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I only started using Linux in November of last year and quickly became a huge fan. I generally learn by running into an issue and then finding an answer - which can often be a slow way to learn. Sometimes you just need a push to get the ball rolling. Sometimes you need a little structured learning, too. After learning of the Linux+ exam, I thought it might be a good way to learn more about my new fascination. So my journey began...

"Right now, EL is a disruptive force in the embedded software industry," said Rick Lehrbaum, founder and editor of LinuxDevices.com and former founder/CEO of embedded board maker Ampro Computers, Inc. Why? "Because of the upsurge in Linux in general, and because of the inherent advantages it contains."

One in four small companies are testing Linux, and half of them hope to use it as their core operating system in place of Windows, according to a survey published by IBM on Monday.

The new device, which will run MontaVista Linux, is targeted at corporate users and has been available in China since January.

If you want to maximize the powerful capabilities of Red Hat Enterprise and Fedora Linux, you'll want to check out Red Hat Enterprise Linux & Fedora Edition: The Complete Reference, by Richard Petersen and Ibrahim Haddad. In this Q&A, Kevin Bedell asks these experts a few questions about RHE and Fedora, and gets a preview of what to expect from the book.

Paul Starzetz discovered a flaw in return value checking in mremap() in the Linux kernel versions 2.4.24 and previous that may allow a local attacker to gain root privileges. No exploit is currently available; however this issue is exploitable. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CAN-2004-0077 to this issue.

We recently used Linux to orchestrate a network of more than 2,000 machines from more than 50 countries, in real time, to become the first distributed global network to play a chess game against a single human opponent, setting a world record in the process.

Paul Starzetz and Wojciech Purczynski of isec.pl discovered a critical security vulnerability in the memory management code of Linux inside the mremap(2) system call. Due to missing function return value check of internal functions a local attacker can gain root privileges.

Don't be naive enough to think that because you run Linux you won't be a target for hackers. If you rely on Linux for hosting or transmitting sensitive data, you should check out Security-Enhanced Linux, created by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and available for free.

Available now, the new 32-bit chip is the first high-volume TriCore derivative capable of running the full-featured Linux operating system for industrial and communications applications.

Several local root exploits have been discovered recently in the Linux kernel. This security advisory updates the PowerPC/Apus kernel for Debian GNU/Linux. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems that are fixed with this update:

There were some minimal changes relative to the last -rc4, mostly some configuration and build fixes, but a few important one-liners too. Changelog within.

Several local root exploits have been discovered recently in the Linux kernel. This security advisory updates the PowerPC/Apus kernel for Debian GNU/Linux. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following problems that are fixed with this update:

A medial software group hopes to prevent commercial "hijacking" of its healthcare messaging product, Argus, by vesting ownership in a new not-for-profit body, the Argus Foundation.

Red Hat Professional Workstation was designed to allow former users of the company's consumer product line to continue to use a supported platform without having to migrate to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Unfortunately, it fails to live up to its predecessors in key areas, and is considerably more expensive in some usage scenarios. Home users should look to the Fedora Project if they wish to continue using Red Hat technology, or consider migrating to another Linux distribution. Small businesses should analyse their current expenditure and consider migrating to another vendor.

An application of the Linux Terminal Server Project in Manitoba's largest high school.

It's rare to find a PHP/PERL/Python developer who is also a database administrator. This is understandable. If they really spent time doing real database administration, their application development skills (or, at the very least, timelines) would suffer greatly for it. However, in some situations, where the back end is concerned, what you don't know can have a non-trivial and negative affect on your application's performance or security. At the very least, it will cause you to write a significant amount of front end code to do things a database feature might do for you with just a line or two of SQL or the tweaking of a configuration directive.

Paul Starzetz and Wojciech Purczynski of isec.pl discovered a critical security vulnerability in the memory management code of Linux inside the mremap(2) system call. Due to missing function return value check of internal functions a local attacker can gain root privileges.

The kernel package contains the Linux kernel (vmlinuz), the core of your Trustix Secure Linux operating system. The kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system: memory allocation, process allocation, device input and output, etc.

New metamail packages are available for Slackware 8.1, 9.0, 9.1, and -current. These fix two format string bugs and two buffer overflows which could lead to unauthorized code execution.