【正文】 Bliss, it actually works on any UNIXlike OS and offers a helpful``blissuninfectfilesplease’’ mandline option. Alan Cox points out that Bliss ``does not circumvent the security of the system, it relies on people with privilege to do something dumb’’ and reminds users to install digitally signed software from trustworthy sites only and to check signatures before installing. ``In fact it’s probably easier to write a virus for Linux because it’s open source and the code is available. So we will be seeing more Linux viruses as the OS bees more mon and popular.’’Wishful thinking from McAfee January 1998 Linux Weekly News begins publication with Jonathan Corbet and Elizabeth Coolbaugh as founders. The very first issue, dated January 22, was just a tiny hint of what LWN was to bee. Netscape announces that they will release the source to their browser under a free software license. This almost certainly remains one of the most important events of the year。 it opened a lot of eyes to what Linux and free software could provide. Red Hat Advanced Development Labs (RHAD) is founded. It has since bee one of the higherprofile places where people are paid to develop free software and an important ponent of the GNOME Project. RHAD is able to attract developers like ``Rasterman’’ (although only for a short time) and Federico MenaQuintero. February 1998 The Cobalt Qube is announced and immediately bees a favorite in the trade press due to its high performance, low price and cute form factor. Cobalt’s Linux engineering is done by none other than David Miller, the source of much that is good in the Linux kernel. The Linux user munity wins InfoWorld’s technical support award。 Red Hat also won their Operating System award. But it was the tech support award that truly opened some eyes。 everybody had been saying that Linux had no support. This was the beginning of the end of the ``no support’’ argument. Eric Raymond and friends e up with the term ``open source’’. They apply for trademark status and put up the web site. Thus begins the formal effort to push Linux for corporate use. March 1998 Consumer advocate Ralph Nader asks the large PC vendors (Dell, Gateway, Micron, etc.) to offer nonMicrosoft systems, including systems with Linux installed. April 1998 Linux is covered by the US National Public Radio news, marking one of its first appearances in the mainstream, nontechnical press. O’Reilly holds the ``first ever’’ Free Software Summit, featuring Larry Wall, Brian Behlendorf, Linus Torvalds, Guido van Rossum, Eric Allman, Phil Zimmermann, Eric Raymond and Paul Vixie. May 1998 The Google search engine pops up. Not only is it one of the best search engines around, but it’s based on Linux and features a Linuxspecific search page. Big databases start to arrive. Support for Linux is announced by Computer Associates for their Ingres system and by Ardent Software for their O2 object database. June 1998 ``Like a lot of products that are free, you get a loyal following even though it’s small. I’ve never had a customer mention Linux to me.’’Bill Gates, PC Week, June 25, 1998 ``...these operating systems will not find widespread use in mainstream mercial applications in the next three years, nor will there be broad thirdparty application support.’’The Gartner Group says there is little hope for free software. A Datapro study es out showing that Linux has the highest user satisfaction of any system。 it also shows Linux to be the only system other than Microsoft Windows NT that is increasing its market share. IBM announces that it will distribute and support the Apache web server after working a deal with the Apache team. July 1998 The desktop wars rage as KDE and GNOME advocates hurl flames at each other. Linus gets in on the act, saying that KDE is okay with him. In this context, KDE is released. The first stable release of the K Desktop Environment proves to be popular, despite the plaints from those who do not like the licensing of the Qt library. Informix quietly releases software for Linux. Meanwhile, Oracle beats Informix to the punch PRwise and makes a Linuxfriendly announcement first, suggesting that they would soon be supporting Linux. Oracle promises to make a trial version available by the end of 1998, a deadline they beat by months. This, seemingly, was one of the acid tests for the potential of longterm success for Linux。 a great deal of attention resulted from both Informix’s and Oracle’s announcements. Informix announces support for Linux effectively moments after Oracle does so. Sybase later announces their support for Linux also. Linus appears on the cover of Forbes magazine. A lengthy story presents Linux in a highly positive manner and brings the system to the attention of many who had never heard of it before. Linux begins to bee a household word. September 1998 is launched by Dave Whitinger and Dwight Johnson. The site, later acquired by , arguably bees the most wellread and visited Linux portal of all time. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer admits that they are ``worried’’ about free software and suggests that some of the Windows NT source code may be made available to developers. The same month Microsoft goes on to list Linux as a petitive threat in its annual SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) filing. Speculation abounds that their real purpose is to influence the uping antitrust trial. October 1998 ``For the moment, however, the pany from Redmond, Washington, seems almost grateful for the rising profile of Linux, seeing it as an easy way of demonstrating that Windows is not a monopoly, ahead of its antitrust trial, scheduled to begin on October 15. That may be shortsighted. In the long run, Linux and other opensource programs could cause Mr. Gates much grief.’’The Economist, October 3, 1998