LegRoom.net Kick back and relax

Anyone with experience in the IT security field should be familiar with the name Bruce Schneier. Author of Applied Cryptography, he's one of the definitive experts on cryptography, and he's recently been expanding his expertise into the wider world of security in general.

He recently granted an interview to CSO Magazine, in which he discusses various issues facing security professionals, concerns in a post-09/11 world, and several other topics. He also discusses/plugs his new book, Beyond Fear, which seems like it should be a very interesting read.

Here's the full interview.

Robert Cringely has written a fantastic article on how and why Microsoft just doesn't simply doesn't get it, and what that means for consumers. As Cringely says, these ideas are both obvious and old hat to people in or around the Open Source movement, but he does an excellent job of analyzing one of Ballmer's recent spearches, and breaks it down for techies and non-techs alike.

This is a must read. Here's the full story.

This is a really good article on one man's switch to Linux. Instead of focusing on the actual migration, however (as many of these types of articles do), this one focuses on the reasons why he made the switch. It's a short and entertaining read, but he brings up several important points. My personal favorite quote?

It wasn't just the virus, or the thrice-weekly crashes, or the forced upgrades or even the massive, bloated resource hog that Microsoft Office has become. It was the realization that Microsoft is building the Great Eye That Never Sleeps, which, in combination with your government identification number, will be used to track you, verify you and determine if you are a properly obedient little wage-serf.

Here's the full article.

Yeah, baby!

The Mozilla Foundation today announced the final releases of Mozilla Application Suite 1.5, Mozilla Firebird 0.7, and Mozilla Thunderbird 0.3. Lets see if I can get all these links right:

Application Suite 1.5: download | release notes
Firebird 0.7: download
Thunderbird 0.3: download | release notes

Get 'em while they're hot!

This surprisingly accurate article questions just how much functionality consumers need in an office suite. The author points to the recents statements of Microsoft's Jeff Raikes dismissing open source office suites as "being where we [Microsoft] were with Office 97." But, leaving reality for a moment and accepting that as truth, is that really such a bad thing? Consider: what important feature of any office suite component do you use that was not available in 1997? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Now, let's jump back into reality. OpenOffice 1.1.0, for example (since it was released just last week), does not contain every feature as Office 2003, or even Office XP. No one would say otherwise. However, it doesn't need every feature, as very many of them are pure fluff. In addition, it supports several features that MS itself can't match, such as native support for PDF and Flash export.

I strongly recommend reading this article. I know I mostly turned this post into a sales-pitch for OpenOffice, but that's neither my nor the author's intention. He questions the need to upgrade to versions of MS Office from any office suite, even previous MS ones, as they all contain the basic functionality that any office worker or home user could need. Definitely an enlightening read.

Mandrake Linux today announced the release of Mandrake Linux 9.2. You can read the press release here, and also be sure to check out the new features.

Also, Open for Business has a preview of the new Mandrake Linux 9.2 Discovery Edition.

Transmeta launched its new Efficeon processor today, once again turning up the heat in the increasingly import low-power-consumption market. The Efficeon is a pretty big improvement over Transmeta's previous Crusoe line, so here's hoping they can get some top-tier vendor backing.

You can read the full article here. There aren't any major revalations, but it does provide a good introduction to both the Efficeon processor and Transmeta, so it's a pretty good read.