[Events] What we saw at SoCal... | ANN.lu |
Posted on 23-Nov-2003 20:34 GMT by bbrv | 147 comments View flat View list |
After the Pegasos of course, the big story at SoCal was Novell and IBM. :-D "IBM will support SuSE and what will be left of Redhat," said the leading IBM rep at the Show. In the meanwhile, the Novell booth brought a air of credibility to what was the largest show other than CES that we have participated. Novell has assembled a complete Linux stack. People want it. Novell is providing it. If anyone is missing the "Linux is coming to a Desktop Near You" story, they should even avoid WrongPla.net, much less ANN.
The time is NOW.
If you are a Developer and you have something to offer get on the bandwagon of your choice (or both). The Linux Desktop *is* the Trojan Horse for this Community. Don't miss the boat! And, BTW, let us be bold enough to suggest that IBM will very likely be selling the Pegasos one day (or something like it) as a thin client in a total system package. Why the Dell not?! IBM sells services. When they sell an enterprise network to a corporate customer they often continue to “own” the entire system. The customer contracts for the entire package. IBM insures that everything is working and that the latest and greatest is there running as it should. Why should IBM continue to sell a PC when they begin to promote a Linux desktop? First, they throw out Windows (replaced with Linux) and then the Intel-based CPU/PC can be replaced with a PowerPC based system that runs on an IBM CPU. All IBM is doing is connecting the dots from client desktop to enterprise network and ultimately to the "GRID" that IBM now extols (the Matrix is coming!).
And, while we are at it beyond the "Matrix" -- not only are the major game consoles moving to the PowerPC, it is also the CPU found in the most advance DTV receivers (satellite or terrestrial). The latest one from Disney is called MovieBeam. Imagine a Super TiVo (PowerPC too BTW) using an expanded version of AmiNetRV (radio and video) and all integrated into a MPlayer-like UI that would do to a TV set what MP3 did to music. Now, that is really any show any time. TV signals digital or analogue can be integrated, but the Internet is the foundation of the future in this arena in our opinion. While we are at it since that MP3 player will not play high fidelity sound why not use that 24/7 broadband Internet connection to get that home stereo equipment back in the game too!
Final note: Pegasos II sales have passed the 1500 unit mark. These are the combined sales based on Reseller, Internet, and institutional/corporate orders. Congratulations to Thomas Knäbel and Gerald Carda. Your years of hard work and dedication are paying off and thanks to you we have the fundamental ingredient required to march forward to our future.
R&B :-)
P.S. This week "will be IBM week." ;-)
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What we saw at SoCal... : Comment 114 of 147 | ANN.lu |
Posted by bbrv on 25-Nov-2003 11:22 GMT | In reply to Comment 113 (AdmV): Hi AdmV, you are right. Nevertheless, a good portion of buffer overflow exploits are targeted toward the x86 processor instruction set. There still are ones for other processor platforms, and PowerPC is one of them, as is SPARC. However, the best way to examine buffer overflow exploits and do so with minimal chance of harm is to provide inspection from a non-x86 platform. Using PowerPC does not completely mitigate the risk of a buffer overflow. Rather, it provides a platform on which a good portion of exploit code cannot run, since the amount of crackers targeting PowerPC platforms is much smaller than the set trying x86. Thanks for allowing us to clarify that.
As a system administrator for a number of systems, you know there is no magic bullet for security solutions. You have to have an interlocking platform of policy, procedures, and enforcement (of policy and procedures). This has spurred the use of Open Source in security over the years in systems, since it allows a way to audit the systems via the code they run. We realize there are many system administrators that are that paranoid. Providing the customer with the source code to the system does two things:
1. This allows the customer to audit the code.
2. It also allows the customer to build on the code.
However, there is also a learning curve for these products that is very high, and even experienced system administrators can get easily confused with these products. This product provides a way of reducing the time needed to set up and configure a firewall for a network that provides more than just the basic features. This product also provides for detection and filtering of malicious traffic, and can be custom-configured for the network.
The use of Open Source tools also provides multiple integration paths through both the Open Source and commercial channels, meaning that with customization, it should be possible to include this as part of a total security system/posture.
The choice of OpenBSD also allows for a platform that has been specifically audited for buffer overflows and race conditions, out in the open. Code from this product and its offshoot projects such as OpenSSH are used in multiple commercial products. Mitigation cannot take place in one place, it has to occur at multiple levels, and we consider this to be one level.
There is no way to eliminate buffer overflows. Again, you are right. However, there are steps as part of a total security plan that can be taken to include this as part of a security process. This is only one part of the total security solution and posture that a company can adopt. Firewalls and IDSs are only one part of your total protection measure. PowerPC is not just a one-step band aid. It is a starting point. Customers need a total security posture, and this is one component of it, providing border-level or internal protection as a component of a security system, not the system itself.
About selling the Pegasos early -- we cannot control what the Reseller's decide to do. In any case this is an issue between buyer and seller. Where we erred, we communicated directly and settled the manner.
We are actually looking forward to you having a system. We appreciated your feedback and it helped us to tune our direction. Thanks!
Sincerely,
R&B |
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