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To: Tony Viola who wrote (159549)	2/21/2002 1:26:53 AM
From: milo_morai	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Well if you listen to the Stanford presentation it appears MSFT is on board but AMD cannot comment as they have to announce it.

To: Tony Viola who wrote (159549)	2/21/2002 2:50:12 AM
From: Paul Engel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 186894

Looks like Germany's Bundestag prefers Windows 2000 over Linux. "Windows 2000 was “the more unified, the 'more mature' product." " This is good for MAD - because MAD has a factory in Germany and MAD's Fatwah Sanders the Turd is now Bill Gates best friend and witness !!! Apparently, some Linux applications - such as the vaunted StarOffice - have a little trouble with simple things like Copy and paste - simple Clipboard functions ! {===================================} heise.de Administration of the German Parliament Confirms Maturity of Linux [] In parallel to its external migration study[1], the administration of the "Bundestag", Germany's federal parliament, has performed tests of its own in cooperation with Microsoft on the one hand and IBM and SuSE on the other, prior to a forthcoming switch to a new operating system. heise online has managed to obtain the results of the study: These are bound to enliven the already heated debate about the future IT landscape that will envelop Germany's members of parliament. According to the test results the two configurations examined -- Windows 2000 as server in conjunction with Windows XP as client operating system and SuSE 7.2/7.3 respectively -- display an "adequate degree of stability". The 68-page report notes that the results of the tests of the required functions of both variant configurations were "positive overall". Consequently both ranges of products could “be implemented given enough lead time, as well as adequate levels of personnel, materiel and funds". Nevertheless the final impression conveyed to the federal parliament's administrators by the test results was that they would do better to choose Windows: The teams of testers gave precedence "from a technical point of view" to Windows XP, especially as a client operating system, over Linux or the KDE-Desktop system used by SuSE respectively. Although the report observed that the tests involving commonplace office activities undertaken with the open source product StarOffice 6 did not generate serious errors and compatibility with files created with the aid of Windows was guaranteed, for the most part, the IT experts of the federal government's administration found fault with the fact that working with copy & paste, an activity evidently popular with the members of parliament, was "not supported in full" and that the clipboard function could not be used at all times. With respect to sever operations too the subsections of the administration involved in the IT testing gained the impression that Windows 2000 was “the more unified, the 'more mature' product." All required services could have been realized through either one of the solution packages, the report notes, but the testers after watching the demonstration by IBM could not rid themselves of the suspicion that with respect to the system "a significantly greater effort in terms of programming, installing and testing” would be required. Among others “problems with hardware recognition” as well as the need in some cases for post-system-setup manual implementation were given as reasons for this assessment. The technicians also foresaw a greater amount of effort required when installing and configuring IT security components in a Linux as opposed to a Windows environment. Points of especial interest were the creation and administration of strict cryptographic measures designed to prevent access to the user's data by unauthorized third parties, the introduction and operation of a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in accordance with the German law on signing and signatures as well as the use of smart cards for authentication purposes. Basic security issues on the other hand such as vulnerability to viral assault or the fact that with open source applications the community of developers as well as government agencies can scan the source code were not considered of particular importance. Neither of the two camps was able to meet all the requires of Germany's parliament, however. For instance, the IT security subsections of the administration complained that the PKI established by IBM through Linux existed "with respect to certain functions only". But neither did the "simple PKI" of Windows 2000 meet all the conditions laid down by the German law on signing and signatures, it was said. The testers pointed out that the smart card solution presented by Microsoft worked with up to four digits only and did not permit PINs that used letters in addition to numbers and that it was not possible to enter the digits into the reader itself. The administration of directories by the server was reminiscent of Microsoft's Active Directory, although the Infora study by the eponymous external consulting agency had rejected this for security reasons. However, the "better quality " of Microsoft's presentation did seem to sway the technicians. The objective of the analyses undertaken in the period from the end of September to the middle of November 2001 by the IT subsections of the administration in conjunction with the companies had been to determine which commercially available software would allow the system to be switched as smoothly as possible. Thereby attention had to be payed throughout to the specific tasks that the federal parliament and its administration perform. The IT subsections of the administration intend to issue a recommendation this week based upon their own test results as well as the Infora study, which will be taken into account when the all-party parliamentary committee designated the "council of elders" will reach its final decision in a week's time. (Robert W. Smith) / (Stefan Krempl) / (jk[2]/c't) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- URL of this article: heise.de Links in this article: [1] heise.de [2] mailto:jk@ct.heise.de -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2002 by Verlag Heinz Heise