A Linux developer who works for the biggest open source vendor Red Hat has questioned why security holes in older Linux kernels — those that are listed as having long-term support — are being quietly patched by senior kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman, who is more or less deputy to Linux creator Linus Torvalds, without issuing the standard CVE advisories.

Intel's bid to hide the fact that microcode patches it issued to fix vulnerabilities in its processors were causing slowdowns has been exposed and the company has rewritten the terms of the licence for these patches as a result.

Veteran open source advocate Bruce Perens has been awarded almost US$260,000 (A$343,343) in solicitors' fees and US$2403 as costs by San Francisco Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler over a defamation claim against him that went nowhere.