While not a huge surprise, it's a bit vindicating to see an agency like CERT recommending (VU#713878, VU#652452, etc.) against using IE. The part that I found most interesting though was the MSFT response. In a press release Microsoft said they were “unaware of any widespread customer impact based on Download.Ject” and noted that the site involved in the attack had been taken down. First, judging by the number of times I have seen this in the wild and based on the fact that a couple large sites were supposed affected, I find it hard to believe that microsoft is unaware. If they are really unaware that say a lot in and of itself. Second, the fact that they see the site being taken down as a mitigating fact shows how blase they are when it comes to security related matters. The hole is still there and someone else will exploit it. Wake up!
–jeremy
Archive for June, 2004
Looks like Real is now giving the GPL as an option for the Helix Player, which will now be distributed by both Red Hat and Novell. Not sure how the will impact some of the other open source players. Seems Microsoft also lifted some of its restrictions on the “Shared Source” license for Windows CE. On a side note the whole shared source thing still seems a bit odd to me. While I will admit that I have not looked *too* closely, it seems to me that MSFT has seen what Open Source can do and think that by slapping a license on something it is going to magically improve. They don't seem to understand it's the methodology, freedom and community that make Open Source great, not just the license.
–jeremy
Looks like Microsoft has released a new version of XP aimed at Thailand and Malaysia. It's called Windows “Starter Edition” and costs about $38. It seems odd that MSFT's response to piracy in some countries is to lower the price, but in other countries they use litigation (it doesn't seem so odd I guess when you look at the differences in said countries legal systems). I'd say pressure put on by Linux had something to do with this also.
–jeremy
While a little bit old now, this article by Tim O'Reilly, which is an adaptation of a speech he has given in the past, makes some excellent points and is a good read. My two favorite clips:
I have a simple test that I use in my talks to see if my audience of computer industry professionals is thinking with the old paradigm or the new. “How many of you use Linux?” I ask. Depending on the venue, 20-80% of the audience might raise its hands. “How many of you use Google?” Every hand in the room goes up. And the light begins to dawn. Every one of them uses Google's massive complex of 100,000 Linux servers, but they were blinded to the answer by a mindset in which “the software you use” is defined as the software running on the computer in front of you.
and
In short, if it is sufficiently robust an innovation to qualify as a new paradigm, the open source story is far from over, and its lessons far from completely understood. Rather than thinking of open source only as a set of software licenses and associated software development practices, we do better to think of it as a field of scientific and economic inquiry, one with many historical precedents, and part of a broader social and economic story. We must understand the impact of such factors as standards and their effect on commoditization, system architecture and network effects, and the development practices associated with software as a service. We must study these factors when they appear in proprietary software as well as when they appear in traditional open source projects. We must understand the ways in which the means by which software is deployed changes the way in which it is created and used. We must also see how the same principles that led to early source code sharing may impact other fields of collaborative activity. Only when we stop measuring open source by what activities are excluded from the definition, and begin to study its fellow travelers on the road to the future, will we understand its true impact and be fully prepared to embrace the new paradigm.
–jeremy
I am hoping to make it to OSCon in July as LQ is a sponsor. Unfortunately, since the show is so close to LinuxWorld, I am not sure if I'll be able to. I'll post an update as soon as I know for sure. If you plan on attending OSCon feel free to leave a comment.
–jeremy
An interesting read posted at Wired. While it has many SCO related items that have been posted many times before (such as Darl getting fired by Ikon and then suing and details on the Baystar deal) it also has some details relating to Mike Anderer that I have not seen posted before. It seems the picture is becoming a little clearer as time goes on and things are just looking worse and worse for SCO. The article also has a few good quotes from Eben Moglen, who I got to see at a recent conference and is always +1 Insightful.
–jeremy
…or so it would seem. After calling Open Source a cancer and “evil” in the past, they now seem to be dabbling in it. Now, from reading some of their past comments we can now deduce that they only think the GPL is pure evil, and they are willing to give Open Source at least a quick once over (they have chosen IBM's CPL at this point). It has to make you wonder though, what will Microsoft do after thousands of FOSS developers have seen some of their code. Will they try to go after some people or projects? Let's hope not. The one thing I would like to see MSFT open up a bit is their document formats. It would really work to help level the playing field and end some of the compatibility issues that are really annoying. I can't see it happening, but hey – one can hope.
–jeremy
It's hard to believe that it was four years ago tomorrow that I made my inaugural post at LQ. The site really has come a long way in the last 4 years. One hundred thousand members, one *million* posts, and many conferences. …and I enjoy running the site more every day. As always, thanks to each and every LQ member (and mod). We have a lot more in store for you in the near future – so stay tuned!
–jeremy
For those who haven't seen it, the latest Halloween document has some very interesting points about the shift in focus
that anti-FOSS arguments may be coming from in the near future.
Included free of charge is some rebuttal material.
–jeremy
Welcome to my Blog. It seems that almost everyone these days has
a blog, so I figured I should join in. This Blog is completely
separate from LQ for the most part. The views expressed here are
my personal views and in no way reflect LQ views or policies.
You'll get a more personal view of me here then you do at LQ.
Also, since I get quite busy I can't guarantee that I'll post often, but
we'll see how it goes.
I am still testing this software a bit, so if you see any problems let
me know. I'll decide whether I am going tto stick with this
software soon. I'd also like to thanks david_ross for helping me
tweak the CSS here a bit.
–jeremy
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