Kelly McNeill writes “Is implementing a bad API (Win32) on a good operating system (Linux) a bad idea – or a good one? Is having the Win32 API (Application Programming Interface) available on Linux a good thing? Perhaps in 10 years this will no longer be an issue, but right now the answer is “you bet.” Enough has already been written about the very real problem of getting ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) to port their popular apps to Linux. To deny that this is a problem is to deny that the Windows monopoly exists. For example, the financial barrier to doing a complete re-write of a commercial app, e.g. Quicken, to Linux is simply daunting. Having the Win32 API implemented on Linux would effectively eliminate that barrier.”

Nevada Governor Ken Guinn has signed a bill that allows state gambling authorities to create an infrastructure to oversee online gambling in Nevada. Don’t place your bets just yet: all the bill does is authorize the creation of the infrastructure; online gambling is still a grey area of federal law, so e-casinos with the Nevada state seal of approval won’t actually exist unless such activity is deemed legal by the U.S. government. Interactive Week has the story.

From a SecurityFocus report (via The Register): “The hacker known as ‘The Analyzer’ was sentenced
Thursday in Israel to six months of community service
for a series of intrusions into US Defense Department
computers that triggered America’s first full-blown infowar false alarm.”

Perfect timing? Just a few days after the new and improved MP3 format was shown to the world, Open Source audio rival Ogg Vorbis announced that a major new version was almost ready for release: “Ogg Vorbis is actually designed to result in better audio quality than MP3 without any of the
associated patent royalties for software developers or music distributors. It already has been
adopted by a few major software companies, including Sonic Foundry and AOL Time Warner’s
Winamp, as well as some music sites.” Ogg Vorbis 1.0 should be released this weekend. Full story at CNET News.com.

According to the Global e-Readiness report from the The Ecnomist Intelligence Unit and its Pyramid Research subsidiary, the country named “most ready to benefit from the e-commerce revolution” is the United States. Pyramid studied the Internet connectivity, business environment, and local rules and regulations of 60 countries for the report. Interactive Week has the story.

Following up on an item posted earlier today, OpenBSD has released a patch to fix the 2.9 and 2.8 local root compromise. OpenBSD has posted a patch for sys/kern/kern_exec.c to fix the problem. Thanks to BSD Today for the update and links.

LinuxPR press release: “Kivio is a graphing and flowcharting tool for KDE and KOffice that is similar in
direction to Visio from Microsoft. Kivio now has a collection of 19 Stencil sets
ranging from Network diagrams, to electronics, chemistry, flowcharting and more.
Prices are only $5 to $10 per set.”

“The NetLinOS Web Portal, a central location in
the Internet to consolidate the efforts and initiatives related to Linux-based
network connectivity, was released today. The Web Portal is part of the NetLinOS
initiative, created by Cyclades Corporation to foster the improvement and
consolidation of network connectivity in Linux and the development of
Linux-based network appliances.” Full press release at LinuxPR.

KDE Dot News takes a closer look at Infusion, described as a “cross-platform communications environment” that works with Citadel/UX. Says the author: “I’ve certainly been impressed by Citadel/UX, and once I managed to get
Infusion compiled, I was able to enjoy some neat functionality. Coupled with the enthusiam of author Brian
Ledbetter, it would seem that Infusion is going places.”

From a press release at LinuxPR: “REDSonic, Inc., a leader in real-time
Linux solutions for the embedded market, today announced its alliance with a
Japan-based company, MegaSolution, Inc. MegaSolution, a company whose key
people have more than 20 years experience in Japan’s embedded market, will
distribute REDSonic’s real-time Linux technology and software tools. REDSonic
will provide Linux porting, engineering, and training services to MegaSolution and
its customers. By joining forces, the companies will provide real-time Linux
capabilities to the predominantly proprietary environment of Japan.”