ComputerWorld .com has a story talking about two recent security vulnerabilities related to Linux. Analysts and corporate IT types say the security issues don’t change their minds about the general security of Linux. One manager of network services said “he found the Linux community to be far more responsive than traditional, proprietary operating system vendors when security issues have cropped up, issuing fixes and patches quickly and publicly.”

From LinuxPR: LiveSidebar is proud to announce the new version of the Note-it, our Post-it style tab – an application for Mozilla’s My Sidebar.

As the traditional Post-it, the Note-it is intended at quick annotations but with an advantage, it is integrated with the browser. The Note-it tab is the ideal place for those quick annotations that pop up all of a sudden. The annotations are saved in the Note-it and can be forwarded to someone else or even yourself via email or instant message if available.

From The Register: “A vulnerability involving an obscure UDP protocol might permits crackers to obtain remote control of Unix workstations, security experts have warned.

Security firm ProCheckUp has issued an advisory warning that anonymous XDMCP connections allow remote attackers to obtain a remote console identical to a local X-Windows session, using a command enabled by default on most Unix boxes.”

ZDNet story:

“A security flaw in open-source software used by Linux and Unix systems for compression may affect some Microsoft products that also use the code … A flaw in the zlib software-compression library could leave much of the systems based on the open-source operating system Linux open to attack.”

The Graduates of NYLXS’ GNU/Linux One Class are proud to throw their first
Install Fest. The Fest will start at noon Sunday, 17 March, 2002. No one knows when the
Fest will end.

The Fest will be on the second floor of

1600 East 17th Street
Brooklyn USA

which is three blocks from the King’s Highway subway stop on the Q line.

This Install Fest is made possible through the work and kind generosity of
the Graduates and their Teacher, Ruben Safir, CEO of Brooklyn USA.

For further information: http://www.nylxs.com.

Here is general information about Install Fests:

Hardware: Bring the boxes on which you wish to run a Free OS.

Software: Bring whatever distribution CDs, boot and rescue disks, boot
managers, tiny distributions, manuals, and anything else you
want.

Important: Everything done to/with any computer at any Install Fest,
and in particular, at this Install Fest, is done at the
specific request of the owner of the computer. As with
all human endeavor, there is some risk of catastrophe.
Back up all your data, before coming to the Fest! In addition,
make a list of all hardware and media you bring to the Fest,
and check that you have all your hardware and media when you
leave the Fest.

LinuxSecurity Contributors: “In this issue SNMP vulnerabilities, “Responsible Disclosure” by the IETF, Terrorists, Cryptography
and Export Laws, and info on Bernstein’s Factoring Breakthrough.”

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/cryptography _article-4615.html.

John Gowin writes, Linux Orbit has posted and introduction to single floppy Linux distribtuions. ‘If you’ve purchased a Linux distribution off the shelf, then you know that Linux distributions come in all shapes and sizes. Lately, it seems that with each new distribution release you get more software included with the operating system. Instead of two CDs, you get 6, or more. It would seem that Linux distribution companies enjoy the concept of “more is better.” However, not all Linux follow this general rule.

In this article, we’re going to introduce you to some Linux distributions that can fit on a single 3.5-inch 1.44 floppy disk and show you how you can use them to your advantage. You’ll be surprised at how much power they can pack.'”

Read the article at LinuxOrbit.com.

Company recognized for powerful, affordable Linux managed hosting solutions. In Hostpulse.com’s annual recognition of the top one hundred most dynamic hosting solution providers, Modwest was recognized for their powerful, affordable managed hosting solutions. The awards were announced last week at www.100mostdynamic.com.

John Masterson, VP Business Development for Modwest, said of the company’s managed server packages, “We understand that e-business owners are more interested in running their websites than worrying about the 24/7 technical tasks associated with server administration. You run your website, we run the servers. That’s the value we bring to the table.”

Because Modwest uses Linux and other open source software, they are able to keep costs down and pass the savings along to their customers. Modwest’s managed hosting plans start at just $299/month.

“Considering the salary requirements of a skilled system administrator, we estimate our company saves $50,000 to $100,000 per year by using Modwest?s managed server solution,” says Joan Cook, CEO of LewisAndClark200.com, one of Modwest’s managed server customers.

In a lean marketplace, business owners are increasingly looking to outsource system administration and security monitoring, and are wary of the high upfront costs of purchasing their own servers. Managed hosting solutions from companies like Modwest are one way to address these concerns.

Modwest provides online configuration and quote generation tools on their website at www.modwest.com/managed/

About Modwest

Modwest is a provider of shared and managed outsourced hosting services. Founded in early 2000 by Internet veterans focused on user interface design, server administration, web application development, and business management, Modwest specializes in open source platform hosting and development. For more information, visit the company?s website at www.modwest.com.

Copyright 2002, Modwest Inc. All rights reserved.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

John Masterson
Modwest
(406) 541-4678
jmasterson@modwest.com
www.modwest.com

March 15, 2002

From LinuxPR: CAAST, the Canadian Alliance against Software Theft, is promoting a truce for businesses and organizations with improperly-licensed proprietary software.

Roaring Penguin Software Inc. would like to help you avoid costly software audits and potential fines, and help you stay legal. To that end, we are making the following offer: Roaring Penguin Software Inc. will offer one day (7 hours) free consultation to any non-profit organization in Ottawa which wishes to replace proprietary license-required software with free software like Linux and OpenOffice. Never again face a software audit …

From Jamie Dillon: Driving open-source prevalence further into the mass commercial market, RidgeRun, Inc., announced today that it has created dynamic shared library support for developers who are creating a broad variety of applications for embedded devices.

With the industry’s first shared library support for the ARM7 MMU-less Linux environment, developers can use software licensed under the Library GNU Public License (LGPL). RidgeRun made this dynamic link support available with its newly released Board Support Package (BSP) for Texas Instruments’ TMS320VC5471 processor. Without dynamic link support, developers were hesitant to use code licensed under the LGPL if they had a need to keep their application code proprietary for various reasons such as partner licensing agreements or protecting trade secrets.

“Today’s announcement once again demonstrates RidgeRun’s efforts to strengthen Linux in the embedded marketplace,” said Dan George, Vice President of Product Development for RidgeRun. “Manufacturers of embedded products are increasingly moving from home-grown operating systems to Linux-based software such as RidgeRun’s DSPLinux. And while many of our customers have code they prefer to keep proprietary for various business reasons, they are still very interested in contributing to and benefiting from open source development. Shared library support makes this possible, and RidgeRun has allowed those using MMU-less systems to take advantage of this benefit for the first time.”

Other important benefits of shared library support include reduced memory footprint through shared code, and the ability to upgrade libraries used by multiple programs in the embedded device.

About RidgeRun, Inc.
RidgeRun is exclusively focused on bringing the reliability and flexibility of Linux to embedded Internet appliances based on DSPs (digital signal processors). RidgeRun’s DSPLinux TM and Escali TM leverage the power of Texas Instruments dual-core DSP+ARM architectures to deliver the performance-leading platform for wireless, broadband and multimedia appliances. RidgeRun can be reached at www.ridgerun.com or by e-mail to info@ridgerun.com.