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The French Ministry of Equipment's migration to Linux project is replacing 1,500 office and infrastructure Microsoft Windows NT servers with Mandrakelinux Corporate servers. Mandrakesoft, the premier European Linux player, was also chosen for deployment, training and support for its Linux solution.

On July 7 (yesterday) a security vulnerability affecting browsers for the Windows operating system was posted to Full Disclosure, a public security mailing list. On the same day, the Mozilla security team confirmed the report of this security issue affecting the Mozilla Application Suite, Firefox, and Thunderbird and discussed and developed the fix at Bugzilla bug 250180. We have confirmed that the bug affects only users of Microsoft's Windows operating system. The issue does not affect Linux or Macintosh users.

The Mozilla Foundation has just released a trio of new Mozilla releases to the fix the Windows shell: security vulnerbility reported earlier. Mozilla 1.7.1, Mozilla Firefox 0.9.2 and Mozilla Thunderbird 0.7.2 contain no new features other than a preference change that disables the shell: protocol handler. Users who have installed the ShellBlock 1.0 XPI patch in all their Mozilla applications do not need to upgrade. Visit the sample exploit page to see if you are at risk. More details and download links are available in the Mozilla Foundation's security bulletin about the shell: exploit.

Finally, Firefox 0.9 came out on June 15 and, as anticipated, it caused a massive run from Mozilla users to download the latest version of their favorite browser. Undoubtedly, the most visible and controversial change was the new Winstripe default theme that replaced Qute. Since it's a matter of taste, we'll never know for sure which one is "better", but what seems to be obvious is that it doesn't matter very much since Firefox 0.9 has proved to be a success according to reviews all around the web.

Today it was announced that a vulnerability in the Mozilla and Firefox Web browsers allows the execution of arbitrary code in Windows NT, 2000, and XP systems. It doesn't affect GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris or anything else -- just Windows. I'd imagine that Microsoft's head honchos will be mentioning this exploit whenever they want to attack open source software security for years to come. Ironically OSS advocates might use the same story to attack Microsoft's security record. Why? Because a patch was released before the vulnerability was widely reported.

Trolltech has announced the availability of the first Qt 4 Technical Preview. Qt 4, the next major release of the popular cross-platform C++ application framework which KDE is based on, is scheduled for final release in late Q1, 2005.

Branches have been created for three of mozilla.org's latest releases, in order to fix an external windows protocol handler bug. The fix involves disabling the shell: protocol handler, which was found to enable pages to run executables on Windows via a link. Builds should officially be available shortly, and there will also be an XPI offered to disable the pref. Alternatively, you can set the pref "network.protocol-handler.external.shell" in about:config to 'false' to also remove the exploit.

Blake Ross and Asa Dotzler today kicked off a new community marketing program called "One thousand reviews of Firefox." The hope is to have 1000 reviews of Firefox posted on download.com's Firefox page. They encourage people to first vote honestly, then encourage their friends to also do so. Read more about the program on Asa's and Blake's weblogs.

System management tools vendor Aduva announced they have joined the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL). The company plans to participate in OSDL's Desktop Linux and Data Center Linux working groups. Aduva says their technology helps enterprises reduce the time and expertise required to build, deploy and administer Linux in distributed and mainframe-based environments

It was a simple twist of fate: my HP Scanjet 5200C scanner gave up the ghost at the same time my HP Deskjet 842C ink cartridges went dry. I set off to do some comparison shopping for new cartridges at Office Depot and Best Buy. I decided to check the prices on new scanners as well. Instead of coming home with the best deal on the cartridges, and pricing info on scanners, I came back with an Epson Stylus CX5400. It's a multi-function device that replaces both the HP scanner and the printer, and gives me a standalone personal copier as well. Here's my rationale for getting the Epson CX5400, and the story on how I got it to play nicely on my SUSE 9.1 desktop.

There's a new software delivery mechanism available for Linux developers these days. It's called InstallShield X. It's pronounced InstallShield Ten, by the way, like Mac OS X. Although InstallShield is known primarily as a Windows market player, it has provided tools for Unix and Linux for years with its Multiplatform version. InstallShield X integrates what once was a separate offering into its flagship product.

Novell has become the first networking infrastructure vendor to reach an agreement with the U.S. General Services Administration to participate in the SmartBUY program for government-wide software purchasing. SmartBUY is an initiative of the federal government to support effective enterprise level software management through the aggregate buying of commercial software government-wide in an effort to achieve bulk savings.

It may not rise to the popularity of Antiques Roadshow, but Sun Microsystems is betting a new TV show will help boost recognition of its Java software. The 30-minute program, called "Mobile Entertainment World," will be sponsored by Sun and perhaps by phone service sellers, said Ingrid Van den Hoogen, Sun's new vice president of brand experience and community marketing. It's one of several efforts the Santa Clara, Calif.-based server maker has undertaken as part of a multimillion-dollar program to make average people aware of the Java brand.

Numbered and bulleted lists that don't disappear, switch, realign themselves or otherwise make your life miserable.

Anyone following the high performance computing industry has probably noticed the growing popularity of Linux cluster systems. The 23rd Top 500 list, a ranking of the world's most powerful supercomputers, reported that clusters make up more than 50 percent of the list. The appeal is easy to understand; Linux clusters are a fraction of the cost of traditional supercomputers while providing blazingly fast performance numbers. Many organizations from national labs to Hollywood special effects shops have reported performance increases that their previous systems couldn't touch. With such widespread appeal and tangible benefits, the migration to cluster systems seems inevitable for many organizations.

A new guide designed to help federal government agencies evaluate open-source products alongside their proprietary rivals is due to be completed and distributed by September, officials told ZDNet Australia on Wednesday.

It doesn't take a genius, or even Smarty Jones, to figure out what's been happening in the hallowed halls of Microsoft Corp. and Dell Computer the last few hours. A bit of background, for those new to the situation: Linspire and Dell Italian channel partner Questar jointly announced that they are making available pre-loaded Linux desktop computers at a fair price.