White House Now Runs on Linux

NewsFactor Network ^ | July 25, 2003 | James Maguire

[xrp]

Accepting default settings = stupid users.

Your Pinto comparison is rather poor and invalid.

[WL-law]

This analyst doesn't know what she's talking about. The SCO -IBM action pertains to AIX, not Linux. IBM indemnifies its customers fully for AIX licenses issued from IBM. Period. She's 100% wrong.

[HAL9000]

Can someone give me a brief synopis of this beef?

SCO acquired certain rights to the UNIX operating system from Novell. Now SCO is suing IBM, claiming that their UNIX intellectual property was used in the AIX operating system. SCO is also threatening Linux users with the same allegation. SCO has refused to publicly produce any evidence to support their allegations, and there is widespread skepticism about SCO's claims.

It's complicated, but you can scan some past headlines by searching for keyword "sco".

[Jeff Chandler]

I thought of using The Bat, but I have read reports that its header is falsely rejected by some ISPs. I went with the free program, Pegasus, which is immune to all three types of virus attacks. The program is lean, and the filters are awesome. The text handling is buggy, though, so now I'm using Netscape Mail, which is only vulnerable to the image "bug". Since I have the ability to shield my IP address, that is not a problem.

The Netscape Mail is bloated, but has a very nice interface, and displays multiple identities on the same tree-view side bar. With Outlook Express and Pegasus you only get to see one identity at a time.

[stylin_geek]

I'm trying to figure out what Apache on Linux has to do with this and why it is mentioned in the article. Heck, SCO Unixware and OpenServer come with Apache and Netscape Fastrack as part of the bundle, but are not SCO products, per se.

[Golden Eagle]

Let's face it, you just made a moronic statement.

No, actually it is of great concern. Not sure how much you know about what is known as "open source" software, but it's name is exactly what it is, open source code, ie. the pre-binary condition of software in normal text format.

Linux is a member of the "open source" family, and because of that, the entire interworkings of it's internal mechanisms is freely published on websites around the world.

That makes for a very poor security model, and the secrecy of anything, especially as needed in Government or DoD environments, is depending on how "classified" you keep the material.

What this means in total is the source code parent of the sofware running at least the public White House website is know freely available throughout the world for potential exploit, a very bothersome issue to some that work in the field of computer security.

[Ronin]

Nevermind. Sounds like a typical legal-leech bun-fight with one side hoping to intimidate their way into a payoff.

I haven't used Linux yet, but that's only because I have been too lazy to try and figure out how to obtain and install it.

I shouldn't be surprised that this has happened. Anyone at all with deep pockets will attract lawsuits. I am sure some lawyers go to bed with kinky fantasies about suing God.

[zoen]

I’ve been a windows dev for about 6 years now. Just got a job using a Mac running OSX.2 and Ill be using php/myslq. I never thought Id be saying this - I’m moving away and back to the Unix/Linux OS with open source server scripting with the beautiful UI of the Mac. Granted it still has lame functionality but Ill just deal with it. But the way it looks and the cool new stuff is worth it for the change. I’m sick of Windows and all there lame marketing campaigns and dominate attitude and high prices for server software and licenses.

[Jeff Chandler]

Most viruses are written for Word, Outlook, and Outlook Express. Since the Outlook mail clients use Internet Explorer for their display windows, a virus could be sent as an attachment, and an embedded script in the message could open the virus, which then does what it wishes to your computer before sending replicates of itself to every name in your Outlook address book.

If the virus is a very recent variant, no virus protection program would recognize it. Your only protection would be a program such as Hacker Eliminator.

All my computers run on MS OSs, but I no longer use MS mail clients because they are too darned vulnerable.

[BenLurkin]

Linus?

[Golden Eagle]

Now SCO is suing IBM, claiming that their UNIX intellectual property was used in the AIX operating system. SCO is also threatening Linux users with the same allegation. SCO has refused to publicly produce any evidence to support their allegations, and there is widespread skepticism about SCO's claims.

Sorry HAL9000, but I really don't think that is a fair representation of what is actually going on.

First, SCO never had issue with IBM using UNIX code in AIX. Hardly, this was one of their greatest revenue points, and it was how UNIX technology was legally getting to IBM from SCO in the first place.

Second, SCO is also threatening all Linux users in general not only for whatever code IBM may have put there, but what other UNIX licensees or other former ATT programmers may have contributed as well as have been found through examination of the mailist files as well as confirmed in the source code.

Also, SCO has offered anyone the right to view samples of their evidence, and many have including Ms. Didio who recently appeared in an article on EE Times that like many we are currently seeing seemed to add validity to SCO's claims.

http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030609S0011

If I could recommend one additional link in addition to those on FR where the topic is discussed at great length, that may better focus these issues I am attempting to clarify it would be this one from Byte magazine:

http://www.byte.com/documents/s=8276/byt1055784622054/0616_marshall.html

Happy reading.

[Schakaljager]

TheBat has had that problem for awhile back, I believe someone used it as independent server for spamming. I actually used X-Ray to change the header since I don't want my x-mail header to be shown anyawy.

Pegasus is fine but it doesn't provide micro template function down to the address book level and I can't use advanced regular express to filter out unwanted messages.

Netscape is too bloated for me, and again, locks many advanced feature I depend on everyday.

[Golden Eagle]

First, SCO never had issue with IBM using UNIX code in AIX. Hardly, this was one of their greatest revenue points, and it was how UNIX technology was legally getting to IBM from SCO in the first place.

My apologies, should have read "from SCO to IBM in the first place."

[Jeff Chandler]

I will continue using Windows on my PCs, but I am also intalling a Unix variant on a computer, so I can test Perl and PHP scripts. I have always concentrated on the presentation aspects of web design, but it's time to kick it up a notch. Since Apache is the standard for servers, I figured that that's the way to go. Same with PHP with MySQL.

[krb]

Linux sucks! It is of Euro-origin.

If SCO is right, then it is of AT&T origin. :-)

[xrp]

Most viruses are written for Word, Outlook, and Outlook Express.

Well, no kidding...You don't suppose it has anything to do with the fact that hackers/crackers aim for MAXIMUM effect and Word, Outlook and Outlook Express are the most widely used word processing program and email programs in use all across the planet do you???

If anything else ever takes the mantle, the hackers/crackers will change gears.

BIND (Berekeley Internet Name Domain), OpenSSH, Apache, and sendmail, the most widely used DNS application, secure shell application, web server application and email server application all run on UNIX systems!

[ikka]

That makes for a very poor security model, and the secrecy of anything, especially as needed in Government or DoD environments, is depending on how "classified" you keep the material.
What this means in total is the source code parent of the sofware running at least the public White House website is know freely available throughout the world for potential exploit, a very bothersome issue to some that work in the field of computer security.

Actually, people who work in the field of security usually assume that the attacker knows the full details of how the system works. "Security through obscurity" is a bad idea. The idea is even if someone knows the entire mechanism or procedure, that they still cannot break it due to its safeguards.

Further, that the code is published means that everyone is free to audit it, including the NSA (which produced its own set of patches for Linux and ended up doing their own Linux distribution and made it freely available).

If the WH were using Windows XP, they would not have the ability to view the source code, and under US law could not decompile it to assure themselves it was working correctly.

[Luke-Jr]

It also means that there are thousands of programmers who look at the source code and can therefore spot a security hole or fix one that has recently been exploited. Hackers can find holes whether or not they have the source, anyway, they're used to stuff like that. However, you can only fix a hole if you have the source.

[Jeff Chandler]

>>Most viruses are written for Word, Outlook, and Outlook Express. <<

>>Well, no kidding...<<

I wasn't accusing you of ignorance. I was just explaining why I changed email clients. It's just a little extra layer of security.

[glorgau]

Just got a job using a Mac running OSX.2 and Ill be using php/myslq.

With Mac OS X, you get to use all the unix doodads - I'm doing the mysql/postgres php development on a mac. But you aren't forced to be a complete geek. It is great for a laptop, and much easier to _keep_ the bits and pieces working than on a linux laptop.