Tag Archives | Linux

MacBook boots Linux, runs Knoppix!

OSNews reports Knoppix on the Intel-Based Macintosh. “We reported a few days ago that we had Linux booting on the Intel-based Macintosh. We have been looking at Linux on this hardware some more, and we are glad to report that we now have a full-fledged Knoppix distribution working, complete with the X Window system. We are releasing the first pictures of Knoppix 4.0 running on a 17-inch iMac Core Duo. The X Window system is shown running at full resolution (rather, fuller resolution – 1472×900 – notice that the bottom right edge of the KDE dock is cut off). Most (but not all) aspects of the hardware seem to work, but we have yet to analyse exactly what doesn’t work and assess how much work it might take to get such things working.”

Awesome! Linux booting on the MacBook could lead to a dual-boot, dual-proc laptop.

Alternative headline: Cost of Windows servers exceed cost of UNIX servers

OSNews reports Windows Bumps Unix as Top Server OS. “Windows narrowly bumped Unix in 2005 to claim the top spot in server sales for the first time, according to a new report from IDC. Computer makers sold $17.7 billion worth of Windows servers worldwide in 2005 compared with $17.5 billion in Unix servers, IDC analyst Matthew Eastwood said of the firm’s latest Server Tracker market share report.”

I guess it’s all in the interpretation, isn’t it?

Note, too, that Linux is broken out as a third-place entry. Combining Linux and UNIX, their $22.8 billion puts Windows to shame. OTOH, you could break it out into Windows 2000, Windows 2003, AIX, HP/UX, Solaris and so forth. It depends on what you’re trying to prove.

One True Way?

Linux-Watch.com evangelizes Open Source — the one, true way to develop software “Today, the mainstream software business is the open-source business. “

Lies, damned lies, statistics and vendor-sponsored research

Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley points to an eWeek article claiming Linux Vendors Go on the ‘Get the Facts’ Offensive. “The Open Source Development Labs and Linux vendor Levanta published on Monday a 17-page study entitled “Get the Truth on Linux Management.”

Levanta, whose name and logo both make me think they sell into a different industry, sells high-end management software/hardware for Linux. They comissioned a study that finds — surprise! — that Linux is cheaper to operate than Windows. Especially for people who use Levanta tools. Oh, please.

Let’s agree that “Total Cost of Ownership” means what you want it to mean, based on the assumptions you’re going to stipulate, and get on with the business of solving people’s problems. An arbitrary “TCO” measurement is like MPG, one piece of data, but only a small piece.

Give Upgrades A Chance

Over at Resigned to the Bittersweet Truth, Bill McGonigle posts Call To Action – Upgrading. “I spoke to Tim Burke, Director Emerging Technologies (including the Linux kernel and Fedora) at RedHat about the state of upgrading this past Tuesday at the GNHLUG meeting in Manchester…”

“So, I issue a challenge to all package maintainers out there who have their projects integrated into distributions like Fedora – give upgrades a chance.”

It’s a tough challenge, but a necessary one. Upgrading is inevitable, and the costs of updating/upgrading are becoming an increasingly important factor in calculating the total costs of owning a system.

What’s up with Novell?

Linux-Watch.com asks “What’s up with Novell’s new licensing?” with some interesting numbers on Novell and Red Hats subscription numbers.

Fortune 500 may be liable for millions of postcards…

Now here’s a silly headline: OSNews purports that Linux Users May Be Violating Sarbanes-Oxley. A brief read of the article will tell you that a corporation is likely violating its obligations to its shareholders if it is failing to audit, track, monitor and closely examine the copyright, license and patent requirements of ALL of the products they use. There may be just as much liability from the shareware, freeware, postcardware and every-ware installed willy-nilly inside a company. Developers, consultants, IT personnel and users are notorious for bringing in a little utility from home on floppy, USB tab or download and spreading it around the office. It may be that the Fortune 500 is liable for thousands of postcards for EditPad as well.

The solution is to follow the law, even one as obnoxious as SOX (and complain to your legislator if this is burdensome), with an audit and a compliance plan. The inflamatory headline that “Linux users are bringing chaos to the world” is just insulting. Any company using software needs to do their best to ensure they are not violating copyright, patents or licenses. No news here, move along.

‘Numbers of flaws’ is a flawed measure of security

Garrett Fitzgerald’s Blogs Apples and Oranges. “In a recent post, Craig Berntson trumpets about a recent CERT report that “proves” that Windows is more secure than Linux. What he doesn’t mention is that the “Linux/Unix” list lumps together the Linux kernel, Mac OSX, HPUX, SCO Unixware, and others. So, when comparing 1 OS against 6 or more OSs, the 1 OS comes out ahead. What a surprise.”

Over at Groklaw, the poster does a fine job of pointing out the problems with just quoting the gross numbers from this survey. It would be far better to identify how many security flaws led to major exploits and the costs of the cleanup. Trivial items are counted one-for-one with items that cost millions to clean up, exploits are listed multiple times (on both Windows and non-Windows platforms).

Bottom line: security is a process, not a feature. Millions more computers were turned into spam-sending zombies, and not just because they are running a more commonly-available operating system. They were exploited because the OS runs as an administrator with the rights to alter anything on the machine. Only one OS manufacturer shipped software that has that fatal flaw.

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This work by Ted Roche is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.