Novell Dismisses AppArmor Developer
Two years after acquiring the company that developed AppArmor Novell has dismissed the developer behind the security technology.
The AppArmor Linux security technology is mainly the brainchild of one man: Crispin Cowan, the founder and CEO of Immunix, which was acquired by Novell two years ago. Cowan has now confirmed his dismissal, effective as of September 28; four other people working on the project were dismissed at the same time He was surprised by the decision at the time, says Crispin; he had received salary increases and bonus payments right up to the end. Novell has been unwilling to comment on this move, thus far. Cowan has joined forces with two other people affected by the dismissals, Steve Beattie and Dominic Reynolds to found a new consultancy agency called Mercenary Linux which will focus on AppArmor development and technologies.
Hired, fired and now his own boss again: AppArmor developer Crispin Cowan.
Novell uses AppArmor in its enterprise distribution, Suse Linux Enterprise Server, and intends to carry on updating the software and releasing it on Novell websites. In 2006, Novell released AppArmor as an Open Source technology, and the development process has changed considerably since then. Crispin does not think it is sufficient to leave development of AppArmor up to the community, and is looking for sponsors for the security technology. He would also be happy to sell his new company, with its portfolio of AppArmor services, if a sponsor is interested.
Besides Novell, Canonical, the company behind the free Ubuntu Linux distribution, will be using AppArmor for its next Ubuntu version; and the new Mandriva Linux 2008 distribution also includes the security solution. In contrast to this, Red Hat relies on the competing technology, Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux).
Issue 268/2023
Buy this issue as a PDF
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
KDE Plasma 5.27 Beta is Ready for Testing
The latest beta iteration of the KDE Plasma desktop is now available and includes some important additions and fixes.
-
Netrunner OS 23 Is Now Available
The latest version of this Linux distribution is now based on Debian Bullseye and is ready for installation and finally hits the KDE 5.20 branch of the desktop.
-
New Linux Distribution Built for Gamers
With a Gnome desktop that offers different layouts and a custom kernel, PikaOS is a great option for gamers of all types.
-
System76 Beefs Up Popular Pangolin Laptop
The darling of open-source-powered laptops and desktops will soon drop a new AMD Ryzen 7-powered version of their popular Pangolin laptop.
-
Nobara Project Is a Modified Version of Fedora with User-Friendly Fixes
If you're looking for a version of Fedora that includes third-party and proprietary packages, look no further than the Nobara Project.
-
Gnome 44 Now Has a Release Date
Gnome 44 will be officially released on March 22, 2023.
-
Nitrux 2.6 Available with Kernel 6.1 and a Major Change
The developers of Nitrux have officially released version 2.6 of their Linux distribution with plenty of new features to excite users.
-
Vanilla OS Initial Release Is Now Available
A stock GNOME experience with on-demand immutability finally sees its first production release.
-
Critical Linux Vulnerability Found to Impact SMB Servers
A Linux vulnerability with a CVSS score of 10 has been found to affect SMB servers and can lead to remote code execution.
-
Linux Mint 21.1 Now Available with Plenty of Look and Feel Changes
Vera has arrived and although it is still using kernel 5.15, there are plenty of improvements sure to please everyone.