Distributing Content with BitTorrent  You have good software, or audio or video, and you want to make it available to the public. If you get really popular, though, you'll spend all of your money and bandwidth being popular--and then what? Consider P2P distribution with BitTorrent, which allows your users to share pieces of your file with each other, giving them faster transfers and you fewer headaches. Robert Bernier explains.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

The Next 50 Years of Computer Security: An Interview with Alan Cox  Alan Cox is well known for his long-standing work on the Linux kernel, but at O'Reilly's EuroOSCON (October 17-20), he will speak about computer security. According to Alan, we're just at the beginning of a long journey into getting security right. Eager for directions and a glimpse of the future, O'Reilly Network interviewed him about his upcoming keynote.   [O'Reilly Network]

Security Alerts
PHP Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in PHP, Adobe Reader, Kismet, LibTIFF, Evolution, Mutt, bluez-utils, Ignite-UX, CPAINT, Awstats, Clam AntiVirus, and Gaim.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

What Is the X Window System  Developed at MIT in 1984, the X Window System, now up to X11 release 6, or X11R6, has been the standard environment for Unix windowing systems. Ellen Siever provides some historical context for X's staying power, then discusses its major features: working with X and the X server and X clients; configuring X; and much more. Ellen is a coauthor of Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Linux for Video Production  Linux and open source software is traditionally good for developers and system administrators, and recently good for business users. When will it be good for multimedia users? A handful of projects are making video production and editing possible (and useful)--PiTiVi and GStreamer among them. Jono Bacon examines the present and future of video production with Linux and open source software.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

What Is the GNOME Desktop  Nope. It's not a garden garnish. GNOME is a desktop software project designed to look familiar to anyone who has ever used a computer. Aaron Weber distills what the GNOME desktop is, what apps users will find as well as what platform development tools developers will find, and the resources to help you get started using it. Aaron is a coauthor of Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

The Ur-Quan Masters  Star Control II is one of the most beloved space exploration games. When its original developers released a version of the source code under the GPL, members of the fan community began to port it to modern operating systems. Howard Wen recently interviewed the developers about their goals, their progress, and how open source works for them.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Apache Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in Apache, bzip2, Cisco devices, fetchmail, Netpbm, Ethereal, Proftpd, pstotext, apt-cacher, Compress::Zlib, Gopher, nbSMTP, and PowerDNS.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

OSDL's Linux Initiatives  OSDL is a somewhat vague entity in the minds of many in the Linux community. Beyond employing several top kernel hackers, the company spearheads several initiatives designed to improve the GNU/Linux operating system for use in business and industry. Here's what it's doing, what it's done, and why.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Problems in Oracle Reports  Noel Davis looks at problems in Oracle Reports, Skype for Linux, MediaWiki, Kate, Kwrite, Shorewall, ekg, libgadu, PHPNews, phpSurveyor, Affix, Heartbeat, and phpPgAdmin.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

The Irrlicht Engine  One of the most complicated pieces of software in the world is a 3-D engine, right? Not according to Nikolaus Gebhardt. He's almost single-handedly created his own open source-capable 3-D engine, Irrlicht. Howard Wen talks with him about the design, implementation, and goals of the project.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Important Notice for Linux DevCenter Readers About O'Reilly RSS and Atom Feeds  O'Reilly Media, Inc. is rolling out a new syndication mechanism that provides greater control over the content we publish online. Here's information to help you update your existing RSS and Atom feeds to O'Reilly content.  [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Problems in SpamAssassin, PEAR, and Bugzilla  Noel Davis looks at problems in SpamAssassin, PHP PEAR, Bugzilla, Heimdal/Kerberos telnetd, Vipul's Razor, TikiWiki, poppassd_pam, zlib, FUSE, the Solaris kernel, HT Editor, GNATS, JBoss jBPM, Trustix Secure Linux, and Trac.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Hacking the Linux Desktop, Part 2  In Part 1 of this two-part excerpt from Linux Desktop Hacks, we offered hacks on controlling desktop access. In this second installment, learn how to view Microsoft Word documents in a terminal and how to create an internet phone.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Problems in OpenSSH, Sudo, and Java  Noel Davis looks at problems in OpenSSH, Sudo, Sun Java, Blackdown Java, tcpdump, cpio, JBOSS, Adobe Reader and Acrobat, gedit, Gaim, and Trac.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Problems in the Kernel, OS X, and WordPress  Noel Davis looks at problems in the Linux kernel, Mac OS X, bzip2, WordPress, WebSphere, Peercast, PHPMailer, Binutils, Popper Webmail, Dzip, and FreeBSD's gzip.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Problems in the Linux kernel, LISTSERV, and gdb  Noel Davis looks at problems in the Linux kernel, LISTSERV, gdb, FreeRADIUS, shtool, mailutils, Qpopper, davfs2, libmagick6, picasm, cheetah, and ppxp.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Rendering Everything as Text  Ah, the days of plain-text everything are long gone, what with media files (hooray!) and encumbered binary blobs (boo!). Is the solution to give up your comfortable, efficient, and effective text-based tools? No way. Philip Hollenback proposes that you can render any data format to meaningful text for mail reading, indexing, and more. Here's how.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Mozilla and Firefox Flaws  Noel Davis looks at problems in gzip, Mozilla and Firefox, OpenOffice.org, the FreeBSD kernel, Ethereal, TCPDump, libTIFF, Smail, Apache2's htdigest, and SCO UnixWare's chroot.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Hacking the Linux Desktop  Modifying stuff to suit individual desire is the credo of hackers everywhere. These two excerpts from Linux Desktop Hacks let you modify Linux to suit your desires: The first hack uses Virtual Network Computer (VNC) to access Windows and Mac OS X from your Linux desktop. The second shows how to lock down KDE with Kiosk mode, allowing you to control exactly what users can and can't change.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

MusE: MIDI Sequencing for Linux  Think Linux lacks for good multimedia creation and editing applications? Think again. Another application making ears perk up is MusE, a MIDI and audio sequencer intended to be a complete multitrack virtual studio. Howard Wen looks at the current and future development of the project.   [O'Reilly Network]

Security Alerts
CVS Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in CVS, PostgreSQL, Squid, Gaim, Debian's lsh, Xine-lib, Caroline, Convert-UUlib, Rootkit Hunter, snmppd, Kommander, kimgio, RealPlayer, Helix Player, xli, and Debian's samba.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Simplify Network Programming with libCURL  The curl command-line utility is a fantastic way to download data from all kinds of repositories via HTTP, FTP, LDAP, and more. It's not just a utility, though. The back-end library libCURL allows you to make your programs URL aware, publishing and retrieving data over HTTP and FTP. Ethan McCallum demonstrates how easy it is to use.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Trust and Zeal in Open Source Advocacy  Advocacy is critical to the spread of open source and free software. Good advocates build trust in their audiences, explaining how, and if, F/OSS can help them solve their problems. Jono Bacon explains how to build trust and avoid overzealous advocacy.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
PHP, cpio, and rsnapshot Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in PHP, cpio, rsnapshot, Gld, Axel, Domino, BrightStor ARCserve Backup, xv, Pine, GnomeVFS, libcdaudio, FreeBSD's ifconf, libexif, and monkeyd.   [O'Reilly Network]

Professional Sound Editing with Audacity  Think Linux lacks for good multimedia creation and editing applications? Think again. In the world of sound editing, Audacity is powerful and easy to use, and it's free software. Howard Wen explores the design, features, and future of Audacity.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Userspace Filesystem Encryption with EncFS  Laptops and removable storage devices are convenient both for users and for thieves. While you can't always protect the device from wandering away, you can protect the data. EncFS, a user-level encrypted filesystem in a file, makes this possible. KIVILCIM Hindistan explains how.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
Linux Kernel Vulnerabilities  In Noel Davis' latest column, he looks at problems in the Linux kernel, Telnet, sharutils, Ethereal, Midnight Commander, mpg321, OpenMosixView, cdrecord, ImageMagick, and grip.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Adventures in Migrating to New Linux Distributions  Linux doesn't stand still, whether it's the kernel or GNU/Linux distributions. If you're a developer or a hobbyist who likes to stay up to date, you can't stand still, either. Upgrading isn't always easy, though. Kevin Farnham recently switched distributions several times; here are some hard-earned lessons from the process.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

The Bacula Philosophy  Bacula is a mature client-server backup solution that runs on several platforms and flexibly meets many needs. It's also a good model for open source development. Nathan Valentine recently interviewed lead developer Kern Sibbald on the design, implementation, and future plans of the product.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Security Alerts
KDE Trouble  Noel Davis looks at problems in KDE, MySQL, Perl, Ximian Evolution, GnuPG, OpenSLP, Ringtone Tools, LuxMan, and Ethereal.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Inside GnomeMeeting  As bandwidth and processor power increase, so do the compelling reasons to consider voice and video over IP. Damien Sandras' polished GnomeMeeting application is a good example. Howard Wen recently interviewed Sandras about the project's successes, goals, and plans.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

Sowing the Seeds of Open Source Advocacy  Advocacy is critical to the spread of open source and free software. Good advocacy can help spread freedom and software quality, while bad advocacy can reinforce unpleasant stereotypes. Good advocacy requires far more than just being right, though. Jono Bacon explores how to approach the message and the audience.   [LinuxDevCenter.com]

This directory of Linux commands is from Linux in a Nutshell, 5th Edition.

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