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Linux Certification

By on December 19, 2005 in Linux, OpenSource

Over at Linux Watch, Stephen J. Vaughn-Nicholls opines “You don’t have to have a Linux certification to get a job working with Linux, but it can’t hurt.” I’m a big fan of certification, as I think eventually the vendor- and industry-level certification will be viewed as Continuing Education requirements for Licensed Software Practitioners. I’ve lectured about this years ago. I’ve also practiced what I’ve preached, earning a Novell CNA, Microsoft Certified Professional, Certified Solution Developer, Certified System Engineer and MySQL Core Certification through the years. I also worked as one of the lead authors for Microsoft’s Visual FoxPro 6.0 Distributed Applications exam, so I appreciate the difficulty of creating a legitimate certification.

Like a diploma, some certificates may just be an attendance report crossed with a good deal of bulk memorization, but it also shows a willingness to work within the system. A four-year degree generally indicates a bit of patience, too. But on the flip side, remember what they call they guy who graduates at the bottom of his class in med school: “Doctor”

Certification can be what you make of it. An educational opportunity, a means of self-evaluation, and a chance to distinguish yourself in the marketplace.

Microsoft patch Tuesday for December

By on December 14, 2005 in Microsoft, Security

Microsoft issued two new patches and re-issued one other patch on their monthly patch Tuesday. MS05-054 is “Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer,” yes, IE, that exploit delivery engine that also displays web pages. Get it patched, and use it only when absolutely necessary! MS05-055 is a very specific patch for Windows 2000 SP4 that patches an exploit which would allow an elevation of privileges. MS05-050, “Vulnerability in DirectShow Could Allow Remote Code Execution” was re-released to for a “revised version” of the security update for users of Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP1 and Windows 2003 – sounds like a patch to the patch.

Get patching!

Google innovates by rebranding RSS

By on December 9, 2005 in Technology

From Slashdot: Gmail Gets RSS. Everyone with a UID and Paul Stamatiou writes “Google’s Gmail email service now sports a new feature for displaying RSS feeds, dubbed Web Clips. You might remember this name, as it is the same name Google Desktop refers to RSS feeds. Web Clips for Gmail were announced a long time ago sometime during the summer but they were finally stable enough to release to the general public. You can check out the what’s new page for Gmail here. Essentially, you subscribe to a bunch of feeds and everytime you log into Gmail it loads the lastest title from each feed which you can scroll through with left/right arrows. Don’t forget to check the actual post about Web Clips for Gmail on the Google Blog.”

Google is doing evil. Why rename RSS? It seems like the same hubris that haunts Microsoft: they believe their users are idiots who can’t handle a new term. Is RSS an obscure acronym that will cause the technology to be rejected? People didn’t have a problem with “TV” or “ATMs” or “SUVs” “FM” radio works just fine, even if you’re not sure what it stands for. “RADAR?” “LASER?” Seems OK to me. Call RSS what it is.

IBM Workplace to support Open Document Format

By on December 5, 2005 in OpenSource, Technology

Computerworld News reports IBM Workplace client to support Open Document Format in ’06. “In a move that could pit it against Microsoft, IBM plans to support the Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF) in a version of its Workplace Managed Client 2.6 due out early next year.”

Great news! Interoperability and Working Well with Others is Good.

Competition breeds Innovation. “In a move that could pit it against Microsoft?” It seems that journalists have to set up simple Either-Or binary contests when the world is far more complex than that. It’s not IBM vs. Microsoft any more than it is Novell vs. Sun: it’s an ecology of competition, progress, cooperation and differences. Companies will cooperate and join together to advance some standards, and compete on other fronts. IBM is adding another file format to its office product. It’s doubtful that IBM will drop ASCII, RTF, Word Perfect, AmiPro or MS Word format. More adoption of ODF is a welcome sign.

Microsoft’s Office 12 standards move draws mixed reactions

By on December 1, 2005 in Microsoft, OpenSource, Technology

Microsoft Watch from Mary Jo Foley reports that Pundits Give Microsoft’s Open XML Play Mixed Marks. “While the Massachusetts governor’s office (and attorney Larry Rosen, an open-source specialist) may be upbeat about Microsoft’s decision to push the Office 12 Open XML document format through the ECMA standards process, not everyone is equally bullish about Microsoft’s move.”

I was impressed with the positive tone of Larry Rosen’s review. A fair playing field benefits all, and it looks like Microsoft has taken some good first steps. However, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols’ column cites several serious concerns. The best point in that article is the last: When the O-12 standard is a legitimate standards-body-approved standard, only then should it be considered as a peer to competing standards at that level. Before that, it’s just another proprietary, encumbered under-documented binary file format.

IE exploit still unpatched six months later

By on November 30, 2005 in Microsoft, Security, Technology

Computerworld News: “Attackers targeting unpatched IE bug, Microsoft warns. Microsoft today warned that attackers could exploit a critical unpatched bug in Internet Explorer, first reported in May, and take over a user’s computer.”

“Microsoft Corp. is warning Internet Explorer users to be careful where they browse because attackers are now targeting a critical unpatched bug in the software. If successful, these attackers could possibly use this bug to seize control of a user’s system, the company said.”

“Be careful?” With clever phishing schemes, unicode obfuscation of URIs, DNS poisoning and adware injection, it’s not possible to “be careful.” Just don’t use IE.

CentraLUG: 5 December: James Fogg on Windows-Linux Interoperability

By on November 29, 2005 in LAMP, Microsoft, OpenSource, Technology

Please note the change in location: we will be meeting in Little Hall Room 230, a lab with computers. On the NHTI map located at http://www.nhti.edu/welcome/nhtimap.pdf (warning: 1 Mb+ PDF), the building is marked “K”

The monthly meeting of CentraLUG, the Concord/Central New Hampshire chapter of the Greater New Hampshire Linux Users Group, occurs on the first Monday of each month on the New Hampshire Institute Campus starting at 7 PM. Open to the public. Free admission. Tell your friends.

This month’s meeting will feature James Fogg discussing Windows-Linux interoperability. James Fogg is a principal with JDFogg Technology Consulting, where he is a network engineer specializing in delivering IT, Telecommunications and Computer Services, Systems, Sales and Consulting to the Fortune 500.

Many companies now operate mixed environments and managers expect their technical staff to be able to “make it work.” James will provide some ideas on how to do it. He’ll be covering interoperability methods between Microsoft Windows products and Linux/Unix systems. File Sharing, Application Sharing, network Services (DNS, DHCP, NTP, etc.), Mail and Printing. Also included will be the basics of Linux, Unix and Active Directory authentication, authorization and auditing.

I was pleased to learn that in the most recent editions of Microsoft’s Services for Unix, Microsoft is including an NFS client. SFU is a downloadable component for the currently supported versions of Windows and Microsoft has committed to including some of the functionality future OS releases. Interoperability is Good. SFU is one of several things James plans to cover.

Hope to see you there!

Xbox 360 shortages: panic in the streets?

By on November 22, 2005 in Microsoft

Ken “Caesar” Fisher over at Ars Technica reports “Xbox 360: shortages no joke. Today I ventured out into the wilderness of North Boston to gauge Xbox mania. Initial reports on the ground paint a pretty grim picture for pre-Christmas Xbox shipments.”

There’s two possible explanations. Many, many, many rumor-mongers insist that Microsoft is staging this shortage, coordinating press releases with the stores, to announce a record sell-out on the opening day and start a panic that Junior won’t get his new machine for Christmas. The other is that Microsoft is incapable of planning around all the challenges of shipping a product on time. Which seems more likely?

Microsoft announces Simple Sharing Extensions

By on November 22, 2005 in Microsoft, Technology

Over at Scripting News, Dave Winer posts Sharing at so many levels!.

“Microsoft has unveiled a new proposal called SSE, which stands for Simple Sharing Extensions for RSS and OPML. “… “Now, in 2005, almost ten years later, we may be grown-up enough to actually work this way.”

Tigers and their stripes. I’m skeptical, of course. There’s only so many times you can have formats and features embraced, enhanced, extended and extinguished (E^4) before you look at a gift from Microsoft very carefully. On the plus side, though, the spec is released under a Creative Commons license. Interesting.

Microsoft to seek ISO standardization for Office 12 formats

By on November 22, 2005 in Microsoft, OpenSource, Technology

InfoWorld: Top News reports “Update: Microsoft to open Office document format. (InfoWorld) – Microsoftæon Monday said it will offer its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint document formats as open standards, a move that could spark a war with technology rivals over standard document formats.”

Interesting. I wonder if ISO standardization will really change the basic positioning. Will use of Microsoft’s mis-named “Open XML” be free from RAND licensing fees, patent encumberances, or the onerous licensing terms that made it inaccessible from GPL software?

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