Free software and open source do not mean the same thing
The discussion separates the ethical freedoms of free software from the pragmatic open source development model.
Read the full postBlog 2004
12 posts
Projects, Linux, networks, systems, finds and internet standards from 2004.
Linux on the iPod
Hackaday shows an early iPod Linux port that extends Apple’s music player with games, recording and image viewing via dual boot. Third-generation iPods, among others, were supported. Open systems extend the experimental life of closed devices.
Read the full postRunning HostAP Wi-Fi networks securely on Linux
Jan Fiegert explains how Linux provides an access point with HostAP and secures it with WPA-PSK or WPA-EAP. A working access point is not yet a trustworthy network without suitable authentication. Open drivers enable network functions that would otherwise be reserved for special hardware.
Read the full postYour own Linux video recorder for 200 dollars
Hackaday points to several DIY video recorders that combine Slackware, MythTV and reused PC hardware. The guide used Slackware 9.1. The target budget was about 200 US dollars.
Read the full postNovell brings SUSE Linux server with kernel 2.6
In August 2004 Novell presented SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 with kernel 2.6, available for x86, AMD64, Intel’s EM64T, Itanium, IBM Power and zSeries. Prices started at 349 US dollars a year for a server with two CPUs and rose considerably for Itanium and mainframes. Besides YaST, the package included ZENworks for Linux and the Service Location Protocol, and Common Criteria EAL4+ certification was planned.
Read the full postSecurity leak allows reading Linux kernel memory
In 2004 Paul Starzetz found several bugs in the Linux kernel’s handling of file offsets through which a logged-in user without special privileges could read kernel memory. The causes were incorrect conversions of 64-bit offsets into 32-bit values and a race condition in the 64-bit file API. In tests, Starzetz found the password of an administrator logged in via SSH in this way.
Read the full postUnisys supports Linux on multiprocessor servers
In 2004 Unisys, until then a Microsoft partner focused on Windows, announced Linux support for its ES7000 servers. The machines with 4 to 32 Xeon or Itanium 2 processors were to receive Red Hat and SUSE with kernel 2.6 and dynamic partitioning. According to the COO it was a difficult decision, but authorities and financial service providers only wanted to buy the servers with Linux.
Read the full postNagios: the network’s watchful guardian
Nagios collects the states of hosts and services so that administrators detect outages early.
Read the full postRFC 3711: SRTP: Confidential real-time media
RFC 3711 adds encryption, integrity and replay protection for audio and video streams to RTP. Real-time security must combine low delay with effective protection. Key management remains a central task outside the media format.
Read the full postAnother security hole in Internet Explorer
In January 2004 the security researcher “http-equiv” documented a hole in Internet Explorer on Full Disclosure through which files with fake extensions could be slipped to users. The browser did not check fake CLASSIDs, so that, for example, an HTML file disguised as a PDF was executed as HTML when opened. There was no patch yet; the only protection was to save files locally first.
Read the full postT-Com wants to switch the telephone network to the internet protocol
In January 2004 T-Com, Telekom’s fixed-network division, announced that it would switch its entire telephone network to internet technology, well before 2020. With internet telephony, lines no longer have to be switched exclusively between two parties; allocating bandwidth is enough. The technology also needs less space and power than classic exchanges.
Read the full postSecurity hole in the Linux kernel
In January 2004 Paul Starzetz reported a critical hole in the memory management of Linux kernels 2.2, 2.4 and 2.6. An insufficient check in do_mremap() made it possible to create a virtual memory area with a length of zero bytes and thus confuse memory management. Since mremap(2) requires no special privileges, any process could exploit the hole; an unpublished exploit delivered a root shell.
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