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As many learned today, there's been a rather critical bug living within the Linux kernel for several years (as possibly far back as the original Linux 2.6 kernel release) that was finally fixed and this "high priority" bug is now publicly detailed. This issue (CVE-2010-2240), which allows arbitrary code to be executed as root, is easily exploitable by most current Linux desktops via simply running any compromised GUI application that has access to the running X.Org Server.

Future software advancements like cars that drive themselves will trigger a new perspective on whether we can build a space elevator, and in what timeframe.

Caching is a concept used through computing. CPUs have several levels of cache; disk drives have cache; and the list goes on. Adding a small amount of high-speed data storage relative to a large amount of slower-speed storage can make huge improvements to performance. Enter two new kernel patches -- bcache and flashcache -- that leverage the power of SSDs.

HTC is building a Chrome OS tablet for Google, set for a Verizon launch on Nov. 26, an industry report claims. Meanwhile, Pandigital released its second seven-inch Android-based e-reader tablet, with more memory than before plus a smaller, lighter design.

According to a report written by Rafal Wojtczuk, a conceptual problem in the memory management area of Linux allows local attackers to execute code at root level. The Linux issue is caused by potential overlaps between the memory areas of the stack and shared memory segments.

By the standards of previous releases in the KDE 4 series, KDE 4.5 is tame. It has few new applications, and introduces no new technologies. Yet with its combination of small innovations and interface improvements, KDE 4.5 still manages to be a release worth installing. Although it does not try to expand the concept of the desktop, it does make KDE easier to use in dozens of small and satisfying ways.

Microsoft Windows comes pre installed with hardware in most of the cases and hence a vast majority of Windows users probably have't ever seen Windows installer. But that is not the case with Ubuntu. Only a handful of manufacturers sell pre installed Ubuntu hardware and hence the need for down to earth simple and eyecandy Installer. Take a look at the proposed changes with Ubuntu 10.10 'Maverick Meerkat' Installer.

In a study not likely to cause controversy, Christian Perrier has published the results of his analysis of the number of Debian developers per country. He ran the analysis last year for the first time, so one can see the progress or recession in the last year. No matter where you call home, the numbers are quite interesting.

A few months back we reported that the IA64 and SPARC versions of Ubuntu were in trouble and would be decommissioned if no individual(s) were to step-up and maintain these ports of Ubuntu Linux for these architectures that are much less popular and common than x86 and x86_64 hardware. Well, there still is no one backing the Intel IA64 and Sun SPARC versions of Ubuntu Linux so they are being dropped completely.

Intelligent backup of your Linux machine’s valuable data doesn’t have to be complicated. Linux User & Developer’s Sukrit Dhandhania shows you quite how easy and effective rsync tool-based luckyBackup can make the process…

As I've noted, I don't claim to have any insight into how this lawsuit will conclude, whether it will blow up into a long and bloody battle between Oracle and Google, or whether it will be concluded by some quick and relatively amicable solution. But I do believe that whatever happens, whatever it might nominally "win", Oracle has certainly and irrevocably lost more in terms of trust and goodwill within the free software world than it will ever understand. The message is clear: Fork all the main open source projects that Oracle owns or transfer energies to a replacement.

Writing about Ubuntu even a little critically brings out two types of people: those who get their fanboy bat out to beat the crap out of me and those who actually have solutions to the problems I present. Truthfully, I don't mind the fanboy factor; at least you're reading. And I did get help with my Ubuntu 8.04 to 10.04 upgrade problem.

Aquia released the first fully-functional open source social software suite this week. It is built on the Drupal platform and is expected to compete with established, proprietary Enterprise 2.0 software vendors.

A critical vulnerability in the Linux kernel that gives attackers access to root via X server has been patched by Linus Torvalds. Meanwhile, kernel developer James Morris reports on the first-annual Linux Security Summit (LSS), which covered topics including usability, hardening the kernel, and API standardization.

Installing a Linux server is easy, especially if you download one of the latest CentOS ISOs. There’s a nice wizard to walk you through the installation process, and it’s perfectly acceptable to do a standard default install. But, if you intend to do any serious hosting or expect production quality performance out of the system, or if you are just as particular as I am, than a bit of customizing of the install at the beginning could save you lots of time later on down the road.

In a post on their Connect blog, security specialist Symantec reports on a new trojan for Android that masquerades as a free Tap Snake game, while secretly transmitting GPS coordinates to a server in the background. These coordinates can then be retrieved and displayed in Google Maps via the GPS Spy Android app sold for €5 by the same vendor, Maxicom. According to Symantec, the Tap Snake process can't easily be killed and continues to run in the background.

Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth announced Monday that multitouch support and gesture-based interaction will arrive in Ubuntu 10.10, the next major version of the popular Linux distribution. The feature will be tightly integrated in Unity, Ubuntu's new lightweight netbook environment.

KDE 4.5 is a milestone release that took several months to complete, fixing over 16,000 bugs. While it also added new features, the selling point of this release is the stability that typically comes with a x.5 version of KDE. The desktop, applications, and development platforms have matured, and many of the outstanding bugs have been resolved.

Boxee is an Open Source cross platform media center application which is again based on another Open Source media center application called XBMC. The latest boxee comes with live news support via Livestation.

A file integrity scanner is something you need to have. Imagine a hacker placing a backdoor on your web site, or changing your order form to email him a copy of everyone's credit card while leaving it appear to be functionally normally. By setting up daily reporting, this notifies you within, at most, 24 hours of when any file was changed, added, or removed. It also helps establish an audit trail in the event your site is compromised. These instructions are designed for an end user, where you don't need to have root access, to implement and assumes your server has the aide binary installed. Most hosts will have this installed already, or will install it for you upon request.