Botnet discovered on Linux servers, Sep 14, 2009

A network of hijacked Linux servers is apparently being used to distribute malicious software to Windows PCs.

The Linux From Scratch project has released version 6.5 of its step-by-step instructions on how to create your own Linux system from scratch.

Google security specialists Tavis Ormandy and Julien Tiennes report that a critical security vulnerability in the Linux kernel affects all versions of 2.4 and 2.6 since 2001, on all architectures.

After a dispute with Linus Torvalds, the long time developer and Linux kernel maintainer Alan Cox has stopped development of the Linux TTY subsystem.

The SCO Group, threatened with liquidation and still locked in a legal tangle with companies, including IBM, over alleged use of code from UNIX System V in Linux and with Novell over the copyright to UNIX, has published a list of FAQs on the takeover with which it hopes to avert liquidation, on its website.

A team of developers from the Interactive Computing Lab at the ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile) aeronautics academy in Toulouse, France have successfully created proof-of-concept multi-touch drivers for Linux.

In yet another bizarre twist in the interminable legal dispute over source code allegedly illegally copied from UNIX System V into Linux, the SCO Group, which claims ownership of the disputed code, has secured a last-gasp reprieve from the threat of liquidation. Immediately before the crucial liquidation hearing in the bankruptcy court, SCO CEO Darl McBride signed an agreement with a company by the name of Gulf Capital Partners, backed by well-known investor Stephen Norris. Caught out by the surprise development, all parties have agreed to postpone the liquidation hearing until the 16th or the 27th of July.

Kodak has released a free scanner application for Linux called ScanTWAIN that promises "production quality scanning."

The Zenwalk developers have released version 6.0 of their "Zen computing" Linux distribution.

Software Tree has filed a lawsuit against Red Hat claiming the Linux distribution and open source middleware manufacturer has infringed upon one of its patents.

Red Hat have advised that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 2.1 will not be supported after the 31st of May, 2009. After that date all technical support services, bug fixes, enhancements and security errata updates will no longer be provided.

Red Hat is taking an unusual course of action in its defence against IP Innovation's patent infringement claim.

Shortly before the release of Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny" expected on Valentine's Day, the Debian developers have released another update to Debian 4.0 "Etch".

Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, didn't mince his words when stating his opinion of Solaris, Sun's operating system, to InfoWorld. "The future is Linux and Microsoft Windows. It is not Unix or Solaris", he said, claiming that there were hardly any new Solaris installations, ever more Solaris users were migrating to Linux on cost grounds, OEM manufacturers were turning away from Solaris, and Sun was in financial difficulties.

After two years in development, VLC, the universal media player, has moved from the 0.8.x versions to version 0.9.2. The release, named "Grishenko", is available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and other operating systems, is available to download from the Videolan web site.

The new version 3.3.0 of the free virtualisation solution Xen has a number of revamped features and is now available to download. The new version is also available as part of a package with a 2.6.18 kernel version of Linux as the host system, also known as Domain 0

Chip manufacturer Intel wants to use parts of the Fedora Project Linux distribution instead of Ubuntu as the basis for the second version of Moblin (Mobile & Internet Linux Project).

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, has introduced a version of Ubuntu that is specially designed for netbooks – mini notebooks modelled on the Eee PC – that are being presented by various providers at Computex.

Bob Muglia, who handles servers and tools for Microsoft, has announced a further expansion of system management at Microsoft's Management Summit 2008. With the usual modesty we have come to expect of Microsoft, Muglia said in Las Vegas that IT management and enterprises would be re-defined – nothing more, nothing less.

The Fedora Project has released a "preview" version of the Fedora 9 Linux distribution for download via Bittorrent. Shortly beforehand, the Project had adjusted the timetable for Fedora 9 and the Linux distribution is now scheduled for release on May 13, two weeks later than originally planned.