Freedom from passwords

Mozilla’s Persona website authentication service has entered the public Beta testing stage, offering a third-party system for registering on websites for those which feel that using Twitter or Facebook to authenticate users is a compromise to privacy.
The project, previously known as BrowserID, has set itself an ambitious goal to “eliminate passwords on the Web”. The Beta version offers developers an improved API, while the users will benefit from simplified sign-up process and clear privacy policy. It supports all major browsers for mobile devices and desktop computers.
Persona is a secure website authentication mechanism prototyped by Mozilla, which uses email addresses as identifiers and focuses on privacy and browser integration. Once a user has a Persona account, they can use it to log in into any website that supports the platform, without sharing any additional details with individual sites.
The platform was designed to co-exist with the current login systems, not replace them. It saves security-conscious users the trouble of remembering dozens of passwords, removes the need to create new accounts and mitigates the risk of account theft.
What makes it different from Disqus, Facebook Connect, Sign in with Twitter and other similar services? In the past, Facebook has been accused of tracking the websites user visits trough its comment system and “like” buttons, in order to serve personalised advertising. Same is true with Google. In contrast, Mozilla adheres to a strict code of moral values, outlined in its manifesto.
“When you deploy Persona on your web site (in an afternoon or, sometimes, only 15 minutes), you’re showing respect for your users and their data. You’re only asking for the data needed to log them in, and users know they’re only sharing exactly what’s shown on the screen,” explained Ben Adida, Mozilla’s tech lead on Identity and User Data, on the organisation’s blog.
One of the things that Persona team was concerned with was the time it takes to open an account. After all, every second that the user is forced to spend while trying to login will have a negative effect on completion rates. The open Beta offers simplified sign-up process, which in some cases doesn’t even require confirmation by email.
The platform has also started asking users to consent to site-specific Terms of Service and Privacy Policies as a native part of the login flow, and added the option of a global log out from any device.
According to Endgadget, websites already offering Persona login include The Times‘ online crossword section, OpenPhoto and Voost. You can find complete instructions on how to add the platform to your site here.

Credits:http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/mozilla-opens-persona-beta-94474

Linux Support Engineer / System Administrator Leading Worldwide Hosting Provider

Contract Type: Permanent
City: Southampton
Company: RecruitmentRevolution.com
Salary: £30,000.00 - £35,000.00 /Year

Linux Support Engineer / System Administrator – Leading Worldwide Hosting Provider 

Southampton, Hampshire

£30,000 – £35,000 Negotiable
 
We are a worldwide hosting company running 20,000+ servers for our 10,000+ clients.

Are you customer obsessed and a top notch Linux Support Engineer, if you are then this could be your dream job!

GENERAL SUMMARY:

The Linux Support Engineer / System Administrator interacts with our Dedicated Hosting customers via the telephone and ticketing system to walk them through system administration tasks. System administrators resolve issues utilizing a variety of resources necessary, knowledge, skills, techniques and tools. This includes research from the Internet, books and product documentation, other employees within the support organisation.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Linux Support Engineer / System Administratormust demonstrate the following:

> First class experience within Linux Hosting environment

> Operating System — Intermediate knowledge and use of Redhat or Centos.

> Knowledge of Linux commands/utilities 

> Familiarity with basic system administration tools and processes

> Experience with maintaining, configuring, and troubleshooting Redhat, Centos through ES5 servers

> Working knowledge in mail server applications using SMTP/POP3/IMAP such as Postfix, and/or Qmail, and/or Sendmail

> Ability to troubleshoot basic networking issues 

> Ability to troubleshoot Hardware firewalls, and VPN.

> Has a solid understanding of Intel-based server hardware, including RAID configuration.

> Significant work experience with the following: Redhat ES3, ES4 and ES5: Apache, FTP, Bind, MySQL 

> Solid understanding of DNS Record types, resolution process and troubleshooting.

> Ability to duplicate the customer’s issue, troubleshoot and document. Resolve and document the resolution at a level the customer can understand.

The following certifications and/or skills are a bonus: 



> IT qualification or related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. RHCSA/RHCE, or comparable certification.

> Redhat Cluster Suit (RHCS)

> Plesk 8.x /9.x /10.x

> Familiarity with Load Balancer and Content Delivery Network

YOU ALSO NEED TO BE:

> Customer obsessed

> Good over the phone

> Geeky not nerdy

> Have less than 45 minute commute to Southampton
 
Credits:http://jobs.techweekeurope.co.uk/4870/linux-support-engineersystem-administrator-hosting-provider/ 

The New 'Pure GNOME' Ubuntu Linux Is Coming This Fall

Earlier this month fans of the good old GNOME 2 desktop environment got some exciting news when it became clear that a version of Ubuntu Linux featuring the classic desktop was in the works.
Now, plans for that new Ubuntu flavor are beginning to take form, and it looks like we can expect its arrival in October.
There's now what looks like an official Web page for this new GNOME Ubuntu--called GNOMEbuntu in its URL--and a Muktware report on Thursday uncovered numerous details about the forthcoming release. Here's a quick rundown of some of the highlights.
1. The Name
While initially it sounded like GNOMEbuntu would be the name of this new Linux flavor, developer Jeremy Bicha has apparently said that the GNOME Foundation Board won't permit it, according to Muktware.
In a recent Quantal Quetzal-focused thread on the Ubuntu forums, both GNObuntu and Gnubuntu were being discussed. No final word yet, as far as I can tell.
2. The Apps
Along with Compiz, the new GNOME Ubuntu will reportedly use the Rhythmbox music player as well as the Epiphany browser, Evolution for e-mail and workgroup functions, the Abiword word processor, and the Gnumeric spreadsheet package. Neither Firefox nor LibreOffice will be preinstalled, according to the report.
3. The GNOME Goodness
As part of its goal of offering a “pure GNOME” experience, this new Ubuntu flavor will of course not include the mobile-inspired and controversial Unity desktop interface. According to the Muktware report, it also won't include cloud service Ubuntu One.
Perhaps even more intriguing, it sounds like there will be customized Ubuntu settings that let users make their GNOME experience in the operating system even more pure.
4. Still Up in the Air
Besides the name of this new Ubuntu flavor, a number of other features are reportedly still under discussion as well, including both the file manager and the display manager that will be used.
After all the controversy that has been generated by both Unity and GNOME 3, I'm so excited to see this classically flavored Ubuntu becoming a reality. The emergence of like-minded efforts such as MATE and SolusOS shows there's a real need.
An alpha version of the new GNOME Ubuntu will reportedly arrive soon. I'm betting there will be quite a crowd waiting to check it out.
  
CREDITS:http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/261723/the_new_pure_gnome_ubuntu_linux_is_coming_this_fall.html

Tweet this: Twitter joins Linux Foundation

Social network Twitter has signed up as a member of the Linux Foundation.
The non-profit Linux consortium welcomes the social network on the back of its extensive use of Linux servers and other open technologies in its data centres and operational office headquarters.
The Linux Foundation serves as a neutral spokesperson for Linux and generates original research and content that advances the understanding of the Linux platform.

The foundation itself relies on corporate sponsorship from a variety of IT vendors who manufacture and ultimately profit from commercially supported versions of open source software.
Reports suggest that Twitter has joined as a "silver member" for a mere US$15,000 or just less than £10,000. Good news then for the group as it eyes its annual LinixCon convention scheduled for next week in San Diego from August 29-31.
Twitter open source manager Chris Aniszczyk has Tweeted the following:
"... it's been in the works for awhile... press is coinciding with #LinuxCon next week, that is all, we sponsored@TheASF (The official Twitter feed of The Apache Software Foundationhttp://www.apache.org/) months ago!'

Twitter has already got its open source credentials over and above its use of Linux-based servers, the company uses MySQL as its database of choice for tweet storage and also uses the free and open source Memcached distributed memory object caching system to the extent that it has even developed its own (publically available) fork known as Twemcache.
Twitter is also said to be a user of other open source technologies including the Iago load generator testing service, the Zipkin distributed tracing system and the Scalding Scala library.

CREDITS:http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/open-source-insider/2012/08/tweet-this-twitter-joins-linux-foundation.html

SUSE Linux joins in with Windows 8 secure boot plans

Well the Secure Boot saga keeps going on and on as Linux distributions far and wide decide how they're going to work around Windows 8's planned restrictions, and this week we heard from yet another project. 

It was SUSE Linux to speak out this time, and what it has proposed amounts in many ways to a hybrid approach between what we've already seen from Ubuntu and Fedora. 

"UEFI Secure Boot is a useful technology, making it harder for attackers to hide a rootkit in the boot chain," began Olaf Kirch, director of the SUSE Linux Enterprise department in SUSE Engineering, in a blog post on Wednesday. "At the same time, already the basics of its operation - establishing a single root of trust - conflict with the principles of Open Source development, which must be independent and distributed to work." 

'It's a smart solution'

 For those who missed it, Windows 8's Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) will stipulate that only operating systems with an appropriate digital signature can boot. Both the Free Software Foundation and the Linux Foundation have weighed in with their own views on the matter. 

Yet there are two ways of working around those restrictions, Kirch explained.

"One is to work with hardware vendors to have them endorse a SUSE key which we then sign the boot loader with," he explained. "The other way is to go through Microsoft's Windows Logo Certification program to have the boot loader certified and have Microsoft recognize our signing key."

SUSE plans to use the shim loader originally developed by Fedora, Kirch said: "It's a smart solution which avoids several nasty legal issues, and simplifies the certification/signing step considerably," he explained.

That shim loader will load the GRUB 2 boot loader, verify it, and then load kernels signed by a SUSE key.

Two keys possible

On Thursday, however, Vojt?ch Pavlík, director of SUSE Labs, offered more detail. 

"We start with a shim, based on the Fedora shim, signed by either a certificate signed by the SUSE KEK [Key Exchange Key] or a Microsoft-issued certificate, based on what KEKs are available in the UEFI key database on the system," Pavlík explained.

In other words, two separate versions of the shim will be possible: one signed with SUSE's own key, similar to Ubuntu's approach, and one signed with a key provided by Microsoft, much as in Fedora's strategy. Either way, the shim will verify that the GRUB 2 boot loader is trusted using by default an independent SUSE certificate embedded in its body. In addition, however, the shim will also allow "Machine Owner Keys" (MOKs) to override the default SUSE key, Pavlík explained.

'A wonderfully elegant solution'

So, "GRUB 2, once loaded and verified by the shim, will call back to the shim when it wants to verify the kernel--to avoid duplication of the verification code," he added. "The shim will use the same list of MOKs for this and tell GRUB 2 whether it can load the kernel."

Because MOKs constitute a list and not just a single key, "you can make the shim trust keys from several different vendors, allowing dual- and multi-boot from the GRUB 2 boot loader," Pavlík concluded.

Implementation, of course, may prove more complicated, he added. Still, of paramount importance is that "you can freely modify GRUB2 and your kernel as an owner of a machine" as well as the fact that "the machine didn't get tivoized," he noted.

Red Hat developer Matthew Garrett - who originally called attention to all this back in September - has called SUSE's approach "a wonderfully elegant solution." In fact, "I suspect that we'll adopt this approach in Fedora as well," he said in a blog post on Friday. 

"I'm sure this isn't the last update, however, and it remains to be seen what route openSUSE will take. When more is announced, I'll keep you posted."

 CREDITS : http://news.techworld.com/operating-systems/3375505/suse-linux-joins-in-with-windows-8-secure-boot-plans/

Valve, Linux and the Windows 8 'Catastrophe'

Credits:http://www.technewsworld.com/story/75770.html

By Katherine Noyes
LinuxInsider
Part of the ECT News Network
07/30/12 5:00 AM PT

 

Love knows no bounds, as the old saying goes, and there may be no better example than the Linux community's feelings for Valve.

That, of course, dates back to the magical day in April when the gaming company announced it was bringing its Steam gaming platform to Linux at last, causing no end of jubilation in the Linux blogosphere.
Today, however, the flame of Linux geeks' love for Valve burns brighter than ever before. The reason? None other than a series of comments made by Valve cofounder Gabe Newell at the recent Casual Connect videogame conference in Seattle.
Newell's words may have focused on operating systems and technology platforms, but they fell like so many tender sweet nothings upon the Linux community's collective ears.

The Openness of the Platform'

"In order for innovation to happen, a bunch of things that aren't happening on closed platforms need to occur," Newell reportedly said. "Valve wouldn't exist today without the PC, or Epic, or Zynga, or Google. They all wouldn't have existed without the openness of the platform.
"We are looking at the platform and saying, 'We've been a free rider, and we've been able to benefit from everything that went into PCs and the Internet, and we have to continue to figure out how there will be open platforms,'" Newell added.
Swooning yet? Just wait for what comes next.

'Windows 8 Is a Catastrophe'

"We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well," Newell said. "It's a hedging strategy.
"I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," he added. "I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."
In no time at all, Linux bloggers everywhere began tripping over themselves in their haste to proclaim their love.

'A Train Wreck'

"I've tried Windows 8, and I couldn't agree with Gabe Newell any more than I do," enthused Google+ blogger Linux Rants, for example.
"Windows 8 is a disaster, plain and simple," he added. "I'd recommend staying as far away from it as possible. If this travesty of an operating system is what it takes to push more users to Linux, we have Microsoft to thank for coming through on delivering that travesty."
That said, however, "Windows 8 doesn't exactly have Gabe Newell's best interests at heart," Linux Rants pointed out. "Valve's Steam is basically a software store, and as such, will compete directly with the Windows Store integrated into Windows 8. If done well, the Windows Store could spell the end for Steam."
Of course, "that's a huge 'if,' as everything else about Windows 8 is a train wreck," he concluded. "I think Steam is safe, and will give many Linux users out there a great opportunity to play their games without WINE."

'That Is Very Insightful'

Indeed, Newell "is not the first to say that about Windows 8, and hedging makes sense," opined Google+ blogger Kevin O'Brien.
Even more significant, however, "is that he says that innovation *requires* openness," O'Brien added.
"That is very insightful, and an attack on the basic idea of Windows," O'Brien pointed out. "I think that as time goes by, more and more companies are going to see that innovation really *does* require openness."

'They Become Less Appealing'

Similarly, "catastrophe might be a little strong, but it is only logical to hedge your bets," agreed Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza. "As Microsoft predictably tries to tighten their grip further, they become less appealing to developers and publishers."
Linux continues to be a viable alternative, "but at the same time, the numbers of users continue to be less than impressive," he noted.
"Still, with many people only buying games through Steam these days, if they can get a significant number of developers (and development houses) to port their games to Linux, it is likely that they will have numerous customers," Espinoza predicted.
"I suspect the majority of these customers will not be new customers, but current Windows Steam customers who shift platforms," he added.

'Steam Is Huge'

And again: "Gaming is one of the niches where GNU/Linux has been excluded by developers," observed blogger Robert Pogson.
"Steam is huge," Pogson added. "If they port to GNU/Linux, many games will be available to GNU/Linux users."
Then, "when '8' flops, users of Steam needing a new PC may well choose GNU/Linux," he said.

'The Boost Linux Needs'

"Basically, Valve is looking at a future where getting their apps to consumers means going through Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft or Sony," suggested Roberto Lim, a lawyer and blogger on Mobile Raptor.
"It seems like they are a bit worried about that kind of future," Lim added. "The only platform which guarantees to remain open to apps direct from the publishers is Linux. Valve is supporting Linux to make sure it does not find itself locked in behind apps stores owned by other companies."
That, in turn, "could be the boost Linux needs to make a big splash in the desktop space," he concluded.

'I'll Probably Buy a Few Games'

Consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack said he doesn't actually care about Valve's motivations.
"I'll just take it and probably buy a few games if they port some good ones," Mack said. "I'm tired of feeling like Linux is an afterthought when it comes to games."
In any case, Newell's comments couldn't have come as music to Microsoft's ears, noted Chris Travers, a Slashdot blogger who works on the LedgerSMB project.

'The Beginning of the Tipping Point'

"This is on top of Microsoft's shrinking Windows revenue and Dell announcing plans to offer Ubuntu on laptops," Travers pointed out. "It seems to be one thing after another for Microsoft these days.
"This may well be the beginning of the tipping point for the tech giant," he opined.
Meanwhile, the pace of change in desktop operating systems in general and user interfaces in particular "has become breathtaking," Travers observed. "Quite frankly, average users are left out in the cold. I am sure it will settle down again, but it will take some time."

Intel Releases 12.07 Linux Graphics Package

Like usual, the Intel Linux graphics package isn't some new software component release, but rather it's just what Intel recommends their customers and Linux distributions use for appropriate versions of the upstream Linux components to deploy when running Intel integrated graphics. 

The Intel 12.07 graphics package comes down to using the Linux 3.4.x kernel, Mesa 8.0.4, xf86-video-intel 2.20, libdrm 2.4.37, libva 1.0.15, and vaapi-driver-intel 1.0.17. They also recommend using X.Org Server 1.12.1 although the xorg-server isn't officially part of this "package" for Linux. Basically these are all the latest stable package versions available right now, although soon to be succeeded by Mesa 8.1, Linux 3.5/3.6, etc. 

Compared to the previous Intel Linux graphics package, these newer components provide RC6 power-savings (and performance improvements) for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, support for Ivy Bridge GT2 server graphics, general performance improvements, and many bug-fixes. There's also experimental 2D acceleration support for SNA and GLAMOR to complement the stock UXA 2D acceleration mode.