Monthly Word From The Program Director

[Adam Tauno Williams <awilliam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

April is **Paranoid Penguin** month,  an opportunity for you to learn how to secure your Linux/UNIX/BSD machine(s).  We have a great series of presentations lined up:

10th - Richard Zimmerman presents "Paranoid Penguin: Tips to Securing Linux", including SUID audits and disabling daemons.  You can bone up on your exorcism skills at this one.

17th - Dirk Bartley presents "Paranoid Penguin: Netfilter".  Netfilter is the new stateful firewall code included in the 2.4.x series kernel.  Learn why security minded users in all the lower 48 are putting 2.4 on there firewalls.

24th - Ted Juszczak presents "Paranoid Penguin: OpenBSD".  Why do many people consider the BSDs to be more secure than Linux?  Come find out.  Use OpenBSD to keep the doors closed.

This is our first official theme month, and it seems be a hit.  So in a few months we are going to do it again ... July will be "Dszqsfe Qforvjo" month,  designated for the discussion of encryption and encryption related security issues.

But before that we have two big events:

On May 29th we have a guest speaker.  Kelly Parker Phd, an Associate Profesor of Philosophy at Grand Valley State University, is coming to KLUG to share his experiences and ruminations about the use of Open Source in an educational enviroment.  You can find his paper "Open Sources and the Open Society" at http://agora.phi.gvsu.edu/kap/OSFS/.  "Open Sources and the Open Society" was presented at the Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing Symposium on ``Shaping the Network Society,'' sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility at the University of Washington, Seattle, 20 May 2000.  If you know anyone involved in education please remeber to invite them to this meeting.

On July 4 we have our sort-of-annual Independence day party at the Smith's residence.  Pool and food will be provided. An e-mail message to Linus has been sent requesting good weather, but we all know he gets alot of mail, so we will just have to wait and see about that part.  If I had to choose between XFS in the mainstream kernel or good weather on the 4th.... but I digress.  Come and enjoy the company of others set free by Open Source.

     *****************The evening meeting on July 3rd is CANCELLED**********************