IBM wants to free PCs of Microsoft software. Big Blue aligns with distributors to pre-load its Lotus Foundation software on Linux, thereby making it cheaper and easier to install on Linux PCs. IBM’s hope is that the move will trigger businesses to switch to Linux, rather than Vista. Oracle issues an emergency patch that plugs a hole in the Apache plug-in for the Oracle WebLogic Server and Express products; the flaw can be remotely exploited to attack the “confidentiality, integrity, and availability,” of the targeted system. Cisco CSO John Stewart admits that Cisco has been “a little lucky” in not having any major security flare-ups, during this interview, particularly since his company’s Self-Defending Network marketing push made a target out of its own products. But the company is not taking anything for granted. Related: Cisco routers in hacker spotlight again. Apple takes Microsoft’s place atop a list of the companies that disclose more vulnerabilities than any others, at least according to an IBM security report, though the final results were close. And when he’s not hounding tech vendors or sniffing out scoops, folks, Cringely takes aim at the Church of Scientology — and this time the president of its San Francisco branch fired back with a letter. Scientology redux. Software Development