OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Open Source Smack-Down at forbes.com

Submitted by Anonymous 2005-06-17 Open Source 87 Comments

Marc Fleury is shocked--shocked!--that IBM would use the same tactics to attack him that he's been using to attack IBM. "Frankly, it leaves us scratching our heads," he says.

Meet Fedora Core 4

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Fedora Core 87 Comments

The latest issue of Red Hat Magazine includes an interesting overview of the new Fedora Core 4 among other things, released earlier this week.

Intel 3D Graphics and Video Demonstration on the x50v

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Wireless 40 Comments

Chris De Herrera has posted pictures and videos showing the impressive graphical capabilities of the Dell Axim X50v (thought by many as the most powerful PDA to date) running the upgrade to Windows Mobile 5.0 (Dell will sell the upgrade in the next few months). The impressive part here is that the x50v was never meant to be a 3D games device, but the addition of a better DirectX infrastructure in the recent Windows Mobile releases and the 16 MBs 3D card from Intel accompanying the 624 Mhz XScale CPU can make this a reality, even on a regular PDA. Please note that because of the way Windows Mobile 5 "sees" the memory (not as storage anymore) it will be like the device just had a memory upgrade after the user upgrades the OS (the x50v has 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM and a VGA screen).

Desktop Java with SWT: an interview with Steve Northover

Guest post by Andy Roberts 2005-06-16 Original OSNews Interviews 21 Comments

I've been fortunate enough recently to be in contact with Steve Northover. Despite him being very busy with SWT and the forthcoming release of Eclipse, I've managed to grab some of his time to answer some of my questions. To clarify from the outset, the views expressed by Steve are his own and not those of his employer.

Dusty-Computing: Be Part of the Alternative History

David Adams 2005-06-16 In the News 32 Comments

Dusty-Computing is now open! A collaboration between TipMonkies.com, OSNews.com and Expert-Zone.com, Dusty-Computing aims to become the biggest archive of old and/or exotic computer systems (BeBox, NeXT, SPARC, SGI, Altos etc) on the Net. In order to achieve that goal, we need your help. Use our form to describe your hardware, its modifications, condition, software, how you acquired it, etc. After you have submitted your piece of history, feel free to talk & discuss on the forums. Finally, the site features a mobile-friendly design for those of you on the go, so check it out with your Newton or your Cassiopeia.

Mono 1.1.8 released

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Mono 26 Comments

Mono 1.1.8 has been released, see the release notes and get it while its fresh from downloads.

Mac-On-Mac Now Available for OSX

Submitted by Mark Round 2005-06-16 Apple 37 Comments

There's now a port of Mac-on-Linux to Mac OS X. Now you can run MacOS, Darwin, Linux PPC etc. under Mac Os X, like VMWare does on a PC.

Case of a wireless hack

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Privacy, Security 19 Comments

This is a short story about using a couple of computers, some interesting tools, an operating system and a bit of thinking to solve a not-entirely-artificial problem of getting wireless internet access where measures are in place to stop it. Both the technical side as well as some of the reasoning behind the actions are explained.

Significant Haiku app_server Progress

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Haiku 39 Comments

DarkWyrm reports (via his blog) his team has been hammering away at the app_server and making serious headway. Not only does the app_server sport nifty new code to solve clipping issues, but the BMenu classes have a ton of fixes for previous crashing issues, and Stephens Playground app has some cool tricks added.

The Linux iPod

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Linux 29 Comments

Imagine using your iPod and a regular old microphone to record studio-quality audio. Or sitting on a commuter train and playing Othello, Pong, Tetris, or Asteroids. All this and more is possible when you install Linux on your third-generation or earlier iPod. Best of all, one soft reset, and you’re back in Apple’s iPod operating system, listening to your tunes.

Opera 8.01 now available for Mac OS X

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Opera 20 Comments

Opera Software has released Opera 8 for Macintosh, available for Mac OS X versions 10.2 and higher. According to the company it is faster than ever before, this Web surfing package gives Macintosh users Opera's extensive functionality and an optional 15 languages standard upon download.

One Year With SuSE

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 SuSE, openSUSE 54 Comments

"A year later I'm still with my good friend SuSE, being more productive than ever, while I still notice my neighbors are now living with the fact that their PCs are slower to use as a result of installing the new Microsoft software." More here.

Eric Raymond talks about GPL and BSD licenses

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Legal 134 Comments

Recently, during FISL (Fórum Internacional de Software Livre), in Brazil, Eric Raymond defended open source model of development and quoted: "Basically, we don't need GPL. It's based on the belief that open source software is weak and needs to be protected. With it, we continue injuring ourselves, cutting ourselves from the economic benefits of BSD license".

Spyware Floods In Through BitTorrent

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Bugs & Viruses 24 Comments

Anti-spyware advocates cry foul as the popular peer-to-peer protocol becomes the latest mechanism for the stealthy distribution of adware/spyware bundles.

Microsoft Shares More Clues About Longhorn Server

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Windows 6 Comments

Longhorn Server Beta 1 looks likely to hit by August. And Microsoft is considering a future home version of its Windows Server product, too.

Pipes and filters

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Unix 15 Comments

A pipe is a means by which the output from one process becomes the input to a second. In technical terms, the standard output (stout) of one command is sent to the standard input (stdin) of a second command. If you are not sure of the advantages this creates, then let's look at a simple example. Read more here.

The Best Linux Distribution?

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Debian 58 Comments

According to the Linux watching web site, DistroWatch, there are more than 400 Linux and BSD distributions currently available and active. Many of these exist with many versions, giving thousands of possible options to choose from. The question often arises "Which one is the best?".

Interview with an 8Ball..

Eugenia Loli 2005-06-16 Apple 14 Comments

From the time at which Steve Jobs announced that Apple will be using Intel processors rather than PowerPC ones, every analyst, armchair CEO, and every anonymous forum poster with a two bit opinion suddenly became an 'expert' on the proper way to execute Apple's plan. "jwdsail" submitted the following editorial to osOpinion/osViews, which offers an equally if not more accurate way to predict Apple's future plans... by consulting his Magic 8-Ball.

GNOME and KDE on Hurd

Submitted by Seo Sanghyeon 2005-06-16 Wayland 35 Comments

Michael Banck reports about porting of GNOME and KDE to GNU Hurd: GNOME screenshot and KDE screenshot

Hardening Linux: a 10 step approach to a secure server

Submitted by Flavio Villanustre 2005-06-16 Privacy, Security 12 Comments

The Internet has become a far more dangerous place than it was 20 years ago. Nowadays, Operating System and application security is an integral part of a server configuration and, while firewalls are very important, they are not the panacea.