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From : Sergey Lentsov 2:4615/71.10 06 Sep 2001 17:18:27
To : All
Subject : URL: http://www.lwn.net/2001/0906/
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Recent features:
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Here is the [36]permanent site for this page.
See also: [37]last week's LWN.
Leading items and editorials
Linux in the schools. Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik lectured LinuxWorld
attendees on the importance of getting Linux into the public schools.
One might argue that his position is a little self-interested, but, in
truth, he has a point. The Linux community should be working at
getting free software into schools worldwide. The effort will benefit
both our children and free software.
One can come up with a number of reasons why the schools should be
running free software. Often it is simply the best alternative
available. Schools do not need to hassle with daily crashes and
ongoing security problems. What they need is stable software that runs
on modest, perhaps ancient hardware and provides the capabilities that
students need. For much of what's done in schools now, Linux is more
than adequate.
The financial justification for scholastic Linux requires little
argument. Public schools seem to operate with a chronic cash shortage;
it makes little sense for them to pour large amounts of money into
proprietary software licenses. Schools also should not have to deal
with [38]Microsoft software audits and other such indignities; they
should be putting their efforts into teaching our children.
But the real reason to put free software into the schools is to teach
our children about software freedom and taking control of our
computers. Children who have seen how free software works are likely
to remain interested in using it later in their lives. After all,
going back to proprietary software after using the free variety is
usually not very much fun. Going back to licensing hassles, corporate
release schedules, and black box software after experiencing free
redistribution, collaborative development, and total control can be
intolerable. Children who experience free software in the schools will
turn into some of its strongest advocates later in their lives.
Besides, some of those school kids will probably send in some great
patches.
Of course, there are some obstacles to massive deployments of Linux in
the schools. Many schools have already built infrastructures around
proprietary software; school networks are often run by fairly
conservative people who are not inclined to tear things out and start
over again. Convincing them to give Linux a try could be hard.
Then, there is the lack of high-quality educational software. There is
a whole class of software for tutoring, drilling, and entertainment of
students that is simply not available for Linux. Until more software
is either written or ported, Linux systems will be unable to perform a
number of tasks in the classroom environment.
One thing that would help in the solution of both problems would be a
higher level of hacker interest in school deployments. The number of
educational projects is low; KDE has [39]a short educational software
listing; GNOME has no educational category at all. Neither desktop
project appears to have an organized educational effort. A look at
[40]SourceForge's educational category turns up a more encouraging 581
projects, but only 66 are listed as being production-ready. Clearly
there's some hacking to be done still.
Free software advocates also have not, as a whole, made school
deployments a priority. It will be interesting to see how that changes
as more free software developers get older and start having children.
Having your children complain that they cannot produce a
Word-compatible report tends to get your attention. Children are the
future, and they will have a large effect on the future of free
software as well. The sooner the two are brought together, the better
it will be.
(See also: [41]the SEUL/edu page for a comprehensive listing of
educational software, regular reports, and more).
More hard times. In case anybody still needed a confirmation that we
are in a different and difficult economic climate, consider the
following developments:
* CNet has [42]shut down the AppWatch site, which it acquired last
year. AppWatch was a free software directory, along the lines of
[43]Freshmeat, but focusing exclusively on free software. It was a
popular site, but that wasn't enough; CNet, citing the current
economic climate, has pulled the plug.
* According to [44]this report in Network World Fusion, IBM and
others have put $45 million into SuSE, which was, apparently, on
the edge of bankruptcy. There's very little information available
on this investment at this time. Combined with Dirk Hohndel's
departure, this investment does indeed make it look like SuSE was
in some serious trouble and is contemplating a change in
direction.
* Progeny Linux Systems has [45]stated publicly that its Network of
Workstations (NOW) project is no longer under development, and
hasn't been since February.
Shortly after we started the company, though, the financial markets
took a turn for the worse. Like many other young companies, the
market correction forced us to take a nearer-term view of things.
Because of its long-term horizon, the NOW development efforts often
took a back seat to the needs of other projects.
Until such a time as it is once again possible to raise money for
projects like NOW, Progeny is going to have to concentrate on
projects that are more lucrative in the near term.
Seen together, that's a disturbing pile of bad news. The shutdown of
AppWatch suggests that there is not room for more than one large free
software directory on the net. After all, one presumes that CNet knows
how to keep a web site going. The SuSE bailout says something similar:
might there truly be room for only one large Linux distributor? In
some ways, the shutdown of the NOW project is the scariest of all. If
the Linux community is unable to fund and sustain long-term
development projects, where will it be in a few years?
Of course, that view is overly pessimistic on all counts. We are in
the middle of an increasingly severe economic downturn; of course
there will be consequences for Linux businesses just as there is with
all other computing sectors. The easy money boom period of the last
1990's made the problem worse by funding businesses that never had a
serious chance at success before their bubbles burst. Still, it is a
difficult today even for well-run companies with solid business plans
to find profitability.
This, too, shall pass. When it is over, Linux will still be there,
getting stronger, and attracting more users. That much is easy to
predict. The success of Linux says little for the prospects of any
individual Linux company, however. The Linux business community will
certainly see more changes before things pick up again, and they will
not all be pleasant.
GFS is no longer free software. The [46]Global Filesystem (GFS) is a
clustered filesystem developed by Sistina. It is meant for the
implementation of high-performance, high-availability filesystems on
"storage area networks." It has long been available under the GPL, and
was considered as a candidate for inclusion into the Linux kernel if
and when the 2.5 series comes into existence.
That was until version 4.2 came out under the new "Sistina Public
License." This license looks somewhat like a free software license, in
that source is available. The similarity ends there, however.
Redistribution requires that a license fee be paid to Sistina; one
must also pay if GFS is used to offer a commercial service, even if
the software is not redistributed. The SPL is certainly not a free
software license. It has more of a "shared source" smell to it.
One can certainly argue that Sistina, as the copyright holder, has the
right to change the licensing on its code. It is yet another business
that is trying to find a way to make money, after all. One would think
that only those who think that proprietary software should be illegal
would complain about this license change.
It is not quite that simple, though. GFS, after all, must be linked
into the Linux kernel to be useful. And linking GFS is not just a
matter of inserting a binary module; it requires some extensive
patches to the kernel source itself. By reaching past the module
interface, GFS exceeds the GPL exemption granted by Linus to binary
modules. With the 4.2 release, Sistina has separated the kernel
patches into a separate, GPL-licensed file, but that is unlikely to
satisfy many people.
There is already a challenge out there: Alan Cox [47]believes that GFS
violates his copyright, and has sent Sistina a letter to that effect.
If they were simply doing a non-free release that used existing
kernel API's I'd be annoyed but not bothered, as it is they seem to
be doing dirtier things and more blatantly than any company before.
I'm hoping they will resolve this sensibly, we shall see.
For now I think the best approach is to be quiet and reasonable.
They've done something that seems wrong and silly, they should have
a few days to resolve it.
A few days have passed, but Sistina shows no signs of budging.
Meanwhile, the [48]OpenGFS project has started up, using the last GPL
release of GFS as a starting point. Sistina may well find itself in a
position similar to that of SSH Communications Security - a free
version of an early release could overtake its more recent,
proprietary products.
See also: the [49]Sistina Public License FAQ.
Dmitry Sklyarov update. The Sklyarov story is moving into a slower
mode as the U.S. Justice system grinds along. A few developments:
* As expected, Dmitry and Elcomsoft [50]pleaded 'not guilty' at the
arraignment on August 30.
* Dmitry's family has [51]come to the U.S., and will stay through
much of September.
* Adobe has published [52]a new FAQ on the Sklyarov situation. It
has, one might say, failed to mollify those who see Adobe as being
at least partially responsible for Dmitry's arrest.
* The U.S. Copyright Office came out with its required study of the
effects of the DMCA; it concluded that, with regard to the
anti-circumvention provision, "the actual impact on consumers
appears to be minimal." The full report is very long; see [53]this
Salon article for a more manageable read.
* OpenBSD and OpenSSH hacker Dug Song has pulled [54]his web site,
citing a fear of the DMCA.
Inside this LWN.net weekly edition:
* [55]Security: Apache SQL authentication vulnerabilities; the X.C
worm.
* [56]Kernel: MODULE_LICENSE, block ioctl numbers, page aging
doesn't work?
* [57]Distributions: Embedded distributions: Hard Hat Linux, BlueCat
Linux, and REDICE-Linux.
* [58]On the Desktop: Hancom merges with theKompany, KDE Best of
Show and KMail "B2K"?
* [59]Development: Red Hat's embedded Linux and Mozilla minus
Netscape.
* [60]Commerce: HP to buy Compaq; Books, Books, Books!
* [61]History: American Concrete Cutting Corporation; Oracle
announced its first set of marketing partnerships; Trolltech
releases Qt 2.2 under GPL.
* [62]Letters: VA Linux and SourceForge; fighting the DMCA.
...plus the usual array of reports, updates, and announcements.
This Week's LWN was brought to you by:
* [63]Jonathan Corbet, Executive Editor
* [64]Elizabeth O. Coolbaugh, Managing Editor
* [65]Michael J. Hammel, Senior Editor
September 6, 2001
[66]Click Here
[67]Click Here
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[69]Eklektix, Inc. Linux powered! Copyright Л 2001 [70]Eklektix, Inc.,
all rights reserved
Linux (R) is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds
References
1. http://lwn.net/
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3. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/security.php3
4. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/kernel.php3
5. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/dists.php3
6. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/desktop.php3
7. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/devel.php3
8. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/commerce.php3
9. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/press.php3
10. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/announce.php3
11. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/history.php3
12. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/letters.php3
13. http://lwn.net//2001/0906/bigpage.php3
14. http://lwn.net/daily/
15. http://linuxcalendar.com/
16. http://lwn.net/stocks/
17. http://lwn.net/Reviews/
18. http://lwn.net/Gallery/
19. http://lwn.net/archives/
20. http://lwn.net/op/headlines.phtml
21. http://lwn.net/op/Contact.html
22. http://linux.tucows.com/
23. http://news.tucows.com/ext2/
24. http://unixthemes.tucows.com/
25. http://lwn.net/2001/features/oreilly2001/
26. http://lwn.net/2001/features/OLS/
27. http://lwn.net/2001/features/MandrakeSoft.php3
28. http://lwn.net/2001/features/KernelSummit/
29. http://lwn.net/2001/features/Singapore
30. http://lwn.net/2001/features/djbdns.php3
31. http://lwn.net/2001/features/linuxworldny/
32. http://lwn.net/2001/features/JHaas/
33. http://lwn.net/2001/features/LarryWall/
34. http://lwn.net/2001/features/Momjian/
35. http://lwn.net/2000/features/Timeline/
36. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/
37. http://lwn.net/2001/0830/
38. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/07/10/microsoft_school/index.html
39. http://apps.kde.com/na/2/browse/Educational
40. http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/trove_list.php?form_cat=71
41. http://www.seul.org/edu/
42.
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2809477,00.html
43. http://freshmeat.net/
44. http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2001/0830ibmsuse.html
45. http://lists.progeny.com/archive/progeny-now/200108/msg00000.html
46. http://www.sistina.com/products_gfs.htm
47. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/a/ac-gfs.php3
48. http://www.opengfs.org/
49. http://www.sistina.com/news_Q&A_SPL.htm
50. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/a/not-guilty.php3
51. http://www.planetebook.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=225
52.
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200108/elcomsoftqa.html
53. http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/08/31/dmca_report/print.html
54. http://www.monkey.org/~dugsong/
55. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/security.php3
56. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/kernel.php3
57. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/dists.php3
58. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/desktop.php3
59. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/devel.php3
60. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/commerce.php3
61. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/history.php3
62. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/letters.php3
63. mailto:lwn@lwn.net
64. mailto:lwn@lwn.net
65. mailto:lwn@lwn.net
66. http://ads.tucows.com/click.ng/buttonpos=lwnbutton125top
67. http://ads.tucows.com/click.ng/buttonpos=125-001-016
68. http://lwn.net/2001/0906/security.php3
69. http://www.eklektix.com/
70. http://www.eklektix.com/
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URL: http://www.lwn.net/2001/0906/ |
Sergey Lentsov |
06 Sep 2001 17:18:27 |
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