Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has these two columns (“MS-Linux? It Could happen” and “2004: The Year Linux Grows Up (or Blows Up) “)proposing that Microsoft could ship its own Linux distribution. Microsoft’s Services for Unix product is a foot in the door. I just have a hard time seeing them reverse their poisonous FUD diatribes against the “viral,” “un-American,” anti-Constitutional Open Source.
I prefer the parody http://www.mslinux.org site. Check it out for a good laugh.
This is a particularly nasty patch, as it can affect web servers with hardly anything running other than IIS and Front Page Extensions. The update fails to show up in Microsoft Update – it still hadn’t appeared on my web server, so I hunted down the patch myself (hint: start at http://www.microsoft.com/security – that’s the home page for IE on my web servers!) and installed it. Delayed patch ends Microsoft’s patch-free month early. “A glitch in Microsoft’s Windows Update automated patching service caused a security fix that was released last month to be delivered to computer users on Tuesday, the same day Microsoft proclaimed December would be a patch-free month.” [InfoWorld: Top News]
At I.R.S., a Systems Update Gone Awry. “The $8 billion project to replace the Internal Revenue Service’s aging file-keeping computer software is far behind schedule and over budget.” By David Cay Johnston. [New York Times: Technology]
Mary Jo Foley and Daryl Taft follow up on Microsoft backpedalling on removing a bunch of products that included Java. Some are given a one week reprieve (oh, I’ll run out to buy them!), others will be patched with an updated Java. Details at http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,4248,1407759,00.asp
The guys who brought you “The Pragmatic Programmer,” Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt, are publishing a series called the Pragmatic Starter Kit, under the imprint of The Pragmatic Bookshelf. Right now, the books can only be ordered from their web site. They claim to be avoiding distributors in order to maintain control of sales. I’m afraid that can really cut into the market they’re likely to reach, so I’ll help out a little with a plug here. Right now, I’m interested in “Pragmatic Source Control with CVS,” to replace a challenging SourceSafe-and-SourceOffSite configuration. Wish they had a discount for those of us who want to order the book AND the PDF. Check them out at http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/index.html
Wow, here’s a shocker! Now, are there no Microsoft patches because there’s nothing left to patch, or because we all took a long weekend over Thanksgiving? The SEVEN new IE exploits mentioned in the article are a clue… Microsoft: No patches this month. “The software giant announces that no security patches will be forthcoming this month.” [CNET News.com – Front Door]
Rolling Stone Steve Jobs. [Dead link]
eWeek links to this piece on NewsForge by OSDN (think SlashDot) leader Robin “Roblimo” Miller
Good news from ComputerWorld in this piece: http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/os/linux/story/0,10801,87945,00.html?f=x10
It sounds like a feeble attempt to force customers into upgrading. Perhaps if Microsoft spent a few minutes to remove the offending code from the older products, or even better, worked out a deal with Sun to ship a modern version of Java, Microsoft might obtain a bit of customer loyalty. Microsoft to stop offering host of older products. “Microsoft will stop distributing several older products next week as a result of a legal settlement with Sun Microsystems in a dispute over Java, Microsoft said.” [InfoWorld: Top News]