Latest News from Linux

Calxeda Fedora’s Launch Pad into ARM Microservers

Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 EDT

Calxeda, the ARM-making low-power microserver hopeful, has gotten some traction with Fedora, Red Hat’s open source Linux sandbox where technologies pregnant with possibility are developed and tested ostensibly by an army of community volunteers.

NIST to Sponsor FFRDC Widespread Adoption of Integrated CyberSecurity

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EDT

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Commerce, intents to sponsor a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) to facilitate public-private collaboration for accelerating the widespread adoption of integrated cybersecurity tools and technologies. This is the first of three notices which must be published over a 90-day period in order to advise the public of the agency's intention to sponsor an FFRDC. DATES: Written comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on July 22, 2013.

Rackspace, Red Hat Win Decisive Patent Victory

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EDT

Red Hat, Inc. and Rackspace Hosting, Inc. announced on Friday that they have won a federal court decision granting early dismissal of all claims in a lawsuit brought by the patent assertion entity Uniloc USA, Inc. Plaintiff Uniloc USA, Inc. is a frequent litigator, having brought patent lawsuits against many high-tech companies including Adobe, Microsoft, Sony and Symantec. Rackspace provides its customers with managed servers running the Linux operating system. Red Hat, which supplies Linux to Rackspace, provided Rackspace’s defense as part of Red Hat’s commitment to standing behind customers through Red Hat’s Open Source Assurance program. Uniloc USA, Inc. filed the complaint against Rackspace in June 2012 in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleged that the processing of floating point numbers by the Linux operating system violated U.S. Patent 5,892,697. Rackspace and Red Hat immediately moved to dismiss the case prior to filing an answer. In dismissing the case, Chief Judge Leonard Davis found that Uniloc’s claim was unpatentable under Supreme Court case law that prohibits the patenting of mathematical algorithms. This is the first reported instance in which the Eastern District of Texas has granted an early motion to dismiss finding a patent invalid because it claimed unpatentable subject matter. In the ruling released today, Judge Davis wrote that the asserted claim “is a mathematical formula that is unpatentable under Section 101.”

Microsoft Supposedly Thinking of Office for Linux

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:00:00 EST

Tech Crunch got it from Extreme Tech which got it from Phoronix which got it from a source at the big FOSDEM open source conference in Brussels that Microsoft – which is reportedly planning to release Office for Android, a Linux distribution, this year – is taking a “meaningful look” at releasing a full native Linux port of Office next year. The source is presumed to be one of Microsoft’s open source developers. Most open source adherents probably couldn’t be persuaded to use Office for any amount of money, but Microsoft supposedly thinks Linux has “commercial viability” and may have it in mind to replace the free LibreOffice or cloud-based productivity apps at government agencies and universities.

Ubuntu Phone Coming to the Developing World

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 10:30:00 EST

Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Canonical, revealed his plan to release a version of Ubuntu software for smartphones. Shuttleworth aims to target developing countries and believes Ubuntu will have an easy transition into these markets due to the software’s brand recognition in these countries. Ubuntu’s potential in markets like China and India is difficult to discern. While Mr. Shuttleworth’s claim that 30% of Chinese PC’s are shipped with the Ubuntu software is factually accurate, the Ubuntu software on these computers is often quickly replaced by pirated copies of Microsoft Windows. In addition to Ubuntu’s questionable brand recognition, smartphone competition in developing countries is predicted to grow quickly over the next two years. Intel just announced two days ago that the company would releasing a smartphone chip aimed at the same markets Shuttleworth hopes to capture. As new contenders continue to enter the smartphone market in developing countries, Google has been quietly gaining a strategic foothold in the African and Chinese markets as low cost Android phones continue to gain popularity.

Linux Foundation Announces 2013 Event and Co-Located Linux Training Schedule

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 07:03:00 EST

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced its 2013 event and co-located Linux training schedule. The organization is also opening the Call for Presentations (CFPs) for its 2013 event lineup, which includes LinuxCon conferences in North America, Japan and Europe. LinuxCon North America and CloudOpen will take place this year in New Orleans, La., where they will be co-located with the Linux Plumbers Conference. LinuxCon Japan will take place in Tokyo in 2013 and will be co-located with the Automotive Linux Summit Spring event. LinuxCon Europe will be in Edinburgh, UK, along with Linux Kernel Summit, the Automotive Linux Summit Fall event, and Embedded Linux Conference Europe.

Linux: Mount Fails and Can’t Read Mounted File Systems Table

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:15:00 EST

fstab and mtab are two important files found on Linux systems. The fstab file is also sometimes referred to as a file systems table or /etc/fstab. It is meant to list all the available disk partitions and disks. It also includes information about how these disks and partitions are integrated into file system of Linux. Its corruption sometimes leads to Linux Data Recovery needs. Other than file corruption, the reason could be file deletion. When the mount command is used to mount the file system, it reads fstab file to know the valid options available to mount, while mtab is used to mark an entry that indicates file system in use and process of their use. So if any of these file is found to be corrupt or missing, system fails to mount the required file system and results errors.

Red Hat CloudForms: Open Clouds Under Your Control

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:15:00 EST

Red Hat CloudForms is an open hybrid cloud-management product ideal for enterprises looking to move their Red Hat Enterprise Linux workloads to the cloud. It delivers the flexibility and agility that businesses want with the control and governance that IT needs. This lets your organization build a hybrid cloud that encompasses your heterogeneous infrastructures – thereby avoiding vendor lock-in – while managing the applications running in that cloud. Download this whitepaper to learn more.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Standardize & Save

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 13:00:00 EDT

Are you really saving as much as you think you are with non-paid community Linux? Every organization is looking for more ways to be efficient. How can you provide better service to your organization and eliminate the things that drain productivity and efficiency? Red Hat can help.

APIs Come to the Supermarket

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 07:00:00 EDT

There has been a rush lately of retailers exposing APIs to enable mobile access to what previously were in-store operations. Last month, Adam Broitman wrote in Advertising Age about Walgreen's photo API. In the article he notes that APIs may become crucial to brick and mortar stores.

Porticor is Now a Red Hat Innovate Member

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 05:45:00 EDT

With an objective to deliver an end-to-end cloud data security solution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux to Red Hat customers, Porticor – a company offering cloud data security solutions – recently joined the Red Hat Innovate program. By joining the Red Hat Innovate program, Porticor is able to leverage the power, openness and collaborative nature of open source [...]

Doing a Linux Based Victory Lap

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:59:00 EDT

Okay, I admit it, when I solve a particularly confoundingproblem, I like to get up, proclaim “Victory Lap!” and walk around in a smallcircle (Sometimes two for bigger problems). I think it's important to celebratedevelopment successes particularly when they result in helping to really moveprogress ahead. I’d like to share with you folks my latest cause for a VictoryLap. My current project is requiring me to install VirtualDirectory Server for HCM and GRC along with an IDM Dispatcher on a Red HatLINUX server. Now I’ve dabbled withLINUX before and even run it as my personal Operating System once upon a time, but Ithink it’s safe to say that I was going to learn a bit during this process, and learn I did!

Open Source Status Rising, Nvidia Joins Linux Foundation

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 04:45:00 EDT

After Facebook's recent shimmy towards an opportunity to promote the adoption of open source hardware techniques, Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) manufacturer Nvidia has reportedly now also signed up to join the Linux Foundation this month.

IGEL Supports Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.0

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:08:00 EST

"We are pleased to be able to pass the improvements that Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.0 offers in centralized provisioning of virtual desktops directly on to our customers," states Florian Spatz, Product Marketing Manager at IGEL Technology, who also points out that, "this partnership strengthens our market position as the world's leading vendor of Linux-based thin clients and presents our customers with attractively priced solution options for enterprise-wide provisioning of virtual desktops."

CloudLinux Announces Support for Atomia

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:30:00 EST

CloudLinux, Inc., developers of the only commercially-supported Linux server operating system made specifically for shared hosting, today announced that CloudLinux OS is now fully compatible with the Atomia software automation platform. "Now, Atomia customers can easily upgrade their operating system to CloudLinux OS greatly enhancing the security and efficiency of their shared hosting businesses," said Igor Seletskiy, CloudLinux CEO. "Better control over computing resources leads to a better overall customer experience and results in lower churn." CloudLinux cages each user account within its own Lightweight Virtual Environment (LVE), allowing system administrators to limit CPU, memory, and the concurrent connections available to each server tenant. LVE effectively prevents the "bad neighbor effect," wherein one tenant can slow or take down an entire server. By limiting abuse, shared hosters can substantially increase server density, bringing far greater efficiency to their business.

Linux Virtualization and Tired Open Source Myths

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:15:00 EST

The more things change, the more they stay the same. That is certainly true of anti-open source virtualization FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt). Linux virtualization is robust and enterprise-worthy, and is evolving rapidly. It is a threat to the established giants of virtualization. And, so the same old FUD is spread around: Open source virtualization software is free, like a free puppy. It's unpolished and lacking important features. It's communists and hippies. It is only for elite hackers who can code in a dozen languages and who love the command line. Linux virtualization admins are expensive and scarce. Licenses are complex, scary, and viral, and will infect all of your code and force you to give it away.

Typemock Joins Red Hat Innovate in Israel

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:14:36 EST

Typemock, a provider and pioneer of unit testing solutions, has announced it has been selected to participate in Red Hat Innovate, a new initiative launched by Red Hat in Israel. The initiative is designed to assist software development start-up companies based in Israel to leverage the power of open source communities. Red Hat Innovate offers numerous benefits, including joint marketing activities and access to Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system and JBoss Enterprise Middleware for development.

CloudLinux Announces Preferred Partner Program

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST

CloudLinux, Inc., developers of a commercially supported Linux server operating system made specifically for shared hosting, has announced its Preferred Partner Program with VPS.net the first to join. VPS.net, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with operations and data centers all over the world, is part of UK2 Group, which provides web hosting and Internet services to a million customers worldwide. With offices in London and Utah, the UK2 Group employs more than 200 staff. VPS.net provides a high-performance, optimized and scalable cloud hosting service that includes the CloudLinux OS, which it offers to all of its customers worldwide. As a Preferred Partner, VPS.net and CloudLinux will do joint marketing and sales while VPS.net will have special access to technical resources. Additionally, VPS.net will host CloudLinux repositories allowing for exceptionally fast and reliable updates for VPS.net customers using CloudLinux software.

Azul Stops Being Agnostic, Gets "Come to Linux" Call

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST

Azul Systems is going with the herd, which is congregated down around Linux, commodity x86 hardware, Big Data, the cloud and the cloud’s little friends PaaS and SaaS because that’s where the business is. The latest spin of Azul’s Zing JVM is just for Linux. The company’s not going to be OS-agnostic anymore, and offload workloads from different operating system onto Zing. Nope, it’s converted completely to Linux. It’s the third time Azul has changed its faith. It used to preach that scaling Java apps required Vega, the fancy $200 million proprietary rig it built around exotic multi-core chips. Then last year it saw the light and said it could all be done in Zing software. Its new stuff is advertised as the industry’s only JVM specifically architected and optimized for Linux and, being the fifth generation from the first Vega machine, it’s styled Zing 5.0. CEO Scott Sellers reckons that Azul and Java’s owner Oracle are the only commercial providers of enterprise JVMs for enterprise Java apps left and, like a sign Azul may come to regret, it was elected last week along with Twitter to the Java Community Process (JCP) Executive Committee.

The Linux Foundation Announces Five New European Members

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:01:00 EDT

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, has announced that five Europe-based companies are joining the organization: AboveIT, Comarch, CSR, Symbio and Tieto. These companies are joining The Linux Foundation to collaborate on advancing Linux in the enterprise and in mobile computing. They join seven other new members from Europe announced earlier this month (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/announcements/2011/10/linux-fo...) and are coming together to collaborate this week at the first-ever LinuxCon Europe taking place in Prague, Czech Republic: http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linuxcon-europe.

Management Software for Linux Virtualization Made Available

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Convirture has released ConVirt Enterprise Cloud - software that manages virtualized datacenters and cloud deployments built on KVM and Xen virtual machines. ConVirt Enterprise Cloud provides a set of sophisticated tools capable of managing an entire virtual and cloud infrastructure from a single console, including private clouds, hybrid clouds, traditional virtual machines as well as public cloud resources such as Amazon EC2. "As we developed this product and worked with our beta customers, we kept hearing the same thing again and again: customers are concerned about the potential for complexity, fragmentation and workload management issues that come with adding cloud resources," said Arsalan Farooq, CEO of Convirture. "Until now, users of KVM and Xen did not have a management layer that provides a unified means of viewing and managing their entire traditional, virtual and cloud-based environments. With ConVirt Enterprise Cloud, IT staff can manage the complex, properly allocate computing resources and deliver real ROI for the organization."

Likewise Works with Microsoft to Enable Next-Generation NAS Devices

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:45:00 EDT

A sea change is about to occur in the storage industry - from block based storage to file based for applications and virtualization - and believe it or not it all stems from changes coming to the SMB protocol. Yes, that's right, a protocol. The performance of back-end storage has been a major choke point to scaling virtualization and cloud infrastructures due to limitations of previous versions of CIFS/SMB, which led to the adoption of block based storage. Now, with SMB 2.2, file based storage becomes not only a credible option, but the recommended option for provisioning Microsoft workloads. Likewise Software has announced an agreement with Microsoft to support SMB 2.2 by adding Linux and Unix-based devices - which enables secure access to unstructured data using a consistent set of protocols across platforms.

Free Yourself from Database Client Libraries in 15 Minutes

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:30:00 EDT

Are you tired of managing your database client libraries? Imagine one driver supporting all major UNIX/Linux platforms for all major databases... Imagine no more, Progress DataDirect Connect for ODBC does all that – and more. In addition to using wire protocol technology to eliminate the need for database client libraries and supporting all major UNIX/Linux platforms for all major databases, Progress DataDirect Connect for ODBC delivers the fastest, most scalable application performance of any driver on the market today. In this short video, you will see how to free yourself from the hassles of Database Client Libraries. If you aren’t already using Progress DataDirect Connect for ODBC, see what you are missing.

Basic Apache and MySQL Performance Tuning

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EDT

Apache and MySQL make up the backbone of many Linux based web servers. According to the August 2011 Web Server Survey by Netcraft, Apache currently runs on 65.18% (or 301,771,518!) of web servers. Similarly, MySQL is the most popular open source database and holds a significant portion of the market share – especially for web content. This article will detail how you can get at the ‘low-hanging fruit’ in order to make some simple changes that will yield big performance gains. If your system is running httpd, the Apache web server, it will definitely benefit you to evaluate and modify your web server configuration to ensure that your system runs smooth. This can be an incredibly broad topic and certain an article of its own, but here are a few things you can address that can provide a big impact in your performance.

Things You May or May Not Know About Linux “find” Command

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EDT

In the first part of our series we described how to use find (and locate) to search for files using their names. Today we are going to review how to utilize find in a less common but very useful way. But first a few words on testing (okay, this might not be necessary for everyone, but bear with me!). It is very important to remember that the find command allows you to create a list of objects having the value of a property the same, greater or smaller then given “n” — which stands for a number of days defined as 24 hours periods, with any frictional part ignored.

Samba 3.6 Out

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:15:00 EDT

The Samba Team has released Samba 3.6, a major new release of the Free Software file, print and authentication server suite for Microsoft Windows clients. The widgetry includes the first Samba implementation of Microsoft's new SMB2 file-serving protocol. Samba’s new SMB2 server has been tested by major vendors and has reportedly been able to double the performance of some network applications when run in conjunction with Windows 7 clients. Samba has also completely rewritten its print subsystem. Samba 3.6 is the first “on the wire”-compatible version of Microsoft’s SPOOLSS printing subsystem, and is the basis for ongoing work to create an implementation of Windows printing separate from the Samba file server.

Dell and Cloudera Package Up Turnkey Hadoop

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 07:00:00 EDT

Reminiscent of its OpenStack move last week, Dell has teamed with Cloudera on a packaged Apache Hadoop system running Cloudera’s freebie open source distribution including Apache Hadoop (CDH) on Dell’s energy-efficient PowerEdge C2100 rack servers and networking components. The widgetry, which should be available in the next 30 days, includes Dell’s new cloudified open source Crowbar deployment software – although the boxes can also come with the software installed – Cloudera’s commercial Cloudera Enterprise version’s management tools and PowerConnect 6248 48-port Gigabit Ethernet Layer 3 switches. A deployment can scale from six to 720 nodes. Figure $118,000-$124,000 to start depending on support.

Cloud Cruiser to Exhibit at Cloud Expo 2011 Silicon Valley

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:15:00 EDT

SYS-CON Events announced today that Cloud Cruiser, the leader in cloud cost management solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 9th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 7–10, 2011, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Cloud Cruiser is the leader in Cloud Cost Management, providing cost optimization and next generation chargeback for the enterprise cloud. With the rapid evolution of the cloud market, cost visibility, control and savings are becoming the most important drivers of cloud adoption by enterprise customers. Cloud Cruiser’s feature set enables complete cost transparency, accountability, empowerment and control, regardless of where an organization’s data and applications reside. With end-to-end visibility, next generation chargeback, powerful BI analytics, and proactive cost controls, Cloud Cruiser gives enterprise customers the ability to improve business performance, mitigate risk, and realize the true cost savings of the cloud.

The Detested Microsoft-Novell Deal Lives On

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 07:45:00 EDT

Remember that hated no-sue deal between Microsoft and Novell? Well, it’s been renewed with SUSE, the now Novell-replacing Attachmate-owned business unit returned to Germany where SUSE came from. The deal, as loathed as it was by the open source crowed, was the salvation of SUSE and has now been extended another four years or until January 1, 2016 and calls for Microsoft to invest $100 million in new SUSE Linux Enterprise certificates for customers receiving Linux support from SUSE. Microsoft said in its Monday announcement that “As IT operating environments become increasingly consumerized, cloud-based and automated, there is an implicit expectation that the underlying technologies from multiple vendors should work together. For this reason, the collaborative relationship between Microsoft and SUSE has come to be viewed as a model for the industry.”

How to Improve Server Performance by IO Tuning – Part 2

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:15:00 EDT

Before reading this article, I highly suggest to get familiar with all the concepts of the previous article regarding IO tuning. Your IO please, sir How is your IO characterized? Yes, this question has to be asked yet again. It’s a big difference when tuning for random access reads vs. sequential reads. How is your [...]

Oracle Makes Oracle Linux More Competitive

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EDT

Oracle has bought Ksplice for its little-heard-from Linux operation. Price was not disclosed. The Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up offers zero downtime updating, which is supposed to increase the security, reliability, availability and general likeability of Oracle Linux by letting customers apply or delete security updates, diagnostics patches and critical bug fixes without rebooting. Oracle expects the widgetry to distinguish it from Red Hat (from which Oracle Linux derives) and SUSE, which Ksplice will not support.

Linux: Secure as a Brick

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:15:00 EDT

People who are familiar with me know that there are two things I’m not forgiving about. The first is backups, the second is security. If backups interest you, perhaps we can discuss it some other time. This time we’re going to discuss security. I’m going to outline in the following article some of the best practices I’ve learned along the years and help you “almost brick up, but not just yet” or “harden” your Linux server. While reading this article, however, I suggest also reading this article as well. As we both try to tackle the same issues. I believe both articles eventually represent the same views in a different guise. All of the ideas I’m coming up with are already implemented in shk. I suggest downloading shk, reviewing the code and using it.

Xen, KVM and the Linux Choice

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 16:00:00 EDT

There has been a significant amount of derision heaped on Xen after its successful integration into the Linux kernel last month. One wouldn’t think such criticism is warranted, since the inclusion of Xen in the Linux kernel puts it on equal footing with KVM. Yet, when Oracle's Wim Coekaerts announced the inclusion of Xen code for DomO and DomU support in Linux, many industry observers took the opportunity to lambaste Xen for being too-little-too-late. True, KVM has been more successful in the briefer time it has existed. Xen has had plenty of opportunity to be the go-to virtualization platform for Linux. KVM, however, exploded in popularity and was fully integrated into the Linux kernel by the time Linux 2.6.20 was released. It’s now the virtualization platform of choice for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Canonical's Ubuntu Server, and SUSE Enterprise Server Linux (though SLES also supports Xen as well). The fact that Xen is now in the Linux kernel is a cause for celebration. Customers who want to work with a virtualization solution now have a choice of not one but two solid virtualization tools for Linux. This proves once and for all that Linux is not only a viable cloud virtualization platform; it’s in reality the most desirable platform for use in the cloud.

Likewise Sells Heritage Assets to Go into Storage

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 06:15:00 EDT

Likewise, the open source company that made its bones connecting Linux, Mac OS X and Unix systems to Microsoft Active Directory, has sold off its Active Directory Bridge business unit, including its Likewise Open and Likewise Enterprise software, to Beyond Trust so it can concentrate on “disruptive” storage software. It claims it “sits at a very unique intersection of the storage, identity and security markets; we plan to fully exploit this position. As many of you know, we have quietly become the foundational platform for many of the biggest names in the storage industry. Moving forward we will be making a number of much higher profile announcements.”

Typemock Launches Easy Unit Testing Framework for Linux

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 05:00:00 EDT

Typemock, a provider and pioneer of easy unit testing solutions, announced on Tuesday the launch of Isolator++ for Linux. Isolator++ for Linux enables easy unit testing of C++ on the Linux distributions, Ubuntu, Fedora (Red Hat) and SUSE (Novell). This release marks Typemock's ability to offer unit testing tools and mocking frameworks for multiple platforms and enable organizations that work on Windows and Linux to benefit from one solution for both platforms. Isolator++ for Linux enables unit testing - the foundation of agile development - of any C/ C++ code (including complex code such as statics, globals and non virtual method) by allowing the test to intercept and fake behaviours. The API is specifically designed to make tests more concise, more resistant to production code changes and easier to understand for new users which ensures that time is not wasted re-writing unit tests. It also protects the code from regression bugs and allows organizations to feel confident that their final product meets industry standards.

Red Hat Wheels Out MRG 2.0

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EDT

Red Hat Thursday delivered Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2.0, an upgrade of its Messaging, Realtime and Grid widgetry, which is supposed to include advances in performance, scalability and management, and support Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1. Red Hat says it delivers high-speed/low latency, open standard application messaging; a deterministic low-latency real-time kernel; and a high-performance computing grid scheduler for distributed workloads and cloud computing. MRG is supposed to be important to Red Hat’s cloud strategy and its month-old OpenShift Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS).

Twenty-Five Linux Server Hardening Tips

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:53:00 EDT

When it comes to having a Linux server hosted in a data center or it is not behind any kind of Firewall or NAT device there are a number of security requirements that need to be addressed. Linux servers generally come with no protection configured by default and depending on the hosting company or distro can come preconfigured with many services installed that are not required, including Web Servers, FTP Servers, Mail Servers and SSH Remote Access. The following is a compilation of various settings and techniques you can employ to harden the security of your vulnerable Linux systems. While I have tried to put them in order of the most important features first I would recommend all of these options be used on your critical production servers.

Mentor Graphics Announces Embedded Linux Platform Support for Freescale

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:15:00 EDT

Mentor Graphics Corporation on Tuesday announced its support for Freescale Semiconductor’s Advanced Multi-Processing (AMP) Series of QorIQ multicore processors by providing its comprehensive Mentor Embedded Linux platform, open source tools and services, to deliver a unified workflow for Freescale customers. The QorIQ AMP Series provides 28-nanometer process technology, an efficient 64-bit core and highly advanced acceleration engines for optimal performance and power efficiency in processing for networking, industrial and aerospace/military markets. Freescale customers who are developing Linux-based applications using the AMP Series processors are expected to realize productivity and device performance gains when using the Mentor Embedded Linux platform. Freescale and Mentor Graphics have developed a unified workflow methodology for embedded Linux-based development, enabling customers to create innovative, customized applications with greater productivity and reduced risk.

Adobe AIR Dead on Desktop Linux

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:30:00 EDT

AIR has joined Adobe Reader in the dustbin of Adobe products on Linux. According to figures gathered by Netmarketshare that Adobe uses to justify its decision to terminate AIR on desktop Linux, desktop Linux accounts for less than 1% of the market. More important – from Adobe’s point-of-view – desktop Linux has accounted for less than 0.5% of lifetime AIR downloads so, instead, Adobe is off chasing the “mobile client,” the 200 million Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS and iOS devices that can download and run AIR apps. It’s killing off AIR and the AIR SDK for desktop Linux with the latest 2.7 release of AIR. The last Adobe release of AIR for desktop Linux is AIR 2.6.

Create Linux User Login Monitor on Monitis

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:28:00 EDT

Monitis provides the ability to monitor almost any operation on your server. Using simple Linux tools and scripts you are able to monitor each time a user logs into the server and capture various information, including username, host address and login service. Using pam_script and bash scripts, you are able to transmit information to a Custom Monitor with this information. The first thing you will need in order to create this monitor is the Monitis API Key and Secret Key. The API Key is a alphanumeric code that allows you to access the Monitis API url’s and transmit or receive data about your Monitis services. The Secret Key is an alphanumeric code that allows you to digitally sign your information to ensure that only you can transmit data to your Monitis account. Your API Key may be disclosed to anyone, but your Secret Key must be maintained private and should not be shared nor transmitted. To obtain your Monitis API Key and Secret Key, log into your account and from the top menu bar, go to Tools then API then API Key, it will display both your API Key and your Secret Key.

Seven Keys to Success with Linux

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:45:00 EDT

The Linux operating system materialized through the work of Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student who introduced the first release in 1991 as an open source version of UNIX for x86 PCs. Although it wasn’t the first open source version of UNIX, the unique advantages of Linux soon attracted a following, and it quickly emerged as a viable operating system alternative. The combination of x86-based virtualization and the widespread adoption of Linux eventually opened the door to a new era of business computing, fueling major changes to today’s business information technology landscape. Today almost every organization has open source technology somewhere in their IT environment, usually in the form of Linux. For example, Linux provides the underlying plumbing for much of the Internet and World Wide Web. In short, Linux has arrived as a mainstream operating system for organizations everywhere and it now plays an integral role in business computing.

Texas Jury Duns Google $5 Million in Linux Case

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EDT

Google has been ordered to pay $5 million by an East Texas jury that found for Bedrock Computer Technologies LLC in an almost two-year-old Linux-related patent case. The jury found the patent valid. Patent watcher Florian Mueller, who broke the story, says the case has “major implications for the IT industry in general and for Linux in particular…Many companies using Linux have already been required by the patent holder to pay royalties, and many more will now, based on this jury verdict, elect to pay.” Mueller says the decision also has “ramifications for Google’s Linux-based Android mobile operating system.”

Adobe Falls Out of Love with Linux

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EDT

Adobe quietly stopped supporting the thinly used Linux desktop last June, a development noticed by only a few like a smarting IBM, which reportedly has – or at least had – 16,000 Linux desktops inside. In the next couple of months Adobe is supposed to stop supporting AIR for Linux even though some 35% of developers are supposed to fancy Linux. The Linux desktop may have captured 1%-2% of PCs worldwide. Seems Linux doesn’t fit in with the mobile dislocation.

SCO’s Operating Assets Sold

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:15:00 EDT

Poor benighted Unix has been shifted again for the fourth time. The SCO Group sold its operating assets Monday for $600,000 to an operation temporarily called UnXis Inc whose press release memorializing the long-sought transfer was datelined Dubai. Novell ultimately didn’t challenge the sale, but the announcement sent Groklaw straight up the wall because UnXis claimed it got the Unix and UnixWare trademarks that Groklaw says were turned over to X/Open ages ago. SCO, which retains the litigation, could still present a problem if the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver gives it leave to continue prosecuting its suit against IBM for fleshing out Linux with Unix code SCO thought it bought from Novell. UnXis says it’s indemnified against any legal costs.

State Department Photos of My Abducted Daughter Sofia in Syria

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:45:00 EDT

Wednesday morning I received new photographs of Sofia from the State Department in Washington, DC. Sofia remains in Syria since being abducted in July 2010. The day after my last tweet regarding the lack of any new information about my abducted daughter Sofia since March 4, I received an updated letter on Thursday, April 7, 2011, from the State Department on Sofia's welfare in Syria. Sofia was abducted by her mother from the United States to Syria last July, following her diagnosis of GDD with possible autism. She had 13 remaining medical appointments left at the time of her abduction, none of which she was able to keep. Last week's welfare report prepared by our Embassy in Damascus, Syria, after their second welfare visit to the home in Syria where Sofia remains with her mother and grandmother, showed a bleaker outcome for my daughter than the previous report dated November 2010.

Uncle Who Kidnapped Sofia to Syria Still a Practicing MD in Chicago

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:15:00 EDT

More than a year ago, Sofia was abducted from her home in Lighthouse Point, Florida, by her Syrian National uncle, who is practicing medicine in the Chicago area. Last March, a Florida judge issued an order to pick Sofia up from the uncle's house in Chicago and return her to her home to Florida. Due to a jurisdiction question in court - since Sofia had never lived more than 6 months in one state at the time of her abduction - the judge later gave temporary custody to her mom until the court could determine final jurisdiction between Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois. In July 2010, based on this uncle's instructions, Sofia was abducted by her mom to Syria where she has been missing her life-saving medical treatment. Sofia's Syrian National uncle is still practicing medicine in the Chicago area. As I explained repeatedly in multiple blog posts since her abduction more than six months ago, she needs urgent daily therapy, which was initially scheduled until the age of three. I strongly believe that the MD uncle's "physician license" in the United States should be revoked immediately due to his abduction of Sofia from her home in March, 2010, as he has endangered Sofia's life. The Syrian doctor should also be deported from the United States for his actions against humanity, as he doesn't care about his two-year-old niece Sofia. I will discuss the details of this situation on national morning TV shows, which will air in the United States.

The End of an Era: PJ To Stop Updating Groklaw

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 20:15:00 EDT

"The crisis SCO initiated over Linux is over, and Linux won," wrote Pamela Jones Saturday as she announced that Groklaw will stop publishing new articles at Groklaw.net on its anniversary, May 16.

Resara Server 1.0 Released

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:41:00 EDT

On March 29, the Linux software company Resara LLC released its latest open source product, Resara Server. Resara Server is a small business server solution designed to be usable by anyone, regardless of their experience with Linux. It can provide an Active Directory compatible domain through Samba 4, user and computer management, file sharing, remote file access, and much more. "We have been deploying Linux servers since 2004, and we were very frustrated by the lack of easy, practical authentication solutions for Linux", said Resara's CTO, Brendan Powers. "A year ago we decided it was a problem we wanted to solve, and started development on Resara Server". What sets Resara Server apart from other Linux solutions is how it combines powerful functionality with ease of use. "Resara Server is designed so that anyone can set it up and use it", said Warren Luebkeman, Resara's COO. "Our management tools are far beyond anything else available for Linux", he continues, "By simplifying the process we believe more people will use Linux servers on their networks, particularly small businesses".

Android May Have Bigger IP Issues than Java

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 05:15:00 EDT

Another shoe has dropped in Android’s apparently still unfolding IP crisis, an issue over and above Oracle’s controversial Java patent infringement suit, which is now just one of many. Google supposedly put Linux code into Android in a legally questionable way that likely infringes the GPL, the license that governs Linux, according to what IP litigator Edward Naughton said on the Huffington Post Wednesday in a story entitled “Google’s Android Contains Legal Landmines for Developers and Device Manufacturers” that patent watcher Florian Mueller picked up on. Naughton – and Professor Ray Nimmer, a copyright expert, before him – raise doubts about Google’s treatment of the so-called Bionic library that connects Android and its applications to the underlying Linux kernel.

Bankruptcy Court Says SCO Can Sell Its OS Assets

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 07:00:00 EDT

The bankruptcy court in Delaware ruled Monday that SCO can sell its homegrown OpenServer interests and the UnixWare business – that a federal court in Utah decided SCO bought from Novell – to UnXis, the odd venture involving Stephen Norris, one of the two original founders of the famed Carlyle Group. UnXis has been offering to buy SCO since mid-2009 for reasons that aren’t patently obvious to anybody. Novell maintains that SCO needs its consent to do the deal and says it won’t get it until SCO gives it the $3 million it owes Novell from the breach of their cockamamie 1995 Asset Purchase Agreement (APA), which it thinks UnXis should assume in full.