SecurityFocus.com has details of a FreeBSD security issue that may allow some users to override any ipfw packet filtering rules, neutering firewalls in the process.

The Southern Ontario Linux Exposistion (SOLE) has announced a Call for Papers. SOLE is now accepting paper proposals from individuals and organizations that wish to make presentations at the conference, running May 28 – 30, 2001 in Hamilton, Ontario. Full details at LinuxPR.

From a press release on LinuxPR: “A new service on the World Wide Web enables Linux users to access
a full range of US stockmarket data and analysis tools via the Internet. The service, 3G, can be found at www.mytradingtool.com. It can scan
the entire NASDAQ database in about 20 seconds looking for patterns
in the price data or signs of upward-trending activity. 3G provides a
range of analysis tools and access to data for over 9000 equities traded
on the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ.

EE Times covers the Open Source research efforts of major automakers, including international giant DaimlerChrysler. The article notes that the auto industry’s interest in Linux and Open Source software comes at a time when overall manufacturing interest in that software category is up by almost 33 percent from last year.

Press release at LinuxPR: “”Linux for beginners” course is designed for busy professionals with no
prior experience with Linux or any other flavor of UNIX. This two-day
introduction to Linux broadens their horizons with a detailed overview of
the operating system. Attendees learn how to effectively use a Linux
system as a valuable tool. They get familiar with the architecture and
various components of the operating system, learn both graphical and
command line tools, and learn to do basic networking. The next offering
of this class is scheduled for February 17-18, 2001.”

And now, a few words from an Internet World interview with CMGI president David Wetherell: “Wetherell: ..we believe that virtually everyone out there who indexes the Web is in violation of at least several of those key patents (owned by subsidiary AltaVista). Internet World: Does that mean you’ll pursue that? Wetherell: Yes, we will. Coming up in the first quarter of 2001.”

CNN reports that independent music giant TVT Records has withdrawn its $1.5 billion lawsuit against Napster. TVT believes it has more to gain by dropping the lawsuit against the music sharing service in favor of supporting the Napster-Bertelsmann AG alliance.

LWN.net posts: “WireX discovered a potential temporary file race condition in the way
that squid sends out email messages notifying the administrator about
updating the program. This could lead to arbitrary files to get
overwritten.”

New Planet Software has released the beta versions of its Code Crusader and Code Medic Linux software development programs. The new versions of the programs are released as limited betas.

From a press release at LinuxPR: ” Today, SuSE Linux, the international
technology leader and solutions provider in Open Source operating
system (OS), announced the February 12th availability of the SuSE
Linux 7.1 with the newly released Kernel 2.4. Only a few weeks after
Linus Torvalds released Kernel 2.4, SuSE now presents the latest duo
from Europe’s best selling Linux distribution. SuSE Linux 7.1 Personal,
offering selected software and documentation tuned to the requirements
of Linux newcomers and desktop users, and SuSE Linux 7.1
Professional, providing experienced users with the applications needed
for utilization as a server operating system.”