ESCAPING CYBERIA - open source support by governments around the globe
With final plans being set for the World Summit on the Information Society, the UN will call for deployment of Open Source software, to provide freedom of choice and Internet access by all citizens at an affordable cost. Excellent, but what if friends of proprietary software play the WTO card?

All around the globe, governments at all levels have been moving to embrace Open Source software in one way or another. Four months ago, the city government in Munich decided to switch 14,000 computers to SuSE's Linux Desktop distribution. Close on the heels of this announcement, the city government of Vienna announced that it plans to decide by the middle of 2004 whether it too will start phasing a migration from MS Windows to Linux on desktop systems. At risk for Microsoft in the Austrian capital are potentially some 15,000 desktops and the publicity such a move would incur.Throughout Europe, governments demonstrate support for Open Source. What's more, in many countries in and out of the EU, proposals have surfaced in support of Open Source. The list is formidable and includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The Spanish regional government of Andalucia has gone so far as to decree that state-run universities and libraries use "free" software.

rest of article at Open Magazine

Boycott Verisign and Network Solutions
Full article at Slashdot

As of a little while ago (it is around 7:45 PM US Eastern on Mon 15 Sep 2003 as I write this), VeriSign added a wildcard A record to the .COM and .NET TLD DNS zones. The IP address returned is 64.94.110.11, which reverses to sitefinder.verisign.com. What that means in plain English is that most mis-typed domain names that would formerly have resulted in a helpful error message now results in a VeriSign advertising opportunity. For example, if my domain name was 'somecompany.com,' and somebody typed 'soemcompany.com' by mistake, they would get VeriSign's advertising.

...

Some have pointed out that this will make an important anti-spam check impossible. A common anti-spam measure is to check and make sure the domain name of the sender really exists. (While this is easy to force, every little bit helps.) Since all .COM and .NET domain names now exist, that anti-spam check is useless.

Motor giant Ford to move to Linux
By John Lettice
Posted: 15/09/2003 at 16:56 GMT

Motor giant Ford is switching to Linux for its sales systems, human resources, customer relations and infrastructure, according to a report in yesterday's Scotland on Sunday. But although the company is undoubtedly a megawin for Linux, Register sources suggest that the real battle was between the Linux vendors, with maybe just a soupcon of Sun.

rest of story at The Register

Why using MCSE's to implement Linux will cost more not less
The Mad Hatter meets the MCSE
By Paul Murphy
Monday, September 15, 2003 4:11 AM EDT

...

Obviously none of the memorised click sequences typical of the Microsoft re-boot and re-install cycle will apply, but what about the more technical reflexes and management certainties that grow from working with Microsoft tools and ideas? Will any of these retain value for organisations converting to a largely Linux desktop environment?
The short, cynical, but probably fair, answer is that application of the expertise created by MCSE training and experience can be expected to increase the cost of use for enterprise Linux desktops while decreasing their effectiveness

rest of article at The Mad Hatter Meets the MCSE

Could Lotus notes save the browser as we know it?
Ray Ozzie says -
Some months back I became aware of the patent US 5,838,906 and the Eolas lawsuit against Microsoft, and followed a bit of conversation on the Net related to it. As many, I believed the the issue would quickly go away because of ample prior art. Regrettably, this seems not to be the case.
It now seems that perhaps the browser itself and the browsing experience may have to be nontrivially modified as a result of the judgment. Although a bit late, if some of us perhaps dust off our old code, is there a chance that we could still save the browser through demonstration of clear prior art?

For my own interest, and for the record, I recently spent a little time pursuing my intuition that Lotus Notes R3 might be viable prior art relative to the patent in question. I am not an attorney, and I am surely not well versed in the nuances of the case, but it seems to me after initial investigation that there is indeed quite a bit of relevance.

rest of story at Ray Ozzie's weblog

Novell to drop ZENworks from Linux tool bundle
Novell to drop ZENworks from Linux tool bundle

Will instead use server management software acquired through Ximian deal

Story by Matt Hamblen

SEPTEMBER 12, 2003 ( COMPUTERWORLD ) - Novell Inc. said it plans to use newly acquired systems management tools instead of including its own ZENworks technology in a Linux software package that's due to go into open beta-testing next month.
At the company's BrainShare Europe 2003 conference in Barcelona, Spain, Novell officials said the Red Carpet tools developed by Boston-based Ximian Inc. which Novell bought last month (see story), will be included in the Nterprise Linux Services 1.0 bundle. Red Carpet offers capabilities such as automated distribution of software updates and patches to servers. The bundle will also include file, print, messaging and directory services.

rest of story at Computerworld

Wi-Fi eyes better wireless LAN security
The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, which certifies IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN products with the Wi-Fi label, on Thursday will announce a new set of mechanisms to combat the security problem that has plagued wireless LANs.

A WECA official did not provide details of the mechanisms but said they are intended to replace the current security system based on Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP).

rest of story at Network World

Welcome
Things that make me go hmmm!