Follow Us on Twitter
by jcannon on January 31, 2008 03:05pm
<lighter note> I'm going to guess that some of our audience knows what ComicCon is - I'm familiar as I was huge DC and Marvel fan in the mid-90's...Who was not, I suppose. My favorite hero, to this day, is Batman (he fights the fight without any special powers....) - and the annual San Diego event was an easy way to track that industry, and the entertainment space around it. Suffice to say, I'm excited for the Dark Knight.
What does this have to do with Microsoft? As part of the very cool {Heroes} work being done, we're now featuring comics that, "adapts tech stories from actual IT Professionals and Developers - a web comic that reflects the real lives of IT Hero's such as you." They're very clever. And to beat, the stories are by Chuck Dixon, a man very well known to Batman fans in the 1990s.
Enjoy the dailies, or subscribe to the RSS feed - I chuckled at the Firewall story.
</lighter note>
by jcannon on January 25, 2008 06:58pm
Abstract: The Apache authentication module mod_auth_kerb allows Apache to authenticate users against a Kerberos KDC including one from ActiveDirectory. Kerberos itself can be fairly complex to set up. This guide will attempt to show the specific steps required to make this possible as well as discuss security limitations specific to the interoperability matters. This guide assumes a basic understanding of Kerberos V and that the Active Directory domain controller is properly configured prior to starting this process.
Note: This paper represents testing and documentation in a lab environment. User Account Control (UAC) is an essential security component to Windows and Microsoft does not recommend turning off UAC in production environments.
Attachment: ApacheKerbWindowsServer.pdf
by jcannon on January 21, 2008 02:39pm
Earlier this month, I was reading the Open Solutions Alliance's top predictions for 2008....this was based on polling they conducted within their membership base. It's a good read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys that kind of fodder (there's no shortage of "predictions," it seems, this time of year.) The full report is here (PDF). One in particular caught my eye: The CEO of Adaptive Planning, William Soward, echoed the 451 Group in his assertion that '...open source is becoming a fundamental element of all software...'
To a great or lesser extent, open source or open source-inspired development approaches and the increasingly related fields of "open" collaboration and innovation are undeniably spreading to many fields of software conception, design and development. One could look at this horizontally, or where open source development is happening at the fundamental stacks within computer science (operating systems, compilers, editors, programming languages)- and we see this all the time: Linux, Java, Haskell, Ruby, Python; or, one could look at vertical development, as in ESB, CRM, Retail or Healthcare applications...and this is happening as well: MuleSource, Iona and LedgerSMB are a few examples. In each case, the classic struggle to advance software usefulness is being addressed by open collaboration, where certain fundamentals are being shared within a larger group to allow for greater concentration on, say, bigger issues. In the same vein of Soward's prediction, there have always been & always will be certain aspects of technology that cut across all software. One obvious example that comes to mind is security. No matter what the software size or complexity, purpose or reason, security has a home among the fundamental considerations made by programmers, on behalf of the end-user. Privacy is another aspect of the software (and data) lifecycle that is increasingly core – but still not quite there...
Open source will have a similar home, I imagine, in the minds of developers. Where does open source have a home in my software's lifecycle? What components will galvanize and excite a community? What components will not? Much like security, the industry will expect these considerations as a part of all software development.
This is something our team has recognized and - recently, something that was recognized by the Engineering Excellence folks. In a nutshell, Engineering Excellence is about ensuring code quality and best practices are part of the fabric of software development. If anything, it represents Microsoft's view of excellence in software engineering practices. And yes, we even have an internal handbook.... I can’t think of a better reflection of open source growing into all software –including at Microsoft--than sharing a glimpse from that handbook. (As you may have noticed, I'm keen on the screenshots.....). Among many considerations, we expect all of our developers to understand core elements, such as Privacy, Security, Code Integrity, etc. We have - as of December 2007, added “Shared Source Code."
This section adds to an established set of practices: “exchanging source code with external parties for development and testing” for sharing source code outside of Microsoft and inside of Microsoft. This is now a core component to our fundamental practices across Microsoft development. This is significant as the considerations for sharing original inventions outside any company is always difficult - including at Microsoft.
If this is any indication, I agree with Mr. Soward's prediction... In 2008, the world will see more organizations evaluate where open sources makes sense as part of their fundamental product development considerations....and it will increasingly appear across horizontal and vertical software development, or "all software."
Here's to an exciting year together.
by jcannon on January 10, 2008 01:57pm
It's going to be a busy couple months in the open source industry, with a number of influential conferences convening over the next six months to discuss the latest issues, advances and topics facing OSS. More on those later, but I wanted to get something quick up on one in particular that Microsoft is participating in - the MySQL User Conference in April. Folks may remember our sponsorship in 2007, (Bryan has a good read on this) - and I'm happy to continue this support and participation.
As part of our sponsorship, we've negotiated a discount for registration we can extend to our community. If you're interested in attending, register at http://www.mysqlconf.com and enter code: mys08micr. This will give you a discount of 10% against the cost of your ticket....we hope to see you there.
PS. Thank you to our friends at MySQL, in particular Kaj Arno for the continued support. (Kaj - thanks for the calendar ;))
by jonrosenberg on January 08, 2008 02:22pm
Those of you who’ve read my little bio at the bottom of this blog may have guessed that I have a life-long passion for helping kids learn and a strong belief that technology can be a great educational tool. Next month I will be moving to a new position at Microsoft that will allow me to indulge this passion full-time as Director of Education Solutions, helping Microsoft to innovate around technology, delivery models and partnerships to reach the majority of the world’s student population that don’t have access to technology and its benefits today.
Many families today take technology for granted. I know mine does. We all assume that a computer will always be on, connected to the Internet, available to help with studying, problem solving, productivity, and finding the answer to just about any question that we can think of, including how well Junior is doing in Spanish class :) While I appreciate what technology has done to enrich my children’s education, I am also aware that the majority of people in the world do not have access to a computer. My new job is, quite simply, to get to work on this problem and I can’t wait to get started.
After all the OSCONs, OSBCs and other interactions with the Open Source community, I’m quite sure that the list of things I’ve learned and people I have to thank for it is longer than your reading endurance. So I’ll just say that it’s been great, I will never forget the cooperative spirit in which many of you engaged with me as Microsoft made its first forays into the world of Open Source, and I’m sure that many of our paths will cross again as we endeavor to improve education in the developing world.
by jcannon on January 04, 2008 02:02pm
Abstract: Often SSL or TLS is required to secure data from web applications. Sometimes this is just prudent to prevent confidential or sensitive data from being confiscated. Sometimes this is required by regulations like HIPAA or industry bodies, such as the Payment Card Industry. This guide will show how to install Apache with SSL on Windows.
Download Report Installing Apache on Windows