OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Managing Samba: Windows Network Identity Basics

Submitted by Emilia Yeh 2005-11-02 Internet 7 Comments

Samba Team co-founder John H. Terpstra kicks off a six-part, two-month series that can help Linux administrators master Samba-3 management. This first installment introduces the Samba series and covers a tutorial on Windows network ID basics.

SGI Delisted, Becomes Penny Stock

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-02 SGI and IRIX 59 Comments

Silicon Graphics Inc. today issued a melancholy press release confirming that it has been kicked off the New York Stock Exchange, and will now trade as a 'penny stock'. SGI was the high-bandwidth, visualization-rich, media-savvy computer systems company that flourished in a decade when media pundits clamored for a winner in what they called 'the convergence space'. SGI obliged, and spared nothing - for a while its budgets were flush for R&D and fancy architecture. "Oh, SGI, we loved you and you screwed up. Bigtime."

Linux PCs: Customer Service or Lip Service?

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-02 Linux 39 Comments

Finding an entry-level home PC that doesn't have a Windows XP sticker on it requires consumers to search through a maze of Web sites. Or if they try calling a major PC maker, the agent is likely to have a hard time steering them toward a Linux-based or bare-bones system.

Sun Grid Utility Aimed at MS Word Documents

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-02 Oracle and SUN 10 Comments

Sun Tuesday launched the latest assault on the proprietary Microsoft Word document format by offering a new Sun Grid utility service that will convert Word files into ODF. Another Sun Grid utility will convert text files into audio files for podcasts or for playback on Web sites, said Tom Goguen, vice president with Sun's software group.

Schillix 0.2 Released

Submitted by AndrewZ 2005-11-02 Solaris 14 Comments

The Schillix OpenSolaris project has announced its second release, SchilliX 0.2, and a Live CD available for download. Highlights of 0.2 include 30 second boot time, boot from CD or USB-stick, installation to hard drive, and self-healing services. Software includes cdrecord, star, bash, bz2, fakeroot, gmake, gpatch, gtar, gzip, pod2man, texinfo, unzip, wget and much more.

The Venture Capital Reluctance Toward Linux

Submitted by LinuxFanboy 2005-11-02 Linux 17 Comments

"Aside from the general unwillingness of VCs to invest in startups, Linux is a no go. Many factors come into play with the primary lack of an exit strategy topping the list. When will Linux companies see the light at the end of the tunnel? Or will they?"

Submitted by Manuel FLURY 2005-11-02 Mozilla, Gecko 37 Comments

Firefox 1.5 RC1 has been released. New and improved features include automated updates, better navigating performance, drag and drop re-ordering for browser tabs, better support for Mac OS X, and much more.

Sun’s Throw Away Desktop

Submitted by Anonymous 2005-11-02 Oracle and SUN 21 Comments

Glynn Foster wrote on his blog that Sun's throwing away the desktop which is based on GNOME because of different problems they see in maintaining it. There is also a full article about it on LXer.

A Technical Introduction to MiniGUI

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-02 Graphics 5 Comments

"This article describes the features and capabilities of MiniGUI, a lightweight graphics framework for embedded systems based on uClinux, Linux, eCos, or proprietary real-time OSes. The article is written by Wei Yongming, who wrote MiniGUI for a CNC (computer numerical control) system, then released it to open source seven years ago."

Learn What Eclipse Is Good for

Submitted by anonymous 2005-11-02 General Development 12 Comments

Eclipse is an open source community focused on developing a universal platform of frameworks and tools that make it easy and cost-effective to build and deploy software. This article gives you information about the latest version of Eclipse, and a guide to some of the most interesting Eclipse projects. Learn what Eclipse is good for, why it is important, how you can get started, and where to learn more about it.

A Look Ahead at the Next-Generation Console Wars

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-02 Games 75 Comments

As a kind of follow-up to ArsTechnica's previous round of technical articles on the hardware that powers the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, they decided to step back a bit from the technical details and take a broader look at how the next generation of consoles fit into the home entertainment picture.

Overview of Series 60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-01 Wireless 5 Comments

Nokia rebranded its 'Series 60' platform as simply S60. They also released an overview of the 3rd edition Feature Pack 1 of the Nokia UI for the Symbian-based S60, with a new security framework and built-in content protection improve developer investment protection, while still enabling freeware applications. FOTA enables software upgrades to be performed over the air, initiated by either the user or operator. POC brings "walkie-talkie" functionality to mobile devices without the limitation of distance. There are also enhancements to the XHTML browser, a flexible XML based framework for UI customization, stronger multimedia features and improvements in performance. Elsewhere, Palm's CEO says that Palm won't use Symbian because "Nokia owns Symbian", while he claimed that the Palmsource spin off from Palm was a mistake.

Microsoft Joins Online Era of Software

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-01 Microsoft 20 Comments

Microsoft on Tuesday took the lid off its highly anticipated line of online services, called Windows Live and Office Live. The company has been quick to say that the new products are not meant to replace traditional desktop software, but instead are intended to enhance the Windows experience.

Is Windows Vista Out of Sync?

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-01 Windows 72 Comments

The release of the software giant's new operating system will be one of Microsoft's most important product launches this decade, when it goes live next year. But despite the product's myriad new features and functionality, current market trends could inhibit initial adoption of Vista, PC industry analysts say.

ISO Makes Linux Standards Base a Standard

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-01 Linux 36 Comments

The Open Source Business Conference here will open on Tuesday to the news from the Free Standards Group that the Linux Standards Base has been approved as an ISO standard.

Submitted by Mystic TaCo 2005-11-01 Office 9 Comments

It could be a pivotal week for Microsoft Office - or not. A new move by Google and a pending announcement from Microsoft are generating widespread speculation about the future of the Redmond company's flagship productivity software and its competition.

Submitted by fylfot 2005-11-01 RISC OS 27 Comments

"Comparing AmigaOS and RISC OS is an interesting exercise, especially when it provides inspiration for things like scripting languages, friendly internationalisation configuration, and transparent file format handling. However it also shows areas where RISC OS is grossly under-selling features we take for granted every day, but are seen as almost revolutionary elsewhere: For instance, being efficient on a sub-1GHz RISC CPU, anti-aliased fonts, supporting virtual disc labels, using a RAM-based temporary disc, and providing an iconbar."

Massachusetts’ CIO Defends Move to OpenDocument

Submitted by Mark Brunelli 2005-11-01 Office 23 Comments

Open standards and open source software got political on Monday when Linda Hamel, the general counsel for the Massachusetts Information Technology Department, suggested that groups that oppose the OpenDocument file format standard might be influenced by Microsoft. Hamel was testifying before the Senate's committee on Post Audit and Oversight at a hearing regarding the state's switch to the OpenDocument file format.

ZFS Integrated Into Solaris Express

Submitted by Matty 2005-11-01 Solaris 20 Comments

"On 10-31-2001, we got the user-level prototype working. On 10-31-2002, we got the first in-kernel mount. And today, 10-31-2005, we integrated into Solaris. ZFS will hit the street in a couple of weeks via Solaris Express."

5 Days of Linux: a Business User’s Trial

Submitted by Jarred Cinman 2005-11-01 Linux 33 Comments

"If Linux is 85% of the way to being a viable alternative to Windows/Office, it'll get the rest of the way soon. Very soon. The Mark Shuttleworths and Scott McNealys of the world will make sure of that. And unless Microsoft has a real rabbit in their hats - like, say, a mind-reading operating system - I cannot imagine how they're going to keep me and all the Windows users I know paying for something I can now - almost - get for free."