Lavtech.com corp. writes, “The new version 3.1.14 of mnoGoSearch free Open Source search engine software is available from mnoGoSearch website at
http://www.mnogosearch.org. With the new version the 3.1.x branch is declared stable and it includes various enhancements and fixes, ChangeLog is here.”

Shuji Sado writes: “5/28 0:00 JST,
VA Linux Japan started
“Slashdot Japan”. It is one part of OSDN’s internationalization,
and new Slashdot challenge.”

PCWorld: “In 1999, Napster started changing the way millions get music, and at times last year more Internet users
searched for “MP3” than “sex,” according to Searchterms.com. “When sex moved back to number one and
MP3 went down again, I said OK, there’s hope for mankind,” Brandenburg jokes.”

Australian IT: “A draft report released this week to the
Internet Engineering Task Force, which sets
the standards for the internet, proposes an
interplanetary “internet” linked by planets,
satellites, asteroids and spacecraft.”

LinuxSecurity: “This week, our readers should pay particular attention to “DoE: First Responder’s Manual,” “Two Open Source Security Code
Scanners,” and “SMTP over an SSH Tunnel.” Also in the news, the saga surrounding Max Butler continues. An updated
Wired story appears in the General section of this newsletter.”

“In terms of going through the code audit almost all the sound drivers still
need fixing to lock against format changes during a read/write. Poll creating
and starting a buffer as write does and also mmap during write, write during
an mmap.”

Linux 2.4.5-ac2
From: Alan Cox 
To: editors@newsforge.com
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 01:33:24 +0100 (BST)


ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/alan/2.4/

                 Intermediate diffs are available from
                         http://www.bzimage.org

In terms of going through the code audit almost all the sound drivers still 
need fixing to lock against format changes during a read/write. Poll creating 
and starting a buffer as write does and also mmap during write, write during
an mmap.

2.4.5-ac2
o        Restore lock_kernel on umount                   (Al Viro)
         | Should cure Reiserfs crash in 2.4.5

o        Fix additional scsi_ioctl leak                  (John Martin)
o        Clean up scsi_ioctl error handling              (me)
o        Configure.help typo fixes                       (Nerijus Baliunas)
o        Fix hgafb problems with logos                   (Ferenc Bakonyi)
o        Fix lock problems in the rio driver             (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Make new cmpci SMP safe                                 (Carlos E Gorges)
o        Fix missing restore flags in soundmodem                 (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Set max sectors in ps2esdi                      (Paul Gortmaker)
o        Fix interrupt restore problems in mixcom        (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Fix alpha compile on dp264/generic              (Andrea Arcangeli)
o        Fix irda irport locking restores                (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Fix failed kmalloc handling in hisax            (Kai Germaschewski)
o        Add missing memory barrier in qlogicisp                 (?)
o        Fix missing restore_flags in eata_dma           (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Fix procfs locking in irttp                     (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Winbond updates                                         (Manfred Spraul)
o        Stop network eating PF_MEMALLOC ram             (Manfred Spraul)
o        Drop fs/buffer.c low mem flush changes          (me)
o        Drop changes to mm/highmem.c                    (me)
         | I don't think the Linus one is quite right but its easier
         | for everyone to be working off one base

o        Revert GFP_FAIL and some other alloc bits       (me)
o        Hopefully fix initrd problem                    (me)
o        Fix kmalloc check in ide-tape                   (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Fix irda irtty locking                          (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Fix missing irq restore in qla1280              (Rasmus Andersen)
o        Fix proc/pid/mem cross exec behaviour           (Arjan van de Ven)
o        Fix direct user space derefs in eicon           (me)
         | From Stanford checker

o        Fix direct user space derefs in ipddp           (me)
         | From Stanford checker

o        Fix direct user space derefs in ixj             (me)
         | From Stanford checker

o        Fix direct user space derefs in decnet          (me)
         | From Stanford checke

Australian IT: “Financial hotshot Peter Chung just wanted to
brag to his old buddies on Wall Street.

He may have moved to Korea, but he was still
a “stud” and “king of his domain”.

But when Chung detailed his sexual exploits in an explicit email, his employers at
ultra-conservative international finance house the Carlyle Group were not amused.

While the Washington DC-based group has refused to comment on the matter,
business journal Industry Standard reports that Chung resigned after being told to
jump or be pushed.”

– By Grant Gross
–

Popular Linux distribution MandrakeSoft showed that it isn’t immune from the layoff trends hitting Open Source companies. NewsForge reported this week that Mandrake let go of its former CEO Henri Poole, its CTO, and about 25 other employees in a house-cleaning that seemed to have as much to do about the company’s direction as about tough economic times.

Company co-founder and new CEO Jacques Le Marois later answered questions from NewsForge editor in chief Robin Miller, with Le Marois saying Mandrake was refocusing on its Linux business, instead of Poole’s vision of e-services not tied to Linux. Le Marois also mentioned Mandrake’s plan for an IPO sometime soon, and he said his company is close to profitability. Mandrake, which has worked to make Linux easier for the desktop user, also issued a press release saying some of the same things.

This news came after the normally upbeat Linux site LinuxPlanet published an editorial saying Linux on the desktop is dead. The column was in response to the recent news that desktop company Eazel has called it quits. That piece generated several responses, even from another columnist at LinuxPlanet, who argued that the potential for Linux on the desktop is “never better.”

Microsoft: No more toys for snitches

Apparently, Microsoft has rethought its decision to give prizes to computer dealers who rat on customers buying computers without an operating system. Microsoft originally thought it’d catch customers using pirated Windows, but apparently didn’t stop to consider some of those naked PCs might be used for Linux or BSD or the Joe’s Garage Free Operating System. (OK, so I’m making that one up.) But now, a Microsoft executive called the snitching program “stupid” and canceled it without giving a reason, although “stupid” may be a good enough reason.

Linux 2.4.5 released

We’ve noted previously that Linux kernel hacker Alan Cox seems like one busy dude. This week, he and the kernel team released several updates to the 2.4.4 kernel, culminating in its merger with the 2.4.5 kernel. For all those who want the latest and greatest, check it out.

Large losses

NewsForge news editor Dan Berkes mentioned it in his latest Open Source stock report, but lest we get accused of ignoring bad news from the home team, we’ll mention this here, too: NewsForge parent VA Linux posted losses of $19 million this last quarter, about four times its loss in the same quarter last year. VA’s stock price actually went up because it slightly beat street estimates of a 40-cent per share loss.

New in NewsForge

NewsForge published these interesting stories this week, in case you missed them:

MandrakeSoft’s layoffs, and other recent problems with Open Source business plans, prompted business columnist Jack Bryar to ask, is this all just bad luck, or do many Open Source companies have bad business plans?

News editor Tina Gasperson reported that former Free Software champion ArsDigita is moving away from that philosophy. The company is planning to market proprietary extensions to its ArsDigita Community System software.

In much sillier news, it appears that fans of KDE are stacking the deck in an online poll of favorite Linux desktops, Tina reported.

This is an early set of thoughts, based on the reader input we’ve gotten so far. We’re putting it out here, in public, so that
you can add your comments and suggestions. This draft is also being distributed to randomly-selected LUGs around the world so
that people who do not currently use Linux.com or NewsForge can add their thoughts.

Help and HOWTOs — everything from introduction to the concept of an operating system to how to set up parallel processing sup
erclusters.

“Is linux right for me (or my business)?”

RFCs and other specifications

Links to Bugtraq and other security sites

Latest news that has anything to do with Linux and Open Source

History – the history of Linux and its surround projects, documents saying who
Linus is, who all the major players in open source are, the founding principals, and the ups and downs in its history as a mov
ement.

Links – community links, every LUG under the sun, resource sites (even if they are in competition with linux.com), with review
s and ratings.

Controversies – take a neutral stand on controversies such as Linux versus GNU/Linux, KDE versus GNOME and whether RMS should
be allowed to wake up in the morning (just kidding, Richard), document both sides and let people decide for themselves, maybe
even a flamewar discussion section.

How to Get Involved, a whole section on how you can help with the development
of Linux and its acceptance in the community, a “what to do and what not to do” guide.

Conferences and Linux Installfests, where to get Linux, who is backing it, and when and where the major (linux expos, symposiu
ms, and conferences) are taking place

Proposed directory file structure (early draft) –

linux
|-development
| |-kernel
| | |-linux kernel mailing list
| | |-developers
| | |-download
| | |-documentation
| |-languages
| | |-C
| | |-C++
| | |-Java
| | |-Scripting
| | |-Perl
| | |-Python
| | |-and so forth
|
|-politics
| |-flamewars
| | |-distribution comparisons
| | |-editors
| | |-window managers/desktops
| | | |-themes
| | | |-screensavers
| |-leaders
| |-legal issues
| |-licenses
| |-definitions
|
|-articles
| |-reviews
| |-opinion
| |-columns
| |-viewpoints
| |-guides
|
|-software
| |-releases
| |-development
| |-download and availability
| |-reviews
|
|-hardware
| |-releases
| |-development
| |-availability
| |-reviews
| |-specs
|
|-resources
| |-disability resources
| |-foreign language documentation and resources
| |-documentation
| | |-RFCs
| | |-Help & HOWTO
| | |-licenses
| | |-software documentation, man pages
| | |-FAQs
| |-related links
|
|-companies
| |-directly involved
| |-supporting
| |-hardware
| |-media
|-consultants for hire
|
|
|-news
| |-business
| |-all other sections
|
|-entertainment
| |-games
| | |-game companies
| | |-reviews
| | |-availability
| | |-compatibility
| | |-download
| |-multimedia
| |-satire
| |-humour
| | |-articles
| | |-humour sites
|
|-other operating systems
| |-BSD family
| |-Hurd
|
|-decisions
| |-is Linux right for me?
| |-requirements
| |-how to start
|
|-Myths
| |-Dispelling myths

The second ‘Wizards of OS’ conference has been announced (thanks, LWN). The goal is to discuss some of the issues of a digital society (including software distrubition, and knowledge sharing).