Practical Technology

for practical people.

April 2, 2009
by sjvn01
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New Ubuntu Linux server is for business

On April 20th, Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, will be releasing Ubuntu Server Edition 9.04 along with the new Ubuntu Desktop Edition and the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. That’s great news for Linux fans, but what I want to talk about today is why that’s also great news for business.

The new Ubuntu Server does all the usual Linux server edge jobs — Web and mail services — and common line of business jobs like file and print. But, it also includes improved virtualization with the new version of KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and easier integration with Microsoft AD (Active Directory).

Yes, you read that right. The new Ubuntu, both on the server and the desktop side, will now work and play better with AD. According to Steve George, Canonical’s Director of Corporate Services, Ubuntu will be pulling this trick because it will be incorporating Likewise Open and Samba 3.3 support.

Likewise Open enables your Ubuntu servers and desktops to AD domains and forests with a single sign-on that works both for the AD and the Linux side of your network. Samba 3.3 adds over-all improvements in compatibility between Linux servers and clients and AD-based network services.

Ubuntu 9.04 also has some interesting virtualization improvements. Besides better KVM support, the server will be available to users on Amazon’s EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud).

That’s neat, but what I think is really much more interesting is that with Ubuntu 9.04 you’ll be able to build your own EC2-compatible cloud on your own servers. This way, you can get a feel for how cloud computing might work for you without worrying with the data and security issues of actually trusting your data and processing to Amazon or another external provider.

As Jane Silber, Canonical’s COO said, “With 9.04, larger businesses are now able to deploy Ubuntu in their production environments, and preview the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud.” Exactly. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first operating system that comes cloud-ready out of the box. For that alone, I think anyone considering moving to cloud computing should give Ubuntu a try. It’s a perfect way to find out for yourself in the safety of your own network whether cloud computing is for you.

Further showing that Canonical is quite earnest about making Ubuntu a business operating system, the new Ubuntu also includes AMQP (Advanced Message Queuing Protocol) support. AMQP is an important set of middleware and SOA (service-oriented architecture) protocols. Red Hat is the only other Linux distributor that has made a particular point of supporting it until now.

Why is Canonical adding all this big-business functionality to a six-month release? George explained that, “While it’s a year away from the next LTS (Long Term Service) release, we want to make sure we get the integration right now to help with the LTS. Our customers already want serious business support so we’re being driven by our customers to get it to them now. So, we’re listening to both our community and our business customers.”

One last part of that listening to business is that Canonical has been working with HP to get Ubuntu server certified on its ProLiant server lines Ubuntu is already ready certified on some other HP, Dell, and IBM servers, and on VMware virtual platforms.

I couldn’t say that Canonical is ready to go head to head with Red Hat for the king of the Linux server hill … this year. I can say, though, that that’s exactly what Canonical is planning to do by next year. There are interesting times ahead friends.

A version of this story first appeared in ComputrWorld.

April 1, 2009
by sjvn01
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Microsoft-TomTom settlement is end of a battle, not the war

In a surprising turn of developments, GPS navigation device vendor TomTom International BV has agreed to pay Microsoft Corp. to settle patent-infringement cases the companies had recently filed against each other.

The lawsuits rose above the ordinary run of patent litigation because three of Microsoft’s patents touched on areas that are also covered by the open-source General Public License Version 2 (GPLv2) copyright restrictions on Linux. Thus, the lawsuit marked the first time that Microsoft had legally challenged Linux’s intellectual property .

The case further heated up when TomTom countersued Microsoft and joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), an open-source patent protection group. But the case came to an abrupt end on March 30.

In return for an undisclosed licensing fee, TomTom can use Microsoft’s patents. However, according to a statement from Peter Spours, TomTom’s director of IP Strategy and Transactions, the agreement “is drafted in a way that ensures TomTom’s full compliance with its obligations under the GPLv2, and thus reaffirms our commitment to the open-source community.”

Spours declined, however, to explain how TomTom can both use the patent’s intellectual property (IP) and conform with the GPLv2.

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March 31, 2009
by sjvn01
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One giant step closer to the Google Linux desktop

Google still isn’t saying publicly that they’re going to deploy Android as a desktop Linux, but HP, ASUS, and other major computer makers are apparently in talks with the company about deploying Android on netbooks

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Satjiv Chahil, a vice president in HP’s PC division, declined to comment on whether the world’s largest PC maker will sell either netbooks or smartphones running Android but confirmed that HP is “studying” the free operating system.

Woo-Hoo!

We already know that Android will work as a desktop operating system, because it’s already been done. And, it was done not by some hackers whose second language is C++, but by a pair of journalists. If we can do it, anyone can do it. 🙂

The usual response to the idea of a desktop Linux from Ubuntu, Novell or Red Hat or anyone else is a loud cry of ‘nonsense,’ from the Windows crowd. Android, however, is different.

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March 31, 2009
by sjvn01
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Which SQL is MySQL?

I can be an idiot some days. As proof I’ll only mention that I thought Sun buying MySQL was a great move. Boy was I wrong.

First, the crème de la crème of MySQL’s developers and founders started leaving Sun. Then, Michael ‘Monty’ Widenius, MySQL’s founder and, then Sun’s CTO for its MySQL division, announced the release of the next version by publicly stating that the latest MySQL release contained “many known and unknown fatal bugs. That must have gone over well at Sun’s HQ.

It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that Widenius has since left Sun. He’s now working on his own community branch of MySQL, MariaDB. Its purpose? “To provide a community developed, stable, and always Free branch of MySQL that is, on the user level, compatible with the main version.”

But, wait there’s more.

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March 31, 2009
by sjvn01
0 comments

Analysis: Microsoft-TomTom settlement is end of a battle, not the war

In a surprising turn of developments, GPS navigation device vendor TomTom International BV has agreed to pay Microsoft Corp. to settle patent-infringement cases the companies had recently filed against each other.

The lawsuits rose above the ordinary run of patent litigation because three of Microsoft’s patents touched on areas that are also covered by the open-source General Public License Version 2 (GPLv2) copyright restrictions on Linux. Thus, the lawsuit marked the first time that Microsoft had legally challenged Linux’s intellectual property .

The case further heated up when TomTom countersued Microsoft and joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), an open-source patent protection group. But the case came to an abrupt end on March 30.

In return for an undisclosed licensing fee, TomTom can use Microsoft’s patents. However, according to a statement from Peter Spours, TomTom’s director of IP Strategy and Transactions, the agreement “is drafted in a way that ensures TomTom’s full compliance with its obligations under the GPLv2, and thus reaffirms our commitment to the open-source community.”

Spours declined, however, to explain how TomTom can both use the patent’s intellectual property (IP) and conform with the GPLv2.

Specifically, the two companies claim that “the agreement includes patent coverage for Microsoft’s three file management systems patents provided in a manner that is fully compliant with TomTom’s obligations under the GPLv2.” But, “TomTom will remove from its products the functionality related to two file management system patents (the ‘FAT LFN patents’) that enables efficient naming, organizing, storing and accessing of file data. TomTom will remove this functionality within two years, and the agreement provides for coverage directly to TomTom’s end customers under these patents during that time.”

In other words, TomTom may technically be using the Microsoft FAT LFN (File Allocation Table/Long File Name) patents for the next two years, but it won’t be using those patents’ features. The statement also implies that TomTom will be replacing the long file name support provided by these patents with a different, non-Microsoft, technology.

In a statement, Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate VP and deputy general counsel of IP and licensing, said, “The file management system patents, which increase file management system efficiency and functionality, have also been licensed by many companies, including those that produce mixed-source products.”

The open-source legal community is not amused. An open-source legal expert and analysts agreed that the legal issues brought up in the case are far from settled.

The Software Freedom Law Center, an organization focused on protecting open-source and free software, said in a statement that the “settlement between Microsoft and TomTom ends one phase of the community’s response to Microsoft patent aggression and begins another. On the basis of the information we have, we have no reason to believe that TomTom’s settlement agreement with Microsoft violates the license on the kernel, Linux, or any other free software used in its products. The settlement neither implies that Microsoft patents are valid nor that TomTom’s products were or are infringing.”

March 30, 2009
by sjvn01
2 Comments

100% cure for Conficker

On April 1st, the Conficker worm, perhaps the most wide-spread malware program in history, is set to activate. We don’t know what Conficker will do, but it’s a safe bet it won’t be anything nice to the hundreds of thousands of Windows PCs that have been infected with it. Will it strip out every credit-card number within these PCs? Launch a massive DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack? Subscribe you to PETA porn!? We don’t know.

I don’t want to find out myself. There are several ways you can try to protect yourself from Conficker. These include disabling AutoRun, since Conficker can spread by infected USB drives; using current anti-virus software; use Windows’ own malicious software removal tool; or, switch to OpenDNS for your DNS service. There are many ways to try to stop these attacks, unfortunately, the bad guys are always working on getting newer and better ways to infect your system.

The sad truth is no matter what you do with Windows, whether you’re running XP, Vista, or the Windows 7 beta, you’re not safe. Now, however there’s a patch that will stop Conficker, and almost all other malware programs, in their tracks. It’s called Linux.

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