Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:VMkernel is a kernel... (Score 1) 443

by Nailer (#20234011) Attached to: VMware May Violate Linux Copyrights
Apparently the argument goes as follows:

>> 1) A Linux kernel is used to boot the VMWare kernel.
Yes, through a binary blob loaded by a driver, that does not run on any kernel other than Linux.

>> 2) This makes the VMWare kernel a "derived work."
According to Linux logic, and Christoph Hellwig, yes.

>> 3) The Linux kernel source used to boot the VMWare kernel is not available.
Er no. You made that up. The article doesn't say that anywhere.

The issue is that the source for vmkernel is not available.

>> 4) Therefore we can't tell if the VMWare kernel is a "derived work" or not.
Er no. You made that up too. The article doesn't say that anywhere.

The vmkernel would be considered derived unless it has been ported from another Operating System (proving it does no requite Linux to function). VMware could prove this without giving away the code.

>> 5) And if the Linux kernel source for the kernel used to boot the VMWare kernel is not available, it's a violation of the GPL on its own.
Er no. You made that up again. The article doesn't say that anywhere.

The source for the Linux kernel used to start VMware is available from the VMware website. The source for vmkernel is not.

If you need to lie to prove your point, you clearly don't have one.
Operating Systems

Submission + - Kernel devs say VMware violates Linux copyrights (venturecake.com)

Submitted by Nailer
Nailer writes: Bloomberg believe VMware's IPO today may the largest technology offering since Google. But doubts have been cast over the company's supposedly proprietary ESX product, as top 10 Linux contributor Christopher Hellwig claims the software violates Linux kernel copyrights.
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - How the iPhone will Change the Mobile Industry (venturecake.com)

Submitted by Nailer
Nailer writes: The initial release of the iPod wasn't great. But its long-term effect were huge: a massive 10% (and rapidly growing) chunk of music is now sold digitally to the iPod and its competitors. So what will the iPhone's long-term effect on the cell phone industry be? VentureCake looks at why a 2G device will stir 3G adoption, the effects for Mobile Content providers, iPod clane manufacturers, Flash developers, Opera, Microsoft and Blackberry.
Data Storage

Toshiba Touts 51GB HD DVD 236

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the i-thought-you-said-it-was-a-good-size dept.
srizah writes to mention that Toshiba plans to launch a 51 GB HD DVD, with a 1 GB advantage over Sony's Blu-ray disc. From the article: Toshiba has submitted a triple-layer, 51GB HD DVD-ROM disc to the standard's overseer in the hope the technology will be adopted as a standard by the end of the year. If approved, it allow the format to exceed the 50GB storage capacity of rival medium Blu-ray Disc. The HD DVD standard currently defines single- and dual-layer discs capable of holding 15GB and 30GB of data, respectively."
Privacy

Bush Claims Mail Can Be Opened Without Warrant 714

Posted by kdawson from the gentlemen-don't-do-that dept.
don_combatant writes to note that President Bush claimed new powers to search US mail without a warrant. He made this claim in a "signing statement" at the time he signed a postal overhaul bill into law on December 20. The signing statement directly contradicts part of the bill he signed, which explicitly reinforces protections of first-class mail from searches without a court's approval. According to the article, "A top Senate Intelligence Committee aide promised a review of Bush's move."
Security

PHP Security Expert Resigns 386

Posted by samzenpus from the good-day-sir dept.
juct writes "PHP security holes have a name — quite often it was Stefan Esser who found and reported them. Now Esser has quit the PHP security team. He feels that his attempt to make PHP safer "from the inside" is futile. Basic security issues are not addressed sufficiently by the developers. Zeev Suraski, Zend's CTO of course disagrees and urges Stefan to work with the PHP development team instead of working against it. But given the number of remote code execution holes in PHP apps this year, Esser might have a point. And he plans to continue his quest for security holes in PHP. Only that from now on, he will publish them after reasonable time — regardless if a patch is available or not." Update: 10/30 12:57 GMT by KD : Zeev Suraski wrote in to protest: "I'm quoted as if I 'point fingers at inexperienced developers,' and of course, there's no link to that — because it's not true! The two issues — security problems in Web apps written in PHP, and security problems in PHP itself — are two distinct issues. Nobody, including myself, is saying that there are no security problems in PHP — not unlike pretty much any other piece of software. Nobody, I think, argues the fact that there have been many more security problems at the application level, then there were at the language level. I never replied to Stefan's accusations of security problems in PHP saying 'that's bull, it's all the developers' fault,' and I have no intention to do it in the future."

Bogus Experts Fight Your Right To Broadband 378

Posted by kdawson from the just-gimme-a-pipe dept.
An anonymous reader writes, "Karl Bode of Broadband Reports takes aim at supposed telecom experts and think tankers who profess to love the 'free market,' but want to ban the country's un-wired towns and cities from offering broadband to their residents. If you didn't know, incumbent providers frequently determine towns and cities unprofitable to serve (fine), but then turn around and lobby for laws that make it illegal to serve themselves (not so fine). They then pay experts to profess their love for a free market and deregulation — unless that regulation helps their bottom line. A simple point: 'Strange how such rabid fans of a free-market wouldn't be interested in allowing market darwinism to play out.'"

Microsoft Banning 360 Firmware Modders? 166

Posted by CmdrTaco from the well-it-wouldn't-surprise-me dept.
arcon5 writes "After several months of silence it was more or less accepted that Microsoft wasn't going to do anything about the firmware hacks that allow Xbox 360s to play backups. Rather surprising, considering the 'inventor' of the hack confirmed in March already that the mods are easily detectable, and the reports that piracy is running rampant in countries like China. It appears that Microsoft is finally taking action against them though, although they may be hitting the wrong persons." Best part of that article is the firmware chip encased in epoxy.

Vista to Allow "One Significant" Hardware Upgrade 641

Posted by CmdrTaco from the how-very-generous-of-you dept.
fiorenza writes "Ars Technica spoke with Microsoft concerning the controversial changes in Windows Vista's licensing, and they have learned that Vista will permit one 'significant' hardware change before requiring users to either appeal to Microsoft support or purchase another license. Automatic re-activation online will fail after one use. Microsoft is using a new algorithm to monitor hardware changes and enforce licensing compliance, and the company says that it is more forgiving now than it was with Windows XP."

From Hot Coffee To Warm Tea 129

Posted by Zonk from the weak-sauce dept.
I've been avoiding posting about it, but Joystiq has a completely and utterly sane discussion of the non-story that is the Bully boy on boy kissing 'scandal'. Despite the ravings of Jack Thompson, the homosexual behavior in Bully was seen by the ESRB and is not the first game to feature such content. From the article: "The ESRB would be insane if they were bullied into giving an 'M' (Mature 17+) rating to Bully, as this story continues to gain traction in the mainstream press ... It would also force the ginormous Electronic Arts into the mix to defend the 'T' rated Sims. We're willing to wager that Electronic Arts, which has a Human Rights Campaign corporate equality index score of 88 and had transsexual game designer Danielle Bunten Berry on staff, will put up a good fight if challenged. Rockstar played this brilliantly, they slid in a topic that is controversial, but perfectly defensible, and those that would attack 'Warm Tea,' won't have an easy time of it compared to 'Hot Coffee.'" SFGate put up a thoughtful opinion piece / review of Bully this past weekend. If you're not familiar with the game, it's a great way to fully understand how there's really nothing to worry about here.

Comment Re:Welcome (Score 1) 196

by Strog (#15775637) Attached to: Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 Set for December
I don't think the number of bytes is the biggest issue for packaging here. The bigger issue is some of the deps for Gnome are used by other applications and might be upgraded seperately. Are you using mDNS or avahi? FAM or gamin? It's when you start making these changes and different patches that things start getting more difficult for packagers. FreeBSD users had to deal with a special Gnome upgrade script because it would break it if you upgraded in the conventional way. The biggest non-KDE* package is QT so that can make it easier for packagers.

None of this changes the end user experience (except if they have to jump through hoops at upgrade time) for either desktop but the argument that it's easier on packagers definitely has some weight to it in my opinion. Many of the packagers out there have done a great job on isolating these issues from endusers and you have to give them a lot of credit for all their hard work.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Springtime

Journal by _damnit_

Winter wasn't too bad. Not really any snow this year to talk about. Spring has arrived and the bulbs are really popping around town. My wife is looking forward to the tulips opening next week.
User Journal

Journal Journal: St Louis is damn hot

Journal by _damnit_

It's been better the last couple of days, but 98 degrees F and 50% humidity is pretty rough. I'm told August is even better!
Thank God for cold beer and refrigeration.

Slashdot Top Deals

Never test for an error condition you don't know how to handle. -- Steinbach

Close