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NewsVac: News from around the Web
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Distribution Release: Foresight Linux 2.0.4
2 hours, 1 minute ago
Paul Cutler announced the release of Foresight Linux 2.0.4, an rPath-based distribution showcasing the latest GNOME technologies. This release features a new theme and a number of minor updates and bug fixes, notably a problem when trying to install on certain RAID setups. -
Book review: Java Power Tools
2 hours, 31 minutes ago
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Reverse-engineering blog spam malware
3 hours, 1 minute ago
A new report on Blog Spam and malware has been released by Offensive computing. It's worth reading if you are interested in finding out about what unhappy tricks blog spammers are embedding in their comments. -
The Mess That is Linux Volume Management
3 hours, 31 minutes ago
The GNU/Linux operating system is blessed to have sound partition management tools like GParted which are very easy to use. However, when it comes to the management of 'virtual partitions' known as volumes, things are quite different. There is Linx Volume Management, or LVM for short, however it can only really be used from the command line. Also, it doesn't integrate software RAID - except for striping. I was quite optimistic when I started using volume management some four years ago, but not anymore. Let me explain why I'm disappointed. -
Kernel Log: No unstable series; Linux 2008.7; dealing with security fixes
4 hours, 1 minute ago
Along with 2.6.27 development ramping up, there is a variety of other Linux kernel news. Shortly after the release of Linux 2.6.26, someone on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML) asked what sort of changes -- either potential or already in the works -- might give rise to a 2.7 development series. Torvalds did not even wait 20 minutes to respond, "Nothing. I'm not going back to the old model. The new model is so much better that it's not even worth entertaining as a theory to go back." -
Fedora adds collaboration tools
4 hours, 31 minutes ago
Fedora has released its Asterisk-based Fedora Talk VoIP application for connecting Fedora contributors. Other news posted on a recent Fedora blog includes notes on a new automated test case management system, a SIG for ISVs, and new OpenID provider status for the Fedora Account System. -
DNS exploit hits Metasploit
5 hours, 1 minute ago
HD Moore has released an exploit module for the Metasploit framework, meaning script kiddies and every other security person and wannabe is going to be downloading it, if they have not already, and playing around with DNS on the Internet today. -
Book review: Sams Teach Yourself Django in 24 Hours
5 hours, 31 minutes ago
Django is "an open source Web application framework, written in Python, which loosely follows the model-view-controller design pattern." Before you go any further, check your bag of tricks and make sure you have at least some familiarity with the Python programming language. You're going to need it for this book to be of any use to you. -
Linux 2.6.25.12 released
6 hours, 9 minutes ago
We (the -stable team) are announcing the release of the 2.6.25.12 kernel. It contains loads of bugfixes, all over the map. Any users of the 2.6.25 kernel series should upgrade to this version. -
MySQL: Back to its roots via Sun
6 hours, 31 minutes ago
When Sun Microsystems acquired open source database vendor MySQL for $1 billion, MySQL's community held its breath over how the new ownership might impact their community. During an on-stage discussion at OSCON, Monty Widenius, founder of MySQL AB, and Brian Aker, the director of technology for MySQL, set the record straight. "My first reaction when we got acquired was -- thank God we didn't go public," Widenius said. -
Open Enterprise Interview: Doug Moran, vice president of community, Pentaho
7 hours, 1 minute ago
Here Doug Moran, one of Pentaho's founders, offers a fascinating description of how the company was created in part by bringing on board the chief architects of several other open source projects, offers not one but two explanations of the Pentaho name, says more on the recent adoption of the GNU GPLv2 for its BI platform, and explains why -- of course -- he thinks Pentaho's solutions are the best. -
Ubuntu Netbooks vs. Mobile Internet Devices: What’s the difference?
7 hours, 31 minutes ago
Canonical has at least two Ubuntu software projects -- one for Netbooks, the other for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) -- that sound strikingly similar. So what’s the difference between Ubuntu for Netbooks and Ubuntu for MIDs? Canonical gave me some answers during OSCON 2008. -
Interview with Helio Chissini de Castro - Mandriva
8 hours, 1 minute ago
In this interview we talk with Helio Chissini de Castro about the open source environment in Brazil, organization and maintenance of Mandriva, and the future of open source software in Latin America. -
MindTouch sharpens its Deki app masher
8 hours, 31 minutes ago
MindTouch announced on Wednesday the latest version of its open source collaboration and collective intelligence platform, MindTouch Deki (formerly Deki Wiki). Dubbed "Kilen Woods," it features new workflow capabilities, enterprise adapters, and usability improvements. The release targets information workers, IT professionals, and developers looking to collaborate and connect enterprise systems and data sources. -
How To Install Django On Debian Etch (Apache2/mod_python)
9 hours, 1 minute ago
This tutorial explains how to install Django on a Debian Etch server. Django is a Web framework that allows to develop Python Web applications quickly with as much automation as possible. I will use it with Apache2 and mod_python in this guide. - More News
Linux.com : Features
GovTrack opens up information on US legislature
Since 2004, GovTrack.us has housed information about the United States Congress, including 10 years of bills, voting records, and contact information for individual members of Congress. Visitors can also find out who represents them and search the database for committee assignments, legislative statistics, and the Congressional Record, which is the official record of daily proceedings in Congress. All the code that makes GovTrack run is open source, and all the information stored there is freely available to everyone.
Silber runs Canonical while Shuttleworth runs around (video)
Mark Shuttleworth is one of our favorite open source celebrities. He does great things for the community, he's affable, and he promotes not only Ubuntu but GNU/Linux and FOSS in general. And it seems that he's always on the go -- from this conference to that conference to this meeting to that one, anywhere from California to Korea to Spain. While Canonical's CEO tours the world, Chief Operating Officer Jane Silber makes sure the company runs smoothly, that all the servers stay up, and that releases stay on schedule. She's hiring, too, so you may want to watch this video extra carefully; it's entirely possible that Jane Silber could be your boss one day....
Ottawa Linux Symposium 10, Day 1
The tenth annual Ottawa Linux Symposium kicked off Wednesday in Canada's capital, just a few blocks from the country's parliament building, in a conference centre in the midst of being torn down. The symposium started with the traditional State of the Kernel address, this year by Matthew Wilcox. Among the dozens of talks and plenaries held the first day was kernel wireless maintainer John Linville's Tux on the Air: the State of Linux Wireless Networking.
Using Adobe Flash and other 32-bit applications on 64-bit Linux
64-bit computing is as prevalent today as multicore computing. Almost any new processor from Intel or AMD has the AMD long mode extensions, allowing the processor to use 64-bit registers. While 32-bit processors can address 4 gigabytes of RAM, a 64-bit processor can address 16 exabytes, or almost 17.2 billion gigabytes, of RAM. Most 64-bit-capable computers aren't making use of these capabilities, but instead are put to work running 32-bit operating systems, usually because of a lack of applications for 64-bit operating systems, since applications must be recompiled and in some cases rewritten for 64-bit operation. It is possible, however, to run 32-bit Linux binaries natively under 64-bit Linux kernels.
Veteran developer ditches Microsoft for open source
If you've ever used Microsoft Access or Excel, you have likely used a product that Mike Gunderloy had a hand in developing. The irony is that Gunderloy himself doesn't use those products anymore. He's given up Microsoft for open source -- and he's not going back.
Hyperic's CloudStatus demo and interview (video)
Jon Travis, principal engineer for Hyperic, explains the company's new CloudStatus utility in this video interview. CloudStatus is free, it's open source, and you can access it through your Web browser. Right now it works only with Amazon's cloud computing services -- which currently dominates this market niche -- but Hyperic has plans to expand the service to other up-and-coming cloud computing providers.
Network Security Toolkit distribution aids network security administrators
Network Security Toolkit is one of many live CD Linux distributions focusing on network monitoring, analysis, and security. NST was designed to give network security administrators easy access to a comprehensive set of open source network applications, many of which are among the top 100 security tools recommended by insecure.org.
CLI Magic: For geek cred, try these one-liners
In this context, a one-liner is a set of commands normally joined through a pipe (|). When joined by a pipe, the command on the left passes its output to the command on the right. Simple or complex, you can get useful results from a single line at the bash command prompt.
Panel discusses openness at OSCON
The first two days of O'Reilly's Open Source Convention (OSCON) are dominated by technical tutorials, but there are sessions that buck the trend. Monday's most interesting event was Participate 08, a panel discussion sponsored by Microsoft. Panelists debated the meaning of the buzzword "openness" as it applies to source code, services, data, and business models.
Why not learn a little language while you work, Amigo?
Books, CDs, flashcards, classes -- there are a lot of tools to help you learn a foreign language. If you spend much of your time near a computer, software may be one of the better options. Ian McIntosh's Amigo is a friendly language utility for the Linux user, notable for how well it integrates into the desktop.
Linux tools to convert file formats
Life would be a lot easier if we could live in a Linux-only world and if applications never required data from other sources. However, the need to get data from Windows, MS-DOS, or old Macintosh systems is all too common. This kind of import process requires some conversions to solve file format differences; otherwise, it would be impossible to share data, or file contents would be imported incorrectly. The easiest way to transfer data between systems is by using plain text files or common formats like comma-separated value (CSV) files. However, converting such files from Windows or Mac OS results in formatting differences for the newline characters and character encoding. This article explains why we have these problems and shows ways to solve them.
Designing rich AJAX Web interfaces with ZK
ZK is an AJAX toolkit designed to make creating user interfaces that run in a Web browser as simple as creating event-driven interfaces for desktop applications. The interfaces created with ZK use an XML markup language to define the user interface and Java code to implement the Web application's functionality. ZK includes support for data-bound controls so that you do not have to worry about updating the user interface forms when you change your Java objects.
Seneca College teams with FOSS projects for hands-on learning
Where most computer science departments emphasize theory and mention free and open source software (FOSS) only indirectly, Seneca College in Toronto, Canada, offers a different approach: a hands-on introduction to the community in partnership with the Mozilla and Fedora projects. Now in its third year, the program is expanding rapidly and receiving attention from other academic institutions that hope to imitate it.
The power of cross-platform synchronization
These days there are plenty of ways to back up your computer files. The options are easy when you're dealing with one computer -- just back up your files to an external hard drive and forget about it -- but when several machines are involved, each with a different operating system, things can get complicated. If you frequently work on more than one computer, having access to your synchronized files no matter where you are can also be useful. PowerFolder, a backup and file synchronizing service, helps you cover all your bases, no matter what platform or how many computers you're using.
Firefox add-on Glubble too clunky and restrictive as a children's Internet filter
Glubble is a free proprietary Firefox add-on from Glaxstar that limits the activity your child can perform online by blocking access to Web sites and filtering Google search results. For parents, a tool like Glubble can seem like the perfect answer to the problem of protecting kids from the unsavory elements of the Internet. But as I discovered through my use of Glubble, the questions surrounding the idea of Internet filtering don't come with easy answers.
FSF organizes against Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
Nobody knows yet what the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will consist of, but the few available indications are so ominous that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has started a campaign to raise public awareness of the possibilities. According to Matt Lee, an FSF campaign manager, ACTA threatens to "create a culture of fear and suspicion," and, in the worst-case scenario, undermine and demonize free software.
Ubuntu hits new high in Linux boredom
Last weekend a friend was moaning about endless problems with Windows XP on his desktop PC. We installed Ubuntu 7.04 on it. The problems went away. That started me thinking about my own "daily driver" computer, a Dell Latitude that also runs Ubuntu 7.04, and it made me realize that I hadn't thought about my laptop or its operating system in many months. Linux -- especially Ubuntu -- has become so reliable and simple that for most end users it's simply not worth thinking about, any more than we think about tools like wrenches and screwdrivers. Does this mean desktop GNU/Linux has become so boring that it's not worth noticing?
Jump start your Web app deployment with a JumpBox
Software installation, deployment, and configuration can be a headache and a time sink for systems administrators. To ease the process, JumpBox delivers preconfigured Web apps that run as virtual appliances on any machine, across platforms, irrespective of operating system.
Explore your database with Talend Open Profiler
Over time, organizations replicate, migrate, or add complexity within database systems, often times losing control of the quality of their data. When applications begin to fail because of invalid, corrupted, or out-of-date data, the free, GPL-licensed Talend Open Profiler can give data analysts, database administrators (DBA), and business users the ability to research data structures and improve data quality. Through the use of Open Profiler, users can be alerted to hidden inconsistencies and incompatibilities between data sources and target applications. Through data analysis, business users and technical analysts can communicate both data structure and content needs.
Is SCO finally dead?
Even though SCO has suffered another legal defeat, the company looks like it has enough willpower, if not sense, to keep its legal losing streak going.
