Germany, IBM Sign Major Linux Deal 382
Skip Franklin writes: "IBM and the German government are getting together to implement Linux as the government's computing platform of choice. The deal is being touted as a big blow to Microsoft, although personally I prefer the glass-half-full perspective of a big win for Open Source. The BBC has the story."
great news for open source? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've used Linux solutions by both of these companies (IBM's Linux superclusters and Germany's excellent SuSe distro) both at home and in high-impact low-failure-rate enterprise contexts. I have not once been let down, ever. Contrast this with the closed source free-as-in-shit Winbloze ME95NT, which nearly brought my life to its knees.
I can't wait to see what comes out of this groundbreaking deal! Linux may finally be able to compete against the lesser operating systems.
Flawed argument (Score:2, Interesting)
"We are raising computer security by avoiding a monoculture, and we are lowering dependence on a single supplier," he said in a statement.
This is not really a valid argument, since all systems need to be secure. More systems, more potentially open doors.
Nevertheless, great step up for free software!
But, I thought: Open source poses security risks (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Only IBM and Germany.. (Score:4, Interesting)
As opposed to one subsystem, 16 open doors? (Score:3, Interesting)
To Quote Richard Purcell, Microsoft's director of corporate privacy [businessweek.com]
Is it really going to be another 5 to 10 years before Microsoft's products security becomes "Trustworthy"?
Read this email to which I have had no reply (Score:5, Interesting)
Subject: "Opening the Open Source Debate"
Date: 31 May 2002 15:45:59 +1200
Some references you might wish to consider before publishing your article "Opening the Open Source Debate"
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi ?bw.053002/221502375 [businesswire.com]
Bruce Schneier, one of the recognized leading expert on computer security on Kerckhoffs' Principle and Secrecy, Security, and Obscurity of software.
http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0205.html#1 [counterpane.com]
Dr. Blaine Burnham, Director, Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) and previously with the National Security Agency (NSA), gives an keynote speech overview of current encryption and security technologies and outlines possible strategies for future defense.
http://technetcast.ddj.com/tnc_play_stream.html?st ream_id=411 [ddj.com]
Also you might wish to address the issue of Microsoft's disproportionately high number of open vulnerabilities in its Internet Explorer components. All of which where discovered without access to the source code.
http://jscript.dk/unpatched/ [jscript.dk]
Richard Purcell, Microsoft's director of corporate privacy, has recently stated that any major improvement in regard to the security of it's products may be at least "5, 10 years, maybe".
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may 2002/tc20020523_6029.htm [businessweek.com]
As for the issue of Trojan horse injection into open source code, it is far from being an open source only issue.
http://www.eeggs.com/ [eeggs.com]
Or were all the "Easter Eggs" currently found in Microsoft's products officially authorized?
If you are looking for a methodology for providing a suitably secure and hardened solution, start with a real world example.
http://www.openbsd.org/security.html [openbsd.org]
I welcome any open debate.
There's one downside, though (Score:1, Interesting)
That's why I support such inexpesive and fun products such as KDE, GNOME and XWindows that allow me to put pictures of Xena and Dark Angel on my desktop.
Re:All they need now... (Score:3, Interesting)
BundesLinux
SuSE would not fall under the UnitedLinux umbrella (Score:3, Interesting)
Isn't that wonderful. (Score:2, Interesting)
Lord of the OS (Score:2, Interesting)
Seven for the Kernel-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for
One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
In the Land of Microsoft where the Shadows lie.
One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them
In the Land of Microsoft where the Shadows lie
I found this fitting since in the end, it is not a massive army that defeats the ring, it's the little people, the ones that were never considered by the Dark Lord himself. The Dark Lord launches his own attacks, "Microsoft wrote protesting about the law and warning of collapsing software markets and portraying a nightmare scenario of incompatibility." But in the end his armys are defeated, one by one, "But the answer - from a Peruvian congressman - refuted the letter point by point." The end is nigh, do you know who our Aragorn is?
This is more about Scientology than Microsoft (Score:3, Interesting)
Lee