Free video archives of Usenix '08 are now online at: http://www.linuxpromagazine.com/usenix08.
Archived sessions from the live streaming include companion conference slides. No registration required!

July 28 to August 1 Linux Pro Magazine is broadcasting two full-days of security training and the main track from the three-day Usenix Security '08 event live from San José.

Community and commercial cooperation is increasingly important in the Open Source world. At this year’s Linux New Media Awards, we were the first to award a prize for the best combination of fire and water. This year’s awards were presented at the LinuxWorld Expo in Cologne, Germany.

The /etc/ directory contains thousands of files, and it is easy to lose an office document in its murky depths. Managing directories files via FTP can be time consuming. We'll investigate utilities that help you keep track of your files. Also in this issue: Trouble at Debian and Future Fears, starring Dunc Tank, Anthony Towns, and Matthew Garret.

The biggest problem with getting stuff for free is that you are likely to be irritating some company wanting to charge for the service. That is exactly the relationship between Linux and Microsoft. Despite being one of the most successful and profitable companies on the planet, it seems that Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer
is losing sleep over all the cash that the evil free software community is diverting from his firm.

Ballmer asserts that Linux developments have infringed nearly 250 Microsoft patents and he hints that to some extent free software developers are standing on the shoulders of Microsoft developers. Microsoft is not the only bear in the room for the Linux community as there are a number of other patent-based issues that Linux faces. However, Linux survives thanks to some innovative options and a delicate balance.

In this white paper we will review the problems and solutions to Linux’s seemingly age-old patent issues.