Despite news of its impending demise, the Linux open source software operating system continues to attract corporate customers.

Hewlett-Packard and IBM have become major proponents of the software. This month HP offered users of Sun Microsystems Solaris system up to US$25,000 worth of free services if they migrate to Linux.

The ‘Linux Lifeline' promotion offers a ten percent discount on any Sun server or storage system traded in and the free porting of one application and an assessment of porting and migration requirements for up to three others.

HP also will provide customers with a porting and migration requirements for up to three others. Customers will get a SAN (storage area network) assessment and use of an HP ProLiant server for up to 30 days. Initially, the programme is available only in North America, though it likely will be extended to Europe and Asia, HP said.

The offer extends through the end of 2003. Last month HP also announced it would indemnify its Linux customers for legal claims brought by SCO Group, which is suing IBM for US$3 billion, claiming that IBM misappropriated source code from Unix, an operating system to which SCO owns the copyright, and incorporated it into Linux.

SCO also sent 1,500 letters to companies worldwide warning them of potential legal liability arising from Linux use.

For SCO's explanation of the suit see the company's site at www.sco.com. SCO's letter to the ‘Open Source Community' is particularly interesting for companies that have deployed Linux and are worried about the suit. However HP's offer of indemnification for those who buy gear and support from HP after October 1, will reduce the risk for HP customers running Linux software, according to a new report by Forrester Research.

HP has backed Linux from the start and claims US$2 billion in revenues related to the software and has funded the Open Source Development Lab. Forrester found in a recent survey that only 16 percent of large firms were slowing their open source adoption because of the SCO lawsuits.

Open source software is attractive to companies because it is created as an open system by the developer community, without hidden and copyright code.

Thus it is cheaper to get (but not install!) and can be modified by companies for their own proprietary use.

I had a question from Bermuda this week about a common “problem” with anti-virus software and Windows Me and Windows XP. “I have McAfee virus protection. I downloaded the recent upgrade and did a scan. It came up with ‘potentially invasive' programs. I could delete most but three have a ‘write protected' (warning) on them and I couldn't delete, clean or quarantine. It said Restore\Archive\FS265.CAB, FS278.CAB & FS447.CAB. They were listed as generic diallers. How do I delete these, what are they and how did they get there?”

I don't know if Sue is using Windows Me or Windows XP but after searching around the McAfee site and coming up blank, I went to Norton AntiVirus's site at Symantec and found what I think is the answer, which is interesting enough to put briefly here. The answer deals with what to do when you cannot repair, quarantine, or delete a virus found in the “_RESTORE” or System volume information folder. One of the new features of Windows Me and Windows XP is the “System Restore” function.

The feature is enabled by default and is used by Windows to restore files on your computer in case they become damaged. Me keeps the restore information in the “_RESTORE” folder. XP stores the information in the “System” volume information folder. When a computer is infected with a virus Me and XP could back up the intruder in the “_RESTORE” or “System” folder.

By default, Windows prevents System Restore from being modified by outside programs and thus any repair attempts made by an anti-virus program will fail to get your anti-virus program to work you must disable “System Restore”. To set your options for the “System Restore” function go to “My Computer” then “Properties” followed by “Performance”, “File System”, “Troubleshooting” and check “Disable System Restore”. For Windows XP click “My Computer” then “Properties” followed by “System Restore” and check the “Turn off System Restore” function.

Remember to restart the computer, which purges the “System Restore” folder then run a full system scan again. For more information go to www.symantec.com. For a free full system scan and online virus removal tool go to Trend Micro' s site at http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall.

Tech Tattle deals with issues in technology. Contact Ahmed at editoroffshoreon.com