Even though you know it’s coming it’s never something you really want to happen…

Well, today I was let go after being at Platform Computing working on our Open Source software for almost 5 years. It’s been one of those up and downer days. I read the FLOSS blog postings from all the different communities and see people being let go and now I’m one of them

The writing was on the wall though for months, it’s not like I didn’t know this would happen. I just wanted to deny that It could happen, but it has happened.

So, for now. I will not be dedicating much time to KDE while I try to find new work elsewhere. I don’t look at this as a sad day, but as a new beginning for me…

If anyone wants to hire a pretty smart Linux guy, please contact me

Shawn.

Read More...

[Source: Linux Blogs2k - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Security Update: udev

Another security update has been released on -Current branch along with several other fixes in a/ directory. Here are the latest -Current changelog:

Mon Apr 20 23:38:45 CDT 2009
a/etc-12.34567890-noarch-3.tgz: Added the uucp user to the dialout group.

a/mkinitrd-1.3.3-i486-3.tgz: Fixed broken directory in initrd-tree.tar.gz.
Thanks to Malcolm Rowe for the bug report.

a/pkgtools-12.34567890-noarch-3.tgz: Fixed upgradepkg oldpackage%newpackage.
Fixed the installpkg test for the external compression utility.
Thanks to Robby Workman.

a/pcmciautils-015-i486-2.tgz: Added symlinks to /sbin/* in /lib/udev (needed by the udev rules file). Fixed installation of udev rules file.
Thanks to Robby Workman.

a/udev-141-i486-1.tgz:
Upgraded to udev-141.
Changed serial devices from group ‘uucp’ to group ‘dialout’.
This upgrade fixes a local root hole and a denial of service issue.
For more information, see:
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2009-1185
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2009-1186
(* Security fix *)

l/pilot-link-0.12.3-i486-7.tgz: The dialout devices now use group ‘dialout’ rather than group ‘uucp’, and the udev rules have been changed to use MODE=”660″ instead of MODE=”664″. Thanks to Robby Workman.

Read More...

[Source: Linux Blogs2k - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

I Used To Be Hardcore

I used to be hardcore…

I ran Slackware when it was on 400 floppies. I ran the 1.x kernel. I hacked channels on efnet in IRC for bragging rights. I waited all day long for wavs to download from a BBS. My game of choice used to be a MUD.

We grow up, we move on, and we get accustomed to a new standard.

It’s like that isn’t it? As time goes on, the standard is raised higher and we grow accustomed to a base level. Much like the 2.4 kernel was for Linux…it really moved things forward from previous kernels. It’s like the high jump in track and field…jumping 5′8″ isn’t that big of deal…but once you hit 5′10″ and above, you’re sailing.

Linux has had a new standard go into effect in the past few years…mostly since 2007 and the 2.6.18 and above kernels. We’ve come to expect more from our operating system and for good reason. I for one, am glad that the standard is raised a notch with each iteration…it gives us something to aspire to. It gives us measured steps from which to guage ourselves by. Hopefully, with each step forward, improvement comes without regression.

Lately, I’ve become concerned about regression. I’ve noticed quite a few major distributions are not able to boot a standard Dell Latitude laptop…some taking as long as 20 minutes to boot (yes, 20 minutes…I’m looking at you Fedora 10). I can’t help but wonder, are we taking steps backwards? Is this the portion of time where we take one step backward followed by 2 steps forward? Or is this the time where the kernel becomes TOO big? I hope it’s the former. And I hope that my concern is misplaced.

Thinking of all these things and what I’ve become accustomed to…I don’t feel hardcore anymore. And then I go and hack a python script to update twitter because I can and all is right again…I might as well be riding a Harley.

Just a few thoughts on this sleepless night…

Tell Others About This!

Related posts:

1. Slackware 10.2 Tips and Tricks Want to Install the 2.6.13 Kernel is Slack but…
2. Install the Latest Kernel in PCLinuxOS Do you run PCLinuxOS 2007 or Minime 2008 and would…

I Used To Be Hardcore - Yet Another Linux Blog

Read More...

[Source: Linux Blogs2k - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Firefox To Snub Some Older Windows Installs

Mozilla has been a brand to watch for many years now, as has their flagship product, Firefox. But there is always a sadness where there is talk of no longer supporting older OS releases. Today I learned that Mozilla is considering no longer supporting Windows 2000. Okay, this seems reasonable to forgo this. However hearing that along with this, we would also see support for un-updated XP installations suddenly makes me glad that I am a Linux user.

It seems that with the upcoming releases of Firefox, there will be a move to the later version of the Gecko engine. And this means that Mozilla feels this is a good time to upgrade their own support policies to match what is being seen by the operating systems they are supporting. This means XP SP3 and above users will be fine. Anything older than this, you will be out of luck.

Where Mozilla is seeing a lot of heat from this, is in the fact that so many people are not updating their old XP installs. Many of them are not even using SP1, much less version 3. So there is concern this will hinder Firefox upgrades because of this.

As far as I am concerned, I say too bad. If someone tries to upgrade their Firefox install, is (hopefully) told that they need to be running the latest Windows updates, then I fail to see a problem here? If anything, this could be the kick we need to get those Windows users to keep their machines up to date! But that is just my perspective.

Read More...

[Source: Linux Blogs2k - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]