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The accuracy of two recent reports comparing the relative costs and benefits of the Linux and Windows operating systems has been called into question.

Enterprises are increasingly choosing to invest in Linux over Windows because of cost considerations and dissatisfaction with licensing policies. But Microsoft may have some plans in store to slow the advance of open source.

LindowsEspanol para Laptops Tailored to the Needs of 28 Million U.S. Spanish Speakers

Vector Linux has always interested me because of its purpose and origin: a simplified distribution from a Slackware base. Last month Vector's developers announced the first release candidate for Vector Linux 4.0 SOHO edition. Since, to quote Vector's main page, Slackware Linux has always been "about as user-friendly as a coiled rattlesnake," I was curious to see how Vector Linux addressed these issues for home users while still keeping the Slackware reliability and speed. I'm sorry to report that their efforts have not been especially successful.

I'm convinced that what the Linux community needs is its own Steve Jobs. We need someone who can envision something so insanely great that everyone who sees it will want it. They also need to be able to lead the development team that creates it. But is Linux ready for insanely great products? I think so. In fact, I'm sure of it.

Sun's deal with Microsoft last week was not an anti-Linux maneuver, but rather intended to broaden "interoperability and choice for our customers," said John Fowler, Sun Chief Technology Officer for Software, on Wednesday.

The media is declaring that Microsoft for the first time is sharing its code in "open source" fashion, under the Common Public License. It has made available the code to its Windows Installer XML application (WiX) software on Sourceforge. The first thing that popped into my mind was the New Zealand patent it got on XML that came to light not long ago. The second thing that popped into my mind is that OpenOffice saves documents in XML. Then I thought, I wonder if they plan on pulling some kind of a SCO someday, attacking OpenOffice? I could just be paranoid, but sometimes it pays to be. Then I asked myself, why do companies patent things? Is it because they intend to share freely with others?

This issue introduces Mozilla Community, a new section for people to share their stories and thoughts. Here, we have three stories from Europe and Asia. As usual, we also have more tips and tricks to help users browse international sites more efficiently.

A newly formed, Australian-based open source advisory group aims to deliver expert advice and information on free and open source software (FOSS).

Commerical contractor Manhattan Construction has selected Novell's SuSE Linux for their corporate network. Novell software, combined with IBM servers and running Oracle enterprise applications was announced by Novell earlier this week.

According to a Mandrake Linux security advisory [0], a denial of service (DoS) vulnerability exists in the header rewriting code of Fetchmail [1]. The code's intention is to hack message headers so replies work properly. However, logic in the reply_hack() function fails to allocate enough memory for long lines and may write past a memory boundary. This could allow an attacker to cause a denial of service by sending a specially crafted email and crashing fetchmail. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) project assigned the id CAN-2003-0792 [2] to the problem.

Automake may be vulnerable to a symbolic link attack which may allow an attacker to modify data or elevate their privileges.

PicoPeta Simputers of Bangalore, India, has launched the first retail versions of the Simputer, conceived as a Linux based 'platform for social change' that could inexpensively bring easy-to-use computers to rural Indian villages. Three models are available, priced from US $240 to $480.

Red Hat says several universities and students worldwide have purchased more than 13,000 Red Hat Academic Solutions subscriptions and site licenses.

This week at the Linux Users' Group of Davis meeting in California, Bill Kendrick presented the KDE environment, and dozens of applications, in a talk entitled KDE 3.2: A User's Perspective. The presentation was geared towards both Linux users who haven't looked at KDE in a while, as well as non-Linux users who are interested in what kind of environment Open Source software can provide for them, says Kendrick.

What's easier? To completely move to a FOSS-compliant OS immediately, or to start the transition to FOSS world by using their apps on Windows?

You may have heard Linux is difficult to learn and use. Certainly Linux is different, but pointing and clicking work the same regardless of the underlying operating system. My four-year-old granddaughter, K.D., hasn't had any trouble figuring it out, and if she can do it, you can too.

Linux users and distributors were divided on the question of whether Linux distributions should become simpler or more during a panel discussion at the ClusterWorld Conference & Expo in California.

The first thing that many newcomers to Linux comment upon is how similar it is to Windows. However, it wasn't always like that; the resemblance is only skin deep and distributions such as Fedora Red Hat (the subject of this weeks Bootcamp) are a fairly recent effort to make Linux more user-friendly.

The growing acceptance of Linux is good news for fans of the open-source operating system, but it is not without a dark side. If the mainstream market pays more attention to Linux, so will people who write viruses and worms and break into computer systems.