OpenCOE FAQ

• Are you porting DII COE code?
  
  No, I am implementing the published DII COE APIs. The APIs can be found in publically available DII COE documents. See: http://dod-ead.mont.disa.mil/cm/cm_page.html
  
  
• You note that the DII COE source code is available for people willing to sign a NonDisclosure Agreement. Who did you have to contact to get the source code?
  
  I do not know for sure. I believe that you need a military/government sponsor to get the code. Inquiries can be directed towards those identified at http://diicoe.disa.mil/coe/kpc/KernelPlatformProgram.htm The OpenCOE project has no access to the DII COE source and is not sponsored or affliated in any manner with DISA.
  
  
• How do I get OpenCOE code?
  
  You get it from ftp://rhinohide.cx/usr/rhinohide/OpenCOE. I will also have code available in CVS at Sourceforge soon. You might want to try the cdimage which includes the core software and an install/configuration script. Please note that this developer code only. It is considered alpha code - prototype code with incomplete APIs and bug and security issues.
  
  
• I got the code, how do I install it?
  
  You can follow the bootstrap installation notes located at http://rhinohide.cx/opencoe/Resources/docs/opencoe_bootstrap_installation_notes.txt.
  
  
• How come I cannot untar these segments?
  
  Try   tar --force-local -xvf segment.tar The colons in the segment name are interpreted by GNU tar to indicate that the file is at a remote host.
  
  
• Are you working on this as a hobby, or as a paying job?
  
  This is a non-commercial project. (Yes, it is a hobby.)
  
  
• Do you have any plans to submit OpenCOE to DISA for certification testing?
  
  As I understand the rules, DISA is only interested in certifying platforms with military/government sponsors. It is also expected that the candidate pay for the certification. And the DISA certification is for code ported from DISA sources. The OpenCOE project would not meet any of those requirements.
  
  
• If you are not going to become rich and famous, why are you doing this?
  
  Good question. Here a few answers:
  
  
  • To scratch an itch.
  
  I just got frustrated that COE was not available on my Linux boxen and realized I could do something about it.
  
  
  • Portability
  
  It bothers me that a supposedly portable environment is coded into window managers. I believe that it is possible to support the COE goals with no more window manager interaction than registering a few applications into a menu.
  
  
  • Open Source Library
  
  DISA does not accept segments into their library without sponsorship. Sponsorship costs money. Therefore commercial applications are more likely to be registered than their open source counterparts. The most popular web server in the world, Apache, is not available as a COE segment. (There are unofficial Apache segments running around.) By creating segment interoperability between OpenCOE and DII COE, the OpenCOE segment library can become a resource for those needing open source segments such as Apache, Tomcat, Jabber, and OpenLDAP.
  
  

Last Updated on May 10, 2001.