Jetpack is Mozilla’s new API for developers to create add-ons for the Firefox Web browser. Currently, many Firefox add-ons work through an extension called “Greasemonkey,” which some fear may disappear if Jetpack takes off. Jetpack, however, has its advantages in terms of compatibility and the ability to activate new features without a browser restart. It allows developers to create adds-ons using web technologies including HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Jetpack is an open source application programming interface (API) that will let users create add-ons for Mozilla’s Firefox browser using the Web technologies they already know.

Meanwhile, some developers are concerned that the launch of Jetpack could mean Mozilla will kill off Greasemonkey, a Firefox extension that lets users customize the way Web pages look and feel.

“How is this any different from Greasemonkey?” asked Casey in a comment on the Mozilla Jetpack blog. “Aren’t you just risking taking development resources away from them and their community when they already have something great in place?”

Greasemonkey is not a Mozilla project, Raskin pointed out. However, there is no conflict between Greasemonkey and Jetpack.

“Greasemonkey is an awesome Firefox extension,” Raskin said, “but it’s about modifying pages you’re looking at, whereas Jetpack lets you modify the browser.”

With 12,000+ add-ons, it’s no wonder Firefox draws a lot of users’, and by turning to web technologies, Mozilla is hoping to pave the path for more developers to create add-ons.

“We want to grow our community of developers by orders of magnitude through making add-on creation much more accessible, and yet more powerful by developing it as an extensible platform for innovation itself. Many useful Jetpack Feature’s can be written in under a dozen lines of code,” says Mozilla developer Aza Raskin on the company blog.

“Jetpack will be an exploration in using web technologies to enhance the browser with the goal of allowing anyone who can build a website to participate in making the web a better place to work, communicate and play.”

There’s already a few sample add-ons created in Jetpack to play with, including a simple ad blocker program and Gmail notification extension.

More about Jetpack

Jetpack is an exploration in using Web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript to create add-ons for the Firefox browser, according to Mozilla.

It will let users add new features without having to worry about compatibility and without having to restart their browsers, as is now the case.

“Jetpack is an open source platform on top of which anybody that can write a Web page can now enhance the browser,” Asa Raskin, head of user experience at Mozilla Labs, told LinuxInsider. “We want to make the Web better and make it as personal as it can be.”

The current Jetpack release version is 0.1, which means it needs a lot more work. Mozilla intends to tweak and fine-tune the project with feedback from developers, especially on the API design.

“We ask ourselves, what are the cool innovations we can’t see around the corner that are coming, because all of a sudden there are new communities — students, anyone who can create a Web page — that are making the open Web a better space,” Raskin said.

The launch of Ubuntu One into beta not long ago has sparked a virtual tempest of debate about clouds — cloud computing, that is, and where Linux fits into it all. Ubuntu has already figured prominently in the news of late, both for Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth’s recent assertion that Linux doesn’t need Wine — causing a small gale of controversy in and of itself — and for the even more shocking news that emerged shortly thereafter indicating that the Ubuntu logo had been stolen!

Read more @ http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/67127.html

Microsoft and the Linux Foundation are both opposing a law group’s proposal that would create an implied warranty that software products ship with no material defects.

Finally, Microsoft and the Linux Foundation agree on something.

“While the principles reflect a lot of hard work and thought by the ALI, Microsoft and the Linux Foundation believe that certain provisions do not reflect existing law and could disrupt the well-functioning software market for businesses and consumers, as well as create uncertainty for software developers”, Microsoft deputy general counsel Horacio Gutierrez said in a blog posting.

The ALI is meeting in Washington this week and is scheduled to take up the issue, noted ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley.

Microsoft and the Linux Foundation aren’t the only ones against this. As Foley points out, the University of Houston’s Raymond Nimmer also wrote a biting critique of the ALI proposal.

Linux Foundation chief Jim Zemlin noted in a blog that its partnership with Microsoft makes for strange bedfellows. But, he said, the proposed legal standard would hurt open source and commercial software makers alike.

“The principles outlined by the ALI interfere with the natural operation of open source licenses and commercial licenses as well by creating implied warranties that could result in a tremendous amount of unnecessary litigation, which would undermine the sharing of technology,” Zemlin wrote.

Gutierrez also noted that Microsoft and its partner in this effort don’t necessarily see eye to eye on everything.

“The mere fact that the Linux Foundation and Microsoft are joining forces may be viewed by some as remarkable, given that our differences receive far more public attention than when our interests converge,” Gutierrez said. “Our industry is diverse and sometimes contentious, but if nothing else unites us it is that we all believe in the power of software.”

Gutierrez held out an olive branch, of sorts. “I hope that this represents just one of many opportunities to collaborate with the Linux Foundation and others going forward,” he said. “We have a lot more we can do together.”

The joint letter comes just a couple short months after Microsoft, for the first time, sued a company over its implementation of the Linux kernel. The company eventually settled with TomTom, but the move has created uncertainty over whether Microsoft intends to take legal action against Linux vendors that refuse to take a license to Microsoft’s patents.

Credit: cnet

A researcher has discovered a problem in the User Account Control of the beta version of Windows 7.

Security researcher Long Zheng has shown how an attacker could bypass the User Account Control (UAC), although he’s also shown how it can be remedied quite simply.

The UAC has been troublesome to Vista users’, as it notifies the user every time a program tries to alter the system. Many vista users’ disabled the UAC because of its frequent dialog boxes. In Windows 7, though, Microsoft has granted new rules that allow changes to Windows settings without notification, although other alterations still requite notifying the user.

The graphical interfaces system of Windows 7 RC contains old codes from Windows 3.1 where security is not considered when developed. When Microsoft optimizes the graphical interfaces of Windows 7, the incompatibility with old codes leads the system to blue screen.

Attackers will be able to firstly invade the System server of certain object to launch the attack, or to make a potential opportunity for a second attack. Thus, the security hole is a greater threat for the firm and government customers who’re using Windows 7 RC.

Microsoft however, have insisted that “the functionality is ‘by design’, dismisses the security concerns and again leans towards they will not be addressing the issue for the final release of Windows 7.

Microsoft’s Jon DeVaan has posted a response on the official Windows 7 blog with an extensive look at the UAC system in Windows 7 and their decision on the default security policy. In conclusion, they continue to stand by their decision and does not indicate they will change the default UAC policy.

A new computer worm called Downadup as infected 3.5 million personal PCs by exploiting a vulnerbility Microsoft patched last October. It reached 3.5 million in such a short period of time, using several different methods to spread, and has the ability to download new versions of itself.

This worm is actually pretty clever. It will attempt to call home to a variety of random domains that haven’t been registered which infected machines attempt to establish contact with. All its creators have to do is register one of the generated domains and bingo - they have your personal information

F-Secure’s CFO, Mikko Hyppönen explains: “The bad guys only need to predetermine one possible domain for tomorrow, register it, and set up a website, and they then gain access to all of the infected machines — pretty clever.”

F-Secure also managed to take a peek at the inner workings of the worm by registering one of the randomly generated domains. This has allowed them to analyze the connections that Downadup is making and, in fact, they have gained the ability to modify the worm’s update mechanism to remotely disinfect affected systems. However, for legal reasons, the company has decided not to do so.

Now is a very good time to run an anti-virus scan and also make sure you are using a strong password. And don’t forget to install Microsoft’s latest security updates. Additionally, Microsoft has added detection to the latest version of its free Malicious Software Removal Tool, which is available here.

31 years have passed since the first internet protocol structure was put in place and now, we’re faced with an obstacle. The internet is in danger of running out of free IP addresses - at least according to Google’s chief internet evangelist Vint Cerf.

According to Cerf, often referred to as “the father of the internet”, out of the 4.2 billion possible addresses there are only around 600 million left. I know that sounds like an awful lot, but with the expected explosion in the number of mobile devices connected to the internet, the world could run out of free addresses as early as late 2009/early 2010. Scary, isn’t it?

There’s a new system, known as IPV6, already in place though. IPV6 can provide up to 2^128 addresses (340 trillion trillion trillion), and Cerf is urging ISPs to inform customers of the upcoming switchover.