An end to those annoying support phone calls ... "Tired of Supporting Friends' Computers? Migrate Them to GNU/Linux". [NewsForge 4/30/2005 via Linux Today 5/1/2005] This article actually makes a certain amount of sense, at least from the viewpoint of the unpaid support person. As long as you understand it's really talking about locked-down systems, not Linux.

"The result, after six months, is an end to the annoying phone calls ... Yes, they're all still using GNU/Linux. It's what they imagined computing would be in the first place -- no hassles, no threats, no worries. It's like a dream come true, not just for them, but for me too -- no more troubleshooting nightmares and monthly service calls."

Of course, while a static system may be "a dream come true" for support, it may be a different kind of dream for a user who wants to use a new game, camera, or file format ....

"GNU/Linux does not pose the kinds of problems that Windows does. There is no registry to easily corrupt, and the operating system does not fail in generic, catch-all ways. The user has no power to alter the system software, so important files are not accidentally deleted, and potential viruses and spyware programs have no ability to wreck the system."

It's true that Linux currently has fewer installations and fewer attackers, but both of those statistics are changing. As a direct result of Linux's increasing popularity, more and more malware writers are targeting Linux systems -- after all, you're guaranteed that each target system has at least minimal compile/link/load support and scripting, not to mention rootkit support. Security through obscurity is a fool's game.

The point about protecting the system software from the user is an excellent one, though. I wonder if the author has ever heard of Windows XP?

"It takes a knowledgeable, skilled user to keep a Windows system properly maintained. In short, they need an operating system that, for all their trying, they cannot screw up. Windows isn't it."

Mind you, as long as the users are unable to change the operating system, add or remove software, or add or remove hardware, you have an appliance computer. The underlying operating system is almost irrelevant, but in practice it makes much more sense to run a locked down Windows XP installation running in User mode. Windows XP's autoupdate and autorepair mean that with a properly configured antivirus program the system will maintain itself with NO user effort.

Of course, it's not even that simple. I configured a fully locked-down XP system so my mother could use email and browse the web. This worked extremely well for her, but it drove my father nuts. He couldn't change any of the desktop settings, let alone "clean up" the system by moving all the DLLs to the same directory, installing the "right" applications, and deleting "problem" files like kernel32.dll. He finally lost patience, wiped the system, and installed his own highly "optimized" version of Windows 98. He'd probably have done the same thing to Linux. He's happy, she's thrilled any time her email works, and I stopped taking support calls -- so, I guess, that approach works, too.

5/1/2005 3:18:22 PM    

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Near Perfect "Einstein Ring" Discovered. [Universe Today 4/29/2005] Gravitational lensing happens when the gravity of a relatively close galaxy acts as a telescope lens to focus the light from a more distant galaxy. The galaxies are never perfectly lined up, though, and the "natural telescope" is a bit blurry. But now astronomer Remi Cabanac has found one of the most complete lenses ever discovered: a near perfect Einstein Ring, magnifying a distant galaxy with incredible clarity. 5/1/2005 3:09:23 PM    

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Microsoft Reaches Out to Open-Source Community. [eWeek 4/29/2005] Microsoft Corp. has extended an olive branch to the open-source community, calling for a sit-down to discuss how the software giant can better work with the open-source world. Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, called for bridge building between Microsoft, its competitors and the open-source community. "We will need some new rotations in how we work together, in how we license, in how we share technology or intellectual property rights with each other." Larry Rosen, former general counsel for OSI, said this was the first conciliatory statement to come out of Redmond.  Rosen noted that the open-source community helped WWWC develop a royalty-free intellectual property policy, is working with OASIS, and would like to work with Microsoft in the same way. Eric Raymond, an open-source community leader said he too welcomes the conciliatory tone from Microsoft. "Nobody in the open-source world expects Microsoft to open-source their core products; given their business model that would be insane," Raymond said. "But, realistically, they could do some important things... Microsoft has a history of destructive meddling at organizations like the IETF and W3C, and of attempting to hijack standards like Kerberos by making them dependent on proprietary 'extensions.' Simply not doing this would be a huge improvement." 5/1/2005 10:05:24 AM    

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Space Elevator Group's First Commercial Nanotube Factory opening in June [Universe Today 4/27/2005 via Slashdot: 5/1/2005] LiftPort Group, a consortium dedicated to commercially developing and constructing a space elevator by 2018, will  open a commercial-scale carbon nanotube manufacturing plant this June. LiftPort Nanotech will be located in Millville, New Jersey, a community with a history in glass and plastics production. Both the City of Millville and the Cumberland County Empowerment Zone are partnering to provide $100,000 in initial seed money for the new facility. Many expect the LiftPort Group to be a front-runner in NASA's recently-announced Centennial Challenges competitions for space elevator technologies, which begin in September of this year. 5/1/2005 9:50:55 AM    

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