Joe Barr

Early in January, I sent e-mail to each of the four FCC commissioners: Michael Powell, Kathleen Abernathy, Michael Copps, and Kevin Martin. Their names are displayed prominently on the FCC homepage (see Resources for the URL) so it seemed completely natural and fitting that I contact them about a problem on the FCC Web site. My complaint was that certain functionality on the site is not available to me because I use Linux instead of Windows. I never received a response from any commissioner. I first became aware of the problem last year when a friend of mine, a lawyer and Linux aficionado, sent me a copy of a letter he had mailed to FCC Chairman Michael Powell. The letter asked that the FCC stop the "wholly unnecessary and entirely unconscionable" practice of providing online license renewals for amateur radio licenses only to users of Windows. Like me, my friend ne... (more)

Understanding stealth scans: Forewarned is forearmed

If you stay connected to the Internet, you will be scanned. It's a fact of life. If you have a continuous connection, you'll be scanned regularly, quite often by someone with bad intentions. This week's column is a basic primer on scanning: what it is, why it's done, and the wonderful world of "secret handshakes" and stealth scans. Scanning a system, or a network, is normally done in order to find out what services are available. But remember, there are two groups who do it regularly. The good guys -- system administrators and network security folk -- do it to see what is exposed... (more)

Meet the Perens

(LinuxWorld) — If you've kept one eye open watching industry news the past week or two, you've seen the stories about Bruce Perens and his open-source licensed book series with Prentice Hall. I'll get in a few words on that book series later in the column, but first I'll try to put things in context. Bruce Perens is a fascinating individual, and he probably knows his way around the suit side of the house better than any other leading figure in the free/open-source software movements. I had the chance to visit with Perens for nearly an hour last week. I couldn't help but ge... (more)

Larry McVoy on BitKeeper, kernel development, Linus Torvalds & Bruce Perens

Not long after the second part of the most recent Perens interview went online, we got email from Larry McVoy. He said there were some factual errors in the Perens piece and asked what our policy was on corrections. We assured him that we always tried to make corrections when they were needed and asked what the errors had been. He pointed out two: Perens' claims that BitMover (McVoy's company, which produces BitKeeper,) had trouble making payroll and that McVoy was constantly threatening to sue him. Thinking that a story on BitKeeper — the controversial proprietary source managem... (more)

Linux at NASCAR.com: It's the pits

(LinuxWorld) — Joe Aramendia, my son-in-law, has made his first two starts in NASCAR Busch Series events this year: first at Rockingham, then in Las Vegas. As a result, I've been practicing saying "tar" instead of tire, pondering the meaning of phrases like "driving off the hood" and "drive it like you stole it," and hanging out on NASCAR.com to learn what's new during the week prior to the race. Susan has broken me of the habit of scuffing up my "tars" while driving into town. NASCAR.com, as you might have guessed, is the official Web site of NASCAR. Turner Interactive, a... (more)