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<title> News Bytes LG #76 </title>
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<H4 ALIGN="center">"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"</H4>
<HR>
<center>
<table cellpadding=7><tr><td>
<IMG SRC="../gx/bytes.gif" border=1 ALT="News Bytes">
</td><td>
<H3>Contents:</H3>
<ul>
<li><a HREF="#leg">Legislation and More Legislation</a>
<li><a HREF="#links">Linux Links</a>
<li><a HREF="#conferences">Conferences and Events</a>
<li><a HREF="#general">News in General</a>
<li><a HREF="#distro">Distro News</A>
<li><a HREF="#commercial">Software and Product News</a>
</ul>
</td></tr></table>
<STRONG>Selected and formatted by <A HREF="mailto:michael.conry@softhome.net">Michael Conry</A></STRONG>
</center>
<P> Submitters, send your News Bytes items in
<FONT SIZE="+2"><STRONG>PLAIN TEXT</STRONG></FONT>
format. Other formats may be rejected without reading. You have been
warned! A one- or two-paragraph summary plus URL gets you a better
announcement than an entire press release.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
March 2002 <I>Linux Journal</I>
</font>
</H3>
<IMG ALT="[issue 95 cover image]" SRC="misc/bytes/lj-cover95.png" WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=268
ALIGN="left" HSPACE="20">
The March issue of <A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/"><I>Linux
Journal</I></A> is on newsstands now.
This issue focuses on web scripting. Click
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=NS-lj-issues/issue95&file=index">here</A>
to view the table of contents, or
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/subscribe/">here</A>
to subscribe.
<P>
<FONT COLOR="green">All articles through December 2001 are available for
public reading at
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php">http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php</A></FONT>.
Recent articles are available on-line for subscribers only at
<A HREF="http://interactive.linuxjournal.com">http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/</A>.
<BR CLEAR="all">
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<a name="leg"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Legislation and More Legislation</font></H3></center>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">DMCA
</FONT>
</H3>
At risk of sounding like a broke record, there are a couple of links we
would like to bring to your attention regarding the DMCA (Digital
Millennium Copyright Act), the law used to imprison Dmitry Sklyarov.
<a href="http://www.eff.org/">
The Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>
has produced an extensive
<a href="http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Sklyarov/us_v_sklyarov_faq.html">
FAQ</a>
about the Dmitry Sklyarov & ElcomSoft Prosecution. The information is
of course relevant to a wider range of circumstances than this particular
case, and details the DMCA, fair use, eBooks and the EFF's role in the
case. This is a good resource for anyone who wants to get the whole crazy
story straight (if that is even possible!).
<P>
A recent story on
<a href="http://slashdot.org/">
Slashdot</a>
highlighted how bad this law really is. Apparently it turns out that
<a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/14/1745238&mode=nested">
serial cables might be illegal</a>.
The story submitter, Colin McMillen, related how US Customs rejected entry
of a PC-Sega Dreamcast serial cable into the US, even though the cable had
a legitimate academic use.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Copyright
</FONT>
</H3>
The New York Times has
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/national/19CND-RIGHTS.html">
reported</a> [registration required] on a
<a href="http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/eldredvreno/">
legal challenge</a>
to the Copyright Term Extensions Act 1998, which extended copyrights
another 20 years. The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the challenge,
which is being brought by a coalition of interested parties (publishers,
etc.,) who depend on using material in the public domain. It will be
interesting to see how this challenge progresses, as the original law was
the result of extensive lobbying by powerful players in the media industry,
notably Disney who would lose control of Mickey Mouse in 2003 under the
original law which gave 75 year protection. The challenge is being backed
by at least one lawyer most readers will be familiar with: Lawrence Lessig.
Various
<a href="http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/eldredvreno/">
news and information resources</a> are available on the
<a href="http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/">
Openlaw</a>
website.
<p>
<hr noshade width="20%">
<p>
In related news, Slashdot
<a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/19/1916245&mode=nested">
reported</a>
that Canada is to hold
<a href="http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/rp01100e.html">
public hearings</a>
on digital copyright. There are
<a href="http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/rp00833e.html">
various locations and dates</a>,
and it would be great if people from Canada with an interest in the Free
Software movement were able to make their points of view heard at these
meetings.
<a name="links"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Linux Links</font></H3></center>
<p><hr><p>
<p>
<IMG ALT="Linux Focus" SRC="../gx/linuxfocus.jpg" WIDTH="143" HEIGHT="45">
<BR CLEAR="all">
The following articles are in the March issue of the E-zine
<A HREF="http://www.linuxfocus.org/">LinuxFocus</A>:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article177.shtml">
Samba configuration</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article229.shtml">
GCC - the root of all</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article230.shtml">
IOS, another REBOLution</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article231.shtml">
Programming the AVR Microcontroller with GCC</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article232.shtml">
Bookreview: The qmail Handbook</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article233.shtml">
Introduction to Ncurses</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article235.shtml">
Setting up a Squid-Proxy Server</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article237.shtml">
Game Review - Barrel Patrol 3D</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linuxfocus.org/English/March2002/article238.shtml">
Playing around with Dingbats and The Gimp</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/">
The Register</a>
have featured the following stories which might interest you:
<ul>
<li>
First of all, we must mention that those living on the western side of
the Atlantic
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/31/24195.html">
now have</a>
their very own version of The Register,
<a href="http://www.theregus.com/">
http://www.theregus.com/</a>, which is co-published with
<a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/">
Tom's Hardware Guide</a>.
The new site has mostly the same content as the original
Register, minus esoteric UK stories, plus esoteric North America
stories.
</li>
<li>
Sun is to
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24192.html">
charge</a>
for StarOffice on Linux and Windows, but not on Solaris. [The Register]
LWN <A HREF="http://lwn.net/2002/0228/">speculates</A> why, but notes that
all hope is not lost: StarOffice is "
based on <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/">OpenOffice</a>,
which, thanks to Sun, <i>is</i> free software.
</li>
<li>
Barlow lambasts DMCA,
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24186.html">
citing example</a>
of Grateful Dead.
</li>
<li>
Walmart to sell
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/24165.html">
OS-free PCs</a>.
</li>
<li>
BSD
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24060.html">
`3 times as popular as desktop Linux'</a>
thanks to Mac OS X of course.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
The
<a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/">O'Reilly</a>
stable of websites have published various articles which might be useful or
interesting to you:
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2002/02/21/FreeBSD_Basics.html">
Finding things</a>
in the UNIX environment, and more.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2002/02/21/sysperf.html">
Performance analysis</a> and system tuning.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2002/02/14/Big_Scary_Daemons.html">
Understanding NFS</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2002/01/31/make_intro.html">
Introduction to make</a> and a guide to
<a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2002/02/14/makefiles.html">
advanced Makefiles</a>, by Jennifer Vesperman
</li>
<li>
Also by Jennifer Vesperman, an
<a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2002/01/03/cvs_intro.html">
introduction to CVS</a> and a guide to
<a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2002/01/17/cvsadmin.html">
CVS administration</a>.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/12/14/rootkit.html">
Understanding rootkits</a> and
<a href="http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2002/02/07/rootkits.html">
Scanning for rootkits</a>.
</li>
</ul>
<p>The
<a href="http://dillo.sourceforge.net/">
Dillo</a> web browser. Still pretty basic, no frames or style sheets, but
it is VERY FAST! This is worth supporting.
<P>
Mike Orr's Linux Journal
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=5854">
report</a>
from the Tenth International Python Conference.
<P>
Slashdot
<a href="http://slashdot.org/articles/02/02/27/1627214.shtml?tid=106">
story</a>
on CodeWeavers CrossOver plugin 1.1 which plays Windows Media 6.4 under
Linux.
<P>
The
<a href="http://www.linuxbios.org/">
LinuxBIOS project</a>.
<p>
<a href="http://www.unixreview.com/">
UnixReview.com</a>
have taken
<a href="http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=2424/uni1014152480113/0202i.htm">
a look at three Linux firewall products</a>:
SuSE Firewall on CD, Mandrake Single Network Firewall and Coyote Linux.
<p>
LinuxSecurity.com has a guide to
<a href="http://www.linuxsecurity.com/feature_stories/feature_story-91.html">
configuring Postfix</a>.
<p>
Newsforge
<a href="http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=02/02/06/0220236&mode=nocomment">
reports on</a>
Fluxbox, an evolved version of the Blackbox window manager.
<p>
IBM
<a href="http://www-105.ibm.com/developerworks/education.nsf/linux-onlinecourse-bytitle/F86D74C7B3B4E65486256B2900073A2E?open&l=3">
article</a>
on clustering with MOSIX.
<p>
Linuxtoday with a
<a href="http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-02-01-013-26-PR-DV">
Boston Consulting Group report</a>
on the mind of the average Open Source community member.
<p>
<a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='6,341,372'.WKU.&OS=PN/6,341,372&RS=PN/6,341,372">
US-Patent on perfect machine translation</a>.
Quoting a little from a post by Hartmut Pilch to the European Patent Office
mailing list:
<blockquote>
"The description is very voluminous and explains a whole new cosmology,
comprising insights about Buddhism illumination, androids, perpetuum
mobiles, subject-object dichotomy and much more. Based on this
cosmology, a solution to the above-claimed problem seems to become
possible. At least it should be difficult for an examiner to refute
that it does. He could ask the inventor to provide a working
reference implementation, but that is not adequate, because only a
key idea of a huge complex system is claimed."
</blockquote>
<p>
Some more patents links
<ul>
<li>
The Register reports that
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24157.html">
EU thumbs nose at US</a>
with software patent proposals.
</li>
<li>
New Scientist reports that British Telecom has
<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991905">
taken to the courts</a> to enforce its patent on hyperlinking.
</li>
<li>
The French Socialist Party (PSF)
<a href="http://www.parti-socialiste.fr/tic/ps-tic_2002.php">
opposes software patents</a> [french]. Urges resistance to US pressure.
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.law.nyu.edu/benklery/IP&Organization.pdf">
Intellectual Property and the Organization of Information
Production</a> [pdf]
by Yochai Benkler.
</li>
<li>
</li>
Touch&eacute; to LWN:
<A HREF="http://lwn.net/2002/0228/commerce.php3">EU lets Microsoft write its Patent Directive.</A>
</ul>
<P> <A HREF="http://www.wotsit.org/">Wotsit.org</A> ("What's it?")
is a reference site for information on various file formats.
<a name="conferences"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Upcoming conferences and events</font></H3></center>
<p><hr><p>
<P> Listings courtesy <EM>Linux Journal</EM>. See <EM>LJ</EM>'s
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/events.php">Events</A> page for the
latest goings-on.
<!-- *** BEGIN events table [this line needed by Linux Gazette events.py *** -->
<table cellpadding=5 border=0 width=100%>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>COMDEX (Key3Media)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 5-7, 2002<BR>Chicago, IL<BR>
<a href="http://www.key3media.com/comdex/chicago2002/" target="_blank">
http://www.key3media.com/comdex/chicago2002/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>BioIT World Conference & Expo (IDG)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 12-14, 2002<BR>Boston, MA<BR>
<a href="http://www.bioitworld.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.bioitworld.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Embedded Systems Conference (CMP)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 12-16, 2002<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
<a href="http://www.esconline.com/sf/" target="_blank">
http://www.esconline.com/sf/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>CeBIT (Hannover Fairs)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 14-22, 2002<BR>Hannover, Germany<BR>
<a href="http://www.cebit.de/" target="_blank">
http://www.cebit.de/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>COMDEX (Key3Media)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 19-21, 2002<BR>Vancouver, BC<BR>
<a href="http://www.key3media.com/comdex/vancouver2002/" target="_blank">
http://www.key3media.com/comdex/vancouver2002/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>FOSE</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 19-21, 2002<BR>Washington, DC<BR>
<a href="http://www.fose.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.fose.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Game Developers Conference (CMP)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 19-23, 2002<BR>San Jose, CA<BR>
<a href="http://www.gdconf.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.gdconf.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Singapore (IDG)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 20-22, 2002<BR>Singapore<BR>
<a href="http://www.idgexpoasia.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.idgexpoasia.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Software Solutions / eBusiness World</b><BR>
<td valign=top>March 26-27, 2002<BR>Toronto, Canada<BR>
<a href="http://www.softmatch.com/soln20.htm#ssebw" target="_blank">
http://www.softmatch.com/soln20.htm#ssebw</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>SANS 2002 (SANS Institute)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>April 7-9, 2002<BR>Orlando, FL<BR>
<a href="http://www.sans.org/newlook/home.htm" target="_blank">
http://www.sans.org/newlook/home.htm</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Malaysia (IDG)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>April 9-11, 2002<BR>Malaysia<BR>
<A HREF="http://www.idgexpoasia.com/" TARGET="_blank">
http://www.idgexpoasia.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Dublin (IDG)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>April 9-11, 2002<BR>Dublin, Ireland<BR>
<BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Internet World Spring (Penton)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>April 22-24, 2002<BR>Los Angeles, CA<BR>
<a href="http://www.internetworld.com/events/spring2002/" target="_blank">
http://www.internetworld.com/events/spring2002/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (O'Reilly)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>April 22-25, 2002<BR>Santa Clara, CA<BR>
<a href="http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etcon2002/" target="_blank">
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etcon2002/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Software Development Conference & Expo, West (CMP)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>April 22-26, 2002<BR>San Jose, CA<BR>
<a href="http://www.sdexpo.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.sdexpo.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Networld + Interop (Key3Media)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>May 7-9, 2002<BR>Las Vegas, NV<BR>
<a href="http://www.key3media.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.key3media.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Strictly e-Business Solutions Expo (Cygnus Expositions)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>May 8-9, 2002<BR>Minneapolis, MN<BR>
<a href="http://www.strictlyebusiness.net/strictlyebusiness/index.po?" target="_blank">
http://www.strictlyebusiness.net/strictlyebusiness/index.po?</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Embedded Systems Conference (CMP)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>June 3-6, 2002<BR>Chicago, IL<BR>
<a href="http://www.esconline.com/chicago/" target=_"blank">
http://www.esconline.com/chicago/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>USENIX Annual (USENIX)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>June 9-14, 2002<BR>Monterey, CA<BR>
<a href="http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix02/" target="_blank">
http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix02/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>PC Expo (CMP)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>June 25-27, 2002<BR>New York, NY<BR>
<a href="http://www.techxny.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.techxny.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>O'Reilly Open Source Convention (O'Reilly)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>July 22-26, 2002<BR>San Diego, CA<BR>
<a href="http://conferences.oreilly.com/" target="_blank">
http://conferences.oreilly.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>USENIX Securty Symposium (USENIX)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>August 5-9, 2002<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
<a href="http://www.usenix.org/events/sec02/" target="_blank">
http://www.usenix.org/events/sec02/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo (IDG)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>August 12-15, 2002<BR>San Francisco, CA<BR>
<a href="http://www.linuxworldexpo.com" target="_blank">
http://www.linuxworldexpo.com</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>LinuxWorld Conference & Expo Australia (IDG)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>August 14 - 16, 2002<BR>Australia<BR>
<a href="http://www.idgexpoasia.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.idgexpoasia.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Communications Design Conference (CMP)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>September 23-26, 2002<BR>San Jose, California<BR>
<a href="http://www.commdesignconference.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.commdesignconference.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
<tr><td valign=top>
<b>Software Development Conference & Expo, East (CMP)</b><BR>
<td valign=top>November 18-22, 2002<BR>Boston, MA<BR>
<a href="http://www.sdexpo.com/" target="_blank">
http://www.sdexpo.com/</A><BR>
<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>
</table>
<!-- *** END events table [this line needed by Linux Gazette events.py *** -->
<a name="general"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">News in General</font></H3></center>
<p><hr><p>
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Linux, Microsoft and the Bundestag
</FONT>
</H3>
A group of German citizens concerned that Germany should both exploit
the advantages of free software, and avoid some of the perils of
proprietary software have been lobbying for the introduction of free
software into the German parliament, the Bundestag.
The
<a href="http://www.bundestux.de/english.html">
www.bundestux.de</a> (English and Deutsch) calmly makes the case for free
software in the Bundestag (and indeed in all government), and provides the
opportunity to submit your contact details in support of the sentiments.
<p>
The Register
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23964.html">
reported</a>
that this civil activity was received with hostility by Microsoft Germany,
who felt they were unjustly being labelled as:
"undemocratic and a hindrance to democracy".
The consultants report released later on basically
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/24048.html">
divided the spoils</a> [The Register] between Microsoft (recommended for
desktops) and free software (recommended in server/groupware roles).
Microsoft's poor email client security was noted, but was not sufficient to
tip the balance.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">W3C Climbdown
</FONT>
</H3>
<a href="http://lwn.net/">
Linux Weekly News</a>
has
<a href="http://lwn.net/2002/0131/">
reported</a>
that the W3C appears to have backed down on the issue of incorporating
royalty governed technology into its standards. This is a significant
victory for people speaking out on issues that upset them. LWN also notes
that there is
<a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-patentpolicy-comment/2002Jan/0151.html">
another comment period</a>
leading up to the final review, for those who still have something to say
or contribute.
<p>
<hr noshade width="20%">
<p>
Also on the topic of open standards,
The Register
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/23908.html">
reported</a>
on the
<a href="http://www.freestandards.org/">
Free Standards Group</a>,
which has currently completed two standards, the
<a href="http://www.linuxbase.org/">
Linux Standard Base</a> (broadly covering system layout)
and the
<a href="http://www.li18nux.org/">
Li18nux</a> standard (covering internationalization). Happily, this
initiative seems to have widespread support, and should be a significant
boon to the whole Free Software movement.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Linux Weekly News
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
<a href="http://www.lwn.net/">
Linux Weekly News</a> (LWN) is becoming independent again. Tucows, which had
acquired it, has spun it off. "As of the beginning of February, LWN
will operate, once again, as an independent publication of Eklektix,
Inc., which will be owned by the current LWN staff. All of our financial
issues remain, and they have only gotten more pressing over time, but we
will have more freedom in how we try to address those issues." LG has long
been a supporter of LWN (after all, we get some of our best links from them!),
and we were
<A HREF="../issue72/lg_bytes72.html#general">saddened in November</A> to hear
of their difficulties. We wish the LWN staff the very best of luck.
<a name="distro"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Distro News</font></H3></center>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">General
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
Distro News is based on the information sent to us by the
publishers/authors of Linux distributions. This does not necessarily give
a broad view of the Linux scene. One excellent resource for anyone
interested in choosing a distribution or just in the state of the business
is
<a href="http://www.distrowatch.com/">
DistroWatch.com</a>
which has profiles and comparisons of almost every distribution under the
sun. Another resource is the distribution section of
<a href="http://www.lwn.net/">
Linux Weekly News</a>
(for example,
<a href="http://lwn.net/2002/0221/dists.php3">
here</a>)
which covers news regarding new distribution releases, changes/updates to
existing distros, and distribution releases.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Bluecat
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
<a href="http://www.lynuxworks.com">
LynuxWorks</a>
have announced BlueCat 4.0 Linux and VisualLynux Integrated Development
Environment (IDE) support
for the for the new ARM920T processor. Developers will now be able to
develop embedded Linux software applications for the ARM920T
processor, which features high-performance and low-power characteristics
for handheld devices, network computers, smart phones and other
processor-intensive applications.
LynuxWorks' BlueCat 4.0 Linux distribution is based
on the 2.4 Linux kernel. With VisualLynux, developers have access to an
integrated and tested cross development environment to facilitate
development. VisualLynux is an extension of
Microsoft Visual Studio, developed for Windows-hosted development, with
the added benefit of all the commands and standard GNU tools needed to
streamline the design and creation of applications targeted to run on
BlueCat Linux.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Debian
</FONT>
</H3>
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly">
Debian Weekly News</a>
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2002/8/">
reported</a> that a new revision (r6) of Potato is
<a href="http://master.debian.org/~joey/2.2r6/">
in preparation</a>, and is expected to arrive early March. Looking to the
next release, it seems Woody is beginning to
<a href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce-0202/msg00012.html">
take shape</a>
for its ultimate release. Unofficial Woody CD's have been available for a
while, but recently Ho-seok Lee has released a
<a href="http://www.debian.or.kr/~alee/cdimages/">
mini CD image</a> suitable for 3.5" mini CD's.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">SuSE
</FONT>
</H3>
<a href="http://www.suse.de/en/">
SuSE</a>
has announced the implementation of mySAP.com on "SuSE Linux Enterprise
Server". Since the beginning of this year, SuSE Linux has been utilising
SAP's enterprise resource planning tool on Compaq hardware for the
company's business operations. SuSE has also announced the availability of
"SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for iSeries and pSeries"
<a name="commercial"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Software and Product News</font></H3></center>
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Graphics Muse Tools CD V1.0.0 for GIMP 1.2
</FONT>
</H3>
<P> In response to the growing demand for off the shelf products for desktop
Linux systems, the Graphics Muse is now offering
<a href="http://www.graphics-muse.org/gfxmuse/gfxmuse.html">
The Graphics Muse Tools CD</a>,
an easy to install package of plug-ins, scripts, and data for use with the
latest version of GIMP. The Graphics Muse Tools CD V1.0.0, a suite of
Plug-Ins, scripts and data designed specifically for use with GIMP 1.2 and
Red Hat 7.x was released on Feb 7, 2002.
This release includes 4 original plug-ins and 84 plug-ins and Perl
scripts from the GIMP Registry, all compiled for use on Red Hat 7.x.
This includes 16 programs that had not previously been ported to GIMP 1.2.
Additionally, the CD includes over 125 new brushes and 125 new patterns.
<P> The Graphics Muse Tools CD is available for Red Hat Linux 7.x systems and
can be purchased for $12, plus shipping and any applicable sales tax, from
the Graphics Muse Tools
<a href="http://www.graphics-muse.org/gfxmuse/gfxmuse.html">
CD web site</a>. (Should also work on SuSE 7.2 and Mandrake 8.1)
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">CryptoHeaven
</FONT>
</H3>
<p>
<a href="http://www.cryptoheaven.com/">
CryptoHeaven</a> offer a set of tools and services aimed at bringing
encryption technologies to a wider audience. The tools deal with such
tasks as encrypting/signing emails, secure instant messaging and chatting,
online encrypted file storage, key management, etc., with the emphasis on
ease of use. Available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X. Free download, with
charges for some services, consult website for details.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">OmniCluster SlotServer
</FONT>
</H3>
<a href="http://www.omnicluster.com">
OmniCluster Technologies</a>
is an IBM spin-off that has created a plug-n-play server blade products
that fit within the PCI expansion slots of existing hardware.
Since SlotServers are built on an industry standard PCI architecture
and are compatible with virtually all operating environments -- including
Windows 2000, Windows NT, RedHat Linux and FreeBSD.
Users can run applications tuned for an operating system, regardless of the
host server's operating system. For example, users can run a Linux-based
firewall within a Windows-based host, on an isolated server.
SlotServers range in cost from $499 - $1,199.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Zend Studio 2.0
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
<a href="http://www.zend.com">
Zend Technologies</a> have released
<a href="http://www.zend.com/store/products/zend-studio.php">
Zend Studio 2.0</a>:
an environment for developing, debugging, and deploying PHP applications in
one integrated package. Zend Studio 2.0 is intended to allow people with
intermediate computer skills to develop, de-bug and deploy PHP-based
applications ranging from e-commerce to Web hosting.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">New Release of Motif
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
In cooperation with The Open Group,
<a href="http://www.ics.com">
ICS</a>
have just released an update to the
Motif GUI toolkit.
Open Motif 2.2 includes 10 new user interface controls and universal tooltip
support. A roadmap has also been defined that defines availability
for additional functionality including anti-aliased fonts, improved imaging
support (png, jpg, etc.) and canvases.
<P>More details are available at
<a href="http://www.motifzone.net">
www.motifzone.net</a>.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Fake
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
<a href="http://www.vergenet.net/linux/fake/">
Fake</a>
is a utility, released by
<a href="http://www.vergenet.net/">
Verge Systems</a>,
that enables an IP address to be taken over by bringing up a second
interface on the host machine and using arp spoofing. This can be used to
switch in backup servers on a LAN during periods of both unscheduled and
scheduled down time.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">QuickHelp and QuickUML Linux
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
<a href="http://www.excelsoftware.com">
Excel Software</a>
have announced the availability of two new packages for Linux.
<a href="http://www.excelsoftware.com/quickhelplinux.html">
QuickHelp</a>
is a development tool for quickly creating and distributing online help for
Linux applications with support for the Linux KDE and GNOME desktops.
QuickHelp consists of a QuickHelp Builder for creating help systems and a
QuickHelp Viewer for deploying them to end-users. The help information
resides in a single XML file distributed with the QuickHelp Viewer.
<p>
<a href="http://www.excelsoftware.com/quickumllinuxnews100.html">
QuickUML for Linux</a>
is an object-oriented design tool that provides extensive integration and
ease-of-use for a core set of UML models. An entire project is accessible
through a tabbed window with smooth integration between use cases, class
models, object models, dictionary and code. The project is saved as an XML
file that is compatible with QuickUML Windows so design work can be shared
between platforms.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Team ASA Releases Dual Gigabit Ethernet NPWR Linux
Engine with 733 MHz XScale CPU
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
<a href="http://www.TeamASA.com">
Team ASA</a>
have today announced the latest
release in the NPWR single board networking computer series.
NPWR, a first single board networking computer (SBNC) designed for
manufacturers and OEMs in the Network Attached Storage (NAS), RAID,
and Personal Server marketplaces, is now available with dual Gigabit
Ethernet ports.
The NPWR is powered by the Intel XScale processor and the standard
configuration includes a 160 Mbytes per second (LVD) SCSI port, 8
Mbytes of FLASH ROM, 128 Mbytes of SDRAM and Dual Gigabit Ethernet
ports.
<P> <hr> <P>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" " SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">VariCAD
</FONT>
</H3>
<P>
<a href="http://www.varicad.com">
VariCAD</a>
have announced the recent release of its MCAD - VariCAD 8.1. This
CAD package features many tools for 3D modelling and 2D drafting:
libraries of mechanical parts, surface development (unbending),
calculations of standard mechanical components, tools for working with
non-graphical information (BOM), and more. VariCAD 8.1 can also import and
export common CAD file types such as DWG, DXF, and IGES.
<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
<P> <hr> <P>
<H5 ALIGN=center>
Copyright &copy; 2002, Michael Conry and
the Editors of <A HREF="mailto:gazette@ssc.com"><I>Linux Gazette</I></A>.<BR>
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
Published in Issue 76 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, March 2002</H5>
<!-- *** END copyright *** -->
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