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I'd like to propose a new term be added to the vernacular of geeks and techies alike ... "Tacking" - a combination of "Technology" and "Hacking". What's most interesting is the similarities between my proposed usage of tacking in IT circles, and how it's currently used in the sport of sailing - manipulating your sail and zig-zagging up-wind to get to your destination.

The KDE Project is pleased to announce the immediate availability of KDE 3.3 Beta 2. As another step towards the aKademy in late August, this release is named Kollege. This beta release shows astonishing stability, so the KDE team asks everyone to try the version and give feedback through the bug tracking system. For a list of new features skim over the KDE 3.3 Feature Plan. For packages, please visit the KDE 3.3 Beta 2 Info Page and browse the KDE 3.3 Requirements List. The Konstruct build toolset has been updated for this release. Please note that the kdepim, kdevelop and kdewebdev modules also compile on KDE 3.2 systems.

The OpenBSD Project released OpenBSD 3.5 exactly on schedule on May 1, adding support for new functions and devices in the kernel and updating the base system. While it may not be the most versatile operating system in the world, OpenBSD shines when it comes to security, providing a default installation that doesn't have to be locked down and partially disabled before using it.

Opening the eyes of the private and public sectors to the pros and cons of using open source software for Internet security is the SECRETS project, which evaluated two protocols in a series of trials covering e-commerce, mobile communications, network monitoring and intelligent networks. Although the IST programme-funded project ended in December 2002, “the results of the evaluations still apply today,” according to technical coordinator Ross Velentzas at Motorola.

Only the paranoid survive, and that is no less true when securing Linux® systems as any other. Fortunately, a host of security features are built into the kernel, are packaged with one of the many Linux distributions, or are available separately as open source applications. The first in a series, this article starts you on your way to understanding security concepts and potential threats, and sets the stage for what you really need to know: how to secure and harden a Linux-based installation.

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Linux Symposium is an annual limited-attendance conference in the heart of the Canadian capital. Linux developers from all over the world descend on the Ottawa Congress Centre for four days and discuss various aspects of Linux and alcohol consumption. The first day of the conference featured presentations on various topics, from running Linux under Windows and new versions of the NFS protocol, to PGP, X, Satellites, and publishing.

Linux can learn valuable lessons from its elder cousins in the enterprise, the proprietary Unixes from the likes of IBM, Sun, and HP. Those operating systems, in turn, can learn some lessons from Linux. Comparing the features of the more enterprise-ready Linux distros with AIX, one of the leading proprietary Unixes, helps identify some of those lessons.

The SCO Group, a struggling company with a loud campaign to profit from Unix intellectual property, has largely lost a case it brought against DaimlerChrysler.

A judge dismisses all of SCO's claims in the case except one—that DaimlerChrysler was late in certifying that the Unix source code it had was safeguarded.

In these days there has been much fuzzing about the new browsing with files organizing themselves with the help of meta data. Maybe you ask yourself "What have this to do with the spatial browsing in gnome and how can it improve the browsing?". That's what I did. As I see it, the gnome people have introduced the spatial browsing so we are used to it when this new browsing is coming to town. This is very intelligent move of the gnome people and will help us adopt faster to this. This is when the spatial browsing is really making sense. I hope you see this when you've read this article.

The one-day Mozilla developer's conference has been announced. It will occur on August 6th at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, CA.

Research shows that business use of Linux is growing, but Windows servers are still operated by over 90 per cent of users.

Users are the weak link in security and Linux is inherently more secure than Windows, said developers polled by Evans Data in a survey released Tuesday.