Gmail as a spam machine?

A flaw in Gmail can be used to make it spew spam, according to Ars Technica. The flaw allows an attacker to send a message via Gmail's outgoing mail (SMTP) service and have it sent far and wide complete with an apparently legitimate @gmail.com address. Generally I've found Gmail's control of spam to be excellent, I've also used the SMTP service as part of Evolution (the Linux answer to Outlook). Perhaps since most people use web-based email rather than a dedicated client (corporate email being the exception) it's simply a case of low-hanging fruit; i.e., the comparitively old-school SMTP service was built with less attention to security than the online version.

In other geek-boy software news, I've got Ubuntu 8.04 ('hardy heron') running on my machine and am generally pleased with it. I've had an issue with the OS freezing if my computer is idle for any length of time, which I haven't heard about in the reviews I've read. It may just be my hardware, but I didn't have that problem with 'gutsy'. I must say I was expecting more new features, but with releases only six months apart it is understandable. Focusing on improvements under the hood will probably lead to a better product over the next couple of years.