple Expo Paris next
month. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement that he
will give a keynote address at the European event on
Sept. 26.”

“It is, in short, time to seriously consider Linux as a desktop operating system. If it isn’t time to
develop a migration plan, it’s certainly time to perform a cost/benefit analysis.

It’s a triple irony: The timing coincides with Dell dropping its support for Linux; it comes just as
Microsoft has finally achieved sufficient OS stability to eliminate that as a differentiator; and it
is Microsoft, through its licensing shenanigans — not any of Linux’s backers — that has
made Linux a credible option for you.” Full story at InfoWorld.

From Wired News: ”
Wireless networks are a little less secure today with the public release of “AirSnort,” a tool that can surreptitiously grab and analyze data
moving across just about every major wireless network.

When enough information has been captured, AirSnort can then piece together the system’s master password.

In other words, hackers and/or eavesdroppers using AirSnort can just grab what they want from a company’s database wirelessly, out
of thin air.”

The Wall Street Journal via ZDNet reports that Microsoft may be headed toward a settlement with the government in its antitrust case.