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A Day in the Life of an Analyst

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-08 In the News 10 Comments

Analysts cover everything. They are quoted in stories about the PS3 launch date, the impending death of the iPod Shuffle, and the earnings of search behemoth Google, but reading quote after quote from faceless 'analysts' does little to answer the burning question: who are these people, and what do they do all day?

Using Debconf to Configure a System

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-08 Debian 31 Comments

"DebConf is best known as an annual gathering of Debian developers. But the Debian project likes the name so much that it uses it - give or take a capital 'C' - for the system used to configure Debian packages. Just as the conference is central to the social aspects of Debian, so the program is central to the package management system that is one of Debian's main technical advantages. Debconf gives users as fine a degree of control during configuration as they choose."

Microsoft Plans Better Disclosures of Tool

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-08 Microsoft 30 Comments

Microsoft acknowledged Wednesday that it needs to better inform users that its tool for determining whether a computer is running a pirated copy of Windows also quietly checks in daily with the software maker. The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction.

Submitted by diegocg 2006-06-08 Windows 71 Comments

Microsoft released Vista Beta 2 for public consumption. It does not require a Key but will expire on June 1 2007. You can download the 3GB ISOs (or from here) for 32bit and 64bit architectures.

Netcraft: Microsoft Continues to Chip Away at Apache’s Lead

Submitted by Ricus 2006-06-07 Internet 81 Comments

Microsoft continues to gain share in the web server market, chipping away at Apache's commanding lead. The number of hostnames on Windows servers grew by 4.5 million, giving Microsoft 29.7% market share, a gain of 4.25% for the month. Apache had a decline of 429K hostnames, and loses 3.5% to 61.25%. Apache's lead over Microsoft, which stood at 48.2% in March, has been narrowed to 31.5%, a shift of 16.7% in just three months.

Intel Announces Core 2 Chipsets, Confirms Launch Schedule

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-07 Intel 14 Comments

At a Computex event today, Intel officially unveiled its 965 Express chipset (the P965, codenamed 'Broadwater') for use with its forthcoming line of Core 2 Duo processors. The company confirmed the accelerated launch schedule for the Core 2 rollout: Woodcrest (a Xeon replacement) in June, Conroe (for desktops) in July, and Merom (for laptops) in August. There's also an ultra low voltage Merom in the works for use in very thin portables from Dell and HP.

Dell Overhauls Server Line

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-07 Hardware 6 Comments

Dell launched on Wednesday a new generation of servers with Intel's latest dual-core server processors and new management tools. The new PowerEdge servers make up Dell's second batch of products that use dual-core Xeon chips from Intel. However, the earlier generation of servers, based on a chip code-named Paxville, weren't expected to be mass-market products. The PowerEdge 1950, 2900 and 2950, based on Intel's latest Xeon processor, known as Dempsey, will become the new bedrocks of Dell's server lineup.

KOffice 2.0, the Vision

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-07 KDE 11 Comments

KOffice is working on its future, one based on KDE4. KOffice is starting new initiatives with libraries like Flake and Pigment that are going to be used for all KOffice applications. For the users of KOffice those changes are invisible until the 2.0 previews actually start to appear some months from now. Therefore the KOffice crew wants to show you their goals of what KOffice 2 is going to look like.

Linux UMPC Updated

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-07 Wireless 7 Comments

"Linux users who are looking for an alternative to the ultra-mobile PC may want to take a look at the new Pepper Pad. Yesterday Pepper Computer announced that it has updated the Pepper Pad to its third revision. The product is slated to be released on August 15th with a suggested retail price of $699. Though it is just 11.4"x5.9"x0.9"/290x149x23mm and 2.2 lbs/985 grams the Pepper Pad is touted as a full featured handheld device which is capable of surfing the internet, music/video playback, photo viewing, emailing, and more. This device is controlled with a split QWERTY keyboard and 7" (800x480) touch screen and also houses a 20 GB hard drive and built-in speakers."

Submitted by Moulinneuf 2006-06-07 Linux 30 Comments

"In days gone by, the personification of Linux might have conjured up the image of a hotshot college kid full of half-baked ideas and sharp edges. But that college kid has now graduated into the business world, and unleashed his furious entrepreneurial spirit. Today, Linux has a sharper, more refined edge than before, and has branched out into private, public, enterprise and governmental sectors. Linux also spans all manner of hardware platforms, and serves an incredibly wide variety of purposes."

Frenzy 1.0 Released

Submitted by Sergei Mozhaisky 2006-06-07 BSD & Darwin 5 Comments

Frenzy LiveCD 1.0, based on FreeBSD 6.1, has been released. This is a 'system administrator's portable instrument'; a LiveCD based on FreeBSD, which allows the administrator to boot from it and get a fully functional system with a wide variety of software for tuning, testing, and analyzing the network, testing computer hardware, and much more. Frenzy contains its own configuration center, can be installed on a hard drive as a fully functional operating system (USB Flash install is also supported).

Rotating Linux Log Files

Submitted by Marius Ducea 2006-06-07 Linux 1 Comment

"Any Linux system will generate many log files by default, containing various information about the operation of the system. If no rotation would occur on the various log files, then they will just grow bigger and bigger, filling up the space. This little how-to will show you how the default log rotation works, based on syslog and logrotate."

The Evolution of Eclipse Plugins

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-07 Java 5 Comments

Most Java programming language developers are introduced to Eclipse through its function as an IDE. The Eclipse IDE actually consists of a collection of interacting components called plug-ins. This article traces the evolution of plug-ins from Eclipse V2.1 through today's OSGi-based implementation.

Windows Servers Beat Linux Boxes, But UNIX Beats All

Submitted by Ricus 2006-06-06 Rumors 140 Comments

Windows 2003 Server is a more reliable server operating system than Linux, a research firm said Monday. According to the Yankee Group's annual server reliability survey, only Unix operating systems such as HP-UX and Sun Solaris 10 beat Windows on uptime. Windows 2003 Server, in fact, led the popular Red Hat Enterprise Linux with nearly 20 percent more annual uptime. The Yankee Group made a point of stressing that the survey was not sponsored or supported by any server OS maker.

Where Are the Vista Killer Apps?

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-06 Windows 48 Comments

Microsoft will have showcase applications ready in time for the Vista launch, which is still set for January 2007, company officials said. But given recent lawsuits and public disagreements with the likes of Symantec and Adobe Systems - two of Microsoft's biggest independent software vendor partners - which vendors are likely to be leading the Vista charge?

Google Offers Spreadsheet Beta

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-06 Google 46 Comments

Google is launching an online spreadsheet that will let you load Excel files and share documents online. Up to 10 people can work on the spreadsheet at the same time - the names of people editing and reading it will appear in a chat window. Users can save the documents to their Google account or export them as .csv, .xls or html files. Like the launch of Gmail, Google is limiting the number of new users for software - still in beta - to avoid overloading its systems. Cnet wonders, should Microsoft be worried?

Why First Generation Apple Products Suck, Part II

Submitted by Tommy Bremer 2006-06-06 Apple 56 Comments

"Originally, I had never intended to write a follow-up to 'Why First Generation Apple Products Suck'. But after receiving exceptional feedback on my thoughts, I think I need to make few things clear. Many of you thought I was unfairly singling out Apple even though defective first generation products are a common occurrence across the technology sector – software or hardware. Just to be clear, let’s not mesh software and hardware together. Neither I nor anyone else should ever expect software to be perfect. On the opposite end, with hardware, it is possible to perfect the craft of developing tangible products, such as the iPod music player."

Novell’s Fight for Respect

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-06 Novell and Ximian 29 Comments

Ron Hovsepian explains how his outfit aims to regain investors' confidence and turn the tide against Linux leader Red Hat. "Our core Linux business grew 20% quarter-over-quarter. Why? Our strategy is different than Red Hat's. They are approaching this as an edge server play, and it's an enterprise play."

Debian Joins Carrier Grade Linux Lineup

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-06 Debian 2 Comments

The Open Source Development Labs announced today that Debian has registered the Sarge release as compliant with its Carrier Grade Linux 2.0.2 specification. The move brings Debian in line with offerings from commercial vendors such as Red Hat, Novell, and Motorola.

Open Source Software Quality in Limelight at Red Hat Summit

Submitted by Jane Walker 2006-06-06 Red Hat 2 Comments

While some just talk about the quality of open source software, Red Hat said it's actually doing something about it. Commercial Linux vendor Red Hat announced at the company's annual Red Hat Summit last week that it is launching a project directed squarely at quality assurance.