November 2012 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Linux Foundation struggles with Microsoft's Secure Boot signing service
by Peter Reutemann 21 Nov '12

21 Nov '12

"Despite several attempts, the Linux Foundation's James Bottomley has not managed to get Microsoft to sign the mini bootloader for starting Linux on systems with UEFI Secure Boot. In a blog post, the Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board (TAB) member says that he successfully managed to use a Linux system for various preparatory bootloader signing tasks, although Microsoft stipulates that a specific Windows platform must be used. However, Bottomley said that to upload the CAB file containing the bootloader, he had to use a virtual machine with Windows 7 because this step requires Silverlight, and the open source Moonlight implementation of Silverlight didn't work." -- souce: http://h-online.com/-1754209 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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$250 Chromebook With Ubuntu Linux Is Very Fast
by Peter Reutemann 20 Nov '12

20 Nov '12

"The Google Samsung Chromebook was already interesting for its competitive $250 price-tag and that it can be loaded with Linux distributions beyond Chrome OS, but it turns out that its performance is particularly good, too. When loaded with Ubuntu Linux, the Samsung Exynos 5 Dual ARM SoC on the Chrome notebook had outperformed a 1.8GHz Intel Atom, a quad-core Calxeda ARM server, and a TI OMAP4 PandaBoard." -- source: http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/11/20/1617210/250-chromebook-with-ubu… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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New Linux Rootkit Emerges
by Peter Reutemann 20 Nov '12

20 Nov '12

"A new Linux rootkit has emerged and researchers who have analyzed its code and operation say that the malware appears to be a custom-written tool designed to inject iframes into Web sites and drive traffic to malicious sites for drive-by download attacks. The rootkit is designed specifically for 64-bit Linux systems, and while it has some interesting features, it does not appear to be the work of a high-level programmer or be meant for use in targeted attacks. The Linux rootkit does not appear to be a modified version of any known piece of malware and it first came to light last week when someone posted a quick description and analysis of it on the Full Disclosure mailing list. That poster said his site had been targeted by the malware and some of his customers had been redirected to malicious sites." -- source: http://linux.slashdot.org/story/12/11/20/1733237/new-linux-rootkit-emerges Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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Two FreeBSD Project Servers Hacked
by Peter Reutemann 19 Nov '12

19 Nov '12

"The FreeBSD project has suffered a security breach. Hackers have successfully compromised servers that were part of the infrastructure used to build third-party software packages. The Security team over at the FreeBSD project is of the opinion that hackers were able to gain access to the servers using legitimate SSH keys and not by exploiting any operating system vulnerabilities. Instances of intrusion were first detected on November 11. FreeBSD project, through a message on public announcements mailing list said that the security breach hasn't affected the project's core components like kernel or system libraries but, has affected third-party software packages being distributed by the project." --source: http://it.slashdot.org/story/12/11/19/1649254/two-freebsd-project-servers-h… Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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ANNOUNCE: WLUG meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder Bot 18 Nov '12

18 Nov '12

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week from today: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Meet up at the university: MS4.G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) Time: 7:30pm onwards http://www.wlug.org.nz/AGM Topics * Presidents Report * Treasurer Report * Election of 2013 Committee * Discussion of life-long/honorary members * Consumption of pizza

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The Release Candidate For Linux Mint 14 "Nadia" Is Out
by Peter Reutemann 11 Nov '12

11 Nov '12

"Well, the latest edition of Mint is finally here (the release candidate, anyway); according to The Linux Mint Blog, 'For the first time since Linux Mint 11, the development team was able to capitalize on upstream technology which works and fits its goals. After 6 months of incremental development, Linux Mint 14 features an impressive list of improvements, increased stability and a refined desktop experience. We're very proud of MATE, Cinnamon, MDM and all the components used in this release, and we're very excited to show you how they all fit together in Linux Mint 14.'" -- source: http://linux.slashdot.org/story/12/11/11/2039229 Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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AGM Announcement
by Ronnie Collinson 09 Nov '12

09 Nov '12

The WLUG AGM, is coming up, on the 26th November starting at 7.30pm at MS4.G.02 (Waikato University). Pizza and drink will be provided Agenda Presidents Report. Treasurer Report. Election of 2013 Committee. Discussion of life-long/honorary members. Consumption of pizza. Hope to see you there.

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ZFS File
by mailinglist 08 Nov '12

08 Nov '12

Hello all, I was reading an article in Linux User magazine about Sabayon Linux and their use of the ZFS file system. Supposedly the file system support deduplication which I thought could be useful if manually tidying up a photograph archive. Has anyone on the list used the ZFS system or Sabayon Linux? Any recommendations or experience? Cheers, [1] http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/ [2] http://www.sabayon.org/ [3] http://zfsonlinux.org/

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