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<SMALL>...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I></SMALL>
</TD><TD WIDTH="380">


<CENTER>
<BIG><BIG><STRONG><FONT COLOR="maroon">News Bytes</FONT></STRONG></BIG></BIG>
<BR>
<STRONG>By <A HREF="../authors/conry.html">Michael Conry</A></STRONG>
</CENTER>

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<P>

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</p><center>
<table cellpadding="7"><tbody><tr><td>
<img src="../gx/bytes.gif" border="1" alt="News Bytes">
</td><td>
<h3>Contents:</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="#leg">Legislation and More Legislation</a>
</li><li><a href="#links">Linux Links</a>
</li><li><a href="#conferences">Conferences and Events</a>
</li><li><a href="#general">News in General</a>
</li><li><a href="#distro">Distro News</a>
</li><li><a href="#commercial">Software and Product News</a>
</li></ul>
</td></tr></tbody></table>

<strong>Selected and formatted by  <a href="mailto:michael.conry@softhome.net">Michael Conry</a></strong>
</center>


<p> Submitters, send your News Bytes items in 
<font size="+2"><strong>PLAIN TEXT</strong></font>
format.  Other formats may be rejected without reading.  You have been
warned!  A one- or two-paragraph summary plus URL gets you a better
announcement than an entire press release. Submit items to
<a href="mailto:bytes@linuxgazette.com">bytes@linuxgazette.com</a>


</p><hr> <p> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->

</p><h3><img alt=" " src="../gx/bolt.gif">
<font color="green">
September 2003 <i>Linux Journal</i>
</font>
</h3>

<img alt="[issue 113 cover image]" src="misc/bytes/lj-cover113.png" width="200" height="268" align="left" hspace="20">

The September issue of <a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/"><i>Linux
Journal</i></a> is on newsstands now.
This issue focuses on Community Networks.  Click 
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/modules.php?op=modload&amp;name=NS-lj-issues/issue113&amp;file=index">here</a>
to view the table of contents, or 
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/subscribe/">here</a> 
to subscribe.

<p>
<font color="green">All articles in issues 1-102 are available for
public reading at 
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php">http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine.php</a></font>.  
Recent articles are available on-line for subscribers only at 
<a href="http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/">http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/</a>.  







<BR CLEAR="all">
<!-- =================================================================== -->

<a name="leg"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Legislation and More Legislation</font></H3></center>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">European Software Patents
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
On the 1st of September 2003, the European Parliament will hold a vote
which may have very far reaching and long lasting effects on the software
industry and community within the European Union.  The central issue being
addressed in this vote is the patentability of software.  In the past,
there has been some vagueness in the attitude of
<a href="http://www.european-patent-office.org/">the European Patent
Office</a> towards the patenting of software.  Although official
regulations appeared to make software, mathematics, algorithms and business
methods 
<a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/analysis/epc52/index.en.html">
essentially unpatentable</a>, working practise in the EPO has been to
bypass the legal framework intended to constrain it and to allow such
innovations to be patented.  The new directive on
<a href="http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/indprop/comp/02-277.htm">
the patentability of computer-implemented inventions</a> is supposed to be
a measure aimed at resolving this confusion by regularising the rules
regarding patentability.  However, what the EU blurb glosses over is that
the provisions in the new directive significantly alter the legislation
currently governing software patentability.  Rather than vindicating the
existing legal situation, the legislation is being recast in the image of
the current operations of the EPO.  This is strikingly borne out by some
research performed by the <a href="http://ffii.org/">FFII</a>.  The FFII
intended to 
<a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/tech/index.en.html">
show that the infamous "one click" Amazon.com patent</a> would be
acceptable under the proposed new regulations.  During the course of these
investigations, it emerged that Amazon.com had <em>already</em> 
<a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/amaz0818/index.en.html">
been granted a closely related patent</a> covering computerised methods of
gift delivery.
<P>
Of course, when considering these changes we must ask ourselves whether
perhaps these changes may be desirable.  Though there are naturally those
who support the initiative, there is a very broad constituency that
strongly opposes this move towards European software patents.  An
unscientific measure of the opposition to the software patent proposals can
be obtained by doing a 
<a href="http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&q=european+software+patents&btnG=Search+News">
search on Google News</a> for the terms "european software patents".  The
vast majority of headlines are hostile or gloomy regarding the proposal.
There is a striking absence of outright support, all the more striking
given that this is a search of news outlets rather than personal or
lobby-group websites.  This scepticism is 
<a href="http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php?id=1094595024&fp=16&fpid=0">
shared by many economists</a> who fear that the legal changes will lead to
a reduction in innovation and cutbacks in R&amp;D expenditure.  These fears
are felt very acutely among small and medium size software companies who
have perhaps the most to lose.  Equally, open source developers may be left
<a href="http://swpat.ffii.org/#crn-gates030725">
in a vulnerable position</a> by these proposed changes.  As has been seen
in the operation of software patents in the United States, the patent
system tends to work best for parties with large financial resources, such
as multinational corporations.  Such deep pockets allow an organisation to
acquire a stock of patents, and then to defend the patents through the
courts.  A well resourced holder of even a very spurious patent can thus
intimidate would-be competitors out of the market simply by virtue of the
differences in scale.  The only group which will benefit to a greater
degree than large corporations is the legal fraternity.
<P>
It remains to be seen whether the protests and lobbying organised by
anti-patent groups will prove to be effective.  Though actions such as
<a href="http://slashdot.org/articles/03/08/29/0510200.shtml?tid=155&tid=185&tid=99">
closing down websites</a> make an impact online, the real world effect can
be quite small.  As was pointed out 
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/31472.html">
by the Register</a>, even though open source produces great code, it does
not necessarily produce great lobbying.  The key for open-source groups
elsewhere and in the future is to share information about what works and
does not work in the political sphere, and to apply this information in
future struggles.
<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">SCO
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Writing an article on the SCO lawsuit(s) is getting steadily more difficult
as the volume of material on the subject mounts up.  Much of it is simply
noise and it will not be until the case is dropped or reaches court that we
will have a chance to properly judge the true nature of SCO's plans.  This
is especially true given SCO's reluctance to release any of the source code
they claim is infringing their "intellectual" property (the words "SCO" and
"intellectual" seem more mutually exclusive to me each day).  Perhaps to
impress investors, SCO did deign to 
<a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/19/1523236&mode=nested&tid=106&tid=185">
display a couple of samples</a> at their annual reseller show.  This was
very nice of them and illustrates why they should perhaps release more of
the "disputed" code.  Analysis done
<a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/45019/">
by Linux Weekly News</a>
and
<a href="http://www.perens.org/SCO/SCOSlideShow.html">
by Bruce Perens</a>
indicated that the origination of the code was entirely legal and did not
infringe on SCO's property.
SCO spokesman Blake Stowell's
<a href="http://www.itworld.com/Man/2685/030819scocode/">
rather pointless response</a>
was to show a typically SCO-like disdain for facts and to assert that "at
this point it's going to be his [Perens'] word against ours".
Unfortunately for Blake, Perens' word is backed up by verifiable
documentation and historical record not to mention the fact that people who
worked on and remember the code are 
<a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/23/1731245&mode=nested&tid=123&tid=130&tid=185&tid=190&tid=99">
still alive</a>.  Meanwhile, SCO's assertions are, at least
at this stage, no more than random bleatings.
<P>
Reaction to the SCO case has been mostly muted, though it is likely that
some more-cautious corporate types are somewhat reluctant to engage further
with Open Source and Free Software under the shadow of the court case.  Few
though are likely to be so nervous as to stump up the licence fees
requested by SCO.  The advice
<a href"http://www.idg.com.hk/cw/readstory.asp?aid=20030801018">
of Australian lawyer John Collins</a> sounds about right:
<blockquote>
    "If you don't know whether or not you have a valid license because
    there is uncertainty as to the providence of the software and who
    actually owns the copyright, then to walk up and drop your pants to the
    person who is likely to sue you sounds a little counter-intuitive and a
    bit uncommercial,"
</blockquote>
<P>
Some have speculated that the true purpose of SCO's actions may be
connected to the (mostly positive) effect on its share price these
developments have had.  An example of these arguments can be found in the
<a href="http://www.threenorth.com/sco/">
writings of Tim Rushing</a>, though ultimately everybody is still
speculating.  Further analyses can be found
<a href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0120124/">
at GrokLaw</a>
and
<a href="http://sco.iwethey.org/">
at sco.iwethey.org</a>, though keeping up with the twists and turns, not to
mention the irrational behaviour of SCO execs, is rather taxing on the grey
matter.


<a name="links"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Linux Links</font></H3></center>
<P>
<a href="http://www.ActiveState.com">
ActiveState</a>
has 
<a href="http://www.activestate.com/Corporate/Communications/Releases/Press1058851602.html">made freely available</a>
the
<a href="http://www.activestate.com/Products/PureMessage/Field_Guide_to_Spam/index.plex ">
ActiveState Field Guide to Spam</a>.
This is a living compilation of advanced
tricks used by spammers to hide their messages from spam filters.
<P>
Some links from 
<a href="http://www.newsforge.com/">Newsforge</a>
<ul>
<li>
    Thoughts on the legal implications of
    <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/07/21/2118255">
    personal music ownership</a>.
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/history/78090">
    Interview with Asa Dotzler</a> of Mozilla.
</li>
<li>
    VIA, SRI 
    <a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/07/31/1958230">
    put Linux-based robots to the test</a>
    at LinuxWorld Expo.
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/07/29/1727249">
    Host-based intrusion detection with samhain</a>.
</li>
<li>
    Open Source is 
    <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/08/09/1355255">
    good for the Philippine economy</a>.
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/08/10/0116204">
    RubyForge open for business</a>
</li>
<li>
    Jordi Carrasco-Munoz has 
    <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/08/14/1223235">
    proposed a scheme for the pooling of ideas</a>.
</li>
<li>
    TheLinux On Laptops 
    <a href="http://newsvac.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/08/17/1344249">
    Manufacturer Report Card has been updated</a>.
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=03/08/20/1441247">
    A new (egovernment) forge in town</a>
    <em>Government Forge</em>.
</li>
</ul>
<P>
Some interesting links from the O'Reilly stable of websites:
<ul>
<li>
    <a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/synd/2003/08/05/closed_loop.html">
    Introduction to Closed-Loop Control</a>
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/python/2003/08/14/gvr_interview.html">
    Interview with Guido van Rossum</a>.
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2003/08/28/extremeprogramming.html">
    Five lessons open source developers should learn from extreme
    programming</a>.
</li>
</ul>
<P>
Ernie Ball guitar string company 
<a href="http://news.com.com/2008-1082_3-5065859.html?tag=lh">
dumps Microsoft for Linux</a>
after BPA audit.
<P>
<a href="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1227128,00.asp">
Linus says SCO is smoking crack</a>.
<P>
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/">
The Register</a> reported on the launch of
Open Groupware.org, an application which claims to
<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/32119.html">
complete the OpenOffice productivity software set</a>.
<P>
Some links of interest from
<a href="http://www.linuxtoday.com/">
Linux Today</a>:
<ul>
<li>
    Infoworld 
    <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/08/06/HNgplunenforceable_1.html">
    report</a>
    that the GPL <em>may</em> be unenforceable under German law.
</li>
<li>
    A casual 
    <a href="http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=238&page=1">
    interview with the new Linux 2.6 kernel maintainer, Andrew Morton</a>.
</li>
<li>
    V8 Supercar races in Australia feature 
    <a href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39115798,00.htm">
    onboard Linux-based computers and wireless technology</a> to send
    information on crashes to race officials.
</li>
<li>
    Could free software development have an influence on society 
    <a href="http://www.canada.com/technology/story.html?id=5F7655EF-B9CD-4D28-919C-51AF3C9CBDC3">
    like that exerted by the King James Bible</a>?
</li>
</ul>
<P>
Bruce Perens 
<a href="http://www.perens.com/SCO/SCOSlideShow.html">
analyzes SCO's code samples</a> in detail.
<P>
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2003/31/">
Debian Weekly News highlighted</a>
an article by Ian Murdock arguing that
<a href="http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5057755.html">
Linux is a process, not a product</a>.



<a name="conferences"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Upcoming conferences and events</font></H3></center>

<P> Listings courtesy <EM>Linux Journal</EM>.  See <EM>LJ</EM>'s
<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/events.php">Events</A> page for the
latest goings-on.

<!-- *** BEGIN events table [this line needed by Linux Gazette events.py *** -->

<table cellpadding=5 border=0 width=100%>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>


<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LinuxWorld UK</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>September 3-4, 2003<BR>Birmingham, United Kingdom<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linuxworld2003.co.uk" target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxworld2003.co.uk</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Linux Lunacy</b><BR><i>Brought to you by Linux Journal and
	Geek Cruises!</i><br></TD>
        <td valign=top>September 13-20, 2003<BR>Alaska's Inside Passage<BR>
        <a href="http://www.geekcruises.com/home/ll3_home.html" target="_blank">
        http://www.geekcruises.com/home/ll3_home.html</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Software Development Conference & Expo</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>September 15-18, 2003<BR>Boston, MA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.sdexpo.com" target="_blank">
        http://www.sdexpo.com</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>PC Expo</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>September 16-18, 2003<BR>New York, NY<BR>
        <a href="http://www.techxny.com/pcexpo_techxny.cfm" target="_blank">
        http://www.techxny.com/pcexpo_techxny.cfm</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>COMDEX Canada</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>September 16-18, 2003<BR>Toronto, Ontario<BR>
        <a href="http://www.comdex.com/canada/" target="_blank">
        http://www.comdex.com/canada/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>IDUG 2003 - Europe</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 7-10, 2003<BR>Nice, France<BR>
        <a href="http://www.idug.org" target="_blank">
        http://www.idug.org</A><BR></TD></TR>


<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Linux Clusters Institute Workshops</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 13-18, 2003<BR>Montpellier, France<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org/"
	target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org</A><BR></TD></TR>


<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Coast Open Source Software Technology (COSST) Symposium</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 18, 2003<BR>Newport Beach, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://cosst.ieee-occs.org" target="_blank">
        http://cosst.ieee-occs.org</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>LISA (17th USENIX Systems Administration Conference)</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>October 26-30, 2003<BR>San Diego, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa03/" target="_blank">
        http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa03/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>HiverCon 2003</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>November 6-7, 2003<BR>Dublin, Ireland<BR>
        <a href="http://www.hivercon.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.hivercon.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>COMDEX Fall</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>November 17-21, 2003<BR>Las Vegas, NV<BR>
        <a href="http://www.comdex.com/fall2003/" target="_blank">
        http://www.comdex.com/fall2003/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE)</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>November 22, 2003<BR>Los Angeles, CA<BR>
        <a href="http://socallinuxexpo.com/" target="_blank">
        http://socallinuxexpo.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>


<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Linux Clusters Institute Workshops</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>December 8-12, 2003<BR>Albuquerque, NM<BR>
        <a href="http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org/"
        target="_blank">
        http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

<tr><td valign=top>
        <b>Storage Expo 2003, co-located with Infosecurity 2003</b><BR></TD>
        <td valign=top>December 9-11, 2003<BR>New York, NY<BR>
        <a href="http://www.infosecurityevent.com/" target="_blank">
        http://www.infosecurityevent.com/</A><BR></TD></TR>

<tr><td colspan=2><HR size=5 width=100% noshade align=center></td></tr>

</table>
<!-- *** END events table [this line needed by Linux Gazette events.py *** -->

<a name="general"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">News in General</font></H3></center>


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">GNU Server breach
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
It emerged over the past month that the main file servers of the 
<a href="http://www.fsf.org/">GNU project</a> were compromised by a
malicious cracker in mid-march.  Although the breach was only noticed in
July, it appears that no source code was tampered with.  Nonetheless, it is
important that individuals and organisation who may have downloaded from
the compromised server verify for themselves that the code they received
was intact and untainted.  This incident should also bring home to users
the importance of keeping up to date with patches and software updates, and
also the necessity to have established security procedures and backups in
place.
<P>
Original reporting on this story can be found here:
<ul>
<li>
    <a href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39115701,00.htm">
    ZDNet UK: Free Software servers breached</a>
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://www.searchEnterpriseLinux.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid39_gci920359,00.html">
    SearchEnterpriseLinux.com: GNU dodges bullet after security breach</a>
</li>
<li>
    <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/32355.html">
    The Register: GNU servers 'owned' by crackers for months</a>
</li>
</ul>

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Alan Cox Sabbatical
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P> Kerneltrap reported that
<a href="http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/759">
Alan Cox is to take a one year sabbatical</a>.  He plans to spend his year
studying for an MBA and learning Welsh.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">GNU/Linux Security Certification
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Slashdot recently 
<a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/05/1217242&mode=nested&tid=106&tid=126&tid=172&tid=185">
highlighted the story</a>
that IBM has 
<a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20030805/tc_nm/tech_ibm_linux_dc">
succeeded in getting  Linux certified</a>
under the Common Criteria
specification. This has implications for government bodies considering Linux
when making purchasing decisions.
The Inquirer reports that this has been a bit of a black-eye for Red Hat,
whose
<a href="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11067">
certification effort is stalled, held up indefinitely by the UK-based
testing laboratory Red Hat selected to do the work</a>.



<a name="distro"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Distro News</font></H3></center>


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Ark
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Tux Reports have taken a 
<a href="http://www.tuxreports.com/article2251.html">
look at Ark Linux</a>.
This RPM based distribution particularly aims to provide a comprehensive
and useful desktop environment.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Debian
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2003/33/">
Debian Weekly News linked</a> to
Jan Ivar Pladsen's document
which describes 
<a href="http://www.pvv.org/~pladsen/Indy/HOWTO.html">
how to install Debian GNU/Linux on Indy</a>.
<P>
<hr width="20%" noshade>
<P>
On August 16th, the Debian Project celebrated
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/2003/20030811">
its 10th birthday</a>.
Linux Planet published a
<a href="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/editorials/4959/1/">
Debian 10-year retrospective</a> to mark the occasion.


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Knoppix
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Klaus Knopper describes the
<a href="http://www.pctechtalk.com/view.php?id=1239">
Philosophy behind Knoppix</a>.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Libranet
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Linuxiran has 
<a href="http://www.linuxiran.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=232">
reviewed Libranet GNU/Linux 2.8</a>.
Evidently they were impressed: "Only one word can describe Libranet's
installer: 'awesome...'" (Courtesy Linux Today).

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Mepis
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
<a href="http://www.debian.org/News/weekly/2003/33/">
As higlighted by DWN</a>,
<a href="http://www.mepis.org/">
Mepis Linux</a>
is a LiveCD derived from Debian GNU/Linux. 
LinuxOnline has some articles on this distribution, including
this LiveCD. The first is 
<a href="http://www.pclinuxonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7115">
an overview</a>,
<a href="http://www.pclinuxonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7143">
a full review</a>
and an 
<a href="http://www.pclinuxonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7171">
interview with Mepis creator Warren Woodford</a>.

<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">SuSE
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
<a href="http://www.sgi.com">
SGI</a>
and 
<a href="http://www.suse.de/en">
SuSE Linux</a>
today announced plans to extend the Linux OS to new levels of scalability
and performance by offering a fully supported 64-processor system running a
fully supported, enterprise-grade Linux operating system.  Expected to be
available in October, SGI will bundle SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 on SGI
Altix 3000 servers and superclusters.
<P>
<hr width="20%" noshade>
<P>
<a href="http://www.siemens.com/sbs">
Siemens Business Servicess</a>
has decided to use SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 to underpin its mySAP HR
management system, processing payrolls for more than 170,000 employees
worldwide.  The open source operating system and the platform independence
of the SAP R/3 software enable an easy migration to an open, powerful, and
efficient Intel architecture. Linux-based application servers can be
operated independently alongside existing Unix-based servers. Thus, the RM
systems can continue to run until they were amortized and gradually
replaced by Linux servers.


<a name="commercial"></a>
<p><hr><p>
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<center><H3><font color="green">Software and Product News</font></H3></center>


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Biscom Announces Linux FAXCOM Server
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
<a href="http://www.biscom.com">
Biscom</a>,
a provider of enterprise fax management solutions, has announced the market
release of its Linux FAXCOM Server.  The new product integrates the
reliability and efficiency of the Windows FAXCOM Server with the stability
and security of the Linux operating system. Linux FAXCOM Server has been
thoroughly tested is currently available for market release.  Linux FAXCOM
Server features support for multiple diverse document attachments via
on-the-fly document conversion, and up to 96 ports on one fax server.
Expanded fax routing destination options for inbound faxes include: fax
port, dialed digits, sender's Transmitting Station Identifier (TSID) and
Caller ID. Furthermore, if appropriate, the same fax may be routed to
multiple destinations, including one or more printers.


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">GNU Scientific Library 1.4 released
</FONT>
</H3> 


<P>
Version 1.4 of the 
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/">
GNU Scientific Library</a>
is now available at:
<blockquote>
   <a href="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gsl/gsl-1.4.tar.gz">
   ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gsl/gsl-1.4.tar.gz</a>
</blockquote>
and from mirrors worldwide (see
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html">
http://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html</a>).
<P>
The GNU Scientific Library (GSL) is a collection of routines for
numerical computing in C.  This release is backwards compatible with
previous 1.x releases.  GSL now includes support for cumulative
distribution functions (CDFs) contributed by Jason H. Stover.  The
full NEWS file entry is appended below.



<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Mod_python 3.1.0 Alpha
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
The Apache Software Foundation and The Apache HTTP Server Project
have announced the 3.1.0 ALPHA release of 
<a href="http://www.modpython.org/">
mod_python</a>.
<P> Some feature highlights:
<ul>
<li> Server-side sessions with memory or dbm-based storage and session
locking support.
</li>
<li> PSP - a fast flex-based scanner which allows embedding Python code
within HTML.
</li>
<li> Native cookie support, including support for automatic cryptographic
cookie signing and marshalling.
</li>
<li> Compatibility with Python 2.3, as well as many other enhancements.
</li>
<li> Alpha releases are NOT considered stable and do contain bugs. Some
functionality may change before the first beta release.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Mod_python 3.1.0a is available for download from:
<a href="http://httpd.apache.org/modules/python-download.cgi">
http://httpd.apache.org/modules/python-download.cgi</a>


<P> <hr> <P> 
<!-- =================================================================== -->
<H3><IMG ALT=" "   SRC="../gx/bolt.gif">
<FONT COLOR="green">Samba
</FONT>
</H3> 
<P>
Linux Today has 
<a href="http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2003082901426NWSVSW">
carried the news</a>
that Samba-3.0.0 RC2 is now available for download

<!-- =================================================================== -->


<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->

<!-- *** END bio *** -->





<!-- *** BEGIN author bio *** -->
<P>&nbsp;
<P>
<P> Mick is LG's News Bytes Editor.

<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
<P>
<IMG ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="top" ALT="[Picture]" SRC="../gx/2002/tagbio/conry.jpg"
    WIDTH="128" HEIGHT="158">
<em>Born some time ago in Ireland, Michael is currently working on
a PhD thesis in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University
College Dublin.  The topic of this work is the use of Lamb waves in
nondestructive testing.  GNU/Linux has been very useful in this work, and
Michael has a strong interest in applying free software solutions to
other problems in engineering.  When his thesis is completed, Michael
plans to take a long walk.
</em>
<br CLEAR="all">
<!-- *** END bio *** -->

<!-- *** END author bio *** -->


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Copyright &copy; 2003, Michael Conry.
Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR> 
Published in Issue 94 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, September 2003
</STRONG></SMALL></CENTER>
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