Apple Releases New Security Update

maradong writes "Apple released a new Security Update today. The 3.7 MB Update fixes problems in CUPS Printing, libxml2, Mail, and OpenSSL."

Comments

So far, so good

[speechpoet]

Having thrown caution to the winds and installed the sucker the moment it appeared in Software Update, I'm pleased to say my G5 hasn't caught fire or gone careening out my 7th-storey window. Yet.

Re:So far, so good

[lullabud]

You say "yet" as if you're expecting that to happen, or insinuating that it has happened in the past... So, where is this that you live? I could use a G5, even if it has fallen 7 stories to the streets below.

no way theres a link between Fairplay and this

[Selecter]

I doubt they have anything to do with each other - the timeframe between events is too short.

Installed here with no problems on my 1.8 Dual.

Re:This is quick!

[javax]

Forget about it!
If this would be the case, iTunes would have at least been named in the list of apps/libs getting fixes.

Nevertheless the update installed flawless w/o problems.

CUPS of crap

[ickna]

I wonder how "fixed" CUPS is now.. Out of the box, I had a biotch of a time setting up my new G5.. and I work in a print-production shop.. so CUPS and me are buddy-buddy. I had to add about eight printers in "advanced" mode, because we don't /get/ to use appletalk on the network. Kinda makes me miss Chooser..

Re:CUPS of crap

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, most PC technicians don't even know how to detect AppleTalk. There's a good chance that you could just turn it on and they'd never know that you'd violated a buzzword. :) AppleTalk really is still the best way to print on a Mac, although Rendezvous is catching up fast.

Eric in Seattle

Re:CUPS of crap

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how "fixed" CUPS is now.. Out of the box, I had a biotch of a time setting up my new G5.. and I work in a print-production shop.. so CUPS and me are buddy-buddy.

Hey, don't feel bad. CUPS sucks on all platforms. The first thing I have to do on my Linux box is uninstall CUPS and install the regular old lpr print system.

Re:CUPS of crap

[bjackson]

a good URL for cups information specific to your machine: http://localhost:631

Re:CUPS of crap

[seann]

The only cups update seems to be involving the addition of the option:
SystemGroup lp,admin
to the /etc/cups/cupsd.conf file.

Re:CUPS of crap

[shigelojoe]

You know, most PC technicians don't even know how to detect AppleTalk. There's a good chance that you could just turn it on and they'd never know that you'd violated a buzzword. :) AppleTalk really is still the best way to print on a Mac, although Rendezvous is catching up fast.

Eric in Seattle

You know, posting your name and location kind of defeats the purpose of being an Anonymous Coward. ; )

Re:CUPS of crap

[prockcore]

You know, most PC technicians don't even know how to detect AppleTalk. There's a good chance that you could just turn it on and they'd never know that you'd violated a buzzword.

Two points.

One. Appletalk doesn't route on most routers by default, so if you have more than one subnet (and any company should) you're screwed.

Two. They may not detect AppleTalk but they'd detect the broadcast storms that AppleTalk creates.. and they'd be asking you if you're running some malware since you're spamming the subnet.

Re:CUPS of crap

[Jesselovesscripts]

Your full of it. I've monitored our network traffice before and after turning appletalk on; only because IP printing was way to erratic. Works on some, not on others. Some can print, but only postscript errors. the traffic does increase slightly, however since everything we run is gigabit, i don't see how this is a problem. there has certainly been no noticable slowdown. TCP/IP printing doesn't use the network as much because it doesn't do anything but print the job. Appletalk will tell you when the printer is low on ink, if it's busy, and there is conformation of the job being sent, without having to go into a browser and entering in it's URL. novice users don't want that. i prefer the extra communication. some don't like it. but don't post cause you read on some bulletin board that appletalk is "chatty" and you think your a networking genius. and appletalk works fine on most routers, apart from linksys. it's a common protocal. especially in the advertising/printing fields.

Re:CUPS of crap

[Jesselovesscripts]

something i forgot to mention, IP printing work erratic on 10.3 systems. and only with certain printers.

re-read it, and thought i should clarify IP printing as a whole is fast and stable.. just doesn't work with certain printers with certain macs in certain circumstances i guess.

Re:CUPS of crap

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, posting your name and location kind of defeats the purpose of being an Anonymous Coward. ; )

That's what he wants you to think.

Osama in Buenos Aires

Re:This is quick!

[Anonymous Coward]

QuickTime.... the DRM is in the QuickTime API....

Mac OSX based *nix

[kidventus]

I'm sure the apple website has something. Soo much nicer than d/l rpms on my linux box for OpenSSL and cups. Better load up2date and wait for the package to error out.. when new RPMs are released... *a month from now* I hate Linux, Mac OSX is the best *nix on the planet right now because it has Apple behind it.

Re:Mac OSX based *nix

[kidventus]

Why mod it down as flamebait? I think the comment about Apple keeping the open source binaries up to date better than other distros of *nixes is relevant.

Re:Mac OSX based *nix

[javax]

It is marked as redundant.

Come on, everyone knows it is the best Unix available on this planet, of course this gets moded down...

"optimizing"

[gumbi west]

Does anybody know what is happening when it says "Optimizing the volume [...]"?

Re:"optimizing"

[alien666]

Could it be defragging or prebinding?

Re:"optimizing"

[ubiquitin]

Yes, after the installers run they typically update prebinding. From the update_prebinding man page:


update_prebinding tries to synchronize prebinding information for
libraries and executables when new files are added to a system. Prebind-
ing information is pre-calculated address information for libraries used
by a given executable or library. By pre-determining where a function in
another library is destined to be placed, the dynamic linker does not
have to resolve symbols at application startup time, and the application
can launch faster.

Re:"optimizing"

[tim1724]

Does anybody know what is happening when it says "Optimizing the volume [...]"?

Yep, it's updating the prebinding on applications and frameworks. Prebinding is a performance enhancement in which the addresses of symbols in shared libraries are calculated ahead of time so that the dynamic linker doesn't have to do it every time an application is launched. This can reduce application launch time by 10-30% if the application links against a lot of shared libraries. Whenever a library is changed (such as in an update like this) then the prebinding has to be redone. The Installer automatically does this for you.

Note that if you install something w/o using Apple's Installer, and the prebinding on a file isn't updated, this is no big deal. When you launch the application, the dynamic linker will notice that the prebinding is wrong and will automatically update the prebinding. The first time you launch the application it will be a little bit slower than normal, but after that the prebinding will be there and improve the launch time.

Re:"optimizing"

[NaugaHunter]

Does anybody know what is happening when it says "Optimizing the volume [...]"?

Yes. Market Research has shown the switchers from Windows PCs don't trust software installations that proceed to quickly. The "Optimizing" loop will steadily decrease for as long as you own the machine to zero, at which point you will compare the time to a Windows machine and assume that Windows has steadily required more and more time and you are even more discouraged from switching back.

Re:"optimizing"

[nuckin futs]

yeah. it basically does the command line equivalent of
sudo upate_prebinding -root. check here for more info.

Re:"optimizing"

[Anonymous Coward]

It's trying to set the volume at the maximum level that won't damage your ears or the speakers themselves. It does this by sending out minute pulses of sound and detecting small disturbances in the microphone input. If the disturbance is crackly, it's the speakers just about to give out. If it's a high-pitched squeal, it's your ears starting to ring. The procedure must vary the volume level of the pulses until it reaches one of these thresholds and then back it off every so slightly.

It's very important to go through this lengthy calibration procedure each time new software is installed, because it's possible that a new program isn't setup properly for the optimum volume levels on your system. You could destroy your entire system otherwise!

No problems here

[davester666]

It set my dog on fire and moved me into a trailer park. Other than that, it works great for me on a 17" AlPb...

Re:No problems here

[Bingo Foo]

it works great for me on a 17" AlPb...

Boy, the 17" Aluminum Apple Notebooks are heavy enough. I can't imagine what an Aluminum-Lead one would be like.

Re:No problems here

[Trurl's Machine]

Boy, the 17" Aluminum Apple Notebooks are heavy enough. I can't imagine what an Aluminum-Lead one would be like.

You can take an estimate from this fine 17-pound Mac Portable. It used a lead battery, so I guess it's safe to call it Plastic-Lead. Although it was often called Marketing-Disaster.

Re:No problems here

[Anonymous Coward]

Although it was often called Marketing-Disaster.

And to some smart-asses: "iPod 0.1"

Updates to CUPS

[illuminatedwax]

Looks like Apple is finally listening to ESR. Way to take the initiative, Apple!

--Stephen

all systems go

[cheerios]

iMac 700 G4 flat panel combo drive and everything seems fine... reboot even seemed a little faster, but that's probably 'cuz I haven't rebooted in a month. ;)

Working fine here..

[ItMustBeEsoteric]

iBook G3 900MHz

Also, if you're interested in running that update prebindings command sometime to get a better idea of what it does:

sudo -u root update_prebinding -verbose -root /
Password: ********

And watch it scroll away.

Re:Working fine here..

[Gropo]

2004-04-06 08:43:21.750 update_prebinding[377] *** Uncaught exception: *** -[NSPlaceholderString initWithUTF8String:]: NULL cString
Trace/BPT trap

Re:This is quick!

[mkoz]

Playfair still works for me...

Re:WHAT???

[Anonymous Coward]

You sad retarded fucker. Too bad you are poor and your mommy and daddy can't afford to get you even a cheap 12 inch iBook. Maybe someday if you can get a really good job by getting straight A's in your redneck podunk highschool (make sure you can read when you graduate) you'll be able to afford a Powerbook G4 1Ghz with a gig of ram and a superdrive. Until then, you'll be slumming with windows, the OS of poor people.

That's how you troll kiddy. :)

G3 450iMacDV - Still Churns and Burns

[eroyce]

I am amazed after every update that my old iMac still runs like new. I have never had any problems updating, installing, or anything else. How many 1999 windows PC's can claim that every OS update just makes everything better? I'm not trying to provoke a response, I just wanted to share my joy of "it just works". Thanks Apple.

Re:G3 450iMacDV - Still Churns and Burns

[skinfitz]

How many 1999 windows PC's can claim that every OS update just makes everything better?

Er.. (assuming you mean windows PC *owners*) ... all of them?

Software update: my experience

[BobWeiner]

I applied the software update on my Dual G5 -- things seem to be smooth afterward (well, at least nothing broke...). Now, if there only were a program that would automatically notify and allow me to automatically download updates for my other third-party apps...

Re:Software update: my experience

[nuckin futs]

i believe versiontracker pro does that.

Re:Software update: my experience

[Anonymous Coward]

Nah - use macupdate. They actually use macs. Plus it's free.

Re:Software update: my experience

[YOU LIKEWISE FAIL IT]

Macupdate Desktop runs US$30/year. MUMenu, which isn't quite the same, is free. It's sad, these are things you come to take for granted from environments like Debian.

Still, at least some software authors like the Poisoned team are integrating self update functionality into the software itself. ( And yeah, I know that can be a bad thing. )

Re:Software update: my experience

[maradong]

there is a software called "renew" on the net.
used it back in the jaguar days, and can't find a negative point on it.
thought i don't really need it.

iBook G4 not so happy -- Finder dead

[bahamat]

Maybe useful for someone...I bought a shiny new iBook G4 yesterday, and installed all of the updates. Saw the Airport update and Security update today and installed them.

Now, the Finder doesn't run on it's own. It has to be manually started from

/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/M acOS/Finder

Well, that's that.

Suggestions from a Mac afficionado

[Slur]

Weird. Try "Update Permissions" in Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. And if that doesn't work get the 10.3.3 Combo Updater from Apple's web site. It installs just fine on top of the 10.3.3 non-combo update. Sometimes a Combo updater is more reliable, since it has all the latest bits. If after all this the system is still funky you can drop back to 10.3.2. I've found 10.3.3 a bit more sketchy than 10.3.2 but the extras are worth the occasional oddity. I just save more often. ;-)

Re:Suggestions from a Mac afficionado

[47Ronin]

Suggestions from a Mac afficionado
Weird. Try "Update Permissions" in Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.

What? You're an afficionado and you didn't suggest:

sudo diskutil repairPermissions /

Shame on you!

Re:Suggestions from a Mac afficionado

[narratorDan]

He said Mac afficionado not command line afficionado, there is a clear difference. If it doesn't have a candy colored lickable button then it's no Mac.

lol

NarratorDan

Re:WHAT???

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, this is priceless. It will live on forever. The too poor for OSX troll is born. You get 1 mod point.

PowerMac 9500 - Still Churns and Burns

[narratorDan]

With the help of a bit of software called XPostFacto, I have Panther running on my PowerMac 9500. Rock solid and pretty fast. Just goes to show that a good OS doesn't need top of the line hardware.

NarratorDan

OT Re:CUPS of crap

[hooverbag]

Out of the box, I had a biotch of a time setting up my new G5

I read that as "I had a biotech of a time" for some reason...

Well well well.

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you say now Apple zealots?!? Serves you right for being zealots claiming "OSX is teh easiest OS" ever. Hint : It isn't, there is no "easiest" os, its all on what you want to learn.

That being said, Mandrake 10.0 official is out soon, so try it out and see how the Linux world has matured to surpass OSX with KDE 3.2, GNOME 2.6 and Kernel 2.6 but without the rampant OSZ zealotry.

iMac RevA didn't work perfect

[pauldy]

I installed on an iMac rev a with a G4 upgrade card and 6MB video upgrade. It wigged out on reboot and sh*t itself all over the screen. I had to pull the plug and reboot. When it came back up everything seems to be working fine. Makes me wonder what happened on the install.

Renew

[SteveM]

Renew

SteveM

Re:Renew

[dema]

I've had TERRIBLE trouble with Renew on 10.2.8. For some reason it would always find about half of what needed updating and then only download updates for half of those before stalling to no end. It looks like it has been updated a few notches since I used it last. How is the stability for you?

Re: Correction

[spoodie]

Correction: There is no infalliable code.
OS X just happens to be the easiest to use when it works, which is the vast majority of the time. You obviously havent used OS X otherwise you'd realise this yourself.

I've used (and work with) various flavours of Linux, including Mandrake, and none are as easy to use as OS X, whoever is operating the system.

Peace the fuck out.

[Anonymous Coward]

Too bad you are poor and your mommy and daddy can't afford to get you even a cheap 12 inch iBook.

I'm as pro-Mac as they come (refusing even in Windows shops to use windows), but this kind of class-based, bigoted vitriol is not what I call "funny." If I had modpoints, I'd give it a "-1, Flamebait".

To the 3 rabid mac-mods who gave this guy more than zero, keep your humor. The rest of you, mod your conscience.

Re:Peace the fuck out.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lighten up, Francis.

Re: AppleTalk chatter

[frankie]

they'd detect the broadcast storms that AppleTalk creates

This is often stated as Known Fact, but is it verifiably true? I was under the impression that each AppleTalk device sends a few small broadcast packets every N seconds, which might eat up a 230kbps Localtalk network pretty quickly, but should be negligible on 100Mbps ethernet. Especially since they generally don't cross routers, as you mention.

Re:Hmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

No, but I think it fixes the rampant retardation that plagues Mac trolls...

no pserver info

[Anonymous Coward]

What gives? No links? No info?

Can someone post some information about the cvs/pserver problem.

For example, is it the server side that is broken or is it the client side?

Thanks,
AC