toadnine writes "Things you never imagined you could do with Python and a 2.4 kernel... check out SUBTERFUGUE. (Source: Need To Know)." A blue pill for applications.

fabiolrs writes: "imaclinux.net is running a review on Yellow Dog Linux 2.2. They could manage to run it on the iBook. YDG 2.2 is a great distro with KDE 2.2.2, Gnome 1.4, kernel 2.4.18 and Xfree86 4.2.0." Nice to see PPC systems (meaning "Apple," mostly) getting so much attention in the Linux world lately -- Mandrake's 8.2 PPC is also getting close to a release.

Anonymous Coward asks: "Does anyone have experience with UPS software that has an eye towards security? i want an alternative to APC's 'Powerchute for Linux'. I've just discovered that Powerchute opens multiple ports and there are no options to turn this 'feature' off. What is even worse is that APC Support has announced no plans to address the issue. This means that if your firewall is running Powerchute, you might have security issues. Another example of the lax security: Powerchute requests root priveliges on install and has a certain 3-letter default password that anyone could guess within 5 minutes! Can anyone help with suggestions for alternative software?" Hmmm... I wonder if I accidentally put the default password in the text of this story.

Ches2000Pro writes "Via Wired News, IBM has announced a new Linux scripting environment called SashXB. From their description: SashXB is an open source application environment that exposes native functionality to JavaScript. It's ideal for web developers with HTML and JS skills who want to write full-featured native applications, as well as experienced programmers who'd appreciate the convenience of rapid application development. SashXB is being released under the LGPL license." It's not exactly new, but seems to be quite usable now. Has anyone used this?

verch writes "I work at a Large Corporation that is considering Linux as a competing platform to our large Solaris and Wintel install bases. One of the biggest concerns is how easily a large number of linux machines can be installed mostly unattended. For Solaris we mostly use jumpstart which allows us after minor preparation to simply remotely attach to the console of a machine and boot and install it over the network. x86 hardware tends not to be as nice, I don't know of any linux hardware that has remote console capabalities as nice as Sun's, and network boot options are limited (PXE?). Installation procedures that involve having to lood a CD or boot floppy into every machine could potentially be dealbreakers. So, what options exist for completely remote unattended installs of linux machines?" Had a similar question a while ago; have things improved since then?

F1re writes "Linux User mag in Germany has decided to include Debian on the mag and wants to make a more user friendly installer. They are looking for help from Debian developers. More info here Linux User"

looflirpa writes "Here is a post from Linus Torvalds. Seems like he has had enough linux for now, and is searching for a new leader for the linux kernel development. Certainly a shame, but everybody knew that this had to happen, sooner or later" This also is your chance to voice who should take the reins from the kernel's originator.

Erich writes "Debian Developer Simon Richter announced in this posting to debian-devel that he Intends to Package (ITP) a R00tk1t for Debian Linux. The rootkit will make use of debian mechanisms such as diversions to divert the original /bin/ls commands and replace them cleanly by the modified versions. Even reinstalling or upgrading the file-utils package (containing /bin/ls) will then not remove the modified /bin/ls and the rootkit will stay active, being probably the first upgrade-resistant rootkit! This rootkit will then be easy to install by doing "apt-get install rootkit" - a major useability aspect for our fellow wannabe-hackers, making Debian the premier choice for them."

Spider[DAC] writes: "Gentoo Linux 1.0 is finally released. see their homepage for more details, or skip directly to the installation instructions. Gentoo is a up-to-date distribution that uses 'portage' (a system similar to the BSD ports) to download, compile and configure the installation process."

GigsVT writes "Linux Media Arts has introduced a line of video capture and hardware MPEG encoding cards with full Linux support. The sd601 is a full featured hardware video solution including hardware dissolve, key, wipe, and split screen. At pricetags around $3000 US, they aren't cheap, but this could break Linux into the video editing market. This isn't vaporware, they are selling these right now."

panker writes "eWeek is running an article about a company who converted their IBM mainframe into a Linux email server. "The technical support manager at Winnebago Industries Inc. recently oversaw the deployment of Version 7 of SuSE Linux AG's Linux operating system on an IBM zSeries mainframe to run his company's e-mail server supporting 700 users." "

Hasufin writes "I've got quite a few of those removable IDE drive bays in my computers. I'd like to be able to swap these drives without the need of rebooting linux. I've searched quite a bit via google and other resources but haven't found a good how-to. Any pointers? I've seen few mentions to hdparm -U & -R and a script or two, but haven't had any luck using it w/ my promise udma/66 & udma/100 offboard pci controllers... :\ Any help appreciated!"

Brian Stretch was among several who sent in this story about Merrill Lynch switching to Linux, this is interesting because it's actually companywide. Talks about Red Hat, Linux threatening Unix and so on.

rleyton writes "Codeweavers have just announced Crossover Office, a Wine derivitive which allows MS-Office 97 & 2000 products as well as Lotus Notes to run without a Windows OS License. If it's as cool as the Crossover plugin product, then it could mean a significant step forward in Wine's progress." NewsForge got hold of a final beta copy a couple of days ago and has a Crossover Office review up already, and DesktopLinux.com has one too. This looks pretty cool, yes. Now if a PHB tells you can't run Linux, because you need Office - tell him you'll save money by not needing a Windows license, and call still use Office.

Gatton writes "Terra Soft has released version 2.2 of their Linux distribution for Apple hardware known as Yellow Dog. According to the website, a few of the features are: Red Hat 7.2-based system, 'ext3' graphical migration program, XFree86 4.2.0, KDE 2.2.2, Gnome 1.4 w/Nautilus & Evolution, improved modem & printer support, improved support for nVidia GeForce2 MX & ATI Radeon--including ADC digital. No ISOs, only SRPMs on the ftp site at the moment. Presumably it will be available for download soon." I bought two previous versions of YDL, but this time I am just going to download it, as I don't use it enough to warrant buying it, now that I primarily use Mac OS X as my "other" OS. And, darnit, I want to download it now.

reflexreaction writes "This article on NewsFactor does a decent job of covering some of the issues facing Open Source Software (OSS). It points to Linux's growth area, non-mission critical projects in mid-sized companies, and its main weakness, the desktop. It also briefly discusses Linux's potential growth into mission critical applications if scalability issues are addressed. Quick easy read. My favorite quote from the article "Linux on the desktop is toast.""

cascadefx writes: "The O'Reilly Network is currently running an article that showcases the much talked about Playstation 2 Linux distribution. Nice parts of the article include analysis by a Blizzard developer on the Linux PS2 as a gaming platform and a screenshot and pic of the hardware that comes with it."

Over on NewsForge, Roblimo has taken a look at Sun's new StarOffice 6.0 (due out in April for retail purchase), and comparing it to OpenOffice build 641C. I installed StarOffice on a new Toshiba laptop, and since my Mandrake 8.2 ISOs are still trickling in, have StarOffice 6.0 running instead under Windows XP. (I have just a few additional notes on this, below.)

An Anonymous Coward writes: "A guy from IBM's Linux Impact Team in Brazil has written a guest column on Linux and Main describing how applications should integrate with Linux. It's Red Hat-centric, but there is a lot of material about the FHS and LSB that most users probably don't know."

Just saw in Red Hat's FTP's - Redhat 7.3 (codename:skipjack) is available for download. There aren't lots of changes there, but you'll find that RedHat 7.3 comes with KDE 3.0 (rc3 is on this beta), you'll need to remove the Ximian Gnome before upgrade, and in general - read the release notes before testing this release. As always, don't try it on your main Linux partition, and use the mirrors. Annoucment is here (thanks to Linux Weekly News)