evan's blog

FOSS Jumps Over the Great Firewall of China

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:42:00 -0400

My longtime colleague Brian Osborn, publisher of Linux Magazine (which is what it's callled everywhere in the world except for the US and Canada where it's "Linux Pro Magazine") has been calling special attention to a recent article they've published, regarding the use of open source software to circumvent China's Internet censorship mechanisms. The article describes the mechaisms, as well as the software used to get around it all. Interesting reading, especially timely considering the Olympics.

The Barenaked Smear Job: A C-61 connection?

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:08:07 -0400

By now most Canadians know that Barenaked Ladies lead singer Steven Page has been arrested in New York in relation to alleged cocaine possession.

An interesting observation on news reports about Page's arrest suggest not only a massive smear campaign going on in the media (for instance, he never admitted to using the coke as some reports have asserted), but potentially a nasty motive behind the smear.

Charlie Angus: Parliament's biggest C-61 foe?

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:14:12 -0400

Popular news site TorrentFreak has singled out Canadian MP Charlie Angus (NDP --Timmins-James Bay) as one of the world's more vocal politician critics of DMCA-like laws such as Canada's pending C-61.

Does anyone here know Charlie? Does personal experience here bear out his now-international reputation on the issue? And to what extent is his position backed by his party?

SCO loses in court again, but Sun's the loser this time

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:02:09 -0400

I've started blogging on my website, Xunil.com, and this was my first entry. The subject line says it all; I think the real loser today was not SCO (what's one more slap?) but Sun, a newcomer to this soap opera.

Does Windows have a skeleton key?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:46:22 -0400

The Seatlle Times reports that Microsoft has been making available a tool for law enforcement that, amongst other things, decrypts protected files on Windows systems.

Michael Geist on the EMI DRM Announcement

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:02:54 -0400

The EMI DRM Announcement - EMI and Apple jointly announced today that EMI will be making virtually its entire music catalog available without DRM. Their plan is to offer a higher priced version without DRM and with higher quality sound. This is obviously an important development - there is lots of DRM-free music available from independent labels, but the addition of the world's third largest music label is a game-changer.

Aussie Study: Copyright Owners Inflate the Cost of Piracy

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:26:16 -0500

According to This story, a confidential study for the Australian government has concluded that industry statistics concerning financial loss due to piracy are "unverified and epistemologically unreliable." The study by the Australian Institute of Criminology and leaked to the The Australian, a national newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, was said to be in an "early draft" stage.

Re: [u-u] Unix Unanimous meeting - Wed 13 Sep 2006

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:39:49 -0400

On Mon, Sep 11, 2006 at 03:16:59PM -0400, Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> Robert Brockway wrote:
> > I suppose GTALUG is also scheduled so as not to conflict with NewTLUG too
> > badly. NewLUG occurs in the 3rd week IIRC.

Re: [u-u] Unix Unanimous meeting - Wed 13 Sep 2006

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:39:49 -0400

On Mon, Sep 11, 2006 at 03:16:59PM -0400, Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> Robert Brockway wrote:
> > I suppose GTALUG is also scheduled so as not to conflict with NewTLUG too
> > badly. NewLUG occurs in the 3rd week IIRC.

State in India moves 1.5M students to Linux

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 08:43:45 -0400

Given the accounts on this site about the approach of Canadian politicians educational officials towards open source in the classroom, it's interesting to see what's happening elsewhere. A recent announcement indicates that the Indian state of Kerala is expediting a move to completely replace MS-Windows with Linux in its 12,500 high schools, serving about 1.5 million students.

Hoosier Daddy? Indiana Schools Adopt Linux

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:56:30 -0400

Considering the matter of Toronto schools and access to FOSS, it was interesting to see this Information week article on Indiana switching more than 20,000 students to Linux.

BSD, The Best Software Program Ever Written: InformationWeek

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 10:36:47 -0400

While the InformationWeek article does talk about Unix/Linux in general as the top entry of its 12 greatest software programs of all time, it singles out BSD4.3 as the heart of the system's greatness and global significance.

SCO may indeed get its wish

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 10:30:56 -0400

Back in 1997, six years before the lawsuit started, I wrote an article for Linux Journal that suggested the initials SCO stood for "Software Considered Obsolete". As I read about the fallout from the outright dismissal of most of its lawsuit against IBM, it seems more and more likely that "obsolete" will refer not only to the company's software but -- soon enough -- to the company itself.

Technorati

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 00:47:08 -0400

I've recently created a Technorati Profile and it asks me to create this link. I have no idea how useful this is, but it can't hurt.

Is "Genuine Windows Advantage", really an advantage for open source?

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:10:57 -0400

I've been seeing an increasing number of comments suggesting that Microsoft is moving ahead with tools designed to reduce the numbers of unauthorized copies of Windows out there. Blogs such as this one on ZDNet do a good job of describing the possible implementation of this program, which has the potential to shut down a lot of copies of Windows deemed to be illegitimate.