Showing headlines posted by tuxchick

When a number of their coworkers toil away from the office using computers, mobile phones or other electronic equipment, those who do not telecommute are more likely to be dissatisfied with their job and leave the company...

Last week we took a look at the advantages of managed Ethernet switches over dumb switches. Today we are going to run through a batch of networking chores that become easier when they're handled by a smart switch: controlling bad users, QoS, and link aggregation for fat bandwidth on the cheap.

More than four billion embedded systems or devices shipped worldwide in 2006, says a report by Venture Development Corporation (VDC). The market research firm forecasts three years of growth in device shipments, especially for devices with commercial and/or open source operating systems like Windows and Linux.

Starting on February 4th, at least one of those adoption barriers will be addressed as AAAA records for IPv6 addresses are added to four of the key root DNS servers. IPv6 AAAA records are a key resource record type for storing IPv6 address information on DNS servers. The IPv6 AAAA additions were announced by ICANN at the end of December...

Whenever I talk or write about my own security setup, the one thing that surprises people -- and attracts the most criticism -- is the fact that I run an open wireless network at home. There's no password. There's no encryption. Anyone with wireless capability who can see my network can use it to access the internet.

I’ve seen Vista running. It’s very pretty. I’ve talked with some Microsofties who describe how easily it discovers networks and devices on the network (printers, etc.). It’s supposed to be dramatically more secure and stable than any Windows Microsoft has ever shipped. I believe it.

[This isn't a Linux story; I submitted it for its amusement value. Apparently the author has little actual experience with Vista, but even so, he's disappointed with how it's being marketed.--TC]

The Untangle Gateway bundles together a list of applications that even seasoned sysadmins couldn't install and effectively manage in a timely manner. We've been playing with the Untangle Network Gateway for a few months, and we must say: "well done."

But as powerful as Linux networking is, even Linux has its limitations, and one of them is you still need a commercial Ethernet switch. Sure, you could cobble together some hardware, throw Linux on it, and handcraft a perfectly good Ethernet switch. But it's hardly worth the effort, though it might be fun as a learning exercise....

The most important thing that came to light this year is how much Linux and FOSS drive the computer industry. It's not the oldtime traditional commercial companies that are "driving innovation" as they like to say, and which makes me want to hit something every time I hear it because it's such a big fat fib, but Linux and the FOSS world. So rather than getting all violent, let's take a look at some of the ways that Linux is leaving everyone else in the dust.

LXer Feature: 31-Dec-2007

A sizable number of humans have devoted their lives to erecting barriers to learning anything new. You can see it when you talk to them- when something as simple as "click this button" produces a glazed expression and drool, you know you've lost them forever. Of course they'll waste hours of your time complaining about how stupid computers are. But even though it's easy money to nod and pretend to listen, and then bill them for every minute wasted on empty complaining (I never had enough nerve to charge a whining penalty, and I wish I had), it's not how I want to spend my time. Life is too short.

On today's menu we are serving up Debian going all volatile, the lowdown on cdrkit usurping cdrtools, and a simple way to use iptables rules to foil brute-force password attacks.

...New to me, anyway, though they've been around for a couple of years, and those are the sarge-volatile and the etch-volatile repositories. OK, so you're already rolling on the floor laughing at the idea of anything in Debian being labeled "volatile", and are thinking "wait, don't you mean catatonic?", but really, these are cool and good.

Well here we go with book #2, the Linux Networking Cookbook. Hot off the presses, fresh from the oven, the baby is born!

But in these modern times it's not necessary to gain root privileges to commit nefarious deeds, yet the primary purpose of most security schemes is still to protect root. Users are considered dispensable, like the red-shirted crewmen on the original Star Trek series. As soon as a guy in a red shirt appeared, you knew he was going to be toast before the second commercial break. Think about it—what's the most important stuff on your computer? The system files? You can easily replace those. An attacker might still want to acquire root privileges so they can replace key system binaries to try to cover their tracks. But the system files themselves are not valuable. The valuable stuff sits in your home and other data directories. If you're storing sensitive data of any kind, such as databases full of customer data, that's what an attacker wants.

The concept behind Ubuntu Server is wonderful— a lean, carefully-selected batch of packages that gets you up and running quickly, and that you can easily add to as you need. I can see using Ubuntu Server as a LAN server, and as a training server, but I think opening it up to the Internet is asking for trouble.

Last week we looked at Ubuntu Server's documentation, discussed hardware requirements, tried to figure out what sets Ubuntu Server apart from Ubuntu Desktop, and what's included in the current release, 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). Ubuntu itself is not very helpful with these things, and I don't like to write reviews that complain without also offering some answers, so today we're going to learn how to dig into Ubuntu without installing it and find out these things for ourselves.

We're taking such a deep dive into the very bowels of Ubuntu Server that this is expanding into a three-parter, so hold on to your hats and enjoy the ride.

Whatever anyone may think of Ubuntu, you can't deny they're busy little critters, stuffing all manner of new things into every release. Which is a splendid thing, and what would make it even better is if they documented all of these wonderful new things. And also the old things. I think it's the worst of the major Linux distributions for documentation.

The first, and possibly the biggest advantage is ubiquity. It's the same Internet all over the world, so you don't have to worry about competing and incompatible networks. Anywhere you find an Internet connection is a potential Wi-Fi phone link. No hassles with SIMS or R-UIMs or roaming charges, or leaving behind a trail of perfectly good but useless phones behind because of vendor incompatibilities.

LXer Feature: 01-Oct-2007

I have to wonder- where on Earth did Ms. Fairchild get the idea that alienating her customers is a good business practice? So what if she finds sexist, demeaning humor funny? It doesn't belong in Linux Journal. I paid my subscription money in good faith for many years, trusting to receive good Linux articles. If I want to read about blowjobs or read about how helpless and stupid women are, I don't expect to find it in Linux Journal. There are abundant sources for that elsewhere.

... the best encryption protocols in the world are helpless against an infected PC. They don't foil keystroke loggers, and they don't stop the busy little worms that roam unimpeded through the guts of an operating system, doing whatever they want.

If you really, really want to use secure computer systems, use Mac OS X, Linux, PC-BSD, or FreeBSD. These are far more secure, and more secure-able. Rather than following the Windows model of trying to sail a sieve, these are stout, reliable operating systems that do not roll out the red carpet to malware.

“Howdy. My husband is Chester Gnull and I’m Laverta Voyd, and I’m the lady to light a way for all you sweethearts out there who do fancy stuff with Linux. Me and my husband’s gonna be bringing you tech tips just about every month now….I don’t know nothing about Linux. Chester, he’s the smart one…”