Well can you?

The latest release came out a few days ago and on all the systems I've tried so far (both Ubuntu and Kubuntu), all have failed with variations of the same error.

On the command line it looks like this:

W: A error occurred during the signature verification. The repository is not updated and the previous index files will be used.GPG error: http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid-updates Release: The following signatures were invalid: BADSIG 40976EAF437D05B5 Ubuntu Archive Automatic Signing Key W: Failed to fetch http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/intrepid-updates/Release W: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead. W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

On the Ubuntu GUI you get this:



It turns out the problem is almost four years old! You'll find full details here. Scroll to the bottom and you'll see I've added a fix that works for me. Here it is ...

1: Delete the contents of /var/lib/apt/lists/partial.

2: Ensure file /etc/apt/sources.list only points to "http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/" not sources such as "http://nz.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/"

3: Run the command sudo apt-get update -o Acquire::http::No-Cache=true

4: Run the command sudo apt-get update

Then login to Launchpad and record your success (or failure) in the hope of getting this damn thing fixed!

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Posted by Geoff Palmer at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

In the coming month's print edition of NZ PC World I look behind-the-scenes at "GhostNet", the bot network that infiltrated the Dalai Lama's government-in-exile in India then worked its way into computers managed by government agencies and embassies in 103 different countries. Though it only infected 1,295 computers it was particularly alarming because it penetrated the machines of people you'd expect to be particularly savvy about computer security. People like embassies in foreign countries. People like Associated Press in the UK, the Asian Development Bank, Deloitte & Touche in New York.

But that was last month ...

According to the BBC a new botnet has emerged: "Almost two million PCs globally, including machines inside UK and US government departments, have been taken over by malicious hackers."

The true cause of the problem barely gets a mention. They initially put it down to "vulnerabilities in web browsers." Only near the bottom of the piece does the truth emerge: "All of the infected machines were Windows-based PCs ..."

When will Windows users shout "Enough!"? If governments with all their resources and technical staff can't keep computers safe, what hope is there for any of us?

Grisoft (makers of antivirus program AVG) reckon, "There are 20,000 to 30,000 unique pieces of malware being submitted to antivirus labs around the world each day." 20,000 to 30,000? Imagine a disease that virulent ...

If a faulty TV set starts a fire and burns down your house, do you blame yourself? If you crash your car because a design fault causes the brakes to fail, are you really to blame? So why do you blame yourself when -- in spite of firewalls, patches and daily antivirus updates -- your flaky operating system lets hackers in?

Are most computer users really that stupid? Especially when the answer's free ...

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The recent conviction of the four men behind the notorious file-sharing site The Pirate Bay (TPB) is only the beginning of what looks like being a long, drawn-out legal saga.

On Friday (Swedish time) the four were found guilty of breaking copyright law, fined US$4.5m and sentenced to a year in jail -- though it's hard to see what law they actually broke. In essence they've been convicted for providing infrastructure. TPB doesn't host copyright material, it's merely a repository of .torrent files -- files that may themselves redirect users to copyrighted content, or free content, or any other kind of content at all.

If this seems a bit hair-splitting, consider Google. Add the word "torrent" to practically any search and you'll quickly find links to what may or may not be copyrighted downloads. Shouldn't Google also be prosecuted? After all, they're essentially providing the same infrastructure as TPB.

The main motivation for the TPB case is of course Big Entertainment posturing. These are the guys who've prosecuted 12 year-olds, dead people and even tried to have the early MP3 players banned. None of that worked. Now their emphasis is on pressuring governments to change national laws so that mere suspicion of downloading copyrighted content will get you thrown off the net. So far, a law change in New Zealand has failed though similar proposed changes in France still have some traction.

The Pirate Bay website continues -- it's currently running from servers largely located in the Netherlands -- and the "TPB Four" plan to appeal. In an internet press conference Peter Sunde, one of the convicted, reckoned that with both parties having recourse to the Swedish Supreme Court, the case could go on for another four or five years.

In the meantime, the Big Entertainment dinosaur lumbers on instead of actively seeking ways to exploit what has been for years a new way to distribute their wares.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The Java situation under Linux is, at best, confusing. Actually, the Java situation under Java is confusing, not least because "Java" can refer to the programming language, the execution environment, the virtual machine, applets, scripts, etc. For the sake of sanity, let's just stick to the bit that exectues programs.

Although it's a free download, Sun Microsystems -- who originally developed Java -- demand you accept their License Agreement. That's an anathema to many in the free software world, so most Linux distributions include a license-free alternative known as GIJ the GNU Interpreter for Java.

GIJ is simply an interpreter that allows most Java-compiled programs to be run without the onerous License Agreement. Note that I said "most". Occasionally it doesn't -- and that's where the confusion occurs.

You can see which version of Java you're running by typing the java -version command in a console window. Here's what I get under a default Ubuntu installation;

java version "1.5.0" gij (GNU libgcj) version 4.3.2

Yes, it's Java, but it's GIJ Java.

Before you rush off an install the Sun version, it's worth checking what other versions you have installed by typing sudo update-alternatives --config java

There are 2 alternatives which provide `java'. Selection   Alternative -----------------------------------------------         1   /usr/bin/gij-4.3 *+      2   /usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj/jre/bin/java

Since none of those mention Sun, I'd better install it. In Ubuntu, the command sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre does just that.

Now try the java -version command again ... and notice that nothing's happened. It still says what it said before. That's because Linux supports multiple Java environments. Now you need to tell it which one to use.

Repeat the sudo update-alternatives --config java, this time selecting the Sun version ...

There are 3 alternatives which provide `java'. Selection   Alternative -----------------------------------------------         1   /usr/bin/gij-4.3         2   /usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj/jre/bin/java *+      3   /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/bin/java

Now java -version should show something like ...

java version "1.6.0_07" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build ... Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build ...

Hopefully the situation will improve. In 2006 and 2007 Sun open sourced large slices of Java, but there are still proprietary pockets left. If the program you're trying to run needs one of 'em, you probably need Sun's version.



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Posted by Geoff Palmer at 7:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today apologised for the shocking state of his company's key product. "We've spent more than twenty years blaming end users for Windows' shortcomings," Ballmer said, "but today the buck stops here."

Ballmer’s admission came after he’d been subpoenaed to give evidence in the case of Olaf Prilo, a mobile phone user critically injured by a fault in the phones’ Windows CE (WinCE) operating system. Prilo was carrying the phone in his back pocket when a system fault turned the battery pack into a miniature rocket booster. Both phone and operating system are now deeply embedded.

"If you get injured because your car has a design fault, you sue the car maker," Ballmer told a packed courtroom. "If your TV set blows up and burns down your house, you sue the set maker. But if Windows runs amok and cripples you or your business, you blame hackers, virus writers, snoops, dodgy websites, flaky hardware, incompatible drivers, other vendors, other users, yourself ... anyone but the people actually responsible. After all, we're the ones who took your money."

Ballmer - long known for his calm, well-reasoned, intelligent speeches - became tearful at times, especially when shown x-rays of the embedded phone. Engineers have traced the fault to an undocumented Windows API call designed to detect the presence of Google’s Android operating system.



Ballmer is known for his calm, well-reasoned, intelligent speeches.


Jurors were initially puzzled by Ballmer’s references to DOS 11 and DOS 12 until it was revealed that this is how Windows Vista and Windows 7 are known within the company.

Defence attorneys argued that Prilo’s phone was still usable, though recharging was a little awkward and dialling required the use of a rubber glove, but Ballmer would have none of it. "I'm going to open up the company," he declared. "Closed-source licensing is killing the software business. It's a cancer. It's Pacman-like. It just gobbles up customer dollars."

When asked who he thought the company's strategy had hurt most, Ballmer replied, "Developers, developers, developers, developers."

At the end of the hearing a still tearful Ballmer was lead from the courtroom clutching a stuffed penguin.


Other news: Hackers "open source" Vista

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)