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| Criticisms of the Ubuntu distribution and Canonical, its corporatesponsor, are not hard to come by. Depending on who is speaking, Ubuntu andCanonical are guilty of profiting from the free software community withoutgiving back to it, forking important projects or distributions,legitimizing the use of binary-only system components, and more. Of all ofthese gripes, it is the "contributing to the community"complaint which isheard most. Click below (subscribers only) for some musings from youreditor on whether these criticisms are justified. |
| In defense of Ubuntu |
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| Wired coversthe lifting of an injunction against three MIT students regarding their research into Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) security. The ruling comes just a tad late for the students to give their planned talk at DEFCON, but it does recognize some important legal points. "District Judge O'Toole, in vacating the restraining order this morning, essentially ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act does not apply to speech and that the MBTA had failed to supply sufficient proof to merit other claims with regard to the statute, to merit a restraining order or preliminary injunction."The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represented the students, so updates should be available soon at its website. |
| Federal Judge Throws Out Gag Order Against Boston Students in Subway Case (Wired) |
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| Gizmodotakes a lookat Dell's upcoming Inspiron 910 mini notebook."A few weeks ago we ran some rumored specs of Dell's answer to the Eee, the Dell Inspiron 910 (aka Mini Inspiron and Inspiron Mini). Now we've gotten our hands on the full (internal) 910 web documentation. Along with scoping shots from every angle, we've learned that the 910 will support SSDs up to 16GB and has what looks to be very moddable internals (large Phillips-head screws hold that SSD in place). The system will go on sale in just a few days—August 22nd our source says—but we still don't know whether or not that $299 starting price is just a myth." |
| Leaked: Dell Inspiron 910 (Mini Note) Specs and Release Date (Gizmodo) |
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| Debianhas updatedpostfix(privilege escalation)andpostfix(privilege escalation). |
| Tuesday Security Updates |
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| KDE.News has announcedthe latestinterviewin the People Behind KDE series."In the next People Behind KDE interview, we stay in the United States of America (but leave in an underwater craft!) to meet a KDE developer who could be a JuKebox in another life, someone who helps you build development versions of KDE (staying on the bleeding edge without the pain!) - tonight's star of People Behind KDE is Michael Pyne." |
| People Behind KDE: Michael Pyne (KDE.News) |
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| Fedora project leader Paul Frields has sent out another update on the problems which have been, so far, unexplained in the Fedora project infrastructure. One possible clue is a change to the Fedora Hosted SSH key. "We know the community is awaiting more detail on the past week'sactivities and their causes. We're preparing a timeline and details andwill make them available in the near future. We appreciate thecommunity's patience, and will continue to post updates to thefedora-announce-list as soon as possible." |
| Another update on Fedora infrastructure |
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| Datamation talkswith some Debian project leaders, past and present, about thedistribution's 15th anniversary and its future. "The popularity ofUbuntu, [Ian] Murdock suggests (as well as, he might have added, the popularityof specialized Debian-derived distributions such as Knoppix and Damn SmallLinux) may very well mean that Debian's role is changing. Instead of beingthe distribution of choice for many users, the project may be evolving intoan upstream supplier for other, more user-focused distributions." |
| Debian GNU/Linux: 15 Years Old and at the Crossroads (Datamation) |
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| Mandrivahas updated postfix(localprivilege escalation) and amarok(temporaryfile vulnerability). |
| Monday's security updates |
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