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While Windows and other Microsoft Corp. products are the favorite targets of hackers, the malicious code writers are increasingly targeting software that run on other operating systems, including Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac and open-source Linux, a security research group said Monday. In its list of the top 20 most critical Internet vulnerabilities in the first quarter of the year, the Sans Institute reported that software fixes were released for flaws in RealNetworks Inc.'s RealOne Player and RealPlayer. Security flaws were found in versions of the multimedia players running on Windows, Mac OS and Linux. In addition, vulnerabilities were listed for...

Here's IBM's Objections to SCO's Privilege Log[PDF] as text, thanks to Feldegast, who certainly earned a gold star with this thankless task. The detail is a bit overwhelming as it is, so he left the footnotes on the page where they appear, rather than clustering them at the end, as we normally do. I hope it helps. Footnote 1 is interesting, because SCO's privilege logs from November and December of 2004 had 19,207 entries. This one, filed in March, has only 2,998 entries, and IBM has no clue why. So IBM reserves the right to object and to compel...

Hey mods if this isn't in the right place please move or delete. I don't write vanities much but since I'm asking for the broad knowledge of fellow FReepers maybe I'll be forgiven. I'm looking for a good starter Linux desktop OS for my wife's computer, I have an old Win2k box (P31G-512) that I can use but needs the OS re-installed after years of abuse by the kids. I can put put a clean Win2k back on but figured this is a good time to learn a bit about Linux, so I've been checking out some distros. I'm looking...

Two weeks ago theregister.co.uk summarized an analysis (done by Quocirca) of reader response to questions on Linux desktop migration. To no one's surprise, the study found that business people cite the opportunity to sidestep the insecurity of the Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) PC, not cost savings, as the primary reason for considering desktop Linux. Most respondents agreed, furthermore, that the high cost of matching Windows applications, particularly Microsoft Office and custom applications, is the greatest barrier to change. What's most interesting about this is what it reveals about the respondents: specifically that they're so focused on fighting Microsoft's alligators...

Microsoft (Quote, Chart) plans to take a hard-charge at the burgeoning market for computer virtualization, including offering greater Linux compatibility, its chief executive said today. Amid jokes about cooperating with rivals such as Sun Microsystems (Quote, Chart), Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company would make serious investments in, and open up, its Virtual Server 2005 product to run on non-Windows machines. This includes Linux, he said during his keynote address Wednesday at the Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas. To prove the point, Microsoft official Bill Anderson demonstrated how Red Hat Linux could run on Virtual Server 2005. The...

Think about it: For decades we have surveyed companies and for decades, except for those who are actually in the software business, the vast majority have said they don't want to be in the software business. Yet open source, as it is supposed to be practiced, puts you squarely in the software business.I've been looking back this week and recalling almost a decade ago when a little company called Netscape prematurely slapped Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) upside the head and by so doing better positioned Microsoft for the future. Granted, I'm sure Microsoft would have loved to avoid the related litigation...

<p>Win4Lin Pro™ is the flagship product of the Win4Lin product family. Using Win4Lin’s high performance virtual computing environment (VCE), Win4Lin Pro runs virtually any Windows 2000 or Windows XP application as intended, without the need to patch the host operating system (e.g. no need to patch the Linux kernel). This next generation product is the perfect solution for the technical workstation, home, or enterprise Linux user. Organizations wishing to migrate to Linux need wait no longer because they can now run those Windows legacy business applications that until now have prevented them from moving forward.</p>

The City of Munich has selected two local German software companies to equip all 14,000 computers in its public administration with Linux and other open source office applications. Softcon and Gonicus, which submitted a joint bid, were selected to install open source software provided through the Debian GNU/Linux project. The two companies will also provide a range of applications designed specifically for the city administration. Financial details of the deal were not available. The high participation in the public tender to supply software and support for Munich's LiMux open software project showed that Linux on the desktop is no "exotic...

The 'relatively serious' flaw could allow remote execution of malicious code on computers running OpenOffice. A patch is said to be imminent OpenOffice.org has confirmed a buffer overflow issue that could allow remote attacks. The problem in its freely distributed productivity applications has been fixed, the organisation said late on Tuesday. Representatives said the group hoped to release a patch within the following 48 hours. The flaw, first discovered in late March, according to postings on the group's Web site, is present in OpenOffice Version 1.1.4 and the OpenOffice Version 2.0 beta release of the applications, as well as in...

Ryan Naraine - eWEEK The Microsoft security train made its scheduled monthly stop on Tuesday, dropping off eight updates to cover 18 vulnerabilities in a range of widely deployed products. Five of the eight advisories are rated "critical" and Redmond officials are urging customers to apply at least three immediately as high-priority updates. The top three include fixes for high-risk flaws in Microsoft Corp.'s implementation of the TCP/IP stack; a cumulative patch for the Internet Explorer browser; and a patch for a remote code-execution hole in the enterprise-focused Microsoft Exchange Server.

The Yankee Group has hit back at critics in the Linux community who have claimed that its surveys comparing Linux and Microsoft Windows are not impartial. Its latest survey, published on Monday, reported that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is at least as good if not better than Linux, in terms of quality, performance and reliability. Laura DiDio, an analyst at the Yankee Group who has been at the receiving end of much of the criticism from Linux advocates, claimed the radical elements of the community could damage the reputation of open source software. "There's an extremist fringe of Linux loonies...

In a report published by research and analysis firm Quocirca, entitled "Migrating to Linux on the Desktop", the company found not only was it a myth that you had to be a power user to cope with Linux, the complete opposite is true. According to the report, as users become comfortable with an operating system and start customising it, they are far less likely to want to change. "The consensus amongst early adopters is that Windows power users are the most difficult group to migrate to Linux because of the breadth of applications they rely on and the advanced features...

... that's the thing about Life. This somewhat stark view is what usually gets me by on a trying and troubling day. It's extremely pragmatic, and very likely cynical, but it helps me put things into proper perspective. At the end of it all, did it really matter that I forgot to take out the trash? This personal philosophy can also be applied to flaws, bugs, and holes that people find in software. All software, I would stipulate, has at least one bug. And, since it only takes one flaw to exploit software, you could make the case that all...

Australian company Cybersource says it's currently talking to two domestic banks about providing Linux-based bootable CDs to consumers to ensure Internet banking security. The company yesterday released information about its Online Banking Coastguard solution. Coastguard is based upon Knoppix, a Linux distribution which boots entirely from CD and is known for its automatic hardware detection features. Cybersource has included Mozilla Firefox as the sole browser for Internet banking. "We've brought it to the attention of several banks, and are in reasonably serious discussions with two of them," said Rohan Tronson, Cybersource's Coastguard product manager. Although he wouldn't say which companies...

SALT LAKE CITY -- There have been so many announcements, so much activity, such a hurried pace to the Brainshare 2005 conference that I think many may have overlooked the big story. It was thrown out in an almost offhand manner during Novell CEO Jack Messman's keynote address on Monday: Longtime Microsoft partner Novell is migrating all of its own 6,000 Windows desktops to Linux. I asked to speak to an executive who could tell me about the migration, and CIO Debra Anderson was kind enough to make herself available in spite of her own hectic schedule to tell the...

Novell preps Linux Desktop 10 It plans to go head-to-head against Windows News Story by Cathleen Moore MARCH 23, 2005 (INFOWORLD) - Linux is ready for the corporate desktop, and the forthcoming version of Novell Inc.'s Linux Desktop offering will go head-to-head against Windows, Novell executives said this week at the company's annual BrainShare gathering in Salt Lake City. Novell is currently developing Linux Desktop 10, which will lift the application suite from its current role targeting specific workgroups to mainstream enterprise deployment, according to Nat Friedman, vice president of desktop and collaboration engineering at Novell. Currently, Linux on the...

February 2005 On Topic - Past ArticlesMaking the switchMigrating from Windows to Linux is only as as stressful as you want it to be. By Dan Heilman From most of what's written and said about the subject, it would be easy to presume that open source is largely the province of hardcore programmers and dedicated shade-tree computer mechanics. However, taking advantage of what open source--and in particular, Linux--has to offer can mean widely varying degrees of commitment to the platform. If you're thinking of adopting it for your business, here are a few pointers to keep in mind. Take it...

A report released today indicates Windows Server 2003 may actually be more secure than its most popular Linux competitor when it comes to vulnerabilities and the time it takes to patch them. But well before the paper's official release, members of the IT security community have questioned the comparison, with some slamming the researchers' methodology and others the Microsoft connection -- the software giant funded the research behind the favorable findings. "The fact that Security Innovations [which produced the paper] retained 'editorial control' doesn't help; if Microsoft is paying the bills, there can be all sorts of nonverbal pressure behind...

Linux Kernel Security, Again by Jason Miller, SecurityFocus.com It's a sad day when an ancient fork bomb attack can still take down most of the latest Linux distributions. While investigating some reports of recent Unix compromises, I ran into a message from the SecurityFocus Incidents mailing list that was forwarded to me by the moderator, Daniel Hanson. It was a lengthy post detailing the compromise of a Linux machine. The post contained an awkward IRC-based discussion between the server administrator and the guy who had broke into the machine. Reading through this discussion, I discovered the following exchange which immediately...

In an appeal that will come as a surprise to no one, IBM has asked the Utah district court hearing the SCO case for more time to comply with the court's January 18 order to turn over most of the discovery SCO's been after for almost two years. IBM asked SCO to agree to the extension but SCO wouldn't, IBM says.The court told IBM to turn the discovery over by today, March 18. IBM wants 45 more days, or until May 3.IBM complains that it's too big a job to do in the 60 days it was given. It was...