Head over to Debian.org for the latest installment of the Debian Weekly News. In this issue: “The boot-floppies team needs help” … “Many of the Debian autobuilders are severely overloaded” … “The nomination period for DPL is over, and the candidates have begun posting platforms” … “Unstable lived up to its name again this week.”

SWsoft has released a new and stable version of its Open Source ASPSeek search engine software. The new release fixes a few bugs and adds additional functions. For a complete list of new stuff, check the changelog; the program can be downloaded directly from SWSoft’s Web site.

From LinuxPR: “VPNcon – San Jose, Calif., February 21, 2001 – OpenReach, Inc., a
provider of network-independent virtual private network (VPN) services,
and Penguin Computing Inc., a San Francisco, Calif.-based provider of
reliable Linux systems for Internet serving, today announced a strategic
OEM agreement to co-develop an appliance solution that will enable
businesses to outsource the deployment and management of secure virtual
private networks.”

From LinuxPR: “Command Prompt, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has signed an
agreement with Entercom Communications to provide programming and
managed services via the Active Ads project.

The agreement includes the development of an application consisting of three
Open Source technologies: the PHP programming language, PostgreSQL
database, and Red Hat Linux to provide enterprise class stability to the
Active Ads project.”

“Caldera’s plan to abandon the retail distribution channel and concentrate entirely on
business use of Linux is bound to disappoint that distribution’s many enthusiastic and
vocal desktop customers, of whom I am one. But in a broad, long-term sense if this kind
of philosophy, the specialization of distributions, is undertaken by other companies, it
could be the best possible thing for Linux.” From LinuxPlanet.

KDE has a new website dedicated to the KDE Promotion Project. Visit, and see how you can get involved.

Network World Fusion reports: “Yahoo (YHOO) does not intend to comply with the
deadline of a court order requiring the company to
block French users from accessing Nazi-related items
on its U.S. Web site.

The Net giant has only until the end of this week to
apply the French court’s ruling made in November last
year. Since the ruling was made, Yahoo has taken
action to rid its U.S. site of hate-related goods, which
may make the ruling moot.” Yahoo has countersued in a California court on the grounds that France may not impose its national laws on a United States company.

Always concerned about the safety of its users, airports have started to clamp down on the use of wireless LANs and cell phone operations within their buildings. They say the additional wireless installations could interfere with other, more important communication frequencies used by air traffic controllers and security teams. That pay-phone revenues have plummeted to an all-time low is merely a coincidence. IDG has the full story.

“According to published reports, Microsoft Windows
operating system chief, Jim Allchin, says that ‘freely
distributed software code such as rival Linux could
stifle innovation and that legislators need to
understand the threat.”

How wrong can one statement be?” More at osOpinion.com.

Law.com has an interview of David Powell of Copyright Control Services, the man who considers Napster users Public Enemy Number One. Slashdot readers discuss the story, along with an LA Times article on the use of transparent proxies as content blocking mechanisms.