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.B.M. plans to announce today that it is making 500 of its software patents freely available to anyone working on open-source projects, like the popular Linux operating system, on which programmers collaborate and share code.The new model for I.B.M., analysts say, represents a shift away from the traditional corporate approach to protecting ownership of ideas through patents, copyrights, trademark and trade-secret laws. The conventional practice is to amass as many patents as possible and then charge anyone who wants access to them. I.B.M. has long been the champion of that formula. The company, analysts estimate, collected $1 billion or more...

Let's face it: any script kiddie with a pair of pliers can put Red Hat on a Compaq, his mom's toaster, or even the family dog. But nothing earns you geek points like installing Linux on a dead badger. So if you really want to earn your wizard hat, just read the following instructions, and soon your friends will think you're slick as caffeinated soap.

The Venezuelan president has decreed that the public administration will switch over to use open source software over the next two years... Read full article

8/31/2002 ... I wrote for the first time on Venezuela and Linux, due to an article which appeared in Linux Today entitled Venezuela’s Government shifts to open source software. The article generated a big discussion in Slashdot, most of which was useless as most writers have no idea how inefficient the Venezuelan Government is. 9/01/2002 A scandal broke out because it turned out that two of the three “advisors” to the Minister of Planning happened to have very strong ties to Linux commercial efforts. It was that and not some Microsoft plot that stopped that effort. 9/29/2004 Right after Venezuela...

This is my first post so forgive me if I violated some protocall by not posting to "Breaking News" Ok, so I tried Knoppix, pretty amazing stuff, a full OS that runs from a CD and I liked it so.. I decide to install it on a partition on my hard drive.I followed the instructions from the Knoppix website and I think I was successfull.The Lilo boot screen shows up gives me a choice of a couple or three versions of Linux and my Windows 98se installation.The 98se partition still boots but when I boot Linux it prompts me for...

Unpatched Linux systems are surviving longer on the Internet before being compromised, according to a report from the Honeynet Project released this week. The data, from a dozen networks, showed that the average Linux system lasts three months before being compromised, a significant increase from the 72 hours life span of a Linux system in 2001. Unpatched Windows systems continue to be compromised more quickly, sometimes within minutes, the Honeynet Project report stated. The results are probably due to two trends, said Lance Spitzner, president of Honeynet, which develops software for deploying computer systems as bait for online attackers. The...

December 17, 2004 Students of iconoclastic computer scientist Daniel Bernstein have found some 44 security flaws in various Unix applications, according to a list of advisories posted online. The flaws, which range from minor slip-ups in rarely used applications to more serious vulnerabilities in software that ships with most versions of the Linux operating system, were found as part of Bernstein's graduate-level course at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The advisories regarding the flaws were dated Wednesday and can be found on the website of student James Longstreet. Bernstein, a professor of computer science at the university, did not...

While I object to censorship clauses in EULAs on general principle, not to mention this thing called the First Amendment, there are those who feel it?s only fair that software vendors at least be allowed to restrict what their competitors can say about their products. That?s why it?s a bit of a surprise to discover that Microsoft seems to be taking the opposite approach. It appears that other software vendors no longer are bound to get Microsoft?s permission to publish benchmark results, but Microsoft still expects its customers to do so. In my "Getting the Facts on Microsoft Benchmarks" story...

The Linux operating system has many times fewer bugs than typical commercial software, according to an upcoming report. The conclusion is the result of a four-year research project conducted by code-analysis company Coverity, which plans to release its report on Tuesday. The project found 985 bugs in the 5.7 million lines of code that make up the latest version of the Linux core operating system, or kernel. A typical commercial program of similar size usually has more than 5,000 flaws or defects, according to data from Carnegie Mellon University. "Linux is a very good system in terms of bug density,"...

TCO study: Linux wins again By Sam Varghese December 13, 2004 German study claims Linux lowers TCO An updated Linux vs Windows TCO study has found that a 250-seat company can end up saving 36 percent if it were to equip its users with the open source operating system and applications that run on it. The study, by Melbourne-based open source firm Cybersource, found that even use of a commercial Linux distribution such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, would result in 27 percent lower costs. The study was first issued in April 2002. "We have now updated this report to...

Linux software maker Xandros has joined the growing number of open source software offerings on PC desktops at Wal-Mart's online store. Like other PCs available from Wal-Mart, the Xandros-powered systems don't come with a monitor, and range in price from US $200 to $600. The Xandros-powered PCs have 1.5 to 3 GHz AMD processors along with 128 to 256 MB of memory, CD-ROM or CD-RW-DVD-combo drives, 40 to 80 GB hard drives, and a comprehensive set of software based on Xandros Desktop Standard Edition v2.0. In 2002, Wal-Mart introduced PCs with Linux preloaded from "white box" manufacturer Microtel. Walmart.com also...

The SCO Group may have a more difficult time making its case that Linux includes illegal source code than previously thought, according to documents published recently on the Groklaw.net website. Earlier this week the site published for the first time a 10-year-old lawsuit settlement agreement that grants developers the right to redistribute much of the Unix source code that SCO claims to own and which may ultimately strengthen IBM's defence in a lawsuit between the two companies. "The agreement actually gives people rights to redistribute [Unix] software that they were not previously aware of," said Bruce Perens an open-source advocate and...

Unprotected PCs Fall To Hacker Bots In Just Four Minutes By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb.com The lifespan of a poorly protected PC connected to the Internet is a mere four minutes, research released Tuesday claimed. After that, it's owned by a hacker. In the two-week test, marketing-communications firm AvanteGarde deployed half a dozen systems in "honeypot" style, using default security settings. It then analyzed the machines' performance by tallying the attacks, counting the number of compromises, and timing how long it took an attack to successfully hijack a computer once it was connected to the Internet. The six machines were equipped...

The judge in the SCO v. DaimlerChrysler case, the Honorable Rae Lee Chabot, has denied a SCO motion [PDF] for a stay of their case until after the IBM case is decided, I have just been informed by the Clerk of the Court. The hearing was on November 24. Another loss for SCO. What? No SCO press release? The case is now set to go forward on January 7 at 8:30 AM. Hopefully, some of you will be able to attend the hearing. Their motion told the judge that it would be "a waste of valuable judicial and attorney resources...

Java bug could hit PC operating systems17:51 24 November 04NewScientist.com news service The discovery of a serious software bug has simultaneously opened a variety of desktop computers to potential attack. The flaw has been found in Java, which works on a variety of computer operating systems – from Microsoft’s Windows to free software Linux – which means any worm which exploits it could hit a variety of computer platforms. The flaw is rated "highly critical" by the computer security firm Secunia and some experts believe it could lead to the development of a cross-platform computer worm. The bug was...

Linux operating-system producer Linspire Inc. has found another way to challenge Microsoft: it's offering its OpenOffice.org product suite and the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser in a single package in retail channels. Linspire, formerly called Lindows, positions its OOoFf package to directly compete with Microsoft Office. The OpenOffice.org product enables users to create spreadsheets, presentations, and documents using files in popular formats, including .doc, .xls and .ppt. The Linspire product also enables users to utilize the PDF format. "Our goal with OOoFf is to help get OpenOffice.org and Firefox into every possible distribution channel," said Linspire CEO Michael Robertson in a...

Russian fined for virus-writing exploits By John Leyden Published Thursday 18th November 2004 13:24 GMT A Russian member of well-known 29A virus writers group has been fined 3,000 roubles (approximately £57) after he admitted writing malicious code. Eugene Suchkov (AKA Whale), from the little-known Russian republic of Udmurtia, admitted writing the Stepan and Gastropod viruses. He posted live code for the viruses alongside the source code necessary to create variants onto a number of underground virus exchange websites. Neither of these viruses spread. The nickname Whale comes from the name of a virus rather than any reference to Suchkov's physical...

BERKELEY, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Microsoft just acquired a stake in Vintela, a software tool company that allows for the integration of mixed environments, specifically Unix, Linux, Windows and the Mac with special attention paid to Java. Last year Microsoft (MSFT: news, chart, profile) bought Connectix, a company that made what some term a hypervisor -- system software that allows multiple operating systems to be coordinated within one system. When these two purchases are analyzed along with other recent Microsoft actions, you have to conclude that it is about to bring out a version of Linux under its own brand...

The SCO Group's legal actions against Linux have shed light on the inner workings of the open-source programming project and on the operations of a company desperate to survive. They've also created a cottage industry for conspiracy theorists over Microsoft's role in the affair. SCO's attack, based on the company's disputed claim of Unix copyright ownership, and with IBM as the main target, has been bold and expensive. Lindon, Utah-based SCO hired the pricey but high-profile attorney David Boies (of Microsoft antitrust and Napster fame) to launch the attack at a time when product revenue was shrinking and cash...

Something extraordinary has happened. Novell has filed its Reply in Support of Novell's Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint [PDF], and in the document it reveals that it has filed an exhibit, the 1995 minutes from the corporate kit of a meeting of the Board of Directors, which clearly and unequivocably say that Novell was to retain the UNIX copyrights in the sale to Santa Cruz that year: "Moreover, contemporaneous, authoritative documentary evidence shows that at the highest levels of the organization, Novell approved the transaction on the understanding that "Novell will retain all of its . . . copyrights." (September...