See also: last week's Linux in the news page.

Linux in the news

Recommended Reading

Sites Scramble To Fix Web Portal Security Bug (NewsBytes). NewsBytes reports on the PHP Nuke file manager vulnerability, which is being actively exploited. (see the LWN security page). "The bug in all current versions of PHP-Nuke allows unauthorized users to copy files to and from the server hosting the program, according to an advisory from a hacking group known as TWLC. A search at Google.com revealed that approximately 131,000 Web sites use PHP-Nuke, a free, open-source software program that runs on Linux as well as Windows and other operating system platforms."

Discussion: W3C and Patents (TechWeb). TechWeb reports on the W3C RAND licensing proposal. "It's hard to defend the intertwining of Web standards and patents. Where would we be today without royalty-free standards like HTML, HTTP and XML? But it's not surprising to see this development occur. Savvy vendors, from Microsoft to IBM to Sun have been 'gaming' the standards process for years now."

Will W3C mean dollar signs? (News.com). C|Net provides more coverage of the W3C patent policy fiasco. "Microsoft declined to comment on the proposal. Bob Sutor, director of e-business standards strategy at IBM, said that Big Blue does not plan to change its strategies regarding its own patents and standards as a result of the new proposal. "In the past IBM has worked in both royalty-free and RAND (reasonable and nondiscriminatory) environments," Sutor said. "Depending on the particular technology involved, we'll evaluate the licensing terms involved.""

MySQL database to get revamped (ZDNet). ZDNet looks at MySQL's development plans. "At the U.S. Census Bureau, in Suitland, Md., an Oracle site license is available, but many projects run MySQL because of its speed and customization features via the Perl scripting language, said Rachel LaPorte Taylor, Internet technology architect for the agency. Even if the bureau needed more Oracle-like features, such as advanced transaction processing, another open-source database such as the University of California at Berkeley's PostgreSQL would be considered first, Taylor said."

Companies

Build your own supercomputer, the HP way (ZDNet). HP's off the shelf use of their e-PCs and stock network adapters turned a 225 node cluster of Mandrake Linux boxes into one of the top 500 most powerful computers in the world. "The individual machines that made up the I-Cluster are now out of date, each running on 733MHz Pentium III processors with 256MB of RAM and a 15GB hard drive. HP introduced a faster version at the beginning of this month and will launch a Pentium 4 e-PC by the end of the year.

The e-PCs linked by fast Ethernet. Features like super-quiet cooling and low power consumption, originally designed for the corporate buyer, proved useful in the supercomputing environment too--the cluster runs surprisingly quietly and doesn't require anything more than standard air conditioning to keep it cool."

IBM: Web services, databases and Linux (ZDNet). IBM's commitment to the OS can't be questioned, but even they say Linux still has a few issues to solve. "IBM was frank enough to admit Linux still lacks the robustness and scalability of some Unix versions that are tied to proprietary hardware."

Linux and AIX link up on IBM's biggest Unix server (ZDNet). IBM is getting Linux closer to AIX, according to this ZDNet story. "Having slated other suppliers for the multiplicity of their Unixes, the IBM team then had to explain how AIX is positioned alongside Linux. As you might expect they both have their place: AIX is tunable while Linux is customisable, AIX offers performance and Linux is cheap, and so on. However the plans showed the two getting closer, as IBM "accelerates the maturation" of Linux, and adds Linux-like features to AIX."

Business

Did Linux Miss Its Window? (OSOpinion). This OSOpinion piece suggests that Linux has waited too long to go for world domination. "Linux has not aggressively exploited the nearly two-year gap between the release of Windows 2000 and the release of Windows XP. With the Home Edition of XP now the standard operating system shipped with most PCs, Linux advocates can no longer use the instability of Windows 95/98/Me as an argument for Linux."

The Open Source Movement (Information Today). We don't see too many introductory pieces on open source these days, but this one from Information Today is a cut above the rest. In it, the author explains how many library IT environments are converting to open source. Comments are incorporated from the community showing which open source tools are used and where they can be useful. "Today the CCFLS servers run on a combination of Linux and OpenBSD. Murdock also uses SIPS, the open source blogging program (an integrated Weblog and link-indexing system), to allow librarians to post library news and events. In addition, she uses Gimp and Bluefish software to create graphics and Web content."

Finnish city plans switch from Windows to Linux (Register). Another city goes the way of the penguin: The Register reports on Turku, Findland's move away from Microsoft. "If Turku does switch, it'll be moving 3-5,000 computers over to Linux and replacing Microsoft Office with OpenOffice. City director of computer operations Heikki Kunnas commented that he felt compatibility was no longer an issue for local government, and pointed to Finnish Customs' use of OpenOffice as evidence that switching away from Windows was feasible"

Pressure increases over Microsoft licensing (ZDNet). The UK is having its own revolt against the new Microsoft licensing schemes, according to this ZDNet UK story. "IT managers themselves said the new licensing scheme might put them off buying from Microsoft in future. "We have no budget to sign up for Microsoft's new scheme. I'm hoping to get a Linux server in the door and maybe we'll be able to say goodbye to Microsoft," said the IT manager of an international recruitment firm."

Linux threatens Unix, not Windows (ZDNet). This opinion piece says that Linux isn't a threat to the Windows desktop, but is a threat to the Solaris server market. "Linux is a Unix clone and is therefore architecturally similar to the more commercial Unix versions like Solaris, though there are some differences between them. Windows and Linux/Unix, however, are quite different. So if you've got a Windows server, migrating to a Linux/Unix server is a major and difficult event. The same would go for migrating from Linux/Unix to Windows. Even migrating from one Linux/Unix to another is difficult, but nowhere near as hard as switching to Windows. Since Unix users would have a much easier time migrating to Linux, it's no surprise that they constitute the bulk of those migrations."

Is Linux Going Mainstream? Maybe . Washington Technology reports that IDC surveys show Linux is moving out beyond simple web hosting in corporate and government sectors. " According to [Sandy Quant, associate analyst covering Linux and Open Source for the research firm Giga Information Group], the government continued to use Linux-based platforms in science and technology research at Los Alamos National Laboratory and elsewhere. But widespread adoption of Linux in government is potentially hindered by scalability issues that "hamper the ability of the operating system to support high-end applications," she said. Another hindrance may be the lack of a clear endorsement of the Linux OS from the Bush administration, Quant said."

Reviews

Sneak preview: a Linux powered wireless phone (LinuxDevices). LinuxDevices.com looks at the "GITWiT" cellular phone. "'We chose Linux for a number of reasons', explains GITWiT VP of Engineering Peter Zatloukal. 'We are building a user interface that is leagues beyond what exists on current wireless phones, and Linux provides us with a rich environment with which to render our ideas.'"

iPAQ on Linux (Linux Journal). Here's a little history of the process of getting Linux onto Compaq's iPAQ handheld, from Linux Journal. "Admittedly, Hicks said, Linux on the iPAQ isn't for everyone. While running Linux on your iPAQ is cool, there are few "real" personal information management tools that novices can use as seamlessly as Palm OS or some of the ActiveSync systems from Microsoft. However, programs are in the works to ensure that basic PDA functions are covered."

GNOME version 2.0 officially 'not of use to anyone' (Register). The Register looks at the first GNOME 2.0 pre-release. "It's a major rewrite, first announced at LinuxWorld Expo in August 1999 when it was slated for a September 2000 release. The software is accompanied by a note warning that 'this release does not include anything of use to end users,' which at least makes it consistent with all the previous versions of GNOME Desktop we've used." At least you know where they are coming from.

Interviews

Interview with Vim's Bram Moolenaar (EUP e-zine). The European Unix Platform e-zine site is carrying an interview with Bram Moolenaar, the creator of the "vim" editor. "My experience is that most users prefer a Vim with much functionality. For daily use it's most important to be able to edit productively. But it's still an editor. I managed to avoid letting it grow into multi-functional do-it-all-in-one-program like Emacs."

Section Editor: Forrest Cook

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