Stories about: Untangle

Here at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, it seems as though each of the thousands of attendees is on mission.

As an addition to the 2008 RSA security conference in San Francisco, a software company called untangle hosted a shootout between competing Internet site filtering solutions. Held at the Thirsty Bear in San Francisco, the tools blocked porn with a 94-98% success rate.

It is the surely the first security demonstration in history to draw inspiration from a notorious 1970s porn flick and a more recent Brad Pitt film, based on the underground bare-knuckle fighting scene.

For years, open source software advocates have been holding "installfests," gatherings to help others learn how to install and use Linux and other open source applications on computers. This weekend in the US, a nonprofit group and a open source vendor are taking the idea a step further by co-sponsoring an all-day "Installfest for Schools" to create what they hope will be 500 refurbished computers to be used by underprivileged students in schools in nearby neighborhoods.

One person's trash is another's treasure, and this weekend open source vendors and community members plan to join forces with a Northern Californian recycling organization to transform hundreds of desktop and laptops into PCs loaded with Ubuntu, Firefox, OpenOffice and more to be donated to needy area schools.

Rakesh Kumar, an analyst at Gartner. "There is an argument that users [of open source] gain access to a larger skill set than with other platforms," he says, referring to the notion that many eyes debug and look at open-source code.

Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, or FUD, is an old sword with a new blade in today's competitive IT world. If you cannot beat 'em, create controversy. But the old tactic is starting to lose its effectiveness.

Untangle has made its open source security software available free for download to network managers supporting environments of all sizes.

Linux is entering its second phase of growth, which will be defined by better cooperation among developers, new licensing options, and a stronger operating system, according the leaders of the nonprofit Linux Foundation.

Start-up Metavize has renamed itself Untangle, and its executives say they are introducing a Linux-based appliance that provides about a dozen open source security applications, including antispam, antivirus and antiphishing programs for small to midsize businesses.

This time last year, there were speculations about what the consequences of Chris Stone's departure from Novell would mean (the answer in retrospect: not much) and the topic of the moment was a NetWare client for Linux. That is, client software that would allow a Linux desktop to access a NetWare server on an even footing with a Windows desktop.